Pluto Nash

I have to address this. I just watched Pluto Nash again and just like the first time I viewed it a few years ago I find it to be an excellent sci-fi film. I really, really don't see what peoples problem is with this film. The script was done very well and superbly delivered by the actors. Eddie Murphy is a master. PERIOD! He is still one of my favorite actors and he has more than proven himself. He created his own niche in the machine and he's comfortable there but he is far from stuck there. Also, I love Eddie for doing this film because it is the first truly sci-fi film that is told from a non-white pov. And if you've been paying attention, like I have, Eddie has been doing this his whole career. Yes, there are Black actors that have been doing it long before Eddie came along, and doing it well, but Eddie was next-gen. His role as Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop was a paradigm shift in hollywood. I remember that movie vividly and every time I see it is like the first time. It is still one of my favorite action films. Anyways, I just felt like publicly expressing a positive view of the film Pluto Nash.

You know what really sealed my admiration for this film, besides Eddie and Rosario Dawson's fine ass? It was Luis Guzman's character, Felix Laranga. Yo, this dude comes on screen in his moon rover blasting his Puerto Rican music, just jammin' like Puerto Rican cats do here on earth in modern times. I just thought that was so cool. It reminded me of a comedy skit that Eddie Griffin did. In the skit Eddie talks about how white people area all about going into space and they have this fantasy of leaving all of us non-white people here on earth. He said, "If ya'll go to the moon, then damnit, we goin' to the moon, too!"

But aside from liking this movie for ethnic reasons, I like it all around because it really is a well done sci-fi film, period. The dialog alone was too cool. How sci-fi is this:
"She got rich by making a whole basketball team by cloning one old guy."
"Oh yeah, the Air Jordans."

COME ON!!! How cool is that! Who, today, will not get the joke in that. And the movie was filled with cool lines like this, which is totally good sci-fi to me 'cause the setting wasn't far future. Anyways, I'd recommend The Adventures of Pluto Nash to anyone wanting to check out a sci-fi film for two reasons: It's good sci-fi and it's not lily white sci-fi which most sci-fi has been.

Take it how you want it but don't judge me if you don't know me.

Hello, I'm still around---I met a real man on Sunday

Hey ya'll. Haven't really felt like writing recently. I have a lot of stuff running around in my mind, Most of it is in the background but it still has an effect on the everyday goings ons. Anyways, I'd been wanting to write about what happened last Sunday morning when I got off of work, so here goes:

Well, I left work and get to the Delancey st. F train to begin my journey home. Well this particular day the uptown tracks were being worked on so I had to ride the downtown to Jay st in Brooklyn to ride the A up to the F or D. D is what gets me home. Well it took the downtown F a while to get to Delancey. It finally came and I got up from the bench to get on. I'm standing behind this guy as the train comes to a stop. I kind of shift forward a bit in anticipation of the doors opening and the guy turns and aggressively says, "Yo! Wait!"
I'm like, "What you talking about?"
"You bumped me! Don't be pushin'!"
"I didn't touch you, man."
"Yeah you did! Just chill the fuck out! For real, you better chill!"
"Whatever yo, I ain't touch you! You chill!"
So, this whole convo is going on as we are getting on the train. We going back and forth, adrenaline rising. He tell me to sit and I'm like I'll sit when I fuckin' feel like it. Now, I don't want to fight this dude but my natural personality is to reciprocate the energy I'm given. Plus I'm a native New York cat and we really just don't back down to naked aggression. But, I realize this is not the right course of action right now. He crosses to the side of the train I'm on and gets in the ready to fight position with his right hand half-cocked for a blow. So, I take the high road and say, "Look I ain't tryin' to fight you, dude." He's still agitated but he backs off, still talking shit for a minute or so. And just so you don't get it twisted I'm not afraid to fight , it's just not always the necessary thing to do all the time. SO, I sit down. I'm no longer making eye contact with this dude. And I'm smiling to myself 'cause I'm wondering if I didn't stop myself and deflate the situation, would I have been calm enough to apply what I've been learning in Aikido or would I have stabbed him in the neck with the knife I had my hand on the whole time (Note: Don't fuck with me. :-). Also, I realized that part of my big ass coat probably did touch him and I just didn't feel it but he still overreacted. Anyways, a few minutes goes by and I see him coming back over to my side of the train. He seems a bit calmer but after our recent exchange my hand slips back into my pocket. He sits in the seat in front of me. He looks me dead in the eye and says, "Yo man, I apologize. Really man, I'm sorry." Then he actually apologizes to everyone on the train car 'cause he had been rather loud. He turns back to me and proceeds to tell me that he's just having a bad morning, the train was mad late, etc. I'm like, "It's cool man. I understand. Everybody has bad days." Etc. He offers to buy me breakfast to make up for the minor altercation. At first I wasn't really going to go but we were getting off at the same stop and I could tell he genuinely felt bad about popping off like that, so I went up with him and we sat at Dunkin' Donuts, ate and talked. He was a good guy just having a bad morning. He told me to just hold on to that patience I had. He said, "I know it can't be easy dealing with ignorant niggas but just keep that patience." He actually bought one of my books. Naturally I signed it for him. I wrote, "Here's to avoiding negative energy. Glad I met you. Stay cool!" He got a laugh out of that. I hope he got something out of my book, if nothing else a few laughs.

The remarkable thing about this experience to me is that he actually apologized. Most dudes after poppin' off like that publicly wouldn't have the balls to apologize. I would, but I'm me. Most dudes who grew up in the streets, which I don't know his whole life story but I could tell he wasn't a stranger to them, never reach that level of maturity. I mean, from talking to him he's not in the streets now. He's holding down 2 jobs. I figure there's a real reason for that and that's what was probably stressing him so much. But yeah, it takes a real man to apologize, especially in those circumstances. His name was Justin.

So that was the beginning of the week, actually the end of a work week for me. Goes to show, you never know. I need to work on my initial reactions a bit, channel some Kwai Chang Kane energy. But I checked my shit in time and it worked out for the best and I probably have a new fan of my work, which is always good.

Bayou: an online comic

If you like comic stories, check out Bayou. This has to be the first fantasy comic I've ever read that is told from a strictly Afican american point of view. It is slightly reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth but it obviously touches me on a much more personal level. I'm mesmerized reading this. It's almost a shame it's free online, 'cause this I'd pay for. I've been wondering about the level of literature written by folks of African descent in america for a while now. Octavia Butler has left us with a master's worth of Master Works. I've loved Steven Barnes' writings since I was a teenager, I've recently been introduced to his wife, Tananarive Due's excellent works, Chris chambers, Nalo Hopkinson, Nnede MBachu Okorafor, and I've long been a fan of Walter Mosley (especially since he delved into sci-fi speculative fiction). Mosley's Future Land is still the best Speculative Fiction story that I have ever read. I've been introduced to and impressed with a host of other Black authors and this latest, especially in the form of a comic, is, to me, simply wonderful. I implore you to please check it out and actually take the time to read the comic, Bayou. I am very optimistic of the future my children will be a part of as far as literature is concerned. Having Black authors of Sci-fi and fantasy won't be a novelty or a "special" circumstance like it was for me. You have know idea and cannot imagine the level of personal pride and enjoyment I had when I first read, Steven Barnes' excellent story, Street Lethal. It was literally the first modern Specualtive Fiction novel I'd read that had a Protagonist that looked like me. To this day Aubry Knight is still my favorite literary character of all time. And to top it off Steven continued Aubry's story through two more books. A trilogy! Damn near unheard of. The last couple of years I've seen and read many Speculative Fiction stories by many Black authors. Octavia and Steve and Samuel Delaney have been blazing a trail by themselves for a long time but I think their damn near herculean efforts are slowly paying off. Soon I will join the pantheon of Speculative fiction story writers and novelists. I'd just like to say thanks to those who blazed the path. And R.I.P. to Octavia Butler. I hope to see you on the other side darlin'.

Now go check out Bayou.

The Black Crowes

Amorica has to be one of my favorite albums. The songwriting on this album is just awesome! Absolutely fuckin' AWESOME! Chris Robinson is one of the best songwriters I've ever listened to. I wasn't even planning to listen to this but as soon as it started playing I just had to let it play all the way through. I pretty much sing along to every single song on the album every time I listen to it. That is very very rare for me. An album that everysinglesongisgreat is so not common. This is one of the few and I love it. The Black Crowes is one of my favorite bands naturally and I have all of their albums all of which are great. I haven't really listened to the last album, Warpaint, that much but I have listened to it and I do like it. I haven't really listened to much music since I've gotten so busy in the last couple of months. I've been buying music but not immersing myself in it like I used to. But, yeah, Amorica is a great album. To me it's the best one they've done. The others are great, too, but I just connected on some very deep viscerally emotional level to Amorica at the time it came out. Needed to get that out.

Update: You know what? I'm now listening to the album By Your Side and singing along to it. I'm on the third song and just realized I've been singing along. I love the Black Crowes. I pretty much have the same reaction to all of their albums. Great music, Great songs.

Once again, we have an excellent parody of Barack Obama. This guy is too good. Check out the first one.



Tell me this wasn't well done and funny!

MY minor Quantum of Solace Review

I really, really don't see where people are having a problem with this movie. For those who are OLD and like the way the Bond films used to be done, GET OVER IT. Yes, for the first time in the Bond films they've done a real sequel. A story arc that continues from one movie to the next. For those stuck in the old Bond ways, welcome to the 21st century! I couldn't be happier. Now, I've read that there weren't any scenes of Bond dealing with the emotional aspects of Vesper's death in Casino Royale. My only question to people who say this is, "What the fuck movie were you watching?" 'Cause from what I was watching the whole damn movie, Quantum of Solace, was Bond dealing with the loss of Vesper! I mean, this is NOT a normal world and Bond is definitely NOT a "normal" individual, SO, he is not going to deal with the emotional loss of a loved one like the average person in the real world. If you're looking for a private break down of a man lost deep in the throes of loss go watch Magnolia or some other drama. THIS IS BOND!!! WE DO NOT DO GIRLIE-MAN SHIT!!!! I'm all for emotion in films, as long as it makes sense within the context of the STORY! I loved the return of Jeffery Wright as CIA agent Felix Leiter. Despite the short screen time he was wonderful and fit nicely in the story. And I really loved the return of Giancarlo Giannini, reprising the role of Mathis. This was wonderfully wonderful and a superbly performed performance. I liked Mathis in Casino Royale and was really disappointed that he "seemed" to be a double agent. The fact that this particular story arc was addressed in QoS was a VERY welcome surprise. Talk about emotional growth on screen and all that. I loved the screen time and dialog between Bond and Mathis. It was worth the film being made for that alone, personally. The introduction of Olga Kurylenko was actually pretty cool too. I wasn't too impressed with her in the movie Hitman, but she really shined in QoS. Her story rolled along nicely with Bond's without taking away or distracting from Bond's story. I do admit that they relied on action a little too much, most likely from rushing the script to avoid the writer's strike, but it still worked for me. There was still an excellent story here. As a follow up to Casino Royale, I'm not sure how much more really needed to be done in QoS. For the next film, yes, there definitely needs to be more between the action lines, but this WORKS. If you want a slightly less vitriolic review of QoS go to my man David's blog, The Bimillenial Man.

To recap an important point, in order to TRULY enjoy QoS you need to have seen and REMEMBERED Casino Royale because this IS a sequel. It is a well done sequel. If you don't like it, get over it or shut the fuck up if you do not have any intelligent reasoning. And so far I haven't seen any intelligent reasoning for not liking this film.

Quantum of Solace is a great addition to the Bond legacy. This is Tarrell Childs and I approve this message.

Good Samaritan

I played the part of a good samaritan today. I got on the train today on my way to Aikido class. I saw this old man, not that old but gray, sitting kind of sideways, his leg blocking the seat next to him. He kind of had the mean mug on. I wasn't really trying to sit down so I wasn't bothered by his blocking the seat and mean muggin' is a common thing in New York. Anyways, I was standing by the door for a few stops, then moved into the car a little further with my back to one of the center poles, still near the old guy. Well, his stop comes up. I noticed he was trying to get up as we were pulling into the station but he couldn't quite manage it. Right before the train stopped he finally rose up and with wobbly effort, slowly moved towards the door, coming in my direction. He actually smiled at me. A small smile. I smiled back. As he let go of his grip of the overhead bar he began to rock forward. I noticed he really wasn't going to be able to keep himself upright. I slowly reached out and gently put my fingers to the middle of his chest and steadied him. The train came to a full stop and he actually got his balance back. He smiled again and said, "Thank You." I naturally said, "You're welcome. No problem." I realized as he was trying to get up that he wasn't mean muggin' and blocking the seat for selfish, mean old guy reasons. He was actually in pain and trying to minimize it. Something wrong with his left leg I guess. See, I'm not a misanthrope. I really do like people. Just not all the time. ;-)