Release that inner power.

If you haven't seen the esurance ad featuring Kaz Nomura (known as PWRFL Power), then you've probably been living under a rock.

(For those of you who haven't seen it, here's your AWESOME LINK OF THE DAY: http://www.esurance.com/pwr)

I've talked to a lot of people about the ad, most of them are turned off by it, but those who have heard Nomura's other stuff or are already a fan of his PWRFL Power stuff are happy to see him getting a little of the limelight. It's an effective little ad, combining Nomura's amazing guitar work, awkward, yet distinct voice, simple lyrics, and a silly caricature of him into a delightful little slice of 30 seconds of TV time. I'm happy to see companies and advertising agencies add a little style and flair to their ads instead of patronizing their audience. Some goods examples of this are the Linerider ad for McDonald's and the stop motion ad for Gogurt. I will admit that I'm kind of worried about large companies like McDonald's stepping into the viral marketing world, but it can't be all that bad right?

Well...

I'll share with you guys (if anyone read's this) my fears of corporations abuse of viral marketing. Since it's inception (I guess), small companies and mom 'n' pop shops have been using word-of-mouth and local reputation as a way of getting new business, since they don't generate enough money to pay huge marketing agencies to make flashy ad campaigns for them. Some businesses have used some very cheap, yet effective ways to gain attention. One of the best examples of this, that I can think of right now is Mystery Science Fiction Theater 3000, who encouraged fans to videotape episodes and pass them on to their friends. But, companies like Burger King, Outback Steakhouse, and Mellow Mushroom have taken advantage of these methods and have begun using them themselves (i.e. Burger King's "Subservient Chicken, Outback Steakhouse's use of Of Montreal's 'Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)", and Mellow Mushroom's website designed by the same people who did Homestar Runner). It's cheap, it gets attention, and it's been proven to be effective. That's dangerous for small business who depend on viral marketing in order to get new business. With all these corporations stealing all the imaginative young folks working for small marketing firms, or ripping off a smaller company and their ideas, it steals more attention to these smaller businesses.

"But Sebastian, people are smart enough to not buy into THE MAN'S bullshit, local businesses will be able to stay afloat and eventually, people will get tired of the same bullshit being fed to them over and over."

I wish I could say that's true, but people still have been eating at Micky D's and Burger King for over 50 years right? And the number of overweight people has increased over the last 50 years? RIGHT? So no, people really don't get tired of the same bullshit over and over, it's just that large corporations have found a way to appeal to that group of people who have learned better than to (ugh I hate saying this) conform to the same standards and practices.

Whatever, I'm still not going to eat at Outback Steakhouse, their food is nasty.

I'll still listen to Of Montreal though.

You take three clicks of FAGGOT

I got into HeroClix hard this summer and it sucks cuz I live in SHITTREECITY GEORGIA

Back when I lived in Pensacola, I had the opportunity to go to a local comic book store and play HeroClix on Thursday evenings. I didn't go because I had classes or Aikido, but I had plenty of chances to play with other people during the summer. But I didn't because of my fear of ridicule from everyone else. I mean, yeah, comic book geeks and TCG/CMG fags are nothing to be afraid of, but when you enter their domain (Internet, comic book store, a MC Chris concert) they can get ruthless. Also, the owner scared me because he screamed whenever he talked.

Now, I have a fairly formidable force and funds to get new clix, but no place to play them. It kind of sucks, but I saw it coming. Plus, I don't think many people like the game. There are atleast three comic book stores in my area that sell HeroClix and none of them give an inkling of whether people go there to play HeroClix or not. They sell them, duh cuz it's a miniature gamed based on comic book heroes/villains, but it doesn't have an outrageous following like the Pokemon TCG, Magic, Warhammer/Warhammer 40k, or the StarWars TCGs. HeroClix is based on already popular franchises/characters just like Pokemon and Starwars and have characters that have been developed and fleshed-out for years and years, but it can't compete with those other games for some reason. Granted, there are probably some people who may have the same complaints (i.e. People who played the Medabots TCG, I KNOW I DID HA HA i'mafaggot), but a game that allows you to have Superman and Lex Luthor beat the shit out of Batman and the Joker HAS to appeal to some people. You could imagine my surprise when I saw that a comic book store was advertising a tournament for the Bleach and Naruto TCGs, but had nothing on HeroClix. I know I'm biased (animu HURR), but how can a TCG based off two formulaic, predictable animes gain so much popularity? Fuck. It kind of pisses me off.

Whenever I look at my figures, I can't help but feel lonely. The figures just scream out, "I'm a faggot with no life" and my encyclopedic knowledge of every character freaks people out (And it doesn't hurt that I harass everyone who comes to my house, usually my sister's friends, to a game.) I'm so desperate to play a game, but I have no one to play with. Occasionally, I'm able to bother one of my family members to sit down and play a quick game with me, but they quickly get exasperated. My father, who is a genius by the way, becomes frustrated when I beat him. He knows the rules, is familiar with the mechanics of the game, but doesn't take the time to think of good force builds, or learn what a character can do. I know he only plays to keep my quiet, and I don't remind him that I'm glad he played with me, but it'd be nice if he thought about what he was doing. My mother doesn't understand the game at all, and nods off to sleep during play, but she's always happy to play with me because it makes me happy. My sister doesn't play at all and won't let me forget how crappy a hobby I have. No one really cares and wants to play.

I'm a faggot.

I guess this is how people felt like before the internet. People with odd interests and hobbies, but no one to share them with. I sometimes wonder how those people dealt with that. Did they try to seek out people like them who were nearby? Or did they just give up on it and move onto other things? This conundrum only adds to my sense of abandonment and self-isolation. I feel abandoned by my community, for not providing a venue near-by where I could enjoy my hobby and I feel isolated, because I never try to go out and find people to play with, or bother showing up to an event because of some bull-shit reason. In the end, I like to make myself miserable.

But goddamn, I'm going to show up at Heroes this Friday whether anyone else does or not.

Perhaps I ought to try starting a group here in PTC.

Perhaps not.

I'm going to give myself a swirlie.

I'll write something about the new Klimt album tomorrow.

La Poderosa

I think I just saw one of the most influential movies of my life.

I'll admit that I don't know a lot about Che Guevara, only that he is an idol to thousands or millions of rebellious teenagers, and that he is an Argentinian revolutionary who led socialist revolutions in Cuba and Guatemala. Beyond that, I don't know much about the man. That is, until on a whim I rented The Motorcycle Diaries. It's an amazingly powerful movie based on the book written by Che Guevara himself that details his life changing journey throughout Latin America and the spirit of change that grew in him while experiencing the turmoils of the common people and farmers of South America. It's an amazing movie, honestly. It takes my favorite genre of movie (travel and self-exploration) and gives it great historical and biographical impact.

It got me thinking on how journeys change and mold us. In the movie, Ernesto "Che" Guevara is taken from his rich and affluent status of a medical student from an upper-class family and molded through his interactions with the poor and suffering of Latin America, instilling in him a love for the oppressed and a desire to help them. Like I said before, I knew nothing of Che Guevara before watching this movie and by watching it, I began to understand why he's the legend he is now. The man had a great sense of sympathy for the downtrodden, to the point where his own health and luxuries were of no importance to him. He had a great heart.

Che Guevara is portrayed beautifully by the Mexican actor Gael García Bernal who does an excellent job capturing the youthful energy and enthusiasm of Ernesto and his gradual change into 'El Che'. I would have believe that Gael actually was Che if he were a little more rugged or messier. I find it hard to believe that Che Guevara managed to be covered head to toe in dirt and still manage to maintain his shirt crisp and white. He needed to give more of an effort of portraying Che as a leader of the people rather than a rich boy with a heart of gold. Granted, the movie documents the journey of a young man and ends with the spark of revolution that propels him into the revolutionary he became, but I would have liked if the movie had explained what political ideas motivated Che Guevara to become a revolutionary rather than sappy scenes of him with the farmers or the laborers or what have you. It's a very sentimental film that really doesn't capture the political energy behind Che Guevara, only shows who and what Che Guevara influenced by his actions.

Regardless, it's an excellent movie. It came out four years ago and you may find it in Blockbuster's foreign films section or at your local library (if you're lucky enough to have a cool library like the Orange County Public Library, winkwink). I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Che Guevara or anyone looking to have their foreign film itch fixed. It's kind of a sappy movie that's not as deep as your initial assumption of it might be, but it won't leave you disappointed.

You are the bull.

This blog is probably my fifth or sixth attempt to break the wall that surrounds my creative block.

I've made several blogs before under numerable aliases. Sometimes, they got popular, sometimes no one read them. The problem was that I always gave up writing or that I never wrote what I wanted. I've been on numerous other sites under numerous names. I think it's time for me to write under my real name and to surprise the people in my life. (I would list the names of the blogs and pseudonyms, but this blog is meant to serve as a new start for me. If you really are interested, send me a line or something.)

Beyond that, I think I should address what's been on my mind lately.

Writing is an underappreciated art in America. When we think of writing, we think about essays, reports, arguments, speeches, etc. Simply, the documentation of our arguments or ideas for scholarly and/or professional analysis. A lot of people groan at the thought of having to write something, especially students, simply because they never are able to write about what they care about. Granted, a lot of universities give their students freedom or provide creative writing classes, but I think there's too much judgment among scholars and observers on what makes a good essay/story/whatever.

Writing, for me atleast, has always been about expression. I'll admit that I have poor grammar and that grammar is an important part of writing, but I believe the way someone expresses himself should take top precedence. I'm bound to get a lot of flack for saying that from anyone who works in the academic world, but I'm only seventeen years old. I think berating a teen over the internet over personal opinion is outdated. It's 2008, not 2003.

Another aspect of writing that dominates my life is how I use it as a tool of escape, although my love/hate relationship with writing has been around since the third grade. I use writing as a necessary medication. It provides an outlet for my stress and anger but I'm always dissatisfied with the end product. The writing process in my mind consists of five or six minutes of disassembling a topic, discussing it, arguing it, typing it up in fifteen minutes and then bruising myself for being an immature douchebag and having the audacity of breathing.

I think my biggest issue with writing is how insignificant modern literature is with the real world. Yes, I acknowledge what I just said to be the biggest mistake to have ever been said, but when the New York Times puts a book written by Bill O'Reilly on their best sellers list, you know the literary world no longer maintains a hold on the popular culture of America anymore. Hell, modern authors that are worth a damn now are nothing but nihilists who write their own violent fantasies in print and make a living writing about their obscene obsessions of being the leader of a revolution that sends the world into the toilet, or their James Patterson and Nora Roberts clones that write poor suspence/fantasy novels that end up on supermarket shelves. (Though, I would argue that writers like Updike or Gaiman are able to transcend these standards and provide readers great, modern literature, but I will leave that to people far more qualified than me to say that.) I really wish that we could have great writers like J.D Salinger or T.S Elliot in America's public highschools pop out from the pools of mediocrity and write some really ace shit that's relevant to our lives and dreams but that's just another fantasy of mine.

That's why I believe public highschools should offer more creative writing classes, or replace Sophmore English with a creative writing class so that more teenagers can learn to appreciate expressing themselves through the written word and make writing a creative art once more.

TL;DR: I'd also like to know what other people think of writing or how they go about writing their blogs or journals. I really want to improve my writing (and be able to concentrate and sound coherent while doing it) and I think the best way for me to do it is to receive feedback from readers and other amateur writers.

Yes, I promise that tomorrow I'll write something more interesting. Believe me, I will.