Like Obama....I want change Part 4

Salamu

My Niggas!

For a change I am not writing about an episode in a series that I am currently engrossed in. Yes this means that there some major changes in my life which brings me to today’s topic.

Public Disclaimer: Before I carry on I feel that I have a moral obligation to point out that a lot of people might find this post conceited and very self centered. This is not my intention and I apologize.

How does one know that he/she is going through change? The most obvious sign that change is happening is if you life does a complete 180° or 360° turn. But we all know this. I am talking about the reaction to change.

I have met this girl. Shock and horror right? Well if that’s your reaction you had better sit down because what I am about to tell you next might just give you a cardiac…..she actually likes me. As in really really likes me.

Some people resist change, others embrace it. And while some encourage others to share their positive outlook on change there are equally those who like to forge ahead with their profit of doom mentalities.

To me it’s simple and can be summed up as such: None of us know when change will happen or what hand will guide us there. A King may move a man. That man can also move himself. Remember that howsoever you are played, or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God, you cannot say "but I was told by others to do thus" or that "virtue was not convenient at the time." This will not suffice.

You are all probably sitting there thinking: Is this man going to get to the point before hell freezes over?

Love Mabibi na Mabwana is the great leveler. It will change the very essence of your soul if you allow it. But let me tell you that love is one of the few things in life that humans cannot live without. You can have everything in the world your heart desires. But without love you are nothing.

Every human has the capacity to love, and to be loved. I have gone through my share of heartache. And every time I have asked:  “Is this the end? Have I given all I have to give?” And then unexpectedly, like a leopard stalking its prey, creeping up on it to pounce at the last minute, you feel this overwhelming warmth inside you.

But do you surrender to it like the leopards prey? Or do you let love guide you like the autumn breeze bringing ships into port. Will you let it guide you on a journey of unfathomable beauty and unimaginable joy?

This question is hard because you need to love for the right reasons. For me it was simple… I looked at the girl I had these feelings for and this is what happened.

I liked the way her hair fell around her face. It formed the perfect frame of a picture of beauty the like of which I had never seen before and most likely will never see again. The frame draws attention to her amazing eyes. Eyes that sparkled like the richest purest diamonds; Yet all of the riches in the world cannot compare with looking into those eyes and knowing that no matter if the whole world is against you, one person cares for you.

The sound of her voice settles my soul. It whispers…like the wind blowing over the grassy plains. An inner peace that lets you know that no matter what challenges you face, that voice will bring you home.

I could talk about her touch and her kiss, but if you don’t love the persons soul you are doing an injustice to three important people. The first is God because he made more than just a body, the body is merely the outer personification of a richness that is the purest, most understanding, greatest and rarest beauty on earth. The second person is the object of your affection and the third is yourself.

What can I say about her soul then? A loving heart that knows no bounds, that’s full of inspiration. It lets you know how special you are; a treasure to the nation. Her soul is like that treasure chest, its riches unknown. For all of the gold and silver in the world can never compare with being cared for by her.

If you can look into the eyes of that special person and feel these things, surrender to love. Let the full breeze blow your heart where it will. Because you will have a companion, and the journey will be magical.

Yet there is a growing trend in the world which says that one should be very skeptical about love. The fact that there are so many divorces in the world is because people think that love is a game rather than a journey, they also think that it is easier to throw a broken relationship away rather than work hard to fix it. The fact of the matter is that love (or the process of falling thereof) makes big changes in ones life and the fact that it creeps up on people unexpectedly frankly scares some.

I don’t have the all the answers, I never professed that I did. This is my opinion on the matter, a point of view that needed to be expressed. Now if a person like me, a person who is rather unqualified when it comes to matters of the heart, can realize this. Then why cant those who are experienced realize it? If I can embrace it, why cant you?

Till next time my Niggas!

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!

Last Resort... becoming a disapointment

Salamu

My Niggas!

Before we get started on how disappointed I am with a certain new series let me just say that my theory about Dallas has been disproven. I was hoping to get 100 page views on an article other than that of an FHM top model and how many page views did I get????? 28! So not cool!

Military trained sailors bowing to a despot?
Not believable at all.

A few posts ago I was talking up my excitement about Last Resort which really had the potential to be an awesome series. The original premise of the series was a bit far fetched (blowing up Pakistan and US ships turning on each other) but so was Terra Nova and Alcatraz. Sometimes making a series is like poker...its not the hand that you are dealt but what you do with it that counts.  

Take the last episode of Last Resort. The local despot of Sainte Marina Julian Serrat has three of Cpt Marcus Chaplin's sailors captive and is demanding ransom for them. These three sailors are being guarded by 10 or 15 men. Chaplin has a whole submarine of MILITARY TRAINED sailors at his disposal to go and save the captives, but he opts to leave Serrat to fight another day instead of wiping his existence out completely. A hallmark of a lasting series is to make the events in the series as believable as possible. No sane man with a mini army at his disposal would have done what Chaplin did. 

Perhaps this is why Terra Nova and Alcatraz were cancelled after one season. Because they had the potential to be great and they didn't. Don't be to surprised if Last Resort follows suit. 

We know the popularity of comic book convectors. One just has to look at the ridiculous event known as Comic-Con to see that there are just SO MANY nerds out there who live and breathe off this stuff. Create magical worlds around it. Surely then it would make sense that if you want a successful series, base it on a comic book character.

Ladies and Gentlemen...Mabibi na Mabwana...I present to you....ARROW. 

For those who haven't seen the pilot, the story revolves around a billionaire playboy who's luxury yacht capsizes killing all on board but himself. He then spends five years surviving on an island in the pacific before he is found by some Chinese fishermen. He then goes back to his city and exacts vengeance on all of those who are corrupting the city. 

Sound familiar? Well that's because its the story behind the DC Superhero the Green Arrow . 

Considering how well Person of Interest does and how popular Law & Order and the CSI franchises are, Arrow could be the best new show that has been launched in the US...but time will tell. Watch this space. 

A show with so much potential needs to step up
to the plate. 

Coming back are the boys from Charming....Samrco. I have already stated my love for the series and I am sure it wont disappoint. Season 5 is already 5 episodes in and the dynamic between Jax and Clay will be interesting because Jax wants to lead the club (for obvious reasons revealed in seasons 3 and 4) but he still needs Clay in order to make the deal with the IRA work. 

Also back is Homeland. I was a fan of the first season mainly because I have Arab blood running through my veins and I think that the Arabs do not get a fair shake from the US. Be that as it may the series needs to have some radical changes to make it as good as season 1. A recipe for disaster when it comes to series is making the story line predictable.  The show still portrays all Arabs to be terrorists and only a few Americans to be bad. As we all know this isnt true so what would be interesting is if a person from within Hezbollah or Al Qaeda to give up Abu Nazir. 

Till next time my Niggas!

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!

Testing a theory

Salamu

My Niggas!

As you all will know, I am a very analytical person obsessed with knowing as much as I can about a certain subject. I also like to test certain theories as well as formulate my own theory and test its probability.

So then…this post is going to test a theory. I will explain the theory at the end of the post.

I have written in the past about how I have been taken down memory lane from time to time and I quite enjoyed it. But nothing has given me such a pleasurable trip down memory lane than the latest addition to my latest area of interest…the 2012 continuation of my favorite TV series of all time DALLAS.

Yes it is back and the question had to be asked. Is the 2012 continuation as good as the original series which aired from 1978 to 1991 which included an amazing 357 episodes.

Good Old JR. The most hated man in Texas

In the original series the story centered around Bobby Ewing and good old JR Ewing and their different views on business and how to conduct it. It is like that classical cartoon image of a person sitting down approaching a problem with an angel on his left shoulder giving him good advice and a devil on his right shoulder giving him somewhat questionable advice. Bobby was the angel while JR was the devil.

In the 2012 continuation series the story is centered around John-Ross Ewing III and Christopher Ewing (John Ross III being the son of JR and Christopher the adopted son of Bobby) and like their fathers the son have inherited the same personality traits.

What made the original series so compelling is how bad JR was. You wanted to tune in to see who he has pissed off or who wants to kill him, yet you know deep down inside that Dallas would not be Dallas without him. Another reason why the show was so good was because JR and Bobby were such polar opposites. In the continuation series, John Ross III is bad but not as bad as his daddy. And Christopher is good but not as good as his daddy.

Julie Gonzalo acting like a boss!

I like the 2012 continuation series, but it is unfair to compare it to the original which lasted 13 years. It is. So we have to go to the women to see if they clinch it for me.

In the original series we had Sue Ellen and a number of ladies who played the love interest of Bobby (who is currently on wife number 3 provided he survives the brain tumor that has in him in hospital in the 2012 series. I haven’t got to Episode 10 yet)

Not much can be said for the ladies from the original series from my side because I was a youngster and only concentrated on JR and Bobby. However, the woman in the continuation series are quite something.

The continuation series has Elena Ramos and Rebecca Barns/Ewing/Sutter. In a complete twist from the original series we see how Rebecca has become the snake in the grass that JR was in the past and this was a pleasant surprise. The battle with conscience that she has throughout the series is excellent and the fact that they put it down to her ‘brother’ Tommy up until Episode 10 when she reveals herself as the daughter of the Ewing’s biggest enemy Cliff Barnes is a STROKE OF GENIUS!

Bringing a bit more Latino to Texas. Again...like a boss!

And lets also just say that Jordana Brewster and Julie Gonzalo are much more pleasing on the male eye than Linda Grey and Victoria Principal ever were.

But does this clinch the deal? Do the ladies make the 2012 continuation of Dallas better than the original series? Again it’s a tough one and I am undecided.

So it comes to this my friends. Because I am such a fan of Dallas I am prepared to do this. 

I am in the process of sourcing all of the 14 original seasons as we speak. So…anon…I will have the 357 original episodes. Added to the 10 episodes from the 2012 continuation season I will have 367 episodes of Dallas. That’s an episode a day for a year. For my New Year’s Resolution I will embark on: My Year in Dallas where I will watch an episode a day for a year to settle this debate.

Charline Tilton. No doubt a big reason why
a lot of men watched Dallas

I will give updates during the year and we will touch base in 2014 (assuming we survive the Mayan Apocalypse) for the definitive answer.

Now time for the theory….

When the producers of Dallas got the original cast together for a reunion in 2008, Ken Kercheval said that he was surprised at how much staying power Dallas had when he saw the crowd gathered to participate in the reunion event. So let’s test his theory. We all know that Dallas was popular, and we all know my blog posts about FHM models are more popular than my other posts (thanks to all the dirty bastards out there) so can the fact that I am writing about Dallas mean that I can reach 100 page views on a post not related to an FHM model. Kercheval’s theory says that I will.

Footnote: Notable mention needs to be made to Jordana Brewster for achieving what no other cast member of Dallas could...making it big on the Big Screen (as Mia Toretto in the Fast and Furious franchise) and the small screen. Honorable mention must also go to Charline Tilton and how beautiful she was back in the day. No doubt she was a big reason a lot of men watched the programme. 

Till next time my Niggas!

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!