Saturday

Would You Lazy Criminals Please Ratchet It Up So I Can Get To Work?


Predator Press

[LOBO]

I was in a heightened state of agitation with America well before details of America's PRISM program got leaked.  How many heroic and lucrative speed traps have you seen over the past ten years while those three little girls remained prisoners of Ariel Casto?  Why is Chicago, bankrupt and infested with murderous gang members, preoccupied with an effort to ban plastic bags?  What the Hell is going on here?  If I wrote this as a fiction story a month ago, anyone that read it would consider it paranoid and laughable -a bizarre alternate universe where Amanda Bynes is in charge. Every time I see Air Force One land, I half expect an impossible number of clowns to tumble out.

Everything comes down to money.  There's no revenue in busting up meth labs, solving crimes, and protecting American Society.  Sure those "real" criminals -seriously dangerous threats- might have a few bucks to confiscate, but that's a one-shot deal.  Then you would have to incarcerate them, something expensive in itself.  It's much more prudent to harvest us as we hurry to get to our jobs to pay taxes and fund this whole Ponzi scheme.  We have credit cards and mortgages, something at stake.  It's very clever if you think about it: you don't kill a cow to get milk.

-We hired a security team to fuck with ourselves?

A Long Time Ago On An Armchair Far, Far Away ...

 
Predator Press

[LOBO]

Like any other Star Wars fan, I have been "chasing the dragon" for another good movie since The Empire Strikes Back.  And in anticipation of my next "fix," I find myself occasionally tracking news on the next film.

Plot rumors aside I know Disney purchased the franchise, and this move has come with mixed reviews from die hard fans.  But I'm fine with that personally.  Disney is a class act.  And if you dig into Disney's food chain deep enough, you'll find Quentin Tarantino; Disney is perfectly capable of delivering a darker vehicle than the fluff we have been getting for decades.

I have also confirmed the production company Bad Robot -whose resume includes little-known projects such as Cloverfield and Lost- is onboard.  Toss in J.J. Abrams, and I am growing cautiously optimistic.  And as a recovering Star Wars-oholic on my 9th step ("Making Amends"), I have George Lucas on speed dial.

But as for my next injection of the saga, I'm not exactly tying the rubber strap to my upper arm just yet.  The problem with the series evolution as it stands, in my opinion, is centered around a failure in character development, and -perhaps even moreover- casting.  The serendipitous and captivating personalities developed by Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, et cetera, have given way to unwarranted celebrity cameos.  If you recall, even the beloved and cantankerous Millennium Falcon had a personality ... but everyone since that original cast might as well be wearing "good guy" and "bad guy" nametags.  We need more character complexity and nuance; no one has been particularly memorable -at least not in a good way.  Perhaps this is an unwanted byproduct of playing against a blue screen instead of using actual sets.

And speaking of that, I also want the original "feel," back.  It's too polished now, sort of devolving into a CGI special effects catalog.  It was better when the universe of Star Wars seemed like a rental apartment -the Matrix-esque gloss is inescapable.  I like that the ships and droids looked all banged up.  People looked tired and well-worn.  It was a used, "lived in" universe, simultaneously textured with haggard decline and rebirth in random patches.  Like real life.

Ironically, technology seems to have made Star Wars lose its soul.

Friday

On This Day In Predator Press History


Predator Press

[LOBO]

On August 25, 1980, while General Zod made his play for control of the Earth, I wore down Ursa's morale by covering her MySpace with anonymous obscenities and slanderous allegations about her sexual proclivities; General Zod had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and this undermined his entire military effort.

Thanks to me (and a small supporting role by Superman), Zod, his "army," and his hairline were all soon receding into the furthest reaches of outer space.

And can you really be a "general" if your entire army is only three people?

-Pthbttt. As if!

Could Jesus Take Mike Tyson?




Predator Press

[LOBO]

Once again, at no small expense to you, we here at Predator Press have set out to settle an age-old question burning in everyone’s mind: Could Jesus take Mike Tyson?





Records:

“Iron” Mike Tyson: First heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold (and only Heavyweight to individually unify) the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.





Jesus Christ: Messiah, King of Kings, Lamb of God.




Advantage: Jesus


Weight:

We’re going to make the assumption that both competitors are in their prime. This means that Tyson, a heavyweight at 220 pounds, might have an edge on our rock-ribbed Messiah who is oft depicted as being on the lighter end of the weight class spectrum and could walk on water. Minus definitive height information, we’re going to call JC a welterweight.

But larger size comes at the expense of energy and speed. JC’s leaner build makes him more efficient. If JC could avoid any serious blows in the first few rounds, Tyson would likely have expended himself physically fairly early on. Couple this strategy with JC consistently working the body, and over a long enough timeline Tyson’s condition would diminish, making him vulnerable in later rounds.

Advantage: Jesus


Speed:

There’s no real need to mince about on this one. Tyson won his first 19 fights by knockout, and 14 of those were knockouts in the first round. However according to the Bible, Jesus moonlights from his Messiah gig as a prophet; thus, no matter how fast Tyson is, JC is going to be way ahead, anticipating where and when to block, dodge, and counterpunch.

Advantage: Jesus


Intangibles:

While there’s technically nothing in official boxing rules regarding torrents of frogs and plagues of locusts, one must factor in potential supernatural activities including interference by JC’s Dad.  God, while often taking a “hands off” approach to parenting, has also historically demonstrated Himself to be ill-tempered [see Sodom, Gomorrah]. In fact if the fight is to occur in Las Vegas, I am simply going to watch it on Pay-Per-View.

Other troublesome considerations are JC’s pacifist nature and tendency to “turn the other cheek,” something Tyson would most certainly exploit. Countering this, however, is JC’s ability to heal: JC was often cited for curing disease, blindness, et cetera.  But it is unclear whether he could use this ability on himself.  Would boxing gloves create an insulation rendering the “Laying on Hands” impossible? Or worse, what if Tyson is being healed by every blow, or sheer or proximity?

Advantage: Jesus