My Thoughts On Paris And The Refugees (WARNING – SOAPBOX SPEECH AHEAD)

…So, I thought I should go ahead and talk about what happened yesterday, the senseless violence, the terror spread to millions, and the resulting backlash. I’m not gonna go into detail about what happened, but if you’re online, you probably know that, yesterday, there were a number of coordinated attacks on Paris. Last I heard, 129 people were left dead as a result. The current word is that these attacks were orchestrated by ISIS, but I should note that I don’t know that for a fact or if they’ve even claimed responsibility. Maybe they have and I just missed it, or maybe it’s just people looking for someone to blame, but that’s the word making the rounds.

Regardless, I want everyone to know that I feel absolutely horrible for the people of Paris who have had to go through this terrifying event. I’d also like to point out how impressed and proud I am of the worldwide out-pour of support for Paris and France. Several locations had their lights changed to resemble the French flag, including the Sydney Opera House, the One World Trade Center, the Toronto sign at Nathan Phillips Square, and Mexico’s Senado de la República. Myself and SEVERAL others have had our icons and profile pictures on Facebook and Twitter changed to add a filter coloured like the French flag (although, on a dare, I put it over the LGBT filter I’d already had on my Twitter icon, lol). Also, I actually couldn’t help but notice that the song “Do You Hear The People Sing?” from Les Misérables was trending on Twitter. And obviously, I understand why. “It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again”. I think that applies to fear as well, and the desire to not be slaves to fear, to not surrender to it.

All of that is great… … …and then came the people pointing fingers at Muslim refugees in Paris, and I thought “Here we go again”…Well, I thought THAT first. Then I brought up the idea for a picture of Ms. Marvel hugging Asterix (which, if anyone wants to steal that idea, go right ahead), and then I started thinking of The Drumhead, and then finally I decided to spend the rest of the night off of social media. To everyone who has been suggesting that all nations need to close their borders or more attacks like these will happen, I have a couple of things to say. First off, it’s easy for us to point fingers at these people until you actually stop and think for a second and realize that most of them fled their old homes to get away from this exact kind of bullshit. Secondly, speaking of The Drumhead…

As well as…

One of the advantages of being a honking nerd is having access to so many relatable quotes. And he’s not even my favourite Captain in Star Trek. 😛 But yeah, ultimately, that’s the price of freedom. When you give freedom to everyone, you run this risk, that someone with bad intentions could slip through the cracks. However, when you limit freedom to a certain group of people….well, then it’s not really freedom anymore, is it? It’s called being careful and cautious. You can do that and still have freedom, it’s just a matter of finding the right balance. Is this easy? God help us, no. Really, it just comes down to a simple question: Is it worth finding that balance? Me personally, I would say yes. In fact, if I may make an assumption and thus risk making an ass out of myself, I’d say that a lot of people would. Just know that it won’t be an easy endeavour, but that just because it won’t be easy doesn’t mean you should be willing to give up at the first sign of trouble.

…The last thing I wanna say…well, okay, not exactly say, but touch on, is the current situation right now with ISIS, and whether or not this will lead to war. I don’t really have the words to deal with that right now. Fortunately, as I’ve indicated earlier, I know plenty of people who do, one in particular. And, keep in mind, this is not directed at either side of the conflict any more than the other.

Some people ask why I indulge in escapist and speculative fiction. I-I just don’t know what to tell them. lol Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter. Lemme know your own thoughts, although please try to avoid starting a political argument. Above all, however, I hope that you all at least consider my thoughts and opinions on this going forward from here on out. Ja né!

Linkara Headed To Florida For Convention, This Will Not End Well (NOTE – CONTAINS A FICTIONALIZED NEWS ARTICLE)

So apparently, Linkara is headed to Orlando for a convention called Mythicon. This should prove to be quite the event, and as always, I look forward to seeing what comic he decided to review for the live show. But as we were reading this, PinkRangerWannabe and I decided “Wait, wait, there’s a joke to be made here”. And I tweeted most of what we came up with, but I realized a ways in that it was simply too much for a series of tweets to contain, so instead I decided to write it up here. So, while this is a parody of a news article, and therefore you do not have to do this for realsies, kindly imagine yourself downing headache medication, as we we open up the fictional file of…

So let’s get right to the headline that I would piss myself laughing if I found myself reading it…

Tourist Is Arrested After Punching Out Police Officer, Witnesses Claim He Said “You Might Be The Law…BUT I AM A MAN!”

“Orlando police responded to a disturbance at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant located on Colonial Drive, apparently started by a tourist from Minnesota who had traveled down to Orlando for the upcoming Mythicon convention. The accused was said to have been demanding free chicken tenders after a teenager working in the kitchen got his order wrong. A yelling match and a fist fight lead to an employee calling the police. The man is said to have been threatening to unleash an army of Cybermats, a fictional insect-like cyborg from the popular British television series, Doctor Who. Said Cybermats turned out to be plushies, which the Minnesotan made himself, that several women on the force have decided to ‘confiscate’.”

Oh wait, people, it gets better. “The man was apprehended and taken into custody, but became violent again after kicking over a lamp at the OPD. When asked why he did this, he proceeded to simply grumble to himself about the shape and colouring of said lamp, and refused to comment further. After failed attempts at questioning him, the Minnesotan was placed in a jail cell, following a phone call and a request for reading material. 4 hours later, a man who looked surprisingly similar to the arrested man arrived to provide bail, but had to be detained as well because he had brought a tommy gun into the police department. Both men were forced to remain at the OPD until the next morning, when they were bailed out by the first man’s mother and what appeared to be a blue robot made out of cardboard.”

…Yeah, Lewis is gonna murder me for this one. XD Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first ever fictionalized Tale of Dumbassery, and lemme know if this is something I should ever try again. Ja né!

The Truth About Me And Doctor Who – Is this Normal???

Okay, here’s the thing you guys: I do not watch Doctor Who. At all. I’ve watched ONE episode. That’s all. I have not been able to bring myself to watch another episode. Why? I DON’T KNOW! I have zero problems with the show, I honestly think it’s a great show. I’ve read a bunch about it, I’ve watched clips of it, I’ve even watched SF Debris’ reviews of the show, and I just cannot get into it and I cannot possibly explain WHY.

Now I’m aware of how unorthodox this is. BELIEVE ME, I know. I’ve never had such a problem getting involved in a series that looked so good to me. EVER. Now, anybody else that really and truly loves this show and watches it every episode, GREAT! That’s wonderful! I encourage anyone that wants to watch the show to do so. I also encourage anyone who is interested in getting into the show to watch SF Debris’ Doctor Who 101 video. It addresses nearly every question newbies to the show might have and gives recommendations for episodes to start off at.

The only thing I ask of anyone who watches the show or is going to be watching the show is as follows: Until I say otherwise, DO NOT ask what I think of the show, because my opinion of it and my own personal status as far as what I’ve watched of it is as I just declared. Do not try to encourage/force/etc. me to watch the show, I’m already trying (and failing) to do that to myself. That is all. Ja né.

Jyger’s Rant – The Semi-Final Frontier Review

Well, it took forever, but I finally got around to reviewing the Pokémon anime‘s equivalent to One More Day, not on a level of how bad it is, but on the level of how much it pissed me off as a long-time fan. Also, I feel the need to warn viewers this is rated TV-14 for the use of some more colourful four-lettered metaphors, so to speak. ^_^

Images are from Pokémon, music is from Doctor Who, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and as always, Heads Up Hearts Down by I Fight Dragons. And a very special thanks to http://so-shipsahoy.deviantart.com/ for the awesome title card. ^_^

Jyger’s Rant – Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym

A two-part look at Dazzling The Nimbasa Gym. Was split in half due to it being over 10 minutes long. Oh, I also cover one other bizarre fact l hadn’t realised in time for my last video. Also, remember to watch past the credits for a funny bit I felt I needed to do, as well as talking about the next video I’ll be doing.

New personal goal in life: To someday see #AshKetchumIsDoctorWho trending on Twitter. lol