Someone Better : On Martial Arts & Cynicism

I started practicing martial arts exactly ten years ago, in May of 2003. Back then, I was a frustrated young man with longings I couldn't quite understand. Maybe it's cliché, but after reading the iconic FIGHT CLUB, by Chuck Palahniuk, I felt an irrepressible urge to confront my own powerlessness. Back then, an unknown company named ZUFFA LLC had just bought the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a precise goal in mind. They wanted to revolutionize sports entertainment and create the superbowl of mixed martial arts and hell, they did.

Ten years later, the UFC is on cable television several times a month, it has come to my city six times, has won over millions of fans across the world and changed several thousand of lives, a bit like it changed mine. That should make me happy, but it doesn't. The more mainstream recognition mixed martial arts are getting, the more miserable I seem to be. I have become a bitter, cynical jerk at the gym and it haunted me for the longest time. Today, I'm ready to talk about it. Ten years after confronting my powerlessness, I'm ready to confront my cynicism.

Book Review : Alex Garland - The Beach (1997)

Order THE BEACH here

I lit my second cigarette of the day, not wanting it, just feeling it was the right thing to do.

Here is a great example of how a teenager thinks. I never watched the movie adaptation of THE BEACH, featuring teenage heartthrob of then Leonardo Di Caprio and my reasons had nothing artistic or righteous. I just figured that since it was called a disappointment after ROMEO + JULIET and TITANIC, it must've been pretty painful since my angsty, tweener self disliked the first two. Of course, I didn't know anything about Danny Boyle then and it's not before perennial favorite of mine Chuck Klosterman, dropped Alex Garland's name in interview that I knew it was a novel. So yeah, because I was young and stupid, I ignored the existence of the preternaturally gifted British writer. So put that in your pipe, YA writers who love soulful teens. Put it in your pipe, smoke it and read THE BEACH, because it's wicked.

James Brown - Living in America

If you don't like James Brown, you're evil. Not only he was the Godfather of Soul, but he was one of the tightest performers of his era. When listening to his live album, it's sometimes difficult to pinpoint if it's live or not, if you don't hear clapping in between the songs. Brown's music has put people in a good mood for several generations now. I chose LIVING IN AMERICA for you today, because James Brown and Sylvester Stallone is like deep-fried, bacon stuffed chicken nuggets, it's foreseeable, but it's almost too good to be true. They collaborated only once, for ROCKY IV but what a collaboration it was. Apollo Creed never looked so cool than when dancing to The Godfather of Soul. Too bad he didn't perform very well that day. But anyway, let James Brown enliven your Sunday. Just don't confront large Russian, Communism-engineered men.

Book Review : Joe Clifford - Choice Cuts (2012)

Order CHOICE CUTS here

The telephone ringing didn't wake Tom Hazuka. He wasn't asleep. He wasn't awake either. Blackouts are like that.

 There are two kinds of short story collections: those where the stories interconnect to create a fictional universe and those who are a greatest hits of an author's published shorts. CHOICE CUTS, as the title subtly hints, is the latter type. There are a few challenges in giving a fair review to these. Gathered stories collections have been written over several years and are often very different from one another. Some stories in CHOICE CUTS are so different, they don't seem to have been written by the same guy. But when Joe Clifford knocks it out of the park, he knocks it out of the park. Not every story pulsed with the quiet, understated humanity Clifford is capable of showing, but those who do will stay with you.

The Michael Scofield Appreciation Society

Last week, something amazing happened. Josie and I were watching Episode 21 of PRISON BREAK, where they actually break out of prison (read the series title again if you're about to accuse me of spoilers) and when came the actual breakout scene, tension ran so high, I coiled up and finished watching the episode on my feet. Josie walked out of the living room two or three times saying: "It's too tense, I can't watch. I can't watch." I don't get this kind of emotional reaction much anymore when watching television. To me, when you're able to make your audience react this way, it's some ultimate artistic victory.

How did that happen, though? Michael Scofield is one of those idealized protagonists, which I just riled against last Friday. He's an engineer. He's smart, witty, cultured and incredibly sexy. He can McGuyver his way out of every situation due to his powerful intellect and his incredible courage. Show creator Paul Scheuring wrote his to be an object of absolute desire. What does Michael Scofield has, that another idealized character like Jack Reacher doesn't? When you get into the teeth of the question, you'll find a lot of thing (warning, possible spoilers ahead).