Ongoing Writing

Poetry

Tunica Uplift

Stars stirred insolence in his peers

Long ago in covens of gifted children.

Rusfi mounted a campaign of gender segregation,

Envious of the young Temple acolyte's adoring but misguided followers.

Sad dreams of my youth vanished with my respect.

Youths only grow and learn kindness through the years.

Hordes of little monsters teach lessons.

Pounds and shyness are not about money and lack of it in school lunchrooms.

Forged and “forget” do not mix well together,

But fortune favors the fictionalist.

Just ask one.

They are known for their honesty

And excellent vocabularies.

Lake Salvadore

Veteran assassin male models assigned, two vetting paparazzi stir as women test their vows of self inflicted fame and chastity, two others succumb to endless lenses, dreams of freedom shatter faith in fame, employers premier cinema monstroso, waves of roiling violence inflicted by faceless people on each other, each character more uniquely anonymous than the last, average becomes par excellence in warfare... until everyone knows every other useless asshole, and some kid studying economics quivers with disgust at the genres grotesque success, vies with the best of all revolutionaries: promises God she will end all killing on Earth, and does so with the power of pussy.

Poverty Point

Privacy was a sweet dream

Problematic only in the accompanying absolute solitude.

The lonely north wind protested,

And thousands died over time.

Paid with the sweat of labor

Zen earthworks ensured only names be forgotten

And only the lazy, the broken, knew why the summer sky knew no mercy.

Tis always summer somewhere.

The Snows only fell from person

To person.

PTA Blacklisted

The Lesbian Admiration Society's self-appointed President

Was crushed when he found out lesbians almost exclusively

Satisfy their sexual appetites with women.

Undaunted he set out to find the few

Defying that norm.

Further setbacks came

As he learned about the norm.

He decided it didn't matter he wasn't.

Roissy

Born in the Year of Our Lord Way-Too-Soon-for-the-Never-that-Should-Have-Been

Judged based on appearances, presupposition and quarter truths

Widely known, but never acknowledged, a half-assed but effective modern shunning:

Cast out of society's good graces.

Further judgement heaped on based on the original de facto lies,

Died in God's good graces,

Doomed to historical infamy by those who never know what they do...

Sounds like a character from a book.

He sounds downright Dickensian.

The stubborn mule,

He probably thought everything would work itself out,

Like in the Bible.

The stench of introverted naivete,

One can almost taste it,

And if so

One has smelled that thing of the pit at work.

He either never existed

Or fit the tune so perfectly

The innocents weep because they know.

St. Thomas Moore

Would the real dinobot please admit to binodottery?

Everyone knows.

Jackson

The tumultuous hubbub of imagined human reactions.

One would do well

Never to also imagine true knowledge lies therein.

Lottie

Heart of the dangerous tides:

Secret societies tethered talk to only concrete communication, by necessity .

Indignant miscreants floundered seeking proof

That auditory hallucinations and artsy salon tall tales

Dwarf reality.

Why not Gimli's brethren too?

One may have met one of these poor lost souls,

Back in the day.

They mostly played folk.

Leave it to old school punk

To get them all committed.

The miscreants never stood a chance.

Tolkien followers, by contrast

Are admired far and wide

As well grounded.

Legend Hickory

I left my father's company, seeking a path to free us both, we the free. If anything is to be believed, that man can not die. My grandmother said I killed him. She must not have seen the scene, the curvature of the redirection, my cold, calculating eyes that already cried out every drop of fluid from my body at that funeral. But my brother, for him I still bear the weight of a river, one I surely will never weep, for legends only become stronger if the bough breaks, and the tree is mighty and never stops growing.

We were on the front line of a war we will always have already won, tho' still as dangerous,the way of the gun. He stayed in the battle so long time lost all meaning. It was always the same battle, always the same war; unusual for soldiers, nothing less to be expected by and from a true warrior. The whistle blew at my behest, and that burden will rest on my shoulders for all time, for it cast aspersions if seen from the outside. The truth... well, this is through.

Convictions

At the age of 30 this author made the hastiest and most foolhardy decision of his life. The choice of a pseudonym would not seem to most a dangerous thing, and in truth it is not. The pseudonym itself hurts nothing. I chose one referencing the most unspeakable of things in order to display my strength of faith. It was a selfish and prideful thing to do. I decided it would be a great landmine for the weak of faith and those predisposed to walk the path of darkness. I did not consider how the pseudonym might impact those who were not meant to read the work – the young. I can only attempt to make amends. There is no way to take it back now.

I did not remove my name from the copyrights; I merely needed something to call the site. The entire debacle created a strongly negative vibe. I found that odd considering the site had only seen a few dozen visitors. Site meters, until only recently, showed an incredibly low level of traffic. The numbers lied. Eventually using “lesser...” as a pseudonym seemed a prudent idea. The atmosphere of neo-conservative religious extremism made open copyrights dangerous.

I will forever be grateful to the marine biologist who received his PhD after naming a devil ray manta the “lesserdevil manta ray.” [Apologies if I made an incorrect reference to that fauna].

Movie Reviews

Souten Kouro

Souten Kouro at first struck me as ungracefully directed, although there was nothing I could put my finger on immediately. Later on in the series the horse riding sequences made me somewhat motion sick; they did get the point across. The art also came across as a bit odd. My strange reaction later metamorphosed into admiration. I decided the style was merely reminiscent of Stan Kirby in a Bizarro World fashion. It's the only one of 20 anime series I watched in the last 3 months that I watched every episode of 3 times.

The plot bordered on mind bogglingly addictive. In a strange coincidence I watched The Lost Bladesman only a couple of days before Souten Kouro. They both treat the subject of the Five Empire Era in China. The primary character of the series is Cao Cao. If one comes to admire the character, unsurprisingly the series becomes incredibly enjoyable.

[review unfinished - exact character names yet to be retrieved]

Bodyguards and Assassins

I hate the idea of writing a half ass review of this movie, but I may not be able to do it the justice it deserves (actor's list unavailable). I also do not want to give out any spoilers, although anyone educated in history will know most of the details already. It was so brilliant I have now watched it around 7 times, and I actually paid attention to it. The movie has political ideals at its heart and soul, and the action sequences are top notch. Before I go into the finer points of the movie I'd like to say that I think it is the Hong Koing equivalent of The Wild Bunch, although the subject matter is absolutely dissimilar. However, I only cried like a baby once when watching The Wild Bunch; I cried at least 3 times, but sometimes 5, when I watched this movie. The self-sacrifice and heroism in the pursuit of democracy becomes so tangible, and the characters were played so well, that there is simply no way to watch the movie without being moved.

The arrival of Sun Yat Sen aka Sun Wen in British Hong Kong in 1906 triggered a huge assassination effort on the part of the Qing Dynasty. Cixi sends assassin General Yan Xiao-guo to Hong Kong to kill the doctor, who was organizing a multi-province rebellion. Sun Wen does not receive a full characterization in the film (probably because he really does not need one), but Yan Xiao-guo does. Sun Wen gives his definition of revolution as the blood spilled by all the people in support of it, and the General does a great deal to spill that blood. He showed more passion in his ideals than Sun Wen , but Chen Xiao-bai and Li Chong-guang are bursting at the seems with their dream of bringing krautein (Greek for “rule by the people”) to their homeland.

[Spoiler Alert]

The initial stage of the film dealt with Chen Xiao-Bai preparing for Sun Wen to arrive, meeting with his closest friend Li Yu-tang, one of the wealthiest men in Hong Kong and father of Li Chong-guang, and former Chinese General Fang. The General ran an opera house with his daughter Hong. His thirty surviving men of 300, who fled Tientsin also work there. Xiao-guo's assassins arrived and killed all but two of those people. Chen Xiao-bai and Fang Hong escaped death. General Fang knocked his daughter unconscious and threw her out a window, and Chen Xiao-bai was taken prisoner.

[Super Spoiler Alert]

The vast majority of the movie was spent, more than the last half, on the trip from the pier where Sun Wen landed, to a meeting with delegates from the 13 provinces of China. The people who provide security for Dr. Sun died one by one for a decoy rickshaw convoy. A man in the movie who experienced great personal grief and suffering, Master Liu Yu-bai, died, singlehandedly staving off around 12 men. And finally, Li Chong-guang died acting as Dr. Sun's decoy. Every death is heroic, and every character like a good friend you have just become happy to know, only to have them yanked away.

If you do not get this movie you did not pay attention. You maybe expected kung fu fighting thrills and chills. Maybe you wanted large breasted women wearing bikinis. This was a great movie though.

Ip Man 2

Ip Man taught Bruce Lee wing chun kung fu beginning at a very early age, just to enlighten those who might think this is about some random kung fu master or that this is an average kung fu movie. That little piece of history is fine and dandy, but the incredible power and beauty of the story (if including the historical events treated by the first film) has nothing to do with that. This is the story of a martial arts instructor who struggled against poverty, against cultural oppression and racism and even against some in the Hong Kong martial arts teaching guild. I watched the movie a couple of times before I ever reached the part where young Bruce Lee marched in to Ip Man's place to demand martial arts instruction “so that [he could] beat people up;” that fact adds luster to a small chunk of a man's biography. That biography should never be forgotten even in the West, but especially not in the east, should anyone be inclined be remiss in honoring Ip Man's name.

There were numerous dynamic principles that this movie sought to instill in the viewer. The first and foremost is that reaching solutions to dispute through peace is always superior to the use of violence. The best way to win is not to fight at all. Another principle, though one which goes unstated, stands like a rock: Through patience and virtue all obstacles can be overcome. With his wife pregnant and no money for rent, Ip Man remained steadfast and God found a way for him to get through.

It may not be considered a principle, but the old adage that fast enemies become long time friends appears in this film. There are many who can look to their past and reminisce about a friendship that began in conflict. What I learned from this movie is that no matter how egregious one may insult you unjustly, remain respectful. Your opponent may have felt the same way about your behavior. If one remains respectful, then it will bring out the honor and respectfulness of one's opponent.

There are several small lessons the movie sought to impart, and they should be common sense. Many people do not have common sense though, so listing a couple won't hurt. In the face of overwhelming odds, and armed with weapons, run. Another lesson, though not small it was presented deftly and in a brief fashion: Never leave work for your pregnant spouse that you can do for yourself.

Having learned about Bruce Lee's jeetkun-do, “the way of the intercepting fist,” it was eye opening to learn the original ideas in wing chun. Wing chun is the southern art of close combat fighting from Foshan. The primary principle of wing chun is defend and attack, to take an opponent out of the action as quickly as possible. Really I have applied too many words to this review. Just watch it, and perhaps learn it from Sem-shi Lin if possible.

[SPOI:LER ALERT]

A healthy percentage of the movie dealt with a Chinese-Western boxing match. The British were portrayed as largely racist. I personally believe it was true, although there are apologist and revisionist historians who will always dispute historical truth. After defeating the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Ip Man spoke of both cultures learning to find respect for one another, and said, “No man's integrity is worth more than another's.” After all of the disrespect and nastiness hurled at Chinese martial arts by the Hong Kong British, Ip Man still sought to bride the gap between their differences. After all, there can be no other explanation for such behavior than ignorance. He knew that, and so should everyone in today's world. This is a universal lesson that applies to all cultural exchanges the world over.

I can not recommend this movie highly enough.

Crook

I don't have a lot to say about this movie. I really liked it. It took a look at corruption of all kinds. The integrity of the armed gang that patrols the streets of the United States and Canada came under intense scrutiny, at least one tiny facet of it. And the film had an awesome twist that probably would not have worked with any other leading actor.

Adam Beech did a top notch acting role. As I understand it, in real life, the man is highly educated, and the well being of his family occupies all his attention. The character he plays seems to have nothing to live for, and has been educated only in the tricks of criminality. He plays Russian roulette for money, never flinches and like Jack Daniels. It seemed like a good acting role to me, but then he may be a sotne cold gangster who is thugged “out.” Leah Gibson

was herself - deadly clever and beautiful. Unfortunately the role did not develop Tricky to the extent that it should have. The conversation between Gibson and Beech in the car went a long way to thickening the characterizations, but it would have been nice if the movie had been longer and there had been more such scenes. The role of William Weaver also stood out; the man simply dripped with a number of kinds of corruption: Corruption of sexual innocence, political corruption and corruption of the legal system. His described taste for sexual deviation probably disturbed viewers more than his other corruptions.

The movie had a lot of drawbacks. There were believability issues in the plot, toward the end, that suspension of disbelief could not cover. A larger budget could have allowed for more expensive real backdrops and better cinematography of Ottawa. When I watch a movie set in a different country I usually really want to get a feel for what the place looks like.

I had this movie on loop for a while. It was the only English speaking movie I had.