My picks for Gen I: The good, bad and the standouts

Here is my list of Pokémon from Gen I, in no particular order that I like, dislike or stood out to me then and now.

Venusaur

Venusaur is the Gen I starter that I feel is overlooked and underrated, compared to its counterparts. It doesn’t help that its game wasn’t released outside Japan and it took the remake for it to get some recognition, but even then, everyone was going on about how it’s FireRed and LeafGreen and not FireRed and WaterBlue. Ignorant masses. Now, it’s definitely the go-to Pokémon for a less experienced player, taking out Brock, Misty and resisting Lt. Surge. Even though there are a slew of other Grass/Poison Pokémon out to find in the games, you can still use it for an early headstart. 

Beedrill

Beedrill is cool. It’s a giant wasp with spears on its arms. Self-explanatory. I was mad when I couldn’t get one in Yellow, but ecstatic when I could get one in the remakes. Yellow Version was the go-to version for everyone because it followed the anime, but for me it was just a restrictive version that couldn’t let me get Beedrill. Butterfree got outclassed early on, but the same would apply for Beedrill.

Fearow

I mentioned in the Pokémon Retrospective part 1 that I raised one from a Spearow. I liked it more than Pidgey, who took longer to evolve fully, and it was also a piece of the puzzle that would relate to another favorite, one that still has a fair niche but was just a foolish pick to use overall. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, well….

 Farfetch’d

This Pokémon is based on a legend of a duck that gives itself up willingly to be eaten, the spring onion being an indicator as an ingredient. In Pokémon, it’s a samurai-like being, using the leek as a sword. It doesn’t pick just any leek, like a samurai won’t pick just any blade. Now, the concept is beyond awesome. But, as a battler, it falls under. The leek it uses can be used as a hold item, boosting its critical hit chance, and it’s got some good moves under it, more than some Pokémon who actually have better stats. It still has a place on my list, using one as a Flyer in X.

Raichu

Pikachu is everyone’s favorite mascot and yellow rat, and Pichu has the cute factor going on for it, but what about Raichu? No one likes Raichu, even GameFreak seems to snub it. It doesn’t help the anime pushed Raichu as an antagonist with Lt. Surge and making it look like it was slower than Pikachu, when it was the opposite. Unless you’re holding a Light Ball, you have no reason not to use Raichu. Its stats are better, and all the moves its previous form learns from all the events and dickstroking can be kept when it evolves.

Nidoqueen/king

These two are the basis for what would be genders and breeding.  Nidoqueen and Nidoking are more or less the same thing, some slight stat adjustments aside. A lot of people use Nidoking, and seldom Nidoqueen. It doesn’t help that it and Nidorina can’t breed for whatever reason. Nonetheless, they have enough to get a mention from me, having a wide movepool and a lot of flexibility. Plus, Nidoking’s cry was awesome.

Wigglytuff

I like Wigglytuff. It’s a nice HP tank with some moves here and there. No disrespect to its pre-evo. In fact, a mention to Jigglypuff. It was a main recurring Pokémon in the anime, and it got a spot in Super Smash Bros. as a result, still standing in its spot to this day. The line became partially Fairy-type in Gen VI, keeping it somewhat relevant, but it still gets overlooked by Clefable.

Vileplume

I adore Vileplume. It may be my favorite Gen I Grass-type. One, its cry. Two, it’s based on one of the coolest flowers known to man. Third, it’s the better alternative to Bellossom. Defensive and Grass-type don’t mix. At least I have a shiny Oddish I can use for it instead of a Vileplume.

Venomoth

One of the more viable bugs of the earlier days, it had access to better stats and moves, and was known for being one of the earliest stallers in the game, using Poisonpowder and Disable. A comic with Lance’s Dragonite summarizes this best. 

Source: No idea

 In the later gens it gets access to actual STAB moves with clout and some decent abilities here and there. Still not a fantastic Pokémon, but still above a lot of others.

Arcanine

A Fire-type with a lot of viability and one that could be obtained fairly early on if you didn’t have Charmander.  It was also a Pokémon Green used in your final battle against him. Cower at the might of its Ember and Leer attacks!

Source: Bulbapedia

 …This is what defined most of your opponents in Gen I. And I’m not gonna go over the rest of his team. Lemme just say that there have been RPG’s that were just as buggy and unbalanced as Pokémon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow and they were called out for it. But enough of the nostalgia bashing.

Poliwhirl/wrath

I just love these two. I’ve always been a fan of amphibians and reptiles. In addition, Poliwhirl is also Satoshi Tajiri’s favorite Pokémon, and it was very prominent in merchandise. I had a plush with some candy in a zip pouch. Same line featured Jigglypuff, also a favorite plush. It’s also a viable Pokémon to train, benefitting from the defense EV’s that Graveler give out at Iron Island. I even kept a second Poliwhirl for the hell of it.

Machamp

I remember when I got one with No Guard in Platinum, and it wrecked ass.  It looked intimidating in the anime, facing off against Ash’s Squirtle. However, it along with Alakazam, Golem and Gengar were Pokémon I couldn’t get back then. So much for the trading aspect. Machoke was more prominent, though with Pokken giving its evolution a main spot in the limelight, that’ll change.

Victreebel

Another Grass/Poison-type. What makes it stand out from the rest? The anime. Any Pokémon that appeared in the anime prominently was popular. Except for Lickitung. It was so boring it got traded in season 2. Even the directors knew that one was unsalvageable until Gen IV. It’s cool overall, but the lack of variety in Grass-types in Gen I shows. It had a low movepool.

Tentacruel

I found myself being attracted to non-mammalian Pokémon. Fish, jellyfish, frogs, reptiles, bugs, I liked those more than dogs, cats and bunnies. I loved my beige hamster, Beige though.  It had a good amount of Special in Gen I, and being the Poison-type gave it another edge defensively. That said, it couldn’t match Alakazam and the Psychic Syndicate.

Golem

You saw it in the anime a fair amount of times, but you didn’t see it in the games owned by a trainer. Even Bruno lacked one and went for another Onix. And this was when you had enough Fighting-types to fill a whole team. And it was a rock turtle. Outside of the concept and design, it’s not worth using. A lot of these Pokémon were just for picking. Battling, most of them fill a small niche, even then. You had to pick a favorite and go with it.

Slowbro

I like Slowbro. Not then, but now. It was just that silly Pokémon that fished with its tail and stood upright afterward. It was a Psychic-type, so if you used it, you were in the clear, after you got hit by an Electric-type.

Muk

I mentioned Muk was one of the very first Pokémon I saw. As a Pokémon itself, it was another thing that appealed to me: slime or goop. I loved playing with the slime found in bubblegum machines in the supermarkets. It still has its niche and appeal to me. The anime made it look invincible, though it never fought a Psychic-type, and it ended up losing anyway.

Cloyster

This bastard has some of the highest defense in the game. And that sneer is just amazing. Plus, it was one of the few Ice-types at the time. At least it had that high defense to boast. Articuno was hard to obtain, Dewgong is boring and Jynx was easily missable. So, catch a Shellder and evolve it. I never tried to raise bivalves.

Haunter

The only Ghost-type I could use, and the only one the lonely kid got to use. At the time, I wasn’t missing much. The only reason you used half if not two/thirds of Gen I was because you liked them. Most of them weren’t worth using until Gen II or Gen IV with its physical/special split. But, even Gen I’s lowest of the low still stood above Gen II’s roster, which I’ll touch upon soon. Now, its evo Gengar has a lot of viability, and it only took three gens.

Hypno

The posterboy for any rape or hypnotism subjects relating to Pokémon. It doesn’t help that in Mystery Dungeon, it kidnapped an Azurill. It’s another Pokémon that stood under Alakazam and Mewtwo.  Again, lack of moves.

Kingler

I love crabs and seafood. Put two and two together. Unfortunately, it had no viability due to its absolutely poor special stat. Again, what can I say? The anime made these Pokémon better than they really were. It took Gen IV to make a lot of Pokémon worth using.

Electrode

A shame how the anime made Electrode nothing more than an expendable Pokémon. At least it had a massively high speed stat, and dealt critical hits like crazy. Just don’t use that Thunderbolt TM on someone else. You see how this whole thing works out? You couldn’t trade items then. You had to find six Pokémon you were going to use and stick with them exclusively. You rarely had the option to swap anyone else out. The TM’s that you could buy were trash, and only a few Pokémon could utilize Hyper Beam. HM’s were a godsend if you were a Flying or a Water-type with good attack and special respectively.

Marowak

Its Pokedex entries were cool. It has its own graveyard where it gets top-quality bones and it stopped taking shit when it started to collect bones. It also had exclusive moves that it could actually utilize. Now it wasn’t one of the best Pokémon, but you could still use it. That’s more than could be said for it than Kingler and Hitmonchan, and we’re gonna go right to it.

Hitmonchan

I’m skipping Hitmonlee so I can trash the shit out of its counterpart. I picked Hitmonchan. It was a boxer, it knew a slew of punching moves, including Fire/Ice/Thunderpunch. Amazing, right? The minute I used Fire Punch, I learned how the special stat worked.  It doesn’t even learn any good Fighting moves. Hitmonlee at least learned STAB moves. Hell, it had four signature moves to its name. The only reason you’re using Hitmonchan is for the novelty. And Pokémon Red/Blue may as well have been a novelty at the time. Comet Punch sucked, too.

Rhydon

Technically the very first Pokémon created, predating to Capsule Monsters. It hasn’t changed much. Rhydon is one of those Pokémon that you can use to its full potential and not worry about evolving it. No disrespect to Rhyperior, I love it just as much and will defend it fiercely.  And it also featured in another bullshit moment in the anime, having its horn become the weak point to attack. All of this cool shit the anime did and the games didn’t attempt. It also got its design rehashed with the Nidos and our next contender…

Kangaskhan

It took until Gen IV for me to appreciate it. A nice bulky Pokémon with good speed and attack and mainly normal moves. And it works. You had to go through a hassle and a half to get it from the Safari Zone, but when you got it, it was all worth it. Simple, no gimmicks and a good signature move. The baby finally got its moment in Gen VI.

Starmie

Starmie is a weird one. It’s a Psychic-type, but learns no Psychic moves. And its Pokedex entries suggest it may not even be from Earth. But despite its lacking movepool, it has access to moves galore, one being Thunderbolt. I can’t even tell if its body is flesh or some type of hard material. You can get one as soon as you catch Staryu, even it doesn’t have too many moves to learn.

Scyther

This was the second bug worth using in Gen I, and even then it had no moves. Yellow had to salvage it slightly. It had good attack and speed, but no moves. Scizor was needed, just so it could show off its Steel-typing . Gen I had an obsession with reptiles, as this is a mantis, and Kangaskhan is a kangaroo. I want a proper kangaroo still.

Jynx

I touched upon Jynx in part 1 of my Pokémon retrospective, but I’m gonna do it again: Carole Boston Weatherford, you ruined one of my favorite Pokémon. Not for the design, but for its potential. It had a triangle with Magmar and Electabuzz, symbolized with its pre-evos lined up in the same position and order. It could have gotten a trade evo. Now it’s the poster child for black mammy, Nicki Minaj and ghetto girl jokes. If they copout with a Mega-evo, I’m gonna be pissed off.

Pinsir

Pinsir was a neat Pokémon. It has a lot of Fighting moves, but in Gen I it was another Pokémon with no moves(STAB). But it was another bug worth using, just to say “This bug type stands out from the rest, and I want to use it.” I liked it more than Scyther, and that scene where it snapped Metapod in half scared the shit out of it.

Tauros

Tauros is basic, but I like its cry. Being a Normal-type was a great thing in pre-Gen IV games. All the moves you could use and all the moves you could learn. If you really wanted to have a generally balanced team, you may as well use just Normal-types. You couldn’t benefit from special moves unless you had good special. But raw power always prevailed, as seen with...

Gyarados

You can get one of these early on with a guy who’ll sell you a Magikarp and call you a sucker for doing so. But the thing is not only do you get it early on, you can have Gyarados before Misty. This was the best choice you could make early on and Gyarados stood out then. Save for its weakness to Electric moves, it was a strong Pokémon you can get early on. What more can I say?

Eevee

Ah, this one. A unique Pokémon that was said to be few in number. It’s also an example of the whole concept of evolution and adaption. It turned into Vaporeon, Jolteon or Flareon. Who did I pick? I don’t remember. Who I do pick?

Leafeon. 

Aerodactyl

It was unique compared to the other fossils you could get. It even got the honor of naming a genus after it. Gen I nostalgia is still powerful to this day.

Snorlax

This Pokémon is literally me. Eat and sleep. That’s what I want to do all day. It was a monster in the anime, wiping out damn near all of those grapefruit islands and in the games, it was THE go-to Pokémon to catch and use. Even now, it’s a beast. How can it eat near its entire body weight in food per day? A herd of them can wipe out an entire ecosystem. As the games went along, it started to stand up and look alive. Will Gen VII show it running in place?

Dragonite

The only notable Dragon-type(IE the ONLY one)and you couldn’t use it properly. Dragon Rage wasn’t worth using when all your other moves did more damage on average. I personally think the Dragon-type was added late in development, a type that resists the usual elemental attacks. A good type to have for a final battle. It had the stats to utilize everything else, so what could you do? You could catch Dratini as soon as you got to water in the Safari Zone. Remember what I said about Venomoth trapping it with Barrier? Hoo boy.

Mewtwo

Ugh, this one. The face of Pokémon after Pikachu. It was the first of the ‘cool’ Pokémon, being savage and wanting to fight. It’s also a villain in the anime. However, that misconception is passed on throughout all media relating to it. In the games despite its Pokedex descriptions, it doesn’t actively come after you, or anyone else. It’s just a recluse. My best friend from childhood loved Mewtwo. I was indifferent to it. I had a toy based on it back then. It still stands out from the rest in popularity. I’d say it’s even edgier than the Pokémon people claim are edgy. It and Blastoise are the prime definitions of Digimon, before it was cool to call a Pokémon a Digimon. Mewtwo is just Renamon with a feline flair, and Blastoise’s cannons are out of place, even for Pokémon. I don’t hate it because of the cannons, but if we’re calling Pokémon Digimon, Blastoise fills that criteria more than anyone else.

Mew

The one secret that one kid told that was actually true. In Japan, it was known. But in America, it was kind of an urban legend, even though it appeared in the anime opening. But Ho-oh appeared too and wasn’t in the games yet. So it was justified to not know about Mew. It can learn just about every move in the game, and it was varied enough to use what it knew. Funny enough, Mew could be found exploiting Red/Blue’s glitches. Maybe this is why people love Gen I so much: There was a sense of mystery with the games and with Pokémon like Mew, there was something to discover.

And that’s my lineup on Gen I. A lot of favorites, and notable picks. I couldn’t get them all, obviously and that’d take even longer to do.

The Powerpuff Girls Reboot: They're missing the point.

Remember that neat little show that came out in the late 90's? The one with the little girls flying around and beating up monsters and bad guys? Yeah, that one. The one on Cartoon Network.

The Powerpuff Girls. Yeah, that's the one. Well, did you know that they're not only going to bring it back, but they're missing the point entirely? Yep, a modern trend in cartoons today is pushing a social agenda, or making a deep story with an artistic vision. While that was also present in cartoons of old, now it's only become an obnoxious requirement for your show to have some merit amongst young adults today. Without going into another subject, let me break it down for you.

The original premise for The Powerpuff Girls was called The Whoopass Girls. It was a simple cartoon where three little girls whooped ass. That's it. The same applies to the final product, which was just that: Three little girls whooping ass. Now, while the show was something that little girls could watch, boys and adults could watch it without being on the same level as a brony or a fat loser with no life and a ponytail(They even had an episode based around this archtype, go figure). Girls liked the Powerpuffs, boys like me liked not just the girls, but the villains, monsters and the topic that was touched upon. The writing and delivery was also solid and as an adult, it only got better. Now as an adult, I like Buttercup myself, and she's the fine line between a girl and a boy. A character who both parties can relate to. She was definitely the 'boy' of the group without shoehorning that fact. The original show was well-received by boys and girls, and while the merchandise leaned towards girls, you could find something for a boy to enjoy. That's how you make a show: Something that all audiences can enjoy, even if you make the main characters girls.

That's my main problem with the reboot. They're missing the point entirely on what made the original show revered and liked. They're making it so that girls are the only focus here, and ignoring the boys who also grew up with it. I got a link right here proving this. I'll point out the one thing that caught my attention, but go ahead and give the whole article a read. In that article, Peter Yoder made this statement:

“With the original fans now young adults, we think it’s the perfect time to introduce a new generation to the girls and give moms of young daughters an opportunity to share their love for Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup,” Yoder says of the young Townsville, USA crime-fighting trio. “We believe there’s a big market for girls brands that offer an alternative to the traditional ones that have long been mainstays in the industry. And with its mix of action and comedy, The Powerpuff Girls fits that bill.”

With the original fans, you had not only girls, but boys and even adults. Now you're saying you're going to introduce a new generation of girls to the Powerpuff Girls when you mentioned the original fans, who weren't just girls. Hmm. Looks like you need to do some more research, Petey-boy. Fans of the original show aren't fond of this new direction. Fans of the original show have daughters AND sons who they likely introduced them to the girls via Netflix. They can keep watching the show on Netflix and ignore this show altogether. Let me go ahead and point out the problems with this show.

First, you go on and replace the girl's VA's, when the VA's themselves would have been willing to return, and have shown that they would have taken the chance. Then, you go ahead and get back every supporting characters their original VA's. How inconsistent. And the new voices aren't good. Blossom is fine, played by Amanda Leighton. She was always a bit boring, but nonetheless. Bubbles, was the cute sounding one. The puff that was the closest to an actual little girl. New Bubbles, played by Kristen Li, not only sounds completely off from Tara Strong, but she may as well be the Blue Powerpuff. And as for being cute...

Missing the point entirely.

But the worst one just had to be my favorite Powerpuff Girl. Natalie Palamides. She is the worst of the three, and it shows. Just watch.

She tries to be tough, but her vocal chords don't allow for it. It's not the direction, it's her. She can't do a tough voice without it sounding forced. And on another note entirely unrelated to Natalie, they're trying to push her as the "I'm not a girly girl" character, when you already knew she wasn't from the start. That was never a factor in the original show, and I can see them rehashing this princess nonsense with every male character. With that said, onward to the next point, the animation. There was a particular way to draw the Powerpuff Girls and Craig McCracken, the show's creator had a sheet on the do's and don'ts of their designs and the like.

Simple stuff, right?

Right?

Maybe not.

And the lack of thick outlines is also a notable thing missing. I've noticed this for a while, but it seems a lot of these shows have similar styles. The thin outlines, the round designs, the way mouths and eyes are drawn, it looks like we've hit a stagnation in animation. Even Teen Titans Go! manages to have a different style. Everything else looks like a rehash of the same show, and I partially blame Adventure Time for doing what it did and everyone else following suit. Bright colors and smooth animation don't mean a damn thing if your art style is busted. I despise those noodle limbs. I drew simple designs like that back in elementary and still do. You only need to make the limbs but so long and if you are going to do so, make sure the body fits with them. Look at Pac-Man and Bomberman for a good example of what I'm talking about.

Proper proportions, and so on.

 There's also a lack of violence. The original show was considerably violent, with blood and decapitations commonly seen. With this show, there's an increased use of lantern powers, and any hits are still shots, like the clip above. The whole appeal of The Powerpuff Girls were the three girls being cute girls beating up monsters and bad guys. Funny how such an empowering theme is absent here. You'd think these feminists writing the show would love to have that show up as much as possible. I dread the reaction if that Gamer Gator rumor comes to pass.

There's more and more being shown as it we near April and the show may have an audience for today's crowd, but for oldtime fans, this may not be the show we wanted. I'll watch it and see how bad it is, and I'll likely give the rest a miss afterward. And I reiterate my statement with Buttercup: Natalie, you can't do it. You just can't. You alone make me deduct points from this show. So, we're looking at a 5/10 at the very most.

Which means, this show is fucked.

***UPDATE 4/6/16*** 

I've watched it. And...

Everything I've said above still applies.

  ***UPDATE 4/21/16*** 
I've watched more of it. It sucks. The 'humor' aren't funny, it's void of any subject matter, substantial matter anyway and it's just a fuckfest of eye emotes, randomness and progressiveness. And on the note of being progressive and pushing a positive image for girls, guess who isn't in the reboot. I'll save you the trouble and put in quotes.

One character who didn't make the cut in the new "Powerpuff Girls" series? The mayor's red-headed assistant Ms. Bellum.

"We felt like Ms. Bellum wasn't quite indicative of the kind of messaging we wanted to be giving out at this time, so we sort of had her move on," Jennings explained. "And that was a good choice I think on our part."

The Ms. Sara Bellum character was the super-intelligent, capable and apparently beautiful woman (her face was never shown), who for some reason never rose above being the assistant to the generally clueless mayor of Townsville.

The reason she was never the mayor to Townsville was because she never needed to - she was that competent and well respected by everyone, including the Mayor to the point where she was more or less the decision maker and the Mayor, just the figurehead. She was attractive and a positive image for women, which unfortunately, the social justice warriors that are running the reboot seem to hate. I guess a woman can't be a positive role model unless she's fat, ugly or average. And that's the reason I don't intend to watch any more of it. Even better is Tumblr, the breeding pool for these type of insecure freebleeding feminists hates the show just as much as the rest of the internet. But then again, it's not about the show, it's about promoting an agenda. Why they had to use The Powerpuff Girls to do this is beyond me. Once more, all I can do is hope that Gamer Gator rumor is just that - a rumor. I leave you with this:

 A lovely example of the empowering message that the show promotes.

Let's talk No Man's Sky.

For this next post, I want to talk about No Man’s Sky.

What is it, you ask? It’s a game in which you explore the galaxy, if not the universe. This universe is comprised of eighteen quintillion planets. And I’m assuming that’s not counting the moons around each individual body’s orbit, which can also be explored. I was following No Man’s Sky for a while, only really picking up heavy interest around two weeks ago. Every planet is randomly generated via the game’s system, and with the engine that No Man’s Sky uses, the estimate is again eighteen quintillion planets. Even if everyone played the game in the entire world, there still would be a massive chunk of the universe unexplored. Wow. And it’s not just the planets, but what’s on them. The fauna, the wildlife, the aliens and fish even. The terrain, the oxygen/hydrogen levels, the weather and the color of the sky and grass. There aren’t any gas giants present, but that’s a very minor annoyance.

Now, not every planet will be lush or vibrant. Most will be barren. Makes sense considering Earth is the only known planet with intelligent life (If you can call it that).  I look forward to mining those barren planets, though with the sentinels, the game’s equivalent of cops and police force lying about, you can’t do it too much, and you can’t really go around killing the wildlife you do encounter, even if they attack you. But I’m not exactly looking to kill everything in my path, though you are able to do that, with the equal consequences of your actions becoming present. Now, I’m a massive space buff, and a nature buff to boot, and this looks like a game that mixes nature, biology, space, and technology all in one. And it has a set release date, nearing late June of this year. Unlike another game people are comparing this to, No Man’s Sky looks to be unaltered and meddled with due to greedy publishers and touchy team members (Hint: The game I’m talking about is Spore. Now that’s a sob story).

But moving on, the footage shown recently allows you to trade with other explorers, mainly resources, minerals and so on. And trading will be a big way to obtain resources needed to upgrade your ship and suit. On top of that, you can also scan the surrounding area around you and classify wildlife, fauna and discover places of interest, ranging from an old station, a landmark or even a monolith with alien language inscribed. These monoliths allow you to learn a word or two, and use them in a phrase should you encounter life that speaks said language. Your choices depend on if you get in their good shoes or if they attack you. Each alien will be randomly generated with a basic body, limbs, features and color. As you get closer to the center of the universe, your main objective of the game, the life you encounter will be more complex and hostile. One piece of footage showed a giant ape-like beast in a snowy terrain, some stegosaurus in the 2014 footage, and in a desert terrain, a giant snake-like creature. It moved pretty fast.  One piece of footage showed a blue raccoon creature coming to you as if it were a tagalong while you were attacked. Perhaps you can play the role of a rescuer along with being a trader, pirate or researcher. 

Possible sentient life?

 Sean Murray IS being secretive about this game, and for good reason: Spoiling any of the major details would spell disaster for any game and people are still confused about what you’ll do in this game when it’s already been shown and said: You mine for resources with your gun, upgrade your ship and gun, find planets, explore them, upload your discoveries to an atlas and earn money, upgrade your suit for more treacherous planets, and basically do whatever you feel the need to do. Space is the last frontier we have yet to explore, and we won’t be doing so in this lifetime, but in this game we’ll be able to, and exploring whatever areas you’re allowed to or able to is enough to sell the game to me. And people are so hellbent on multiplayer, for what reason? Singleplayer games are fine, and it’s obvious Sean intended for No Man’s Sky to focus predominately on singleplayer, though he said you may meet up with another player as you play the game. I really don’t like how people are using that to attack the game or outright bash it. The last thing I want is to explore a nice, calm planet and run into another player who either kills me or acts like an ass for the sake of it, and I can’t even get away from them because they destroy my ship or kill a dinosaur, bringing attention to the sentinels. My experience with Splatoon is enough to determine wastes of life like that, and it’s not reaching to think all of the life you encounter in No Man’s Sky is more intelligent than the players you encounter in Call of Duty and other AAA shovelware.

The monoliths used to learn the language of the aliens you'll encounter.

What exactly lies in the center of the universe? You can see it as you explore the galactic map. It’ll take you a good while to get to the center of the universe, and you need the right ship to make it there. I’m wondering if it’s some type of message or maybe a serene, graceful world. Like a ‘heaven’ of some sorts. It’ll take a while to get there, nonetheless, and I intend on taking my sweet time playing the game. 

The game comes out in late June, and we’re only a few months away from seeing if it’s worth all of the anticipation and hype it’s gotten. I think it’ll be something to look forward to. It won’t be groundbreaking, or revolutionary, but it may scratch an itch I’ve been trying to get at for a while. And then again, it may be. We’ll have to wait and see.

A portal that takes you to another planet.

And the wait will be worth it.

I love my natural hair.

Every day, when I get up, I look in the mirror and look at my hair. It's rugged, nappy and all over the place. And you know what?

I love it. It's me. It's who I am.

Six months and still going strong.

 I didn't have a say in what my hair or my genetic code was going to be.  I admit to having some envy over other people whose hair was straight or not as woolly. But this was when I was considerably younger and didn't know better and I've since gotten over that insecurity. My hair was always an issue with my mother, and I don't like it. And lo and behold, hair happens to be a problem in the black community. Now, I'm a man, and I can easily comb my faux afro into something neat, or just outright cut it. Women on the other hand, hooo boy.

When they ask about your hair, being real doesn't mean a thing if it isn't yours.

This is a subject that to this day is a cancer to our community. The amount of women who wear fake hair is grossly at an all-time high. And it's not appealing. It's not attractive, it's not natural, and in some cases, it's outright dangerous. My own mother is guilty of this. Now, I have no problems with someone growing out their own hair and styling it to their own tastes, but that of course takes time and effort, and we all know that's too much for people to do. But, it takes a hell of a lot of time to stitch artificial and 'natural' hair into your scalps.

But even then, not too many people do that. Look up any fight on the internet with black women present. You are guaranteed one shot of a wig on the ground. Madam C.J. Walker's efforts were in vain. I remember the old hot comb we had in our junk drawer. I never used it, nor did I see my mother use it. At least not before I was born. But even that has its drawbacks. Black hair for whatever reason is looked down upon. Ditch that - The ideology of beauty and the standard of beauty is to blame. White and straight hair is considered beautiful, and coarse, woolly 'nappy' hair is considered ugly. I noticed it as a child, and I see it moreso now. Remember when I said we can set the standard? Now is the time. But moving on. Here's some reasons as to why natural hair (IE the actual hair grown out of your own damn head) is superior and better in all ways.

-It's cost effective. 
Managing your own hair is virtually free. Be it short, long, etc., you can simply comb it, wash it and there you go. To use weaves and the like cost money, and for 'quality' hair, you'll be shelling out some money. One co-worker mentioned she paid $120 for someone's hair. to put in her own head. Now, of course everyone wants to have good looking hair, so there's a high demand for quality hair. The money you use for that hair could be used for paying bills.

-It's versatile.
Your natural hair is strong, and can withstand wind, air, water and earth. You can swim and not worry about the fake exterior on your head getting wet, runny and ruined. You can grab your hair when you're frustrated and pissed off and feel it sift through your fingers and it'll go back to its normal state. It's also its own living life form. You nurture it, it grows and stays healthy. You neglect and abuse it, this happens.

And just because THEY do it, doesn't mean YOU should.

And if that's not bad enough, prolonged usage of weaves can result in molded hair and infections. Your hair is you and is a part of your health. If you don't take care of your health, it will show. We've got enough problems with weight, diet and the like. Tommy Sotomayor is much more informed on this matter than I can care to research. Countess Vaughn suffered from this, too. Steroids and weaves are one in the same. How ironic.

-It looks better.

 -You look better.
I like seeing natural hair on women. It looks better, it looks better, it looks better. Short black hair looks better than long, beige hair that isn't yours. And some women can't pull long hair off. Their faces are either too fat or too greasy. Not surprising. The time you spend stitching and damaging your scalp can be time used to exercise and take better care of your body. Your hair is a part of your body, treat it as such. That said, I hate the Raggedy Ann hair most black women in commercials go with, it's been about eleven years now. There's more to it than that, white marketers.

-It shows we take pride in ourselves
Now I know that coloring your hair and shaping it all kinds of ways can be fun and stylish, and especially when you're at a party or a cosplay convention. But how many of you actually go to parties and conventions? And really, with some of the outrageous shit I've seen online and in real life, there's no shame to be had, and there's nothing to be proud of. We spend all of this money on synthetic hair and imported extensions from India and Brazil and yet not a single cent comes back to us. Half a fucking trillion dollars spent on our hair and we can't even fund our own schools, banks and grocery stores.

What the fuck is going on??? Why are you women so hellbent on spending so much damn money on something that isn't yours and has to be removed every two weeks or so or it becomes moldy and a threat to your health??? All of that money, and it doesn't come back to us. Why? Do you not see what you're doing? Chris Rock's documentary, Good Hair talks about this. I remember a clip where one idiot called out Chris for exposing 'secrets' about black hair with his film. It's not a secret that's not your actual hair, lady. We all know it's faker than Pam Anderson's tits. It says more about you, really. And I know I may strike a nerve with this post, but I don't care. If you spend $1000 on hair that isn't yours, you're an idiot. If you do not take the initiative to grow it out yourself, and style it, you are lazy and not worth anyone's time. If you think that your natural, nappy black hair is ugly and disgusting, as far as I'm concerned you're part of the problem. I love my nappy negroid hair, and I don't care about appealing to a group of people who already look down on me to begin with.

We all gotta start somewhere, and it's either now or never.

Random Ramblings, Vol. 3

If you're going to record a fight and put it on WorldStar, you may want to flip your camera horizontally. Why this is still an issue is beyond me, but it shows how stupid most of these kids are. Some of them get it right, but if you really want to take in the entire scene, you have to record things in a horizontal view.

Note how I said camera just now? Do people even use cameras anymore? Have phones really become that multi-functional that cameras and camcorders have become obsolete? I know pads and these other large flat rectangles can play TV shows, and then there's mobile gaming(which is shit), but overall, it's a bit jarring how a device that's supposed to used for contacting people can now film an inauguration or a State of the Union Address.

This picture explains itself.

I despised the radio station at my old job. The same songs over and over again. The same generic song by some 20-something year old who only had one hit in her entire life, the same two Barry White songs, my grandmother adored him, she'd blow a gasket, the usual songs you'd hear in movie trailers, being played over and over and over again, sometimes twice in one shift. And on the note of movies, I hate Let's Get it On by Marvin Gaye. A simple love song run into the ground by Hollywood and every other corporation trying to push their products out. Even worse when a 3D movie uses that song and cuts to that silence where the joke is told...

Next point, 'cause now I'm getting pissed off. I hate when commercials for TV shows do that brief silence. It's annoying, it's overused and it's a subtle way tell you you're supposed to laugh at this scene due to the lack of music.

Back to that song, it's a shame Gaye couldn't be alive to collect the money his estate makes from the unimaginative swill that gets the rights to that song. He'd be a billionaire.

Today's toys don't seem like they're worth the price. They were grossly expensive back then, but those toys had some durability to them. Maybe I'm just an adult, but they don't seem exciting, and there seems to be a streamlined effect to what's actually out now compared to back in the 90's. Made more apparent with the constant amount of toys donated to the Goodwill I worked at. Granted, you had cheap toys back in my day, but the toys that were of quality at least were worth flaunting around. And I actually looked up something on today's toys and got a bunch of links relating to the San Bernardino attacks? What???

On that note, I hate this. If I look up something like say, an animal or a fruit, why I am getting movie results instead of the actual fruit or animal? If I type in Bumblebee, I don't want the damn Transformer. If I need some pictures of an animal, I don't want a superhero named after it. I shouldn't have to put in parenthesis to explicitly state I want the insect. Pop culture is a terrible trend and it's a shame you can't search for something you want without that idiotic suggestion tab showing some bullshit meme or YouTube celebrity or cartoon. I'm a simple man who isn't easily distracted by nonsensical swill.

I never watched Let's Plays. Only one or two if I really liked them.

So, how was your Valentine's Day? To the men, I mean? Did you buy your significant other something nice? I hope it wasn't expensive. Did SHE give YOU anything nice, and was it expensive? If no, you're an idiot if you got her a diamond ring or a new car. If she can't give you a nice present, but you're expected to give her something flashy and wallet-killing, that's wrong on all accounts. I've seen this on too many sitcoms, the husband/boyfriend gets a homemade gift, but he's expected to buy his wife/girlfriend a diamond necklace, or a fucking car and if he doesn't, he's scorned for it. Why?! What reason is there for the man to waste his funds on some stupid ring? A car at least has a lifetime warranty, but a ring? A necklace???

These women are crazy.