Feelin’ mediocre

I’m having one of those afternoons where I am disappointed, dejected and more or less bummed out.  Naturally, I had a train cart full of thoughts and emotions swirling around my head while I was driving home, but now that I’m behind the keys, I can’t seem to put any words down to convey how I’m feeling.

For starters, it all began with the fact that my submission didn’t make it into the Capcom Fighting Tribute book being released by Udon.  I knew the odds of getting in were pretty slim, given the fact that I was years out of practice when it comes to illustrating, but I honestly thought that I had a pretty winning idea, that if the right people understood what I was trying to convey, I might have a shot, on a humor route.  I liked my idea more than my art, and you can’t hit home runs if you don’t step to the plate, so regardless, I sent my submission out, and waited the month of anticipation and excitement with an alleged thousands of artists.

I can’t say I’m the least bit surprised when I found out that I didn’t make it into the book, because frankly there are a billion outrageously good artists out there in the world who make my best shot look like a toddler’s drawing of the American flag with seven stars and four stripes, and many more that won’t/didn’t get into the book much like me.  However, it doesn’t change the fact that I feel kind of crushed and defeated, nonetheless.

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On Opening Day 2015

Long story short: Braves trade All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel and Melvin “Stop calling me B.J.” Upton to the Padres.

Opening Day wasn’t even a full 24 hours away when this trade became official, and in one final fell swoop before the first game of the season, the Braves effectively trade the best relief pitcher in the game away, as well as one of the worst players in the game.

In return, the Braves get an old outfielder who can’t really play the outfield anymore in Carlos Quentin, as well as a guy that will always have the what-if ball and chain attached to his name and potential in Cameron Maybin.  Additionally, the Braves receive two supposed minor league studs, and an additional pick going into the 2015 draft.

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Either I’m growing up, or WHY HONDA, WHY??

Impetus: Honda announces the next Civic Type-R(RRRRRRRRRRRR) will be released globally, meaning the United States will finally get the Civic Type-R for the first time.

Too bad it looks like Kermit the Frog was abducted by Storm Troopers, and enough scientific engineering were done to successfully mate a puppet with the general look of a suit of armor, resulting in this lime green turd.

Seriously, when I saw this picture of the new Civic Type-R, the first one that would be available in the United States, this is the first thing that popped into my head:

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Stories like this make me hate the world we live in

Long story short: Teenager who received a controversial heart transplant in 2013, steals a car, attempts a burglary and leads police on a chase, where he hits a pedestrian, crashes and dies.

“So I can live a second chance. Get a second chance and do things I want to do”

Those are exact words said by the teenager back in 2013 when asked why he wanted the heart transplant that he needed to live.

I guess nobody suspected that carjacking, breaking and entering, shooting at an elderly woman, and leading police on a high-speed chase and striking an innocent bystander were the “things he want to do.”

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A stroll through Springfield Town Center, circa 2015

Three years after I wrote the eulogy for Springfield Mall, like the phoenix, rising from the ashes of the dead, arrived the new Springfield Mall, rechristened as Springfield Town Center.

In spite of all the criticism and sarcasm I’ve often stated when it came to the topic of Springfield Mall, it’s always because of the fact that Springfield Mall has always held a strange place in my heart. Call it nostalgia, call it reluctance to accept change, or a sentimentality of something that was a frequent setting of my childhood and teenage years, but it legitimately made me feel melancholy when I saw this place getting (partially) torn down, and effectively closed down back in 2012.

But now it’s back. And in my recent trip back up to NOVA, Huzzard took me back to our old stomping grounds, so that I could get a look at what’s become of our old stomping ground. Believe you me, I was quite excited at the idea of getting to walk around again. And much like I did in 2011, when Springfield Mall was in shambles, and barely hanging on to operational life, we took a stroll through the new place, so that I could see what all the metaphorical fuss was all about.

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I have never wanted to Clothesline From Hell someone so badly in my life

Long story short: racial activists barge into busy brunch establishments on a Sunday morning to flash mob protest over the shooting of a black man by local police.

I’ll be honest, this wouldn’t have gotten under my skin if one of the places that were hit up wasn’t a place that I’d recently discovered for myself, enjoyed immensely, and would gladly go back in the future for weekend breakfast.

But it’s shit like this that absolutely baffles me, and wonders if the people who do this kind of protesting are even aware of the people that they’re protesting for?  Are they even aware of the hypocrisy they’re also perpetuating concurrently?

Case in point, this group that protested at all these restaurants this past weekend, they’re protesting over the fact that a black man was shot and killed just days earlier.  Basically declaring the incident as solely an act based on skin color, and that naturally, “black lives matter.”

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Thoughts on WM31’s main event

I would never have expected Wrestlemania’s main event to have been as gripping as it was.  Honestly, I tend to temper my expectations for Wrestlemanias in general, but ultimately, I treat them like I’m watching RAW; skim and glaze through everything, but typically ignore the main event.

For the most part, all of Wrestlemania 31 was pretty formulaic, and nothing was really that big of a surprise.  I would have liked to have seen more Cesaro, Axelmania and Damien Mizdow, and it’s kind of an insult that both the tag team match and the Andre the Giant Battle Royale were put onto the pre-show, but whatever.

I had higher hopes for John Cena vs. Rusev, and was a little disappointed to see that they broke my theorized rule of Wrestlemania, which is needing to hit three finishing maneuvers before the match can be decided.  I didn’t expect much from any other match, be it the Divas, the Intercontinental ladder match, and definitely not Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt.

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