COVID-19 Perspective

The moment in December that I heard about the novel coronavirus, aka Covid-19, aka "the 'rona," aka The Virus Who Must Be Named (On YouTube), I wanted to laugh. Someone's showing concern over a virus named after a beer a friend from church enjoys? Then I heard the detail that made it dangerous; it was man-made, no cure.

Okay, let me just skip a few months. I planned on publishing this several months ago and life just kept throwing curveballs.

So, listen up, I'm not going to take the time to be nice and skirt around controversial words and avoid hurting feelings. You can ask my friends and co-workers, I have a morbid sense of humor many find shocking. Part of what it makes it work is my idiopathic nerves, in that I don't actually care how my audience may get offended at times, context pending.

So, this year started off like Stephen King's The Stand. The way I joked to people about it was sounding like a radio announcer giving the gist of the book in a comparative way to the virus. People who never read were surprised by how far ahead King wrote. Almost immediately after the pandemic and lockdowns were conspiracies flooding in. Some sounded vaguely plausible (some in the long-term sense), others laughably insane (might explain why sanitariums are no longer in use). After that, mixing with racial tensions not seen for decades, we have a powder keg of a nation. Now, people are literally going around being emotional terrorists, cussing out anyone wearing a mask, threatening lawsuits for medical reasons, and trashing retail stores for selling face masks. You can look up any of these on youtube, there's many "Karen compilation" videos of each. Or, as I prefer to call them, "Teri," in anti-honor of the racist lady in a viral video who proclaimed pride of being a white woman having white power.

So much for 2020 being the Year of Enlightenment.

People these days are showing not just a lack of enlightenment, but also of compassion and thoughtfulness. Upon hearing the coronavirus was from China and there was persecution of (and racial attacks against) Chinese people, I made a direct challenge toward anyone who called themselves "good," if you see yourself as a good person, it's time to prove and step up to help those who get trampled upon. Now, later in the year, videos show people using so many racial epithets like we're back in the 1930-50's. No concern about being recorded on video. No concern about being recorded making false crime statements with the intention of getting (I'm going to just say it, I'm not caring enough to skirt around the issue) a black person in trouble just because a white person is scared of the existence of a black person instead of taking a chance to make a new friend.

All this in the same year that, just last December, people were always making jokes about having perfect insight and 20/20 vision. In my sight, we have not progressed at all. I was suspicious that these issues never died off, just went into hibernation. I'm saddened every day that my guess was right. Speaking of guesses... when I heard that the virus was to be done and everything would be good by May (heard it in February), I wanted to laugh. That implied people would follow rules. I've yet to see a strong case for that, I just see strong cases of people not doing that. Also had a famous megachurch pastor (Kenneth Copeland) make a now famous "prophecy" of the coronavirus being destroyed by a heat wave in... May? Really? The same time? Well, that didn't work. The same week he declared the prophecy, God gave him a different kind of burn. A polar vortex giving all of America one last big snowstorm before Colorado would get a strange string of snowstorms. It is written in God's word to call out false prophets. Yes, Copeland, you're a fake. As fake as false religion impersonating God's love and showing evil instead.

Those who see the evidence of the virus, who knows people who've contacted (I've had coworkers and friends who tested positive, some recovered, others I haven't heard yet), and are going with the rules they don't care for (not a fan of the mask, but will wear, despite my asthma) have a "'rona bucket list" of things to do when all is done. It does feel impossible to wait.

So... what's a polyglot bookworm with a taste for creepy movies, video games, and an Autistic Christian to do with this global insanity?

Covid-19: other perspectives

After I started seeing that there's a wide variety of thoughts, feelings, and ideas about how the current pandemic and quarantine has affected people, I started wondering what the perspective of others suffering this ordeal was, so I asked several people (coworkers, friends, and others) how this has changed their lives and, if they have a bucket list, what's something they want to do when quarantine lifts.

Starting off is Yavanna... my cat.

Yavanna:

1. Meow.

2. *purr*

Now that I think about it, she's indoors only, no wonder she says she hasn't known anything about a lockdown.

Karen M:

1. My life hasn't really changed at all. Work is a bit more difficult, but nothing else.

2. I want to eat out. Don't know where, but I just want to go out.

Emily MC:

1. My life hasn't really changed at all, to be honest.
2. I'm a homebody, so probably just do more online shopping.

At this point, I was wondering if I would get any longer answers...

Rebecca L:

1. I mean it's definitely been weird being from everyone. Online learning was mostly okay. Just different and sometimes more stressful. It's been nice to be around my family more.
2. Probably hang out with my friends again or go on vacation.

Okay, finally getting somewhere with detailed answers.

Angela (West Run postmaster):

1. This pandemic hasn't changed my home life any, but the postal work has become more difficult because people are staying home, ordering much more online. It's almost worse than Christmas season, which says something.
2. When this is over, I want to go on a cruise. The one I was planning on got cancelled and is rescheduled for spring 2021, no exact date yet, though.

Not a bad idea. But at this point, I was noticing that everyone I talked to were women. Time to change things.

Alec R:

1. Nothing's really changed for me, still going to work and still looking forward to (I try to keep my blog family-friendly, so let's just say... "sexual expletive deleted") some (more sexual expletive deleted).

2. Like I said, (at this point, he was becoming predictable, you get the idea).

Alec, by the way, I nicknamed "Hollywood," since he always wears sunglasses and has just as shallow a personality. He knows it, too.

Peter J:

1. It hasn't changed my life at home much, but work was a bit different. In fact, the overtime we got to have was real nice. More than that, it was welcome, it helped us out right when we needed it!

2. I really can't think of anything, to be honest.

Eric:

1. About the only big change is not being able to see my own son as much now. That and shaving my beard off.

2. Go on vacation, always wanted to go to Ireland!

Donna:

1. Yeah, always having this (expletive deleted) mask, you know?

2. Yes, my big plan is taking this stupid thing off finally!

These are just a few different yet local perspectives on this pandemic. Next will be my own thoughts on the issue.

Pleading Prayer

Dear Lord,

If this isn't the generation Jesus is to come back, then I plead for the generation to have a new hero rise up. Not a replacement by any means, but someone to help guide our ever-wandering ways back to you, for our own ways have become nothing short of a meaningless labyrinth. We have come to believe men are the root of evil yet still ignore women. We believe we can praise men dressing as women who violently beat actual women and call them "great athletes" yet ignore our hypocrisy at grinding our teeth against wife and girlfriend beaters. We've stopped believing children are your blessing yet protect them only when convicted sex offenders can tell them stories in public places. We have no problem listening to heretics and swindlers and raise hackles to sound truth, especially if it gets in the way of our profits, of which we're fine with illicit ways.

As your theologian Lewis said, we laugh at virtue yet are shocked by treachery from within. This is no less true today than in his time. No, it seems exponentially truer than ever, for honor is a shock factor in our culture, a slap in the face of the indecency we face every day and accept as normal, believing nothing will change it. We show no regret nor shame in our defiance against ideals and virtues that, even if we didn't acknowledge you deigned them, we used to "pretend" they upheld our society and kept things in order. Now, we're so skeptical, we become skeptical against those who show kindness for no reason other than to show it at all.

I desperately plead, if Jesus is not to come again soon, for a hero in our age who eyes is on you.

Believing the Reversal

Last month, my local library held a controversial event, a Drag Queen Story Hour. This is seen as a fun event by families who bring kids to hear stories told by men dressed like women (if you can call *that* women). Though there's a problem. Well, problems. It's nice that a story is told to children (my mother taught me how to read at a very early age), but some did research on the books that were presented and found the books had a hidden agenda; tell children they're not necessarily the boys and girls they were born as. Dark as it may sound, apparently telling children they're not actually boys and girls is more okay than physically touching as evidenced by so many headlines in the last decade of parents, priests, and other predators doing that exact thing.

Another problem is another did research on who the drag queen reading at the event was and found out horrible things. He stole from the LGBTQ community and was convicted, making him a felon, yet he was being allowed to be around children? Worse is he had been known to have pedophile-centric events at a strip club in Huntington, WV.

Worst of all was the silence from the event supporters. These same people who cry out for protection for their children refused to listen to anything found out about the materials being read or the guy's past.

They cried out that the Christians against the event were hateful bigots. Also, since it's Morgantown, known for being one of the top 3 liberal towns in West Virginia, people claimed that the Christians who were against it "were not being good Christians," and I can guess from the types of churches in town means being more worldly nomular Christians rather than Christ-focused God-loving Christians.

Things got worse when one person made a cartoon meme with an image of a shotgun and a vague death threat. This got passed through the grapevine and, by word of ear, the supporters started believing some (if not all Christians) were making death threats. Against the library.

Also death threats against children.

That's when Morgantown slipped into a Kafkaesque nightmare. Not one Christian (literalist or liberal) would want a single child dead, so why anyone would claim such a horrid claim is anyone's guess. Though one single thing came to mind.

In the book of Genesis, there's mentions of people doing what's right in their own eyes. Today, that's just as true as then. To believe what is right in one's own eyes can lead to disregarding what God has set from time imemorum. Some people prefer to believe they are their own god. With enough psychotropic drugs, they may think they are God, doesn't make it reality, though. Since sin entered the world, mankind has actively sought to prove God either wrong or nonexistent so they can have more room to do what's right in their eyes, to believe in the reverse of what God has set out.

Nothing new under the sun there.

An Ethereal Christmas

When it comes to movies, there's a term for when something follows a formula. Typecast. It happens a lot in music. A metal band sounds like metal regardless of the album, for instance.

Finding the band Leah, I've found something that's different every time. Almost like Dead Can Dance.

So, her first four albums, while a little different from each other, still had a similar Celtic atmosphere, which made it all pleasant. Her last album, The Quest, was unique compared to them. Still retaining a Celtic element, it had a different soundscape than her previous projects. Her latest, Ancient Winter, will repeat this idea. Have an element of the familiar while being entirely different, regardless. She does so in a wonderful, ethereal way. The idea of a Christmas album is nothing new in the music industry. So.e sound downright traditional with some influence of the genre a musician has been using. Others are Christmas in relation to the lyrics with some of the spirit influencing the music. In the case of Ancient Winter, it's a whole new ballgame. The whole album doesn't have a traditional snow-white feel to it. Rather, the music is predominantly Middle Eastern influenced,  as the album is borderline a retelling of the Christmas story. Or, the first track is. The instant the album opener started, I was blown away by the deep sound of strings, nothing slipshod about the production value. This can be said of each track. This track not only sets the tone of the album, it's memorable as its own deal.

By halfway through, I noticed a shift that surprised me. Starting on the song "Gaudete," noticed a dash of Latin used in the lyrics, not strictly with background singing. Gaudete, in fact, is only in Latin. According to what I've heard, this is an old traditional Christmas song in Europe. Hearing this version, it's very interesting. It's not slow like a traditional Christmas song, though it be energetic, it's not as energetic as K-Pop music. It's comfortably in the middle. After Gaudete, the album keeps each song distinct, memorable, yet thematically the same and all together beautiful. If I had to nitpick on anything, it's that I wish it were more than 8 tracks. It's not a Christmas album I've experienced before and it's left me wishing for more. I can't recommend this enough to anyone who loves beautiful music.

A Frightful Truth

I recently saw Spider-man: Far From Home. Rather nice movie, though with my eccentric mind, I saw it in another angle. A message desperately needed: the fight for the hard truth is more important than relative truth.

Unless you read the comics, saw the cartoon from the 90's, or played the licensed games on 6th-generation game consoles (PS2, Gamecube, Xbox), and your only exposure to marvel characters has been Disney movies, you wouldn't know Mysterio's actual deal. I'm two out of three. Always watched the show and am a lifelong gamer. Therefore, it was no shocker that he (spoiler alert) is the primary villain. With today's movie technology, he could seemingly twist and manipulate reality to prove his point about "truth," even if it involves a strong dash of lies.

In another scene, when some big hard truths are revealed about Peter Parker, his school group gets some very questionable ideas of who Peter might be from someone in the group who sharply hates him. What's MJ do? In this new version of her, she releases a sharp wit, warping the concept of relative truth on its head and practically weaponizes falsehood to shut the guy up. I thought it was brilliant and funny. In essence, the story progressed when hard truth was revealed, regardless of consequences. Otherwise, relative truth was played for humor and special effects.

Today, it seems like the reverse happens day by day. Truth gets played for bad jokes and people think their own truth will advance the story of their life. Then again, that seems to get nowhere when everyone argues that their own view is either more important or valid than yours.

In recent years, I've been complimented as being a gentleman and a scholar.

I'm one. I have a thing for old-fashioned manners, which is rare today. I don't care, I always believed it's more important trying to show gentlemanly manners than sounding like a YouTube comment section just because that's the norm.

By technical definition, I'm not a scholar. I flunked out of college twice, going for four different majors. I learn differently than others. I do appreciate the sentiment people are giving, but let's face it; in today's world where a college degree proves worth to s substantial degree (no pun intended), I'm no one.

The truth can be a frightful thing these days. No, scratch that, it's been a dangerous thing since ancient times, but in varying degrees and in different cultures.

In my mind, I can manipulate how I think in certain ways without affecting the core of truth. I see from multiple angles and think logically. I've heard the term "high-speed thought processes," which can accurately describe what it's like to have 5-15 thoughts in the span of a couple mere seconds.

For this month, I'd say it's apropos to say the hard objective truth can be frightening. Maybe scarier than DC's Black Label comics and Dark Horse comics.

Punkin' Out?

After E3 this year, I heard a bizarre controversy that is both nonsensical and outlandish. It revolves the upcoming game Cyberpunk 2077 and how, in a private gameplay demo, a small in-game ad was called "transphobic" by some game journalists who, as far as this gamer is concerned, have lost their credibility.
The insulting attacks by these reporters state the game is made by "an alt-right game designer" in a "white country", etc., etc. In essence, debasing comments by people who, by the sounds of it, have never stepped foot in Poland, never talked to Polish folk, never hung out with any of the crew from developer CD Projekt Red.
Why mention some race bait right after the "transphobia"? Because the same journalist who claimed the game as transphobic claims the game is racist as well. Odd, considering the creator of the tabletop game (who's strongly involved with making the game) is black. If a black man thought the game were racist, wouldn't he have shown his anger? I'm not talking about misplaced anger like Andrzej Sapkowski and his monetary demands from CDPR for his own financial foresight problems. Every step of the way in the game design, Mike Pondsmith (creator of Cyberpunk 2020) has been praising the game company, come forth about the company's racial diversity, how staff in his own company (Talsorian Games) have employees ranging from straight to bi to gay to trans. Interesting note there, trans staff helping make a game that has a "transphobic" ad? Something doesn't fit.
That something definitely feels like journalism that, noticeably in the last couple years, have been going downhill in quality.
Everything I've heard about Pondsmith's remarks towards SJW journalists (and hate bait) shows he has both strong and fast wit, especially in regards to the race card angle. He gave his point about the Animals and Voodoo Boys gangs while race-based hate bait ignored how an African-American gang called the "Animals" are lead by an imposing white woman. They also disregard how, in the first gameplay demo, a corporate entourage that betrays V are predominantly white. No word about how that was racy...
Something else about the hate towards the ad is that it is claimed to be "oversexualized."
...and today's real life commercials aren't sexual in the least? Ever since 2008, when I first noticed a commercial using not-so-subtle sexual wording, I noticed so many commercials using sex in some form or another to drive home the point that you, yes YOU,will find pleasure and satisfaction in whatever product or service is being offered. Talk about forcing the viewpoint down your throat. Near literally. Only the Trojan commercials are overtly about sex, and never having a good intention. CB's ad, in that regard, doesn't feel quite as R-rated. In context to the game's genre-based themes, it makes complete sense. Humanity has lost its God-given value of Imagio Dei and have become only monetary value commodity in that genre.
You, as V, are like a John Carpenter hero in that you're "sticking it to the man," the megacorporations.
Ironically, in real life, there's a conglomerate that's been behind the horrible attacks against CDPR, who are known for consumer-friendly practices. What kind of practices? In their award-winning game Thd Witcher 3, all but two DLC's were free. The only two that weren't were two story expansions. This, in the current gaming landscape, is considered ludicrous where virtually all DLC is at least $1. Plus, during E3 '19, a crowd member shouted to Keanu Reeves that "You're breath taking!" which got Red's attention, and they awarded the guy not only a copy of the game, but the COLLECTOR'S EDITION, valued at $270, for free. FREE!? All big game companies would simply laugh with the crowd and expect the guy to cough up cash for their game. A game company that would give a high-value edition of a game? That made news in itself. No wonder news journalists went nuts over it.
This little company, full of people that, as they started out, had no one with game design experience (one of their staff said as much) have become the most respected companies in the game industry... now a major conglomerate wants to take them down? It's all sounding eerily like the genre itself.
The conglomerate is punking out while CDPR's chippin' in.