My proposal to deter mass shootings

I have been quiet on this subject for some time, since I feel in general that there are too many voices reacting that my suggestions would get lost in the swell.  But I have to put this out there, for if no better reason to show that I HAVE been pondering it far too long and need to let my ideas on this free.  SO without further ado...


I am of the belief that there is no one solution to tackling this problem. Rather, it is a combination of several to benefit the whole. The problem is my solution is guaranteed to have people rioting because they think it will be the end of all our freedoms and the beginning of the destruction of our freedom, which is what overreacting extremists like to cry as their excuse for not doing anything.

The five parts of my solution are this:

1. Ban (if possible) or at least regulate semi automatic firearms to the same standards of handguns (21 min age, min 1 week between purchase and receiving, background check,)

As former military, I understand and respect the Constitution and Amendments. But I am also a person who believes that people need to show some common sense. Just because there is such a thing in the world called the Heart Attack Burger DOESN'T mean I should eat it because it is there. Same with automatic weapons. Let's show a bit of restraint, hence this.

2. Make a national database of firearms that all law enforcement agencies can use to track weaponry used in crimes.

Yes, I KNOW what people would say about this, but only the truly paranoid would fear them coming to get you for your collection utilizing this. We have systems that can track an automobile's history, so why not create a similar system? There can be laws also put in place to protect rights in regards to this.

3. When getting a CWP or purchasing a firearm that has the waiting period, you must submit to psyche evaluation performed by and actual medical professional.

The plan originally put in place by the Obama team was half baked at best. Set a standard that is fair, but just and can be universally applied. Look to the standards our military and law enforcement have to live up to and work on that. And if a person gets disqualified from purchasing a firearm due to a mental issue, offer help to them instead of just tossing them out. Yes, it costs money, but it's better for society's health to bring us all up in quality than to shun and create more problems.

4. We need to hold our law enforcement agencies to a higher standard. Make the more accountable if they let something 'through the cracks'.

Too often when these events happen we find out that before the incident happened that one or more agencies had been informed of the possibility of such an incident, but for one reason or another didn't follow up on it. We need to treat these incidents like we now treat terrorism threats. Yes, again it costs more time and money, but I think citizens won't have a big problem if they see their taxes going to these kind of endeavors.

And the most important, and most likely most hated:

5. Whenever an event like this happens, all media is forbidden from revealing the name and identity of the perpetrator. Instead they will be designated a number and a generic image and there will be no background info of them revealed. They are officially 'personae non grata' and will never be known by their real identity.

Answer me a question: Ever since Columbine, what has been the biggest change in the world? When I was in high school, you could make gun racks and hunting knives in metal shop. This was not only allowed, but encouraged. Kids had hunting rifles in their vehicles and there was rarely, if ever a school shooting. No, the biggest change is that we now live in a world where news is nonstop and social media is everywhere. And anyone can be a celebrity. And if you can't be famous, how about infamous?

The media, despite claiming to want an end to this problem, do everything they can to glamorize it. Days nonstop are spent slavishly poring over the history of the offender, giving everybody every minute detail of them, ensuring their immortality. The media just wants their piece of the fame pie, and will claim freedom of the press when confronted about this. But we know that the First Amendment is not absolute, and I feel that this should be one of those incidents where it is necessary.

The perp will know they will be forgotten. They won't live on. They will be less than nothing that people will not talk about. There will be no reason to go out in a blaze of glory, as there will be no glory. It would be difficult for society to adhere to this, but for the sake of all it must.

So that is my solution. it is far from perfect, but at least it tries to really tackle the problem in a common sense way.

I thank you for your time...

Get Out of The Belko Experiment: why focus matters

So yesterday I went and saw The Belko Experiment and said something felt off about it and I wasn't quite sure what it was. Well now I know what was wrong, and I have the film I saw today to thank for it. And that film was Get Out.

Belko's biggest problem was a lack of focus. It had an idea but couldn't figure out what direction it wanted to do. Should it be a commentary about the nature of Humanity? About how corporations lack of humanity? Just straight up horror? Comedy? I don't think they knew either.

I really like James Gunn, and Battle Royale is a personal favorite film, so this is a bit of a letdown. It just basically meanders through the situation rather than focusing on what could have made it great. Instead of focusing just on individuals, show more of how they interacted with each other and their relationships with each other. Broad strokes are fine for ensemble pieces in general, but not here. You needed to feel these people and how they act when things go great to compare when it all goes to shit. Or,  instead of giving a few elements of who and why this happening, go either whole hog or tell nothing. This just feels non committal, and what could have been sharp and engaging gets lost to mediocrity. Yes, this film has some great ideas and moments, but so did Batman VS Superman, and that was also a mess. Now compare this to the second film I saw.

So I had put it off for a while, but I finally saw Get Out. And I am kicking myself for the delay. This film had a story it wanted to tell and it did so with complete focus. It not always a comfortable film to watch, but great horror does that. You want to be anywhere other than watching, but you are compelled to.

Basically the film is tale of a new couple taking the step of meeting the girlfriend's parents. They are an interracial couple, with the boyfriend being black. He is, as you may guess, a bit nervous about it for about all the reasons you can think of.

When they do get to her family's house, there is awkwardness, but not quite the way you expect it. Something is VERY strange at the household, but you most likely would not guess what it really is until it is sprung on you.

Jordan Peele is a very funny comedian and he brings his talents of misdirection and timing to incredible effect. Throw away lines and bits that seem strange come back in brilliant ways and you will leave the theater thinking about it and connect dots to find incredible fridge brilliance and horror. And the main reason it does is because he knew what he wanted and focused on that like a laser beam. And his film shines because of it.

So if you had to pick between the two films to see, I would wholeheartedly say Get Out...and maybe see Belko as a rental. Or see them like I did to see what happens when one has a highly focused vision and one does not.

A proposal to help reduce mass shootings

Before I begin:

The following is not a critique or condoning of any specific stance.  While I believe in the Second Amendment, I also believe that we should be smarter in how firearms are regulated.  I hope you find this well thought out and logical.

So after yet another mass shooting, we get the usual clamor for more gun control and how no one seems to ever do anything about.  Sure, cries to ban assault weapons is always cried out, but nothing ever comes of it.  And no one seems to offer any real practical ideas.  Well, I have one.  It won't solve the problem completely, but it would definitely be an improvement, and quite possibly could have prevented what happened in Orlando.

One of the questions brought up is why was the suspect able to buy weapons when he had been investigated several times by the FBI?  Even though he had the proper permit to do so, shouldn't this have been part of the decision?  The answer is this:  there is none to little cross checking in our government agencies.  This 'wall' has led to other big situations in the past, for example 9-11.  My solution is thus:

1.  Create a national database of the people who have been in trouble with the law (including the above mentioned investigations) that all government agencies have to contribute to.

2.  Whenever anyone buys a weapon from a gun store or similar store, the buyer has to submit their social security number, ID or license number as well as a scan of at least one finger.  This information is sent to the database and if there is any potential conflict, the purchase request is flagged and checked.  If it turns out to be a false flag, it is disregarded.  If not, then the sale is denied and the reason(s) are both entered and updated in the database, as well as sent back to the store, where it is given back to the potential purchaser along with instructions on how challenge this ruling if necessary.

All the shops that sell firearms would be required to participate in this program and will need a finger scanner and internet connection for this, which honestly is not that expensive.

While this is not an end all to the problem, it would definitely help reduce the problem more than a simple ban of certain firearms or the 'closing of firearm show loopholes' some people always like to bring up.  Think about it:  what do the last several mass shootings have in common?  Answer:  all their weapons were bought legally, yet after the fact it was found that there were red flags in one government department that wasn't discovered due to each agency not sharing potential valuable information.

We need to think smarter on this, otherwise it will keep going in the vicious cycle it has been going in.  I mean they keep hammering the point that those on a government watch or no-fly list shouldn't be getting firearms.  Using my solution would help fix that.

Just my thoughts...

"T" is...

          Sometimes inspiration comes from a variety of different sources that don't seem to have any connection...

          So a few weeks ago two very different types of incidents happened.  The first was several trespasser strikes involving our trains.  This something I wish happened far less frequently than it does, because of the trauma it causes not only to the person hit, but also to the onboard employees who have to deal with this.  People outside the industry are either blissfully ignorant or just don't care of what this can do to a person.  I have seen people leave the business, broken spiritually and mentally from what they have had to witness.  There just never seems to be a way to spread the word about this.

          The second type of event was my fascination with potentially bad movies.  In this case I decided to watch the movie "The ABCs of Death 2".  The basic premise is that 26 different directors were each given a letter of the alphabet and then make a short film (usually around 5 minutes) dealing with death related to that letter.  To say it was a bit...uneven is a little generous.  However, the idea got me to thinking.  Maybe I could use this format to tell a cautionary tale about the affects of a trespasser strike has.  So I reached deep inside me and found my rusty old screenwriting skills.

          I finished the first version of the following script in a little over an hour.

          I tweaked it a little and decided to share it.  Now, for those not in the film biz, I have to state up front:  I cheated.  And to my friends IN the biz I confess:  I know I didn't follow form.  It was deliberate.  You see, I added descriptors, camera directions and story elements to the script to portray my specific vision.  Without this, the script would be a bit drier, and more open to interpretation, and quite possibly lost the impact I was trying for.  I probably should have done an outline instead, but hey, it came out as a script.

          So what do I hope to do with this?  Well, I hope people read it, understand what I am trying for, and think about the subject.  (It would also be cool if one of my friends or one of their friends found an urge to film it, but lets keep expectations low for now.)  I hope you give it a read, it's only four pages including the title page.

          As to the title:  I kept with the theme from the movie that inspired it.  However, unlike the film, I didn't say what the "T" was for.  I did that because it fits multiple themes in the script, and I leave what it means to you.

          I hope you enjoy this...

 PS-To my friends who work with scripts:  I know the INT/EXT shots are supposed to be on the left margin, and they are on the actual script.  It became too much a pain in the ass fixing it when I copied it to Word, so I left it.  You get the idea...

 

"T" IS FOR...

Written by

M.S. Robinson

                                                                                                              FADE IN:

INT. SPORTS BAR

 Everything is brightly lit, if slightly in soft focus.  MAN 1 is at the bar, surrounded by friends.  They are all gathered together, watching the big game on the big screen television.  Everyone is having fun.  After a few seconds of watching the frivolity, YOUNG GIRL Slowly, almost obliviously, walks into the sports bar.  MAN 1 turns his head and sees YOUNG GIRL as a slow, high pitch horn sound plays and becomes louder.  YOUNG GIRL starts to look up. Everything turns to white.

                                                                                                             CUT TO:

INT. SPORTS BAR

It is the same bar as before, but the color is muted, and everything seems overly sharp focused.  The bar is mostly empty, save for MAN 1.  He is seated at the bar.  He is in complete disarray, like he has not changed or taken care of himself for a while.  There are numerous empty bottles of beer around him, and he has another half empty one in his hands.  It is obvious he has been drinking, and his face is a study of misery.

                                                                                                             FADE TO:

EXT. FRONT YARD

It is a sunny warm day. Everything is brightly lit and in soft focus.  WOMAN is playing with a couple children, her kids.  They are all playing on the grass, mainly running through a running sprinkler.  You can see the looks of joy on all their faces.  As they are enjoying themselves, YOUNG GIRL slowly, almost obliviously, walks into the front yard.  WOMAN turns her head and sees YOUNG WOMAN  as a slow, high pitch horn sound plays and becomes louder.  YOUNG GIRL starts to look up. Everything turns to white.

                                                                                                             CUT TO:

INT. SHOWER

Again, the color is muted and everything is in overly sharp focus.  WOMAN is in the shower, not moving, just letting the water fall upon her.  Her face is a blank mask, no emotion, save for her eyes.  They are locked in a thousand yard stare.  She acts oblivious to everything as the water continues to cascade on her.

                                                                                                             FADE TO:

INT. BEDROOM

It is a lazy morning.  Sunlight streams in from an open window, bathing the bedroom in bright light.  Everything is in soft focus.  MAN 2 and his wife are in bed.  He is sitting upright against the headboard and she is lying on his chest, with his arms around her.  Both have looks of content joy from just being near each other.  They are having a light conversation.  While they enjoying each others company, YOUNG GIRL Slowly, almost obliviously, walks into the bedroom.  MAN 2 turns his head and sees YOUNG GIRL as a slow, high pitch horn sound plays and becomes louder.  YOUNG GIRL starts to look up. Everything turns to white.

                                                                                                             CUT TO:

INT. BEDROOM

As before, the color is muted and everything is in overly sharp focus.  MAN 2 and his wife are in bed.  The wife is the one sitting with her back on the headboard, while the husband is lying on her chest, nearly in the fetal position.  His face is twisted in sadness and torment.  His wife has her arms around him, and she is trying her best to comfort him, worry on her face.  His hands are grasping her arms like he is holding on to a life raft to prevent himself from drowning.

                                                                                                             CUT TO:

INT. TRAIN CAR 1

Again, everything is in color and in soft focus.  People are riding the train, enjoying themselves as it rolls along.  MAN 1 is there, as he is the conductor of the train.  He is assisting and chatting with the passengers.  As he is doing this, WOMAN comes into the train car, revealing she is the assistant conductor.  Her and MAN 1 chat and joke as they do their job assisting the passengers.

                                                                                                             FADE TO:

INT. TRAIN ENGINE

MAN 2 is driving the train, as he is revealed to be the engineer of it.  He is doing his job well, being attentive to his surroundings, and seems content at this.  He sees something far ahead on the tracks and springs to alertness.

                                                                                                             CUT TO:

EXT. TRAIN TRACKS

YOUNG WOMAN slowly, almost obliviously, walks onto the tracks.  She is looking at her cellular phone and not paying attention to anything else.

                                                                                                             CUT TO:

INT. TRAIN ENGINE

MAN 2 is talking rapidly into the radio about this.  He blasts the horn, which lets out a high pitched sound.

                                                                                                             CUT TO:

EXT. TRAIN TRACKS

YOUNG WOMAN hears the sound of the horn and slowly looks up.  It is too late.  The light from the train engine turns her and the scene to bright white.

                                                                                                             CUT TO:

EXT. TRAIN TRACKS

Everything is nearly monotone and in overly sharp focus.  The view is from the ground looking up.  Grass covers most of the bottom of the view, with the back of the head of the YOUNG WOMAN in the bottom corner.  It is the only thing out of focus.  MAN 1 and WOMAN come into view, looking all distraught.  Their eyes both see the head of the YOUNG WOMAN at the same time.  They stare for a minute, then start to lose their composure.

                                                                                                             FADE TO:

EXT. FRONT OF TRAIN

Emergency vehicles are all around the stopped engine.  Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs)  have a stretcher with a body bag on it and are taking it to where the body of YOUNG WOMAN is.  Police are investigating the scene.  MAN 2 is on the trunk of a police car, sobbing as a police officer tries to console him.

FADE TO BLACK.

TITLE CARD:  WHENEVER A TRAIN STRIKES A TRESPASSER, THERE IS ALWAYS MULTIPLE VICTIMS.

Chappie

So I saw the film Chappie today...

Let's be up front about this:  it's a bit of a hot mess.

After watching all his films and what short works I could, I have come to the realization that Neill Blomkamp is a GREAT visuals director, A pretty good ideas man, but a mediocre storyteller.  A LOT of Chappie fell flat.  Almost all of the characters lacked depth, The story, while having some really great ideas, didn't develop them fully.  The main character, while interesting, could have been so much more if they had explored his growth from newborn to genius in the compressed time of its existance, but it seemed like that was almost an afterthought to creating set pieces.

Also Sony was NOT subtle with letting people know Sony helped back the movie.  Some of the most blatant product placement I have ever seen.  And some of it seems almost out of place with this supposedly set in the near future, but to be fair I DID like how Chappie utilized all the Playstation 4s they acquired.

Perhaps the biggest problem was that this film made it EXTREMELY difficult to suspend my belief in it.  That came down to two reasons:  the fact that a company that makes high tech weapons has worse security than your local McDonalds, and the inclusion of Die Antwoord.  Look, I like Die Antwoord, but nothing brought me out of the movie more than them showing up.  They just basically played Die Antwoord.  On the scale of singers/music groups in movies they were closer to The Fatboys in Disorderlies than Courtney Love in The People VS Larry Flint.  (And if you know my hatred for Courtney, you can guess how difficult it is to say that.)

Funny enough, despite all this, this isn't a bad movie.  Rather, it is one that doesn't have focus.  When Neill Blomkamp focuses on the subject, we get amazing, like District 9.  Here, while there are nuggets that show its potential, ultimately there is too much clutter that takes away from it all.

(I feel I must also say this:  Neill Blomkamp is perhaps THE best director I have seen to so seamlessly meld fantastic technology with real life in cinema.  His scenes with Chappie make you believe it was really done.  This is the main reason I want to see him direct a Star Wars film, or the Alien one he looks to be doing.  Just have someone with him to keep his focus...)

The Ocean at the End of the Lane: a mini review

Well, normally I would be posting several games from my backlog that I tried out and giving them mini reviews.  While I have a couple ready for that, I don’t feel I have enough to warrant a posting.  Why haven’t I been playing hard for this?  Well, two reasons.  The first is that I cannot stop playing The Binding of Isaac:  Rebirth.  It is one seriously addicting game.  The second was I took time out to read a book by one of my favorite authors Neil Gaiman.  And let me tell you, that was a delight well beloved.

I follow him on Twitter, and saw that he had a new book coming out.  I wanted to read it, but since I couldn’t, I looked for one of his I hadn’t read yet.  And that book I chose was The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

It is, at first glance, a tale of a middle aged man coming back to his hometown for a funeral and his reminiscing of his (now destroyed) childhood home and his time with his first real friend, a slightly older girl named Lettie Hempstock.  He quickly finds out that Letting and her family (her mother and grandmother) are much more than they appear, and what the cost of him knowing them is.  This tale runs the gamut from childhood fears to all-encompassing wonder to adult guilt.  And it is written in Gaiman’s smooth flowing prose that makes you thirsty for more of his writing.  I hungrily read this 250 page book in but a few hours, but the pleasure it gave me still persists nearly a week on.  I HIGHLY recommend reading his works.  They at times may not seem as fleshed out as you think they should be, but soon he reveals the depth of his words in the entire flow he presents.   In fact, I was so enamored with this book, that I immediately reread Coraline, another great work from him.

So now, with a clearer head, I am ready to tackle my other project.  Already I have started Deadpool and 3d Dot Game Heroes, and should be back up to snuff-although I have realized a small flaw in my plan.  Without going into specifics at this time, I WILL say it involves RPGs…

More game reviews-Kickstarter edition

Hello.

 

So here I am yet again with more mini reviews of games I am playing from the massive backlog I have in my library.  And THIS time I did something a little different.  Three of the five games I am reviewing I backed on Kickstarter.  How well did I pick?  Let us see…

Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded (Replay Games):  Sometimes nostalgia can be a good thing.  And other times it can go horribly wrong.  This is one of the latter.  While it plays more or less like the original game (with the exception of toning it down a bit to get wide release), the rest of the game got some major upgrades.  More voice acting, more scenarios, and a graphical facelift were all part of the deal when this was put onto Kickstarter.  Well, they did as they promised…but ultimately failed.  The dialog is repetitive and unfunny, the extra scenarios are uninspired, and the graphics look like bad Flash animation.  Not worth getting, I am sad to say.

Shadowgate (Zojoi):  Another point and click adventure game of the past given new life via Kickstarter.  And unlike the above, this one is worthwhile.  While the graphics seem a bit much for the game compared to the original, it still plays head and shoulders above LSLR.  Not as good as a Telltale Games property, but it passes the time well.  Worth a look.

Evoland (Shirogames):  An interesting take on the evolution of RPG games, from old school 8 bit graphical to more modern HD poly graphics, with a lot of the advancements each generation brought.  For the first 2/3 of the game it is a fun look at how much the games have changed .  They also have an interesting mechanic where you can change eras and go between older 2d graphics and modern 3d, where you have to utilize the differences between the two to advance.  Then comes the final 1/3, where they seem to run out of ideas and just go for parodying common tropes in RPGs.  And there it runs out of steam.  A shame, because for the most part the game is pretty fun.  Give it a shot, but realize it gets old quick.

Mercenary Kings (Tribute Kings):  A retro style shooter in the style of Contra and Metal Slug with graphical artwork by Paul Robertson, well known bit artist.  It is a game that I feel I have barely scratched the surface of.  While the controls are a bit frustrating, I think this is one I will be coming back to play some more of when I get a chance.  So yeah, it seems a good purchase to try.

Defense Grid 2 (Hidden Path Entertainment):  The final game of this session, this was another one I backed on Kickstarter.  And I have to say this one was well worth it.  A tower defense game that has a story dealing with sentient artificial intelligences, humans, and an invading alien force.  Great graphics, voicework, gameplay, the works.  This is one I am glad to have backed and is one I will fire up when I can’t decide what I want to play.  Definitely worth your time to play.