Thoughts On... Chivalry

When I think of Chivalry, I think of the actual definition of the word: the system, spirit, or customs of medieval knighthood. It's an ideology and set of behaviors that was created in the 14th century. And like most of the thinking that existed in the 1300s, it not something that works in modern day society. In fact, the core theories of chivalry don't really exist anymore. It mutated over the course of time from the definition of knighthood to the definition of gentlemanly behavior.

One of the most cherished examples of chivalry these days is the movie Gone With The Wind. Personally, I didn't like the movie. But as a movie buff, I understand it's importance. Still when talking about chivalry, women hold up that movie and say that chivalry is dead. I'm a guy, so take this with the appropriate grain of salt. Personally, I don't think chivalry is dead. However, it has changed.

Remember, the basic concept behind chivalry is the idea that it is the job of any honorable man to protect the women around him since they weren't capable of protecting themselves. They couldn't pull out the heavy oak chairs. They couldn't open the heavy wooden (or metal) doors. Now, it's been 72 years since GWTW was made. It's been even longer since the Civil War era during which the events of the movie takes place. And a great deal of things have happened in that time.

Things like women's rights, women's liberation due to the lack of labor because of that small blip called WWII, the sexual revolution, and the establishment of sexual harassment laws (including precedents for class action suits). These things have fundamentally altered how men & women relate to each other. Those alterations led to the blurring of gender roles. This forced chivalry to be less overt and "go underground" for lack of a better term.

As a guy, I do find it interesting that a lot of the women I know (and several I read about) pine for that lost era when men were expected to do everything, and women just took care of the home and the kids with no other responsibilities being socially acceptable. In a society where they have the right and duty to take care of themselves, women want to go back to when they didn't. The sentiment is so prevalent that there was even a movie based on the concept: Kate & Leopold.

Now, I grant you that men (for justifiable reasons or not) have become less overt in their romantic gestures. That is a given. But I ask this question of you ladies: Would you really trade in all the freedoms you have in modern day for chivalry of the type seen in GWTW or K&L? Really?

Who Will Be Your Pretty Little Enemy....

In honor of my completion of the main storyline of Batman Arkham City (I still have to finish the side missions & trophy hunting), I'm posting the lyrics (and a video of the song) of my favorite song from the Arkham City Soundtrack. I present to you: Deranged by Coheed & Cambria

This city’s lost all hope, I repeat, I boast
The strange will walk alone
They scurry with their doubt
The darkness shrouds, the sirens shout
Against the concrete below
Oh, This works all you and me… Its all our being
We'll burn this city down

Who will be your pretty little enemy?
When I’m gone your world will prove empty
I promise, you will always remember me
The jokes on you, poisoning
While you clean the streets of misfortune
I pick the innocent from my dirty teeth
We’re one and the same... Deranged

We were our worst nightmares delight
And I promised you,
As you always knew
Our world’s a paradise

Who will be your pretty little enemy?
When I’m gone your world will prove empty
I promise, you will always remember me
The jokes on you, poisoning
While you clean the streets of misfortune
I pick the innocent from my dirty teeth
We’re one and the same... Deranged

There is no me without you
I will behave, I will be
An afterthought… Your make believe
Your darkest day... your friend in need

Who will be your pretty little enemy?
When I’m gone your world will prove empty
I promise, you will always remember me
The jokes on you, poisoning
While you clean the streets of misfortune
I pick the innocent from my dirty teeth
We’re one and the same… Deranged

HaHa HaHa HaHa HaHa
We’re one and the same… Deranged
HaHa HaHa HaHa HaHa
We’re one and the same…

Deranged



*All rights to song & lyrics belong to the artist. I own nothing of this..

One Dream Dies & A New One Is Born...

Awhile ago, I declared my intent to attend the 2012 Comic-Con in San Diego next year. For a long time, I had the dogged intent to actually go forth with that plan. I had the Comic-Con page as my homepage so every time I went online, I knew whether or not the badges were on sale. I had several big plans in fact. I was going to go to a "Weird Al" concert in Concord, NH. I was going to visit friends in New Jersey for Thanksgiving, I even had a plan to spend the week between Christmas & New Year's Eve (a.k.a. my birthday week) visiting friends in Canada! It was going to be off the HOOK!!

However, reality, moving ever so slowly, corrupted those dreams until they were nothing but dust. I didn't get to go to the concert. Car issues prevented me from being able to building up the cash to go to NJ and also killed the trip to Canada. And now, while I'm still in financial recovery from all the legal fallout of my car issues, I am finally letting go of the dream of going to Comic-Con 2012.

I simply don't have the $ to buy the badges when they come sale. And that doesn't even cover the round-trip flight, hotel stay, car rental, food costs, and spending money for the Con itself. Frankly, it's just too fucking expensive to go. Therefore, in order to save myself a great deal of emotional angst (and my friend the blowback of that angst), I'm letting go of the dream. My journey to Comic-Con is no more.

In it's place, there is a new dream. One that is FULLY achievable, but will require a great deal of work on my part. For my Christmas present to myself, I will be building myself a new PC. From SCRATCH.

Mind you, I've had my current PC (which I also built from scratch) for over SIX YEARS! The only things I've had to upgrade is the video card and the DVD burners.

I start the research on Motherboards and CPUs tomorrow. I should have it all laid out in a week or so, and as God is my witness by Jan 1st, 2012, I will have my ENTIRELY brand NEW PC.... including a new monitor, keyboard, and mouse!

Mission: PC Update starts... RIGHT NOW!

It's Been A Little While...

My dear readers... it's been a little while since I've posted anything. I know how much you enjoy reading my ramblings and essays. It must pain you beyond belief to not have heard from me in such a long time. All I can say is... I'm sorry. The good news is (as this post is clear evidence of) I'm posting again. And I have a LOT of content to put out there. Keep an eye out over the next couple of days. You'll get a lot more stuff to ponder over...