#NotMyPresident

Hello, everyone. Sorry I haven't said much lately. But things have been rough for me as of late, even having an emotional breakdown on Sunday--the day after my birthday--because of where I am in life. However, that's not what I wanted to talk about.

On Tuesday night, the American public voted to put an orange-skinned, racist, misogynistic blob in the White House, and after 8 years of progress under Barack Obama. The fact that so many people would vote for him instead of the highly-qualified Hillary Clinton says a lot about our society. And for the first time in a long time, I have to say that I'm ashamed to be an American, especially a white male; the orange bastard's supposed "base".

I'm a liberal. I've been that way for over 10 years. But that has nothing to do with how frustrated I am. I look around and see LGBT, Hispanic, black, Muslims, and a whole host of other peoples in fear of what that blob's Presidency will be like, and so am I. I'm on Medicaid because I can't afford insurance. I'm afraid that I'll never be able to get Medicaid again once the ACA is gutted. As an environmentalist, I'm afraid for our planet's future as that orange blob guts environmental regulations. I'm afraid for women and little girls who have to see sexual predators be rewarded for their behavior instead of punished, and for potentially losing their rights to their own choices. And I'm afraid for our free speech, too.

"But D!" you say, "He won the election fair and square!" That's not the point. The point is that his views and rhetoric don't represent what we as a country stand for--inclusiveness and freedom. The fact that he didn't even win the popular vote should tell you enough, that we didn't want him in the first place. The orange bastard only represents himself and his greed. He only wanted the title, not the office, to feed his massive, over-bloated ego. He is not my president.

My folks tell me not to worry too much. But I also see people in the streets, telling the orange bastard that he can't get away with sowing such division and racism once he's in the White House. I respect the Office, but that blob has not earned my respect. And I'll do what I can to make sure his time in office is not only short, but miserable. I've already started by donating to the ACLU (You can donate here) and I hope to attend a #NoDAPL rally in Chicago this Tuesday.

Meanwhile, conservatives and trumpians have criticised the protests. Unfortunately for them, this is pure hypocrisy. Conservatives clearly don't understand why people are angry at trump's election, and why we say #NotMyPresident. They point to the lack of post-election protests in 2008. Sadly for them, they forget the Tea Party. And they were the worst thing to happen to American politics then and now, probably the worst since the Civil War.

They've tried to de-legitimize President Obama just for who he is, calling him "Kenyan", "Obummer", photoshoping him into an African witch doctor, threatening to hang him, bringing their guns to rallies and even questioning where he was born. Even trump got in on the act with his whole #birther nonsense. Fact of the matter is, trump supporters have no leg to stand on when criticising "#Trumpriots"; because they did similar stuff. Your arrogance and hypocrisy is your downfall, trumpians. You'd be rioting if you lost, and you know it. Because trump incited them. In the final weeks of the campaign, trump would ramble on and on about how the Election was “rigged”. Heck, even back in 2012, he demanded protests when he thought Mitt Romney won the popular vote against President Obama. He’s since deleted those tweets.

But most importantly, when a Presidential candidate incites bigotry & hate as part of his campaign, that effects every one of his targets, and the resulting fear is real. Lecturing on protesting means nothing when people are scared. That's why they protest, and that's why they'll fight back. 

But these anti-trump protests are real, and they're going to continue. Trumpians and deplorables need to quit crying that people don't like their cult leader. We'll be there every step. But while the trumpians definitely hypocritical, reports of protestors committing acts of vandalism disheartens me. I do not want violence in these protests. But they’re going to continue, and we need to keep them going, so stop complaining about protests. And by calling protestors “crybabies”, they’ve exposed themselves for the hypocrites they are even more. But when attacks on minorities shoot up post-election, now you see why people are protesting. And why you are hypocrites.

Now quit complaining, crybabies, while the Left reorganizes, fights back and makes your cult leader wish he'd never run. When people are afraid, they fight back. This is just the beginning. #TheResistance is coming.

I hope you guys can do what you can, too. #NotMyPresident

Marvel Owes Fans an Apology

I haven't posted on this blog in a long time, but recent developments in the comic book world have made me decide to speak my mind on the situation.

I usually don't get offended on other people's behalf, but in this case, not only am I making an exception, I'm just as offended as the people I'm going to discuss.

Marvel decided to make a cheap plot twist for the sake of gaining readership by making Captain America, a symbol of hope, strength, freedom, and a middle-finger to the nazis in WWII, a Hydra agent, essentially making him the very thing he's sworn to defeat over 75 years.

The outrage isn't just confined to Jewish fans, but that's where it probably hits home the most. Cap was created by two Jewish men, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, as a response to pro-nazi rhetoric and people like Charles Lindbergh, who was not only isolationist, but explicitly pro-nazi.

In the comics, Hydra is an organization dedicated to nazi-like ideals. By making Cap a Hydra agent, Marvel has betrayed gentile and Jewish fans, and his creators. You don't need to be Jewish to be offended, but if I were Jewish, not only would I be offended, I would be ready to storm the Marvel offices and demand that Nick Spencer, the man behind this, to resign, apologize and make things right again.

It has also been pointed out by others that it's possible Cap is being mind-controlled. While this dilutes the anger only slightly, it doesn't change the fact that this is not only offensive, it's a cheap, lazy writing gimmick for simple shock value that spits on his and his creator's legacy. Also, the possibility that this won't last shows that Marvel would rather go for cheap, short-term shock than long-term storytelling, which says a lot about Marvel.

Even worse,“Everyone relax! Marvel does this all the time, it’ll be back to normal soon!”

THAT’S NOT THE POINT.

This is bad writing and cheap marketing ploys in the name of a twist and generating publicity. While it definitely worked, it’s come at a cost to Marvel’s reputation and exposes a common problem in the comic book industry of relying on naked shock tactics to get readers. Unfortunately, it fucking backfired this time, because Captain America is not only Marvel’s top hero, he’s a literal response to anti-semitism. By making him a HYDRA agent, it betrays everything his original character stands for.

All in the name of a cheap marketing ploy. A CHEAP MARKETING PLOY.

Bad writing is inexcusable. I don’t care if you say nick spencer “understands” this character, everyone in their right minds knows that this is wrong. It’s even worse to grab attention; it smacks of an uncreative group who think being shocking and edgy is a great way to grab readers. It certainly grabhs headlines, but not at the cost of betrying the fans.

There’s no excuse for this kind of bad writing.

And it's pointless. If it's all going to end in a couple of months, then this was nothing but a cheap publicity ploy. In fact, this is just as good a reason to hate it, because we all know it's not going to last! They angered their entire fanbase just for a cheap shock. It's insulting to any intelligent reader, IMO.

By contrast, DC Comics has released "Rebirth #1", by Geoff Johns, and it's a concerted attempt by Johns to apologize to fans for bad writing and stories for 30 years. Another twist reveals Dr. Manhattan to be the one behind the company's disastrous New 52 line, which tried to take the point of Watchmen the wrong way. I loved this book. I felt happy. I felt hope. I felt the way comic books and superheroes are supposed to make me feel. Marvel did the opposite.

This cannot stand. It betrays everyone who admired Captain America. It betrays his creators and it betrays his original intent. Shame on you, Marvel. Shame. On. You.

In Praise of Creative Hockey

I'll admit that I've never played competitive hockey in my life. The only sport I have played competitively is baseball. But what I'm about to talk about is from my experience as a fan and connoisseur of hockey and by extension, sport.

Recently, I've become frustrated with the uninspired play of my beloved hometown team, the Chicago Blackhawks. The team has played an uninspired game, held back, in my view, by head coach Joel Quenneville's stubborn need to keep some "old-school" enforcers on the roster instead of trusting young, energetic talent waiting in the wings. Quenneville's not the cause of these problems, of course, but I do believe they're a factor.

So imagine my relief when I see an article pop up on my Twitter feed by former Russian NHLer Igor Larionov. In this article on the Players' Tribune, Larionov talks about the stifling training schedule imposed by the Soviet system, including the Red Army club CSKA and the Soviet national team.

Training 11 months a year and being treated more like prisoners than players, the Soviets developed a creative, fluid game as soon as they hit the ice (that was influenced by former coach Anatoli Tarasov, who created an entire system from scratch, influenced by ballet, among other things).

This lead the Soviet team to become THE dominant power in ice hockey for decades. Not even one game in Lake Placid, New York in 1980 could stop them.

Which brings us to North America. Here in the New World, we like to think of our hockey as being... "Tough"; defense wins championships, chip and chase, a north-south game, Keep It Simple, Stupid. But, there are also some VERY creative types within the NHL; Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Pavel Datsyuk and a whole host of others have been praised for being able to see where the puck will be in a few seconds and do amazing things with the puck and their stick.

Wayne Gretzky himself was so good because he was able to see where the puck was going to be, not just where it was.

It is here that Larionov bemoans the stifling atmosphere of the North American game. Particularly in these paragraphs:

People ask me why this creative style of play is now so rare at the NHL level. The first thing that gets pointed to is the fighting and dirty play. But that’s not the heart of the problem. I’ve never been a fan of fighting, but hockey has always been a violent game. Bobby Clarke purposely slashed Valeri Kharlamov and broke his ankle at the 1972 Summit Series. Those games were more brutal than anything you see today, and it didn’t stop the Soviets from playing creative hockey.

The problem is more philosophical and starts way before players get to the NHL. It’s easier to destroy than to create. As a coach, it’s easier to tell your players to suffocate the opposing team and not turn the puck over. There are still players whose imagination and creativity capture the Soviet spirit — Johnny Gaudreau in Calgary, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in Chicago just to name a few. However, they are becoming exceptions to the rule. Many young players who are intelligent and can see the game four moves ahead are not valued. They’re told “simple, simple, simple.”

That mentality is kind of boring. Nobody wants to get fired. Nobody wants to get sent down to the minors. If you look at the coaches in Juniors and minor league hockey, many of them were not skill players. It’s a lot of former enforcers and grinders who take these coaching jobs. Naturally, they tell their players to be just like them. Their players are 17, 18 years old — younger than I was when I joined the Red Army team. Say what you want about the Whiplash mentality (or the Soviet mentality), but if coaches are going to push kids at that age, why are they pushing them to play a simple game? Why aren’t coaches pushing them to create a masterpiece? 

We lose a lot of Pavel Datsyuks to the closed-minded nature of the AHL and NHL.

Reading these it made me think of the Blackhawks situation. The Hawks have a phenomenal talent by the name of Teuvo Teravainen, a Finnish prospect, in their system. One of Teravainen's favorite players in Patrick Kane, as well as Pavel Datsyuk. You can see it in the way Teuvo plays his game, particularly fast, smart and creative. Unfortunately, he's been stuck in the Rockford Shuffle this year while Quenneville goes with washed-up enforcer Dan Carcillo.

There's a sad mentality among NHL coaches to play not to lose. It's gotten so bad that it's possible this might be behind the Hawks' sluggish play. Creativity is stifled at the youth level in favor of playing "simple", physical hockey. Coaches, raised on the old-school, Broad Street Bullies, "Slap Shot", physical style of hockey insist on playing enforcers, who have been fading in popularity.

We in the West pride ourselves on creative freedom. The only place men like Larionov could express it was on the ice. Indeed, how ironic it is that the stifling Soviet style created the hockey equivalent of Brazilian soccer, while the free West has boring, physical hockey.

There is indeed a place for grit in hockey. Defense wins championships, after all. But offense wins games. And there's a reason creative geniuses like Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Patrick Kane, Pavel Datsyuk, and yes, the Soviet team, are celebrated: They make the game fun to watch.

I am not a hockey expert. But speaking as a fan, I do believe that coaches should let their players' creativity shine. We celebrate creativity in other sports. Ozzie Smith became known as "The Wizard of Oz" for his on-field intelligence. Michael Jordan wouldn't have become the greatest basketball player of all time if he didn't know how to get past his opponents. And there's a reason Lionel Messi is considered the best soccer player in the world today. And there's a reason they're called "Martial Arts".

I love hockey, but the sport needs to stop living in the past and embrace what it is: A fast, fluid sport that can switch between beautiful and ugly in the fraction of a second. Embrace your creativity, hockey players and coaches. Whether it's on a backyard ice rink, the local ice arena or even gym class playing floor hockey, develop your game the way you see fit. Nobody should tell you how to play the game you've been playing for your entire life. Have fun! Enjoy it! It's a game, after all!

Six Tips for Writing Sketch Comedy

So you want to do improv, do you? Take it from someone who’s been bruised, battered and knocked around for about a year at the Second City Training Center in Chicago, but FINALLY got something on stage. Here’s 7 tips that can help you get on stage.

1. Yes… And

This principle is what makes improv work. It's not just making things up on the spot, it's building off what your fellow performers come up with. If someone comes up with an idea, then you HAVE to say "yes... and", at least in your head. If someone says, "I want to bring my gorilla to the bar", your response is, "Yes, and you can bring your cheetah."

2. Writing is nothing like improv.

Here's the thing about the writing sketch comedy: It is VERY serious. I took one improv class. The rest of my time has been devoted to writing a sketch. It takes serious commitment to figure out what works in these sketches and what doesn’t. Suck it up and get your brain ready. You will have fun in improv, but when you have to write a sketch every single week, you will get stressed out. Speaking of which,

3. Be creative, but smart

When writing a sketch, think about what you're writing. Don't be offensive, it's too easy. Try to be relevant, instead. Even then, there's difficulty. Making fun of a political sex scandal is always relevant. Making fun of some news story that might not be relevant in three months isn't. One thing you can do is make fun of everyday life, like a couple arguing over their love life or even writing a parody of a TV show or movie. Oh, but know this:

4. Be prepared for criticism.

If you can't take criticism, DO NOT write comedy. You need to write a sketch every single week and then bring it in front of someone you trust. They will then critique the sketch based on whether it follows the scene structure, if the characters are realistic, or if this can be staged. Sometimes, the sketch you thought was perfect will be TORN TO SHREDS.

5. Be prepared for rejection, too

And when you are submitting your sketch to an agent, you will need to be prepared for rejection. If your sketch follows the right structure, has human characters and is stageable, it will pass. If not, good luck finding another agent!

6. It's all worth it in the end

You've been working for a year, you've written upwards of 50+ sketches, you've had ideas torn to shreds, but when you get the right one, it will be performed live on stage at The Second City. Now you just have to see if the audience will laugh at your sketch...

Yes, it's blunt, but in this world, perhaps we need to be straight-forward. If you want to have fun taking a class at Second City, take improv. If you want to take writing, go ahead, but good luck. You're gonna need a lot of it.

Good Pitch Chicago

Last week, I had the privilege and honor of being invited to the first-ever Good Pitch Chicago, an amazing day-long event where celebrities can be spotted and documentary filmmakers pitch their films in hopes of getting funding.

The long slog on the El to the Cultural Center, where Good Pitch took place, was worth it because I got a real taste of part of the career I’m building in media and communications.  Enriching? Yes! Enlightening? No doubt! 

Good Pitch is a project by both BRITDOC and the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program. The first Good Pitch event was held in the UK about six years ago. Last year, two out of the five documentaries nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary were financed by Good Pitch.

The directors and producers of the eight documentaries showcased at Good Pitch had about seven minutes to pitch their film in front of a roundtable which is made up of about 8 to 10 people who are already aware of the documentaries’ premises and want to help finance and market the films. The films are also given the chance to be financed by guests in the audience, who volunteered money and support for the films.

The film I was sent to cover, “Becoming Bulletproof”, is a documentary about a camp in Vermont where people with disabilities can make movies. The movie the documentary was about is titled “Bulletproof”, a rip-roaring Western starring individuals with disabilities.

The other documentary that I saw being pitched, which was looked at right before “Becoming Bulletproof”, was a film called “Dreamcatchers”, about a non-profit organization called the Dreamcatcher Foundation, which helps get prostitutes off the streets and into safe houses.

Kim Loningotto, left, and Lisa Stevens, right, pitch their film "The Dreamcatchers"

“Dreamcatchers” was pretty powerful. The film was hard-hitting, emotional and pretty audacious. The women from the non-profit organization Dreamcatchers were risking retaliation by driving up to the prostitutes and (figuratively) pulling them into their car and driving away. There was no music in the trailer that I saw, only raw footage and emotions.

As a result of the trailer, the organization received plenty of donations and audience members donated enough to build solar panels for the Dreamcatchers safe house. I think the “Dreamcatchers” pitch was successful, much to the relief of the filmmakers, who looked rather nervous (which is understandable) throughout the pitch.

“Becoming Bulletproof” was pitched by Theodore James, the producer, and Mike Barnett, the director. They noted that there were only six characters on TV with disabilities, and of those six only one character was played by an actor with an actual disability. The filmmakers intended to use this film to raise awareness of the problem around Hollywood and actors playing individuals with disabilities and they needed $130,000 to finish the film.

Theodore James (left) and Mike Barnett (right) speak to the roundtable on"Becoming Bulletproof"

Their pitch was a good start, but it received some skeptical reactions from the roundtable. The first half of the trailer looked like the kind of movie that would help serve its purpose, but the second half began to slip into the typical Hollywood “inspirational” depictions of people with disabilities. While the trailer was pretty good and I assume the actual movie is better, the reaction to the trailer from the roundtable was… less than ideal.

Much of the complaints to the trailer revolved around the way it was presented. Much of the depictions of individuals with disabilities in media are of the sappy, schmaltzy, sentimental and inspirational type that have become a cliché. Indeed, the filmmakers acknowledged this, saying they made the trailer for a specific reason.

Still, the discussion afterward was rather enlightening. The roundtable included the likes of Jeff Prechter of the Prechter Foundation, who donated $75,000 for the camp itself, Lois Vossen of the PBS series “IndependentLens”, JJ Hanley, the founder of jjslist.com and Emily Smith of the Arts of Life Foundation. Much of the roundtable agreed that the film was a good start, but would have to be improved before it’s shown to the general public.

However, the filmmakers, to their credit, understood that a stamp of approval wasn’t good enough. Instead, they were asking for advice from the roundtable about how to improve the film. One thing they did get though, was a different stamp of approval. They had brought a man named AJ, a man with Cerebral Palsy who was the star of “Bulletproof”. A woman named Emily Verelien Strom was in the audience and she offered to give AJ a meeting with her husband, who is an agent at the Creative Artists Agency.

AJ speaks to the panel and audience.

The filmmakers did not get the $130,000 they needed, but they did come away with some good advice. I took away a sense of direction, if not accomplishment from these filmmakers. Although they’d been constructively hammered throughout the hour-long pitch.

I felt that the filmmakers were treading a thin line with the work they’d already done. As I mentioned previously, most depictions of people with disabilities tend to be of the inspirational, sentimental type which really comes across as patronizing. The thing about the depictions of people with disabilities is that there’s a thin line between accurate, empowering, sentimental and patronizing. The filmmakers honestly want to tell the right story, but they’ll need to improve it until they get the depiction they want to show.

Pictures courtesy of James Richards IV

Update: Here's a story about the Dreamcatcher Foundation from WBEZ. Link here.

Blackhawks-Sabres Recap

Patrick Kane scored a goal against his hometown Buffalo Sabres tonight as the Blackhawks played the second of their back-to-back games at the United Center, winning a surprisingly tight game against the points-wise worst team in the NHL.

Brandon Pirri made his first appearance for the Hawks this season. The long-time Rockford star was due for a chance and it came tonight. He was on the fourth line with Brandon Bollig and Ben Smith.

Part of the reason for the tight score was because of the work of Ryan Miller, the 2010 Olympic MVP, making 38 saves but his team failed to provide any offense until the third period. The Hawks slipped two past Miller though, the first salvo coming from Winston-Salem, NC product Ben Smith, who deflected a Brent Seabrook shot for his first of the season.

The second goal came from Patrick Kane in the second period on a Power Play goal with an assist from Patrick Sharp (who was playing in his 600th NHL game). Drew Stafford got the Sabres closer, but it wasn't enough and the Hawks held off the Sabres for the rest of the game despite a flurry of shots from the Sabres.

We mentioned Ryan Miller earlier, but we cannot ignore the Hawks netminder Corey Crawford. Crow saved 28 shots,showing he's starting to get comfortable in net again. The Hawks also dominated possession and out-shot the Sabres 20-6 in the first period.

The only reason the game was as close as it was, was because of the stellar play of Ryan Miller. And yet for Ryan Miller, it's becoming obvious he's not fitting in at Buffalo anymore. Their lack off offense is not helping him at all. It's a shame, since he's a former Vezina Trophy winner and as I mentioned earlier, Olympic MVP. There was once a (horrible) rumor that the Hawks might trade Patrick Kane for Miller, but it's looking less likely, especially since the Hawks have every intention of keeping the Buffalo native.

As for the Hawks play, I have few complaints. After the bad two-game losing streak, it's good to see the Hawks starting to really gel and come together as a team. This should have been an easy win, but Buffalo is better than their record really indicates, since they do have an exceptional goalie. I want to see how the Hawks build on this two-game winning streak as they head to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Blackhawks Vs Isles Recap: About Time!

After two bad wins, the Blackhawks welcomed the New York Islanders to the United Center for the first of two games in two days at the UC. On the night the US Soccer team beat Jamaica and clinched first place in the CONCACAF qualifiers, the Blackhawks recovered from their two-game losing streak to beat the Islanders 3-2.

There was a change in the line-up tonight. One-time Hawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was placed in goal, presumably to give Corey Crawford some time to rest. Given how Crawford's had a rough couple of games, I can believe that Crawford appreciated the time off. Quenneville also played with the lines, putting Bryan Bickell on the third line and put Andrew Shaw on the second line. Michal Handzus was also placed on the fourth line at center. Brandon Saad joined Kane and Toews on the first line.

The Blackhawks struck first as rookie Joakim Nordstrom put the Hawks up at 9:32 in the first period. It was the first NHL goal for the Swedish Hawk Mafia's newest member. Then the Captain, Jonathan Toews, put the Hawks up 2-0 a couple minutes later.

But the Islanders took advantage of the Hawks' defensive weakness and scored two unanswered goals near the end of the first period. Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo both scored 2 minutes and 56 seconds apart and Okposo's goal came with 4.8 ticks remaining in the first period.

Thankfully, the Hawks regrouped and prevented any more goals. Khabibulin stopped 17 of 19 shots total in the game. Michal Handzus put the Hawks up for good at 6:45 in the second period. This time, the Hawks killed every penalty that came afterwards after three games of a bad penalty kill.

This was the game I had been waiting for! The Hawks did not panic after giving up those two goals in the first period. But, they need to stop giving up goals in bulk, so there's plenty to work on. As for Khabibulin, he's still the Bulin Wall of old, and tonight was win t'ree t'irdy t'ree for him. I think this win was a small, but important step towards repeating a Cup championship. They felt like they'd been robbed of three points in the last two games, so to get both points was big. They play the Buffalo Sabers tomorrow night at 7:00.

In other updates, the Hawks have recalled Brandon Pirri from Rockford and sent Jimmy Hayes down to Rockford. Pirri should play tomorrow night.