Tonight I was watching a new documentary called "American Hardcore" which is about, if you couldn't guess, the hardcore music scene of the early 1980's. I really wanted to watch it, and about 15 minutes into it, I wished I wasn't wasting my time. I have NEVER heard a bigger group of crybabies in my life. Now I know a lot of us have gone through our period of angst in our teen and early-twenties, but you grow out of it hopefully. Sadly the people in this never did. To hear some guy with a "me against the world" mentality when they're in their 40's is pretty sad. It's one thing to have a chip on your shoulder for motivation, but to think that the world is against you and all that 16 year old stuff still applies in your 40's is pretty pathetic. There was one moron on there who was talking about the early 80's and how that time was when this country was trying to order and obedience down people's throats. He said something like "so people saw this wimp Jimmy Carter leaving office who stood up for peace, the poor, and blacks, and now there was Reagan who was basically saying that those groups were becoming too powerful and needed to be squashed". WHAT AN IDIOT! Honestly, I could go on for HOURS about how stupid this guy is, but why waste my time. Carter was a wimp, 'nuff said. What Reagan stood for was a concept called personal responsibility, something these crybabies didn't dig very much so they had to lash out against it. It was much easier to blame parents, teachers, police, whoever, instead of saying "gee…maybe I'm a screw-up" when they wonder why they aren't going anywhere in life. It sucks because I really love some of those bands, but not because "oh yeah dude…it SPEAKS to me" or any of that crap, I just like it. These guys thought they were changing the world and blah blah blah. Yeah, rebelling against this government through music requires such guts. What takes guts is standing up for what is morally right, not just whining. Yes, I had my period of time years ago where I was a rebel, but I wasn't as much of a rebel as these guys. I hated the materialistic nature of a lot of people I went to high school with, but at the same time respected Ronald Reagan and wanted to join the Army. And I still do love some of those bands, not because of a "message", but because I like the music. I think what I find so funny about the people I heard in the film was when they were talking about having to do everything themselves. They pressed their own records, promoted their own shows, all of it. That's called "capitalism" which is what they apparently were so opposed to…hahaha. Plus, I would love to hear of another country who's economy isn't run off of capitalism where any of these guys could have made any money at all. It just cracks me up. It's one thing when someone can say "oh yeah, I was a pissed off teenager and I grew up", but like I said these guys are older than me and are STILL in that mentality. It's pretty pathetic. It's like the quote from "Rocky Balboa" – "but you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you!" I can say this from experience, being young and angry and pissed at life is not some badge of honor, it's being a coward. Hopefully one day these people will realize that their life is what they make of it and quit wasting time blaming others for their shortcomings. Do I get pissed off at people and feel like I get screwed over? You better believe it, but to have it dictate my life and how I feel is giving those people way to much credit. And if I ever act like I'm trying to change the world through my music, just shoot me…hahaha. I can't stand when bands take themselves that seriously. That why Elvis rules. When asked about how he felt about Vietnam he said "ma'am I'm just an entertainer and my opinion on that doesn't matter". Thank you Elvis for knowing you are an entertainer and not out to change the world like Eddie Vedder…because Eddie Vedder has done so much like…ummm…hang on…let me think….wow…nothing.

So the Oscars are this weekend…yippee! Remember last year at this time I said the Oscars should be nothing but "Transporter 2" winning every award until another movie dethrones it…well this year "The Protector" should win everything, sadly it has no political message so it won't win crap. I've watched this movie over the last few weeks multiple times, it's playing right now as I write this, and it is beyond incredible. Tony Jaa already deserves a lifetime achievement award because he's such a badass. Now don't get me wrong…Bruce Lee is incredible…but the Tony Jaa movies show martial arts in more "real world" scenarios, and his stuff absolutely blows me away. Now I did see "The Departed", so I hope that wins something because it rocked, but any other quality movie won't get crap. And speaking of martial arts, I'm LOVING the mixed martial arts classes I'm taking. In fact, today I went and bought a heavy bag and set it up in the room where I have my bowflex so I can practice my punches, kicks, knees, and elbows any time I want. The last several weeks have taught me an incredible amount. Now when I watch UFC, I can actually see how takedowns and counters are being set up. I'm not saying I'm ready to enter the octagon at all, it's just that I'm watching MMA in a different way now and I love it. I am actually able to watch it and see the technique instead of just two guys trying to pummel each other. This past week we practiced takedowns where someone ends up in a head scissors using your legs while their arm is in a position to hyper-extend their elbow, and if pushed could break their arm. After that we hit the heavy bags. Now I'm not in bad shape…I run and workout on my bowflex during the week…but when you use muscles in ways you aren't used it, it can be a wee bit painful. When we were on the heavy bags, a time was set for three minutes. What we had to do was fast punch the bag ten times, then the partner would punch ten times and we would alternate for the three minutes. Right after that, we had to fast punch the bag for a full minute. I swear my shoulders were on fire…but it rocked! The last class was so awesome…we learned about hyper-extending someone's elbow, practiced punching, and worked on kicks and blocks. The instructor was walking around and gave us light Thai kicks (using his shin) to our thighs…I swear it felt like someone punched me in the leg. I loved it...because I knew that his leg was like a club and one day I could achieve that. I can't explain how satisfying it is to go twice a week and feel like I'm training in how to incapacitate someone in the shortest amount of time possible. One thing I've really learned is that when it comes to fighting, most people don't realize how lethal knees and elbows are…and I'm training to use them to fight…and it rules! Money well spent.