Gus Calvo

Remembering Roller Coaster Tycoon

2025-01-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

These Sims type games hold an appeal to me, especially the ones from the early 2000's that contained a pixelated isometric view, is almost as watching a diorama that came to life. I remember knowing about Roller Coaster Tycoon by mere accident while perusing at a GameStop that was located in a shopping mall I can't remember in Miami-Dade.

I got mesmerized by the concept as I have a love for Sim and strategy games as Sim City and anything in between; I love to discover the different ways or patterns that can create a successful enviroment within the game parameters.

I love roller coasters and this game came during a point in my life where I started to enjoy roller coasters and travelled often to Florida. Roller coasters became some form of a hype fixation that spawned several years of my life; even as an adult I used to enjoy going to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay to ride as much as I could the different roller coasters. Albeit, during that point in my life when I was younger and my time with the coasters was limited Roller Coaster Tycoon became some form of an escape to fill the desire of riding roller coaster which in Colombia was not possible.

Scorpion - Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

The first coaster with an inversion I ever rode was the defunct Scorpion at Busch Gardens Florida and I felt free, it was the closest thing I ever experienced to flying and I wanted to do more and find aspects of my new fixation that could be turn in a hobby and that's on 2001 when I found Roller Coaster Tycoon I saw another side of gaming that I never thought it was possible "to be able to explore the dynamics of theme parks and their attractions".

We have to think that the level of design of the game isn't too complex as is a product of the era but Chris Sawyer did a wonderful job by capturing the essence of a theme park in such a minimalist way. The game is composed within different scenarios that share a similar set of objectives that can vary between achieving a certain rating status within the park, to achieve a number of estimated guests inside the park or even raise the park value. Each scenario itself differs vastly from each other, some of the locations are inside a small contained park and others are just as big as real theme parks.

To raise the value of each world the player needs to decorate each scenario with greenery, decorations such as fountains, entertainers who are part of the staff and also security, technicians and custodians that can keep the park clean and safe. I found the game has stand the test of time and still as entertaining as it was 20 years ago when it first got released to the market, the replay value is really good and memorable.

Brief Summary of What Can Come for the LGBT Under Trump Adminstration

2024-11-12T19:41:00.006-05:00

With the upcoming Trump administration we have to remember that with the first time he was in the White House he executed an effort to erase protections for LGBTQ people, within the Trump administration included an effort to define transgender out of existence and erode protections for transgender students and workers by weakening gender-affirming health care that most transgender had difficulty accessing them.

During Biden's administration a lot of the Trump's-era laws were reversed, but Trump vowed to dismantle Biden's policies that offer protection for transgender students under Title IX, a federal civil right law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. In the late 1990's and early 2000's Trump expressed support for domestic partnership laws - a position that the GOP opposed at the time, he even showed personal tolerance for LGBTQ issues such as queer people serving in the military; but his views shifted around 2011 where amid a possible presidential bid, he mentioned he was opposed to gay marriage and in 2015 he mentioned he supported traditional marriage.

Trump became the first GOP presidential nominee to mention LGBTQ issues in his 2016 Republican National Convention speech, where he pledged to protect the community in the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub shooting, albeit the juxtaposition came with his election of vice-president with Mike Pence who had opposed marriage equality.

With his 2016 campaign Trump said that he would strongly consider appointing Supreme Court Justices who would overturn the 2015 ruling that legalized marriage equality, but his perspective have never been precise as he changed his point of views to adjust to what the situation need it. His comments on transgender issues, Trump said over the North Carolina bathroom ban, that transgender people "Should use the bathroom they feel appropriate" But his administration went to reverse a policy that allowed transgender students to use bathrooms that corresponded with gender identity plus his administration banned some transgender people from serving in the military while Trump was in office.

Trump even mentioned if he goes back to the White House, he will impose punishment for doctors and teachers who discuss gender affirming care with minors, which the sentiment reflected on his 2024 campaign.

References:

Trump on LGBT Rights: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/trump-on-lgbtq-rights-rolling-back-protections-and-criminalizing-gender-nonconformity
Compare Trump and Harris views on LGBT Rights

The Censored Eleven

2024-11-02T21:15:00.006-04:00

I am trying to think on how much times had changed, yet some aspects of the past are refused to be learned by generations that follow. I feel we have changed for good on some extent during the last sixty years but yet echoes of the past such as white supremacy refuse to die. The Censored Eleven are a series of eleven cartoons that are part of the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes catalogue that had been out of circulation since 1968 due the extreme racist tones that are contained in each of the animated shorts.

The shorts which derive into a plethora of stereotypes against minorities, mostly aimed at African Americans and Aboriginal populations back in the early 1900's. The problematic of the censored Eleven comes from decades-old and current day incarnations of African American stereotypes which include mammy, Mandingo, Sapphire, Uncle Tom and watermelon, many of the stereotypes created during the height of the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade were used to help commodify black bodies and justify slavery as a business. One example an enslaved person, forced under violence to work from sunrise to sunset, could hardly be described as lazy, yet laziness and characteristics of submissiveness historically was assigned as a stereotype of African Americans.

Hittin' the Train for Halleluiah Land

Several stereotypes were developed as offensive caricatures constructed during slavery and were subsequently popularized by minstrel shows. One trope is the representation of the mammy archetype, where the trope pictured of black women working in the homes of white families and being the caretakers for the children, the trope painted of a domestic worker who had an undying loyalty to their slaveholders.

The image of mammy and Uncle Tom to name a few, were sought to legitimize the institution of slavery, which led the mammy archetype to increase popularity after the American Civil War and into the mid 1900's.

Mass media was attached to the likeness of mass produced consumers goods from flour to motor oil, which solidified the mammy archetype as a trusted figure in the white imaginations. We can see traces of what it was spoken in the last paragraph by mentioning the concept of discriminatory advertisement which is the practice of including African bodies that will please the white sensitivity.

The cartoon output of Warner Bros. during its most active period sometimes had censorship problems that were complex than those of movie features', as unlike films which they were censored in the script, the animated shorts were passed upon only when completed, which made producers cautious about the restrictions.

References:

Popular and Pervasive Sterotypes of African Americans: https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/popular-and-pervasive-stereotypes-african-americans
Wikipedia Censored Eleven: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censored_Eleven
Marketing has a Colorism Problem: https://hbr.org/2021/05/marketing-still-has-a-colorism-problem

Que Paso con Los Hooligans

2024-10-25T12:07:00.001-04:00

He estado tratando de buscar informacion acerca de esta banda Mexicana de la decada de 1960. La informacion que he podido conseguir en-linea ha sido escasa debido al paso del tiempo y la falta de records a nivel moderno.

Lo poco que he podido encontrar ha sido referente a la formacion del grupo original que era conformado por:

Ricardo Roca que fue la voz original del grupo, Enrique Ampudia en el bajo, Luis Felipe Cisneros en la bateria, Javier de la Cueva en el piano y Humberto Cisneros con la guitarra requinto. Para 1963 despues de cuatro albumes Juan Jose Ortega se vuelvo el vocalista principal de la banda ya que Ricardo Roca dejaria la banda para seguir con una carerra de solista.

La banda se acabo en 1968. En la decada de 1990's la banda tuvo cierto movimiento ya que sus exitos como Agujetas de Color de Rosa se volvio una telenovela y Despeinada tuvo un cover de Alejandra Guzman.

Si alguien lee esto, si tienen informacion que pueda expandir esta entrada, le agradezco de todo corazon que deje un mensaje en la seccion de comentarios.

Referencias:

Los Hooligans - https://www.discogs.com/artist/2161790-Los-Hooligans-2
Cesar Costa - https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Costa
Ricardo Roca y Los Hooligans - https://serlesa.com.mx/los-hooligans/

What Remains of Edith Finch is a Powerful Message of Intergenerational Trauma

2024-10-22T13:35:00.004-04:00

Game logo

I've been replaying What Remains of Edith Finch and it makes me think on the lessons the game develops during the exploration of the ruins of Finch Manor. The story is told within different narrators but the main one whose Edith Finch she tells the story from a third-person perspective as she serves as a bridge between her deceased relatives and towards her son who is the character that held her diary with all the family information she gathered before passing away.

I'd like to think on the dynamics of the family, trying to see there is a curse that will kill all the Finches and their descendants into an untimely horrific death, but in reality there is no curse but rather a dysfunctional family whose elders can't see their own faults and can't help the younger generations because they are self-centered into their own delusion's of a death threat that is not real but rather is directed to their own neglect of the younger ones.

Finch Manor

The game is told via a hub which is the manor of great-grandma Edie and the player can navigate towards the different rooms that act as memorials for the Finches who died. There is not direct dialogue but rather Edith goes around the different rooms and get clues how her relatives lived. We can go through at least three generations of Finches, and we can gather information on how they died and every time there is a death in the family there are implications of adult neglect towards the kid, this is heavily noted on Gregory's arc where he is left to drown in the bathroom tub.

Molly Finch

Molly is another character as well the first one we get exposed as is the first main room where Edith starts exploring about her family members and is the first room where the player can be exposed to the children trauma coming from the adults. Molly was the first born daughter of Edie who died after a combination of eating some holly berries and a tube of fluorinated toothpaste that probably caused her to hallucinate because she was sent the her room after being punished without having her dinner.

Probably the combination of holly berries and toothpaste caused her to enter in an hallucinogenic state which could explain her visions of being different animals such as a cat, a shark and eventually a monster that devoured humans. The death of Molly foreshadowed what would happen when the other family members died, their rooms became shrines and were left as the last day they where alive.

I can see a lot of Molly's and the different Finches as my own story, I can relate to the intergenerational trauma that followed them and eventually killed them, probably as less as dramatic as my maternal grandfather used to say "We all live long ages, but loneliness is what eventually killed us". The house that always changed was more as a prison to Edith and the vast majority of her family, the same house for me was Cartagena, the city where I was born and that was my prison without any walls but just geographical boundaries.

I always remember looking through my bedroom window, wishing to go away and eventually it became a reality, I essentially had to die to be able to live, I wanted so badly to be myself without having to be associated with the people I was bounded by blood; in that extent I am probably close to Milton which ended up leaving his family without a clue of his whereabouts and yet seemed that he lived his life to the fullest.

Sometimes we have to leave and leaving is the hardest part.

References:

The Making of What Remains of Edith Finch: https://www.pcgamer.com/the-making-of-what-remains-of-edith-finch/
Myth-making or Neglect? Questions of Nihilism in What Remains of Edith Finch: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5955a0172e69cffa37a39b58/t/645f6bc3cebb40072a8f32a7/1683975108546/nihilism-zawadzki-draft3.pdf
Molly Finch: https://what-remains-of-edith-finch.fandom.com/wiki/Molly_Finch
Milton Finch: https://what-remains-of-edith-finch.fandom.com/wiki/Milton_Finch

Fernando Botero Analysis Social e Historico

2024-10-03T10:54:00.027-04:00

Fernando Botero

El arte de Botero (1932 - 2023) es reconozible por las rellenas figuras que adornan sus diferentes trabajos en el campo de la escultura y la pintura, pero la esencia de sus trabajos yace una fundacion de una critica social a los diferentes gobiernos Colombianos y las realidades que se viven en el pais.

Es facil reconocer la obra de Botero pero es raro reconocer que su trabajo politico habla de como su periodo de crecimiento artistico durante La Violencia (1948-58) le ayudo a justificar su estilo; su primera pieza la vendio a los 16 años y mientras estaba en la secundaria trabajo como ilustrador.

A lo largo de su carrera, Botero gano fama con reinterpretaciones de piezas del Renacimiento como Papa Leo X (1964), El Retrato de Arnolfini (1978) y La Mona Lisa (1978), el tambien uso su trabajo para crear satira de la pomposidad del clerigo, generales y dictadores de Latino America.

Mona Lisa (1978)

Aunque la politica no tomo parte mayoritaria de su tematica en el arte, Botero creo trabajos que reflejan el conflicto Colombiano, con el paso del tiempo hubo una evolucion que llevo a reflejar el lamento del conflicto como el cuadro de La Muerte de Escobar (1999) y la evolucion del conflicto Colombiano hacia un problema de guerrillas e insurgencias que generaron problemas en diferentes ciudades como su natal Medellin.

En el 2003 en el conflicto de la prision de Abu Ghraib llevo a Botero a trabajar en su pieza con mas contendio politico, la cual fue la tortura de prisioneros Iraquies en manos de la Armada de Estados Unidos. La serie de Abu Ghraib produjo mas de 200 dibujos y pinturas de la serie de abusos a los prisioneros en los cuales los prisioneros tenian caras de dolor y angustia y al mismo tiempo le dio humanidad.

Carro Bomba, 1999

Con el avistamiento del nuevo milenio, la exploracion de Botero con el conflicto armado se volvio mas frequente, el cual explico que el estaba en contra de como el arte se volvia un testigo con el tiempo, como un arma de combate, pero llego el momento que sintio obligacion de dejar un testimonio de un momento irracional de la historia.

Hay que pensar que la violencia esta ligada en la historia de numerosas culturas a lo largo de Latino America y el continente ha sido sujeto de problemas sociales y politicos, llevando a sus habitantes a educar futuras generaciones para poder discutir la violencia y el trauma, que son puntos que han tenido un valor de unidad en diferentes paises Latinoamericanos. Este discurso ha servido como un aspecto integral para el colectivo en desarollar culturas que enfatizan en la empatia de los derechos humanos.

Debido a los roles que artistas o ciudadanos ordinarios, han llevado a la captura de narraciones que estan ligadas a su vida cotidiana, expresiones narrativas que han sido llevadas a la pintura, cine, television y otros medios en las cuales se puede ver la experiencia comunitaria que esta ligada a la reflexion personal.

Masacre en Colombia

El problema esta en que la violencia ha sido el punto central en la contemporaneidad de Latino America y es un problema que va enfocado hacia el actual milenio; en cierto punto, la manera de expresion ha sido llevada a la normalidad de la violencia en donde se ha vuelto ciclica y el arte se ha vuelto uno de los metodos para llevar a cabo una comunicacion sobre una serie de problemas intergeneracionales en donde se puede ilustrar las circunstancias para un publico en general.

La Violencia fue un periodo significante en la historia Colombiana que influencio las creaciones artisticas de Fernando Botero (1948 a 1958), esta decada tumultosa estuvo marcada por un conflicto partisano situado en las areas rurales Colombianas, la cual tuvo como catalisador el asesinato de Jorge Eliecer Gaitan quien fue el candidato presidencial del Partido Liberal. Este periodo turbulento tuvo una serie de masacres que quedaron plasmadas en el colectivo Colombiano a lo largo de la historia que dejaron huellas profundas que han durado hasta el siglo 21.

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar
Fernando Botero's Political Masterworks - https://americasquarterly.org/article/fernando-boteros-political-masterworks/
U.S. Tourist in Colombia caught in a new wave of kidnappings https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/23/us-tourists-killed-kidnapping-colombia/
Fernando Botero: Exploring Violence Through Art https://www.byarcadia.org/post/fernando-botero-exploring-violence-through-colombian-art

Life

2024-04-25T10:50:00.002-04:00

I'm writing again and is been a slowly but steady process, I spend 2 weeks in the hospital last month due pneumonia and having fluids in my left lung. I turned 40 also three days ago and between all the madness it gave me a perspective in life towards the paths I had taken within education and painting.

I haven't paint or create anything in two months, part has been money to keep the subscription of Adobe valid and the other part I was really sick that I couldn't sustain the idea of enjoying my hobbies or even get clean shaven. Those two weeks in the hospital took a toll on my health where I lost weight in a short amount of time and lung capacity.

When it started I woke up gasping for air on the first day of Spring Break, I couldn't breath and had to ask my partner to take me to the emergency room as quickly as possible as I was having respiratory issues. In the ER, it showed that I was having a tachycardia and my hearth rate was extremely high.

From the ER I ended up in the hospital, I have to confess I remember some of it because much of the time I was asleep due it was difficult to stay awake. Is interesting how much you can care about your personal hygiene when you are sick and how much you care about you being clean after you start feeling better.

I didn't showered for 12 days and when I was back at home I took a long shower and shaved, I couldn't stand the beard being long and I was happy to be able to bathe finally because I was smelling after two weeks but also because I was feeling capable of doing something after loosing muscle mass and not having energy.

One thing about loosing muscle mass in such a short amount is that the bare minimum tasks such as driving or picking up groceries in the supermarket are almost impossible to do. Around a week later I went to Aldi's and tried to pick up some groceries, I drove there and it felt wonderful but grabbing the basket back home became a problem because it felt heavy and I was out of breath with something that never bothered me to do.

Is been two and half weeks since I am back at work and it still a struggle to grab the energy but is not as it was two weeks ago and every day it feels somewhat better.

The History of Super Mario RPG

2024-02-27T13:02:00.000-05:00

As time pass by and with the release of the Mario RPG remake for the Switch, it made me wonder about preserving the history on how this game was made and the legacy that generated over the last 28 years.

To think of Mario RPG is to see a legacy within the Mario IP, the influence goes with the Paper Mario and the Luigi & Mario games that spawned several sequels over the last 30 years on different Nintendo consoles.

History

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When the game was released in Japan, it sold 1.47 million copies; the release in the United States surpassed the sales expectations of Nintendo of a target of 500,000 units making it the sixth best selling game of 1996 in the United States and also the last game to be released for the Super Nintendo by Square in North America.

The game was released in Europe and Australia much later, on August 22 of 2008 with the port of the game for the Virtual Console of the Wii and subsequent the port was released on September the 1st of 2008 in North America.

The conception of the game came from the idea of Shigeru Miyamoto to create an RPG using Mario and the joint effort of Square to create an RPG property that could make it in the international grounds outside the Final Fantasy and Secrets of Mana series. The collaboration and development began as early in 1994 after a business meeting between Square and Nintendo.

The process of choosing the mechanics and how the game was going to look i.e. the isometric 2.5 view that is present, was chosen to make it more vibrant with the 3D scanned models of the characters and environment, similar as the Donkey Kong Country games for the Super Nintendo which used 3D rendered model for character creation and scenarios.

Super Mario RPG was unveiled at the V-Jump Festival of 1995, which by October of the same year Square cited that the game was over a quarter complete.

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References

The Magic Box (The Webmaster) (October 31, 2006). "The Magic Box: Platinum Game Chart, Japanese Console Games Sold Over One Million". The Magic Box: International Videogame News. The Magic Box. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2007.
"Japanese Virtual Console list - June 2008". nintendo.co.jp. Nintendo Japan. May 30, 2008. Archived from the original on July 22, 2008. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
"Super Mario RPG – 1995 Developer Interviews". Shmuplations. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2021.

Nothing happened

2024-02-26T08:56:00.003-05:00

Nothing happened, we just postpone it. There is no need to rush especially when finances are rough, we still we have each other, there will be one day soon in the time that will come.

Changes

2024-02-20T10:23:00.005-05:00

I've been going through a lot in the last three years, it has been a period that I wouldn't even survive if it wasn't for friends who were there in times of need. I am thinking how much I lost but at the same time how much I earned through the mere fact of living, living is one of the most revolutionary things you can do in this world.

In a little bit over 24 hours we will be applying to a marriage license, I honestly thought that wasn't going to happen ever, I was in a state of fear and survival and I finally feel is leaving my existence. I'm thinking how much life has changed in the last 14 years, more to be precise in the last 16. 15 and a half years ago I was arriving to the United States in an airplane by Avianca, the views of the keys are one of the first memories I have from that period of time, then the metropolis that is Miami-Dade, then the long road we took to Tampa Bay, then back to Miami, then back to Tampa, from Tampa eventually Gainesville and later in the outskirt's of the aforementioned city.

Is a long road from Cartagena to where I am now, yet it feels that tomorrow was only yesterday and yesterday wasn't 16 years ago but rather a couple of nights ago. I am trying to think what I have done to survive, and yet I want to stop thinking about surviving and simply enjoy life like anyone else. I've been with Josh for 14 years at this moment that you are reading this, it hasn't been easy as the two of us we have struggled with mental health over the years but since the two of us going to treatment there has been a change.

My biggest fear when I started my own family was if I was going to repeat the same mistakes my progenitors did? I didn't knew, my parents made a lot of mistake same as my grandparents, they pushed people out of their lives out of mere pettiness, I did for a long time the same thing as them and pushed people out of my life because I didn't see them use in my life, and saw the idea of family as a façade to hide any behavior, I knew I had my own little family and yet I neglected it for a good number of years because I was scared of the concept based on my previous experiences.

I never imagine getting married, this is as public as I plan to do it, and yet on 2/21/2024 we are going to be getting a marriage license and that's a big step because my relationship is not the same as my progenitors where time was nothing and there was no meaning of living and learning together. I don't know what life will bring, nobody knows but I feel at peace that I am living mine to the fullest because a lot of people in the community couldn't be their own authentic selves. I don't know how to say it, but living to the fullest is an act of revolution.

A Current Analysis to the Four Freedoms, Part One

2023-12-08T13:36:00.002-05:00

Freedom of Speech

The four freedoms by Norman are series of painting that after 50 years they have some relevance because they are based on the peril of the world versus an idealized version of what constitutes the life in the United States.

As I turn older, I see Freedom of Speech from the series of four the most prevalent one because a lot of people in the last 8 years can't dissociate that with freedoms there are consequences. The art of Norman Rockwell comes from an idealization back when reality was more dual in terms of social development and equity to all of the citizens.

I personally love the art of Norman Rockwell because from a commercial and marketing point of view it encompass a sense of nostalgia that transcends time and encompass a sole root in the Americana Pop Culture. From an art analysis there's a polarization in the Rockwell paintings because of the message they give as sucrose but instead we need to look him as a painter that was a byproduct of his time and worked towards the war efforts and reconstruction of the United States towards his art.

Freedom of Speech is one of my favorites, it juxtapose with the today ideal of freedom that we have to speak what we believe but a lot of people forget there are consequences towards the speech we can give. The composition of the painting follows a triangular pyramid order which centers the figure of the man as the main focus for the viewer, the hierarchy is really simple but effective because we as viewers we can see the story and how people are focused at the main character who is exercising his freedom of speech yet we don't see discomfort on any of the other faces but rather a complacent crowd who seems to agree with him.

I am trying to think that today we can found a similar aspect in which being complacent goes with accepting unwanted behavior such as accepting Neo-Nazi's ideologies because they are protected under the constitution, there is no freedom without consequences and that goes beyond the idyllic idea that we live in a perfect country because we don't. The ideas from Norman Rockwell comes from a time where the exchange of information was limited by how far people could interact, a time without the Internet where you could have pen-pals but your sources come from local and regional media to know what was happening around your community and not even in an international grounds.

Is hard to think of a time where people were naïve but it existed, it was a frame of human history that isn't far away from contemporary times, we can think of the concept back in the early 1980's up to the mid 1990's where the last time where communication was centralized and freedom of speech was influenced as far as we could reach.

Tyra and James

2023-12-05T12:31:00.001-05:00

I found the story of James William Ross a.k.a. Tyra Sanchez quite interesting because it shown the paths that can lead after fame. I am going to be updating this profile as I get more information because there is not enough information to find online.

I didn't knew King Tyra was a neighbor, still I find that fascinating that I had the chance to say hello to one of the most iconic performers in the scene of Drag Race. The first time I heard Tyra was living near us was when my fiancé mentioned that we were going to be living near a celebrity, a piece of information he got from a friend who also lives in the same are as us. I had to ask Josh to be more precise because I never guess properly and then he mentioned we live in the same place as Tyra Sanchez, and yes I was surprised because I never expected that.

Josh then explain to me that Tyra had some issues with the law around Bradford County and he was arrested after an incident with protesting and having disorderly conduct, the part that got me was a few weeks later while we were heading back home we saw someone in one of the intersections of town protesting against the police with a very colorful outfit and I wish I had taken a photo, Josh ask me if it was OK if we could bring them water and we stopped at the closest pharmacy and we got some water and give it to the protestor.

We weren't sure that was him, but Josh was happy we could support someone who is queer and as well protesting against the police of the county, until a few days later out of curiosity I started to check online and it matched all the information with dates that the person standing in the corner protesting was Tyra himself and found out the charges placed during the first week of July were dropped as in the second week of June she was sporting a sign that was aimed at the police of Starke, Florida saying he is a free person and out of charges.

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This is where I finish this entry until I can gather further information and be able to expand this entry

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James Ross, formerly known as RuPaul's Draf Race winner Tyra Sanchez, in jail after protesting with a Dildo https://ew.com/celebrity/james-ross-tyra-sanchez-arrested-again-florida-protesting-dildo/

Recordando a Rolando

2023-12-05T09:04:00.001-05:00

Rolando siempre tendra 43 años, en tres años yo tendre la edad de Rolando, es tan raro pensar que un dia yo sere mas viejo que mi profesor y algun dia los dos estaremos en las memorias de la gente. En este momento han pasado 16 años, 17 ahora en Febrero 23 del 2024 y todavia el crimen no ha sido resuelto y la Policia Metropolitana de Cartagena no se ha disculpado por el discurso homofobico diciendo que el crimen fue un crimen pasional, pero nadie ha sido juzgado y la memoria de Rolando sigue manchada debido a la actitud.

Honestamente despues de casi 20 años la respuesta al crimen sigue en el limbo. Se sabe que fallecio debido a un arma blanca, el posible sicario tenia accesso a la casa donde vivia Rolando y que la Policia Metropolitana no hizo absolutamente nada en frente a un pronunciamento y a lo largo de este tiempo no han habido avances y cada vez que los años pasan se hace mas dificil encontrar coherencia a una respuesta del crimen.

En el año 2014 el caso fue asignado a un fiscal que era destacado en casos de violencia contra la poblacion LGBTIA pero de acuerdo al Caribe Afirmativo 16 años despues no habido un avance significativo. De acuerdo con testigos que vieron el cuerpo de Rolando, vieron que el cuerpo presentaba heridas en la cabeza que problablemente fueron causadas con un martillo que fue un punto que los testigos y el reporte policiaco tuvieron en comun.

El Estado a lo largo de los años no ha hecho mucho, y la sombra que la policia Metropolitana de Cartagena dejo como un caso de maricones debido a que no le vieron importancia y no habido rasgos de voluntad de justicia por parte del Estado Colombiano.

Es escabroso pensar que la policia sencillamente justifico el asesinato como un caso pacional y que todavia el culpable sigue en la impunidad. Recordando claves del caso, unos meses antes Rolando fue robado utilizando escopolaminas y recibio amenazas debido a su labor de defensa de los derechos humanos de la poblacion LGBTIA el cual tenia un programa radial en Cartagena.

Su cumpleaños era el 24 de Febrero, su pareja de 23 años Edgar Plata recibio una llamada que Rolando no estaba respondiendo el celular y que algo malo le habia pasado, la mejor amiga de Rolando Claudia fue la que identifico el cadaver de Rolando, y el Coronel de la Policia Carlos Mena Bravo llego a la escena y en frente de los medios de comunicacion nacional y regionales dijo que el ciudadano llevaba una vida desordenada y la razon del caso fue promiscuidad lo que lo llevo a su deceso.

La declaracion del General causo indignacion porque se supone que la policia tiene que proteger las garantias de las victimas y no vulnerarlos para justificar los hechos, en los ultimos 16 años el General nunca se retracto acerca de sus comentarios y de acuerdo con un articulo de hace 7 años del periodico El Espectador en el 2016 los casos de violencia policial contra la poblacion LGBTI con 135 casos minimos.

El proximo 23 de Febrero del 2024 sera el cumpleaños numero 58 de Rolando, pero por siempre seran 43 años.

Fuentes:

Crimen de Rolando Perez, nueve años de impunidad: https://www.eluniversal.com.co/cartagena/crimen-de-rolando-perez-nueve-anos-en-impunidad-219847-LREU324285
No se mata lo que no se olvida: 16 años sin Rolando Perez: https://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/no-se-mata-lo-que-no-se-olvida-16-anos-sin-rolando-perez/
El Dia en que la policia justifico el homicidio de un activista gay por "promiscuo" https://www.elespectador.com/colombia/cartagena/el-dia-en-que-la-policia-justifico-el-homicidio-de-un-activista-gay-por-promiscuo-article-618186/

Pluto and Discrimination (Spoilers)

2023-11-16T10:36:00.003-05:00

As November 16th of 2023 there has been a lot of buzz about Pluto, a manga created by Naoki Urasawa and with a series in Netflix there has been plenty of conversation about Pluto due the contemporary issues that border around discrimination, equity and equal rights that match the civil rights to a marginalized group which in-universe are robots to the Civil Rights movement or even Pride.

We need to think that is just a reinterpretation of The Greatest Robot on Earth arc that was in Astro Boy back in the 1960's and many other reinterpretations in the last five decades. Pluto is a complete juxtaposition of the original material, it's gritty and it has some essence that transcendent in to current world issues that are linked to discrimination and system race.

You as a viewer can see it on how the world deals with robots, is not that difficult to compare it to how systemic racism has pushed people of color down the rug in States with little to no development in the infrastructure of their people and how that lack of investment reflects in the culture and people life development. Is not difficult to see robots as a marginalized groups where their basic rights are constantly placed in danger.

Episode 1 and episode 5 have moments in which we can see how robots are threated, when they die they are handled as mere junk instead of acknowledging they are gone and there's no way to bring them back much as a person would be when they are declared dead, but even when they are gone there are comments by minor characters that their bodies are just junk which mimics a similar state when police and other public official mention when a transgender or genderqueer person is killed, the officials just mentions their lives were a mess and they got what they deserved.

The point that got my attention is within episode 5 which reveals how Gesicht learned about rage and gained a motivation that made his AI to act beyond the robot laws and kill a human which was the brother of Adolf Haas who was murdering robot children. Similar situation goes with the general premise of the series which on some extent equals the gay panic defense which diminish the life of the people who were murdered.

Within the intricate narrative tapestry of Pluto, the exploration of discrimination goes beyond the realm of robotic rights and delves into the depths of racial inequality. The parallels drawn between the plight of robots and the systemic racism faced by people of color offer a poignant commentary on the shared struggles of marginalized communities.

The juxtaposition of how society deals with robots in the series mirrors the historical and ongoing challenges faced by communities of color, particularly in the United States. The narrative underscores the stark reality of systemic racism, where communities with little to no investment in their infrastructure find themselves pushed to the margins. The lack of development and support for these communities has a profound impact on culture and individual life trajectories, echoing the deeply entrenched racial disparities witnessed in society.

Episodes 1 and 5 provide crucial moments that amplify the social commentary. The dehumanizing treatment of robots when they meet their demise reflects a callousness akin to the dismissal of lives in marginalized communities. The dialogue surrounding robot "bodies" as mere junk echoes the troubling rhetoric employed by authorities when addressing the deaths of individuals from racial or ethnic minorities, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and reinforcing systemic biases.

In Episode 5, Gesicht's journey becomes a microcosm of the broader societal struggles against discrimination. His discovery of rage and his subsequent deviation from established robot laws to confront the human perpetrator draws an unsettling parallel to real-world scenarios where individuals, driven to the brink by systemic injustices, act outside established norms. This mirrors instances where marginalized communities, in the face of adversity, are compelled to challenge oppressive systems.

The series delves into the complexities of Gesicht's motivations, portraying the blurred lines between right and wrong, much like the gray areas that characterize discussions around racism and discrimination. The narrative prompts viewers to reflect on the cyclical nature of injustice and the repercussions of historical traumas, drawing connections to the deep-rooted struggles against racism that persist today.

Pluto's exploration of discrimination and racism extends beyond a mere reflection of societal issues; it serves as a compelling call to action. By weaving these themes into the narrative, the series challenges viewers to confront uncomfortable truths and actively engage in dismantling discriminatory systems. In doing so, Pluto transcends its robotic facade, emerging as a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of the interconnected struggles for racial and social justice in our contemporary world.

Champeta de Las Saylor Moon un Breve Recuento de la Cancion Original

2023-11-02T10:17:00.002-04:00

Han pasado casi tres años desde que empece a escribir esto, y la he mantenido en stand by debido a problemas de salud pero con el tiempo he vuelto a ver la parte investigativa que le habia cogido fastidio a lo largo de los años. De todas la canciones del genero Terapia Criolla, Las Sailor Moon es una cancion que me llego al alma ya que a principio y mediados de la decada de los 90 no habian mujeres que representaran la champeta criolla.

El nombre de la autora es Shirley Perez Herrera, que su padre es Melchor Perez el cantante que popularizo el Vacile del Gago a principio de los 90. La historia de por si de la cancion original es unica ya que en ese momento no habia artistas feminos que predominaran en el genero y Shirley esencialmente abrio las puertas.

Con el tiempo he aprendido apreciar la version mas popera de Yuranis ya que retomo un tema que estaba desaparecido y lo puso a una generacion nueva, la version mas reciente no trae los temas de la calle y la inferencia a bandas criminales de Cartagena y barrios populares pero pone como un tema bailable y para hacer desorden lo que hace un tema de por si chevere que va con los tiempos de la Costa Caribe.

Mientras buscaba informacion para esta entranda, encontre pocos articulos, pero fueron bastante substanciosos ya que por años me pregunte en donde el tema original fue grabado? Y mi sorpresa fue en un estudio casero en El Pie de la Popa en el año 96 - en las fuentes deje un enlace para los diferentes articulos, que encontre con respecto a la version original y asumo que en un punto de la historia como Cartagena es una ciudad pequeña y la mayoria de la gente se conoce entre si y mas en la parte de las artes, el esposo de Yuranis que es El Mr Black habra contactado a Shirley y pidio permiso en nombre de su esposa para hacer un remix y una nueva version de la cancion en 20 años desde su estreno.

La parte que me llama la atencion es como tambien YouTube ha mantenido la historia de la musica Cartagenera, la cancion ha estado en pie por mas de 10 años en diferentes perfiles al igual que otras de hace 35 años como la de Las Tortugas Ninja, Los Caballeros del Zodiaco, El Vacile del Pato para nombrar tres de las tantas.

La version original refleja la realidad popular en Cartagena, que en un punto va con dos ciudades en una, lo que es El Balneario Turistico contra el resto del pueblo Cartagenero. Las cancion habla del barrio Nariño; de Las Sailor Moon que es una banda que va por los barrios de Nariño, el 20 de Julio, Sampayo y van marcando el territorio pero es dificil saber si en verdad hubo una banda criminal en ese entonces, en si han habido varias bandas a nicel nacional que han usado el codigo de Las Sailor Moon.

Si estas leytendo y te preguntas porque use el pronombre plural Las para mencionar a Sailor Moon, estoy mencionado a un grupo y es el calificativo plural que es bastante comun en la Costa Caribe en darle a singulares signifcados plurales.

La historia de la cancion original es interesante porque no fue Shirley la que grabo el tema aunque es la autora y compositora, pero la voz es de la artista Cristiana - Rosalba Santana Guerrero - que ocupo el lugar de Shirley despues que la autora fue a cantar en un pick-up (punto de musica en la Costa donde diferentes cantantes van a promover su musica) Barranquillero con su novio que era competencia de su padre Melchor y Melchor de por si no la dejo grabar el tema como castigo por desobediencia.

Hay mucha realidad popular en las letras de la cancion, tambien hay referencia al show como El Principe Endemion, Sailor Mars y Mercury y la Reina Beryl si estuvieran en Cartagena y fueran parte de una banda pero como toda cancion popular Colombiana tambien hay referencias a barrios y gente conocida de la autora.

Referencias:

https://primeralinea.com.co/la-historia-de-la-sailor-moon-y-el-ay-me-transformaste-de-yuranis-leon/

www.facebook.com/citytv.com.co/videos/capturan-a-las-'sailor-moon'/10153985852519475/

https://www.elheraldo.co/entretenimiento/las-sailor-moon-un-grito-femenino-en-la-champeta-669413

https://www.colombia.com/musica/noticias/asi-nacio-sailor-moon-la-champeta-que-es-viral-en-redes-242740

Working alongside my Disabilities

2023-10-04T11:27:00.002-04:00

Short entry today, at least short entry for the day.

Somedays is easier, somedays is harder. Today has been easier, walking has become an issue as time pass by, speaking has become another issue - I can't really speak for around 20 minutes during lectures without gasping for air - For some reason the memories of Yolanda saying I was lazy comes through my head over and over when I have a flare. "Weird" how it was valid when she had it while been alive but I wasn't allowed because I was young. -

Today has been easier, with time has been easier, I can't see myself working in retail as I used to; it was already difficult without any accommodations, plus working a job that is not unionized as a main source of income is not an option anymore.

Same in my current position, I am happy here, I been happier where I work because I get threated as a human being instead of a product and I don't see myself going back to retail again. I am in my little happy place, enjoying the morning and knowing I can adapt to my surroundings without feeling less human.

Learning and studying constantly have become a joy, being alive has become one joy even with the difficulties.

Rediscovering My Voice: A Decade-Long Journey of Change, Ambition, and Hope

2023-09-18T15:07:00.003-04:00

I haven't wrote in a while, a little over a decade. I guess things change, almost 40 at this moment and finally fulfilling my job ambition in academics (even if is only been three years - four in January of 2024) since day one. A lot has changed even with the difficulties as I have my own voice fully to express myself and I have a solid network of friends who are more like family and family members that are close to me as wheel.

I been in my own classroom for the last year an half, not necessarily per se my own classroom as I am a lab monitor but I have my space, my rules and my own kids which is something I treasure. I had the chance for the last two years to shadow other teachers, sub and learn from them. I am writing because today I finally reached that point in life that I am comfortable with my own skin, even in times that is difficult to be happy with yourself.

What is happiness? I don't know, it change from everyone to everyone, for me "Is to be able to live and be myself without having to hide myself to fit in the societal expectations" is simple and is something I pass to the students. Is quite surreal even a year and half later to have my own space and is something that daily I am proud of.

Albeit, within those expectations from society we forget that we were kids once and we grow old to become just part of an engine that keeps a difficult time for younger generations. I am not going to go in an analysis of self by systemic approach because that is an eternity, an eternity that last in the blink of an eye. I learned in that concept of eternity that we kindness can bring a lot to the table of expectations, same with boundaries because are linked to our well-beings in an individual and social levels.

Social levels that are interlinked within the different classrooms around the globe, one person in the entire campus in the thousands that are around the globe can make a difference in someone's life, someone's who is young and probably have no support at home - we essentially become some sort of extended family for the kids, a lease family for the time they are in the school but an impression that can last forever, for good or bad -

It breaks my heart and soul daily to know how difficult a lot of the demographics I proctor have and will have in life; I can't be mean to them at all, just myself without putting a facade who is not who I am, myself who can reach them and can help to create a change.

I will write more, little by little as I paint. I haven't wrote consistently in 12 years because I couldn't find myself, I couldn't find a new voice that wasn't linked in sorrow and now is a voice linked to hope.

Brief Essay of President of Colombia - Gustavo Petro

2023-05-07T21:21:00.002-04:00

Gustavo Petro is a prominent Colombian politician who has made a significant impact on the country's political landscape. As a former guerrilla fighter, union leader, and senator, Petro has been a vocal advocate for social justice and political reform. In this essay, I will explore Petro's political career, his policies and ideas, and his impact on Colombian politics.

Gustavo Petro was born on April 19, 1960, in Ciénaga de Oro, a small town in the department of Córdoba, Colombia. He grew up in poverty and experienced first-hand the injustices of Colombia's unequal society. At the age of 16, Petro joined the guerrilla group M-19, which fought against the Colombian government in the 1980s. After the demobilization of M-19 in 1990, Petro became a union leader and was elected to the Colombian Senate in 2006.

As a senator, Petro was known for his fierce criticism of Colombia's political establishment, which he accused of corruption, clientelism, and human rights abuses. He also championed causes such as workers' rights, environmental protection, and peace negotiations with guerrilla groups. In 2010, Petro ran for president as the candidate of the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA), a left-wing coalition of parties. Although he did not win the election, Petro's campaign attracted significant support from young people, social movements, and progressive intellectuals.

After his presidential bid, Petro returned to the Senate, where he continued to push for political reform and social justice. In 2014, he was elected mayor of Bogotá, Colombia's capital and largest city. As mayor, Petro implemented a series of policies aimed at reducing inequality, promoting sustainable development, and fighting corruption. Some of his most notable achievements include:

The implementation of a subsidized public transportation system for low-income residents, which reduced travel costs by up to 70%
The establishment of a public healthcare system that provided free medical services to over 2 million people
The creation of an anti-corruption agency that investigated and prosecuted corrupt officials
The promotion of urban agriculture and renewable energy projects to reduce Bogotá's carbon footprint

Despite his popularity among some sectors of Colombian society, Petro also faced fierce opposition from conservative politicians, business groups, and the media. His policies were often criticized as too radical, too expensive, or simply unrealistic. In 2018, Petro ran for president again, this time as an independent candidate. Although he made it to the second round of the election, he was ultimately defeated by the right-wing candidate Iván Duque.

Petro's impact on Colombian politics goes beyond his electoral results. He has been instrumental in shifting the country's political discourse towards the left, and in challenging the traditional parties' monopoly on power. He has also inspired a new generation of progressive leaders and activists who are fighting for social and environmental justice in Colombia.

In conclusion, Gustavo Petro is a key figure in Colombian politics who has played a significant role in the country's recent history. His political career has been marked by his commitment to social justice, political reform, and environmental sustainability. Although he has faced significant opposition and criticism, Petro's ideas and policies have resonated with millions of Colombians who are demanding a more equitable and democratic society.

Sources:

Biography of Gustavo Petro on the official website of the Colombian Senate: https://www.senado.gov.co/el-senado/senadores/213-gustavo-petro-urrutia
Gustavo Petro's platform for the 2018 presidential elections: https://www.gustavopetro.com/programa-de-gobierno/

Ducktales 2017 a Retroactive Entry

2022-09-03T12:55:00.003-04:00

I finally had the opportunity to start watching the reboot of Ducktales after the cancellation of the show a year later. Part of it came with using the student discounts I have access to some services, and I decided to use it with audiovisual entertainment, so I got the bundle with Hulu and Disney + which I have no complains.

The reason for my interest in Ducktales 2017 was mostly Nostalgia, but also because a lot of mid-thirty something Millennial's and Gen X were saying the show was too woke, without even thinking on how the 1980's where made exclusively to sell merchandise instead of focusing on the writing of the show, I guess is the same applied to the Nickelodeon teen aimed comedies and even so the ones that were in ABC and NBC every Saturday morning like California Dreamin' and Saved by The Bell.

Looking at the episodes through Disney Plus, is interesting to see more closely related aspects of the characters that were in the original Barks/Rosa works in which the family were dynamic and less television archetypes of infantilized version of their own selves which is refreshing to see a product that is more focused in the writing and less in the idea of selling merchandise.

The departure of what the 1980's was it's clearly there but it brings elements from the old version adapted to contemporary times such as the evolution of Gizmo Duck or even Gyro as a character with more depth than the absent minded professor from the 1980's. It's easy to see that the generation that grew watching the 87's version brought their own ideas tot he reboot for 3 seasons and that's what make the show fascinating.

It's interesting to see the characters re-imagined but also adapted to contemporary times in which there is an emphasis in the scripts instead of selling toys, and that change gives a depth to the characters such as Webby in which she wasn't the damsel in distress but an assertive character that had depth, same with the triplets in which each weren't a carbon copy of each other but overall it was so cool to see Donald and a connection to the comics that wasn't able in the 1980's show.

Going on the writing the nods to the original they were everywhere, even with Gene the Genie in the Donald's fantasy episode where everyone is transported to a sitcom setting after being trapped in an scenario that looks extremely similar to the 1990's movie, but been able to keep the series own pace and own mythos such as introducing the Rescue Rangers as a science experiment and Darwing Duck been an actor turned vigilante.

Which all of that add a component of dimensional within the characters and the show itself. Good writing is the key within making a show interesting regards if the animation is avant-garde or Hannah Barbera style. Writing where there is representation lays, when there is a well written show even if is on a superficial level, it can bring fans and amass fans from different generations.

A Letter to Frans

2022-05-29T17:48:00.000-04:00

This has been the hobby I had taken the longest to recover, my blog, my writing, the first thing that ever made me happy; I been happy again with my hobbies and they usually involve audiovisual but writting is the one that has taken me the longest to recover. A while ago I started to write more throughly and thoughtfully, quality over quantitty which it reached me better and same is applied to my photos and illustrations which is better to do something that is deeply personal and meanigful than to lose yourself within the mass commercial market.

During the last six months I've been back in somewhat of the instructional side of education as a substitute and a paraprofessional and my goal still the same, I will get my own classroom one day, working within the academics side has fullfilled once that void that I felt it was a darkness that I wasn't comfortable with, a void in which I couldn't find myself, why I said that phrase? Because as humans we have to be at peace even within the void in our personalities, is an inherent side of humanity and I am peace with that now.

Being creative is an essential part of my persona and working in that academic side has helped me to reconnect with that creativity but it took certain steps to work in the parts that were missing which were the literacy ones. Since we are moving out and it will be more restrictive with my connectivity since will be in the countryside, I thought that it would be an enjoyable time to start writing again and postpone videos until we get a booster and the Internet lines go to the county we are moving it make me think maybe I should restart the idea of getting published and finish my manuscripts.

Writing is always my first joy, it helped me to communicate and I extend it to the blog which became a release when I need it to speak during the moments I was being silenced but I lost it the moment I wasn't being silenced by anyone but by my own self, part of maturing as a writer and as a creative person in general is to understand the environment mold us, but also that we are our own personas, of course nobody can't let us dictate on how to live our lives that's up to us and is up to us if we see beyond the veil of madness.

The world needs art and I don't know on what generation artist will have a comfortable living, in the meantime we need to keep expressing ourselves because we need art, art is a tool of communication and a tool to reach people, art itself is language and language is art. I am probably going to write more often, mostly one article every month minimum, one entry every two weeks, mostly whenever I am off from school and from work which at this moment they have become one and the same.

I can't shoo your darkness away, nobody can't, is you only who can work through it, much like I did with mine. We can't change the world, we can help reaching one person at a time. I know the family isn't perfect, far from perfect or even remotly ideally accepting but there are people there who can listen and they are nice to speak with too because is always good to have someone who we know for a long time.

People change, sometimes is hard to accept after any sense of agression, sometimes some people don't change and we have to accept that, we need to accept that a lot of times we are not going to see them again and know the wound can open sometimes and will never close.

I will write something later, it just feels better to have written something that is not for work or school after a while.

New Donk Architectonical and Small Social Analysis

2021-12-16T18:40:00.003-05:00

I've been enjoying Mario Odyssey because it is such a beauty masterpiece towards details that borderline in nostalgia for older Millennial's and individuals who value retro gaming; albeit, for me the enjoyment with the game is the small details to everything - why I am saying this? - The game is a visual delight that has influences on fashion and architecture, the game is a lovely piece of art that is interesting to analyze from different perspectives because it is wonderful and enriching.

New Donk City - Metro Kingdom - is probably in my opinion one of the most amazing levels in any Mario games, but at least for me the best level is Bowser's Kingdom because it's simply spectacular and visually stounding that portraits the Edo Period and is like walking in a small piece of interactive art albeit the Metro Kingdom has that 1980's and 1950's nostalgia that reflects in the inside advertisement, the incorporation of Pauline and brief cameos of the Donkey Kong Family

I like to think as New Donk (Metro Kingdom) is as Manhattan, it does look as the main economic hub of the planet where the different kingdoms are located. Much like the real Manhattan, the Metro Kingdom seems to be an epicenter of the different cultures that surround it but opposite to the real NYC, Metro Kingdom borderlines much on the sci-fi The World Inside with the idea of tall structures that could shelter an entire group of population without even the necessity of going to the lower levels

The urban landscape of Metro Kingdom is extremely similar to Manhattan, not only in the design of the buildings which mimics splendly the different New York styles but also it contains the Art Deco and the emergency stairs that are located in the turn of the century buildings. Much like Manhattan the streets in Metro are East to West and there is one big avenue that goes North to South which all the streets have references to the Donkey Kong Family, there are plenty of business and fashionable stores that also mimic old school Nintendo games and characters.

Much like the real New York, there is a plenty of good amount of bagel stores, fashion (who all seem to be set with business suits) entertainment and outside recreation within the use of green spaces. There is a lot to do within the city/ kingdom and the detail is so amazing because there are even the yellow cabs that are part of the imagery of NYC.

One of the main characteristics of Manhattan are the large numbers of office buildings which is what essentially the kingdom forms about the entirety of the skyline; albeit it makes me wonder if there is also a Lower and Midtown Metro Kingdom, since is a city that is wide an open; but much like the real Manhattan, the New Donk City Hall pays homage to the Chrysler Building and the Art Deco details.

Other architectural landmarks include Rockefeller Center (begun 1931), a group of more than 20 lofty buildings; Madison Square Garden Center (1968), containing a noted sports arena; UN headquarters (1947–53); and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, a complex of several theaters. Also of interest are City Hall (1802–11), a Federal-style building with French Renaissance detail; the tall Woolworth Building (1913), with Gothic-style detail; the Seagram Building (1958), an office tower clad in bronze and bronze-colored glass; and Grant’s tomb (1897), the sepulcher of President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife. In the 1980s, a number of innovative skyscrapers, such as the IBM and AT&T buildings, and the World Financial Center were constructed, and in 1986 the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Midtown, near the Hudson R., was opened. Manhattan also is known for its many large residential buildings. Among its many notable religious structures are Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (1879; towers, 1888), the seat of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New York; Trinity Church (1697, rebuilt 1846); the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (begun 1892; towers still incomplete), the largest Gothic-style cathedral in the world; and Riverside Church (1930), another large Gothic-style structure.

Residential areas mimic quite well the real world, there are different species around; since it's a game it doesn't really focus on the segregation or demographic per se, a lot of the other species seem to go to the different kingdoms to explore and do business; albeit seeing with detail there is some form of multiculturalism that is inside the Metro Kingdom whenever the place goes back to normal is probably one of the most interesting places around the game

Asocoyeros Recordando la Historia

2021-09-17T21:19:00.003-04:00

La generación que creció en los 90 y las dos primeras décadas de los 2000, al menos en la Costa Caribe Colombiana podrá recordar la pagina de asocoyeros, fue una de las primeras paginas de chismes y al mismo tiempo una de las primeras paginas en denigrar a personas; era un secreto de boca abierta en la que todos sabían de la pagina pero nadie hablaba de ella.

No se porque después de casi 14 años desde que viví en Cartagena me llego a la cabeza sin son ni ton el nombre, tenia mi buen tiempo que no me acordaba pero por alguna razón después de ver uno de los tráiler de Gossip Girl me hizo recordar esta pagina; y la razón es porque hasta el dia de hoy nadie sabe quienes la manejaban, que de por si la premisa es similar a Gossip Girl.

Es algo extraño pensar en Asocoyeros, porque es algo obsoleto para los estándares de hoy en donde el anonimato realmente no existe y en 20 años ha habido un cambio en ciertas actitudes debido a la incorporación de la tecnología pero hay otras actitudes que todavía reflejan el pensamiento que había en Asocoyeros, aunque hay una cosa que me di cuenta quitando los chistes y las actitudes machistas de la pagina, el contenido de por si es una de las primeras paginas que contiene el pensamiento Caribe y el orgullo corroncho de la region, es algo interesante a nivel cultural porque en 20 años realmente no ha habido otra pagina que retrato el pensamiento popular como Asocoyeros.

En lo que la pagina que todavía me llama la atención que la ruta dirige a la Universidad de los Andes, cuando por conocimiento popular la pagina estaba hospedada en Geocities (el difunto servicio que vino antes de Google) y la gran mayoria de la gente en Cartagena lo usaba ya que tenia una interface sencilla de usar.

Revisando la pagina después de casi 20 años ya que sigue activa, me doy cuenta que de por si no es nada elegante, es un reflejo de la generación de la WEB 1.0. en la cual no se necesitaba algo elaborado para destacar, la pagina tiene una buena cantidad de dibujos hechos en MS-Paint que parece que fueron hechos por un niño de 5 años; pero la pagina tuvo tanta acogida que si uno busca en Google todavía hay historias que llegan alrededor del 2005 que se muestra la fuerza de la pagina, y no en un aspecto positivo ya que de por si era uno de los primeros ejemplos donde había extorcion sexual.

De pronto el recuerdo para muchos se hace grato porque esta asociado en un momento de sus vidas en la cual no había una distinción entre el daño que uno puede hacerle a alguien y solo se veía como un momento para hacer burla; pero después de 20 años estoy intrigado con el legado de la pagina ya que quedo en el colectivo del imaginario publico.

Si alguien conoce a los creadores me encantaria saber mas de la historia de Asocoyeros, pueden dejar un mensaje y respondo lo mas pronto posible.

Rocko's Modern Queer Life

2021-09-03T21:42:00.001-04:00

Anyone in the last 30 years who likes cartoons, probably had a glimpse of Rocko's Modern Life; the show was extremely subversive for being a Nickelodeon show as the channel was aimed to toddlers and barely to adults, even on the nighttime block it was as clean as Disney Channel albeit within their rooster of programming back in the 90's they had so much subtle messages and coding about queer life, intersectional feminism and acceptance that Disney themselves lacked on those subjects.

As Nickelodeon started to explore entertaining aimed to adults in the early 1990's, Joe Murray pitched the idea of Rocko which he created sometime around the 1980's as a comic book format but never gained momentum; but, at that moment in the early-mid 1990's the explosion of risque cartoons that borderline in the satirical aspect of modern society were something fresh, something new as not even The Flintstone's could execute something as wonderful as the Nicktoons; but the Nicktoons were a product of their time much like the Hanna Barbera cartoons.

There are so many interpretations towards how queer the show is, a lot of the characters sided with different sides of the rainbow as being fluid; I can only think of Heffer and Rocko being somewhat heterosexual life partner's but also flirting with each other a lot. The show itself doesn't have a preset of relationships besides the Bigheads and Filburt with Dr. Hutchinson but that doesn't mean they strictly are committed to one another, but rather there is some form of polyamory and I can't stop thinking about it. It was sublet but it was there, there was this implication especially after the birth of Filburt kids and there wasn't any jealously or anything negative, it was accepted in the universe of O-Town.

The turning point of the show, came in 2019 after 23 years of being off air with the Netflix special Static Cling where the Bigheads child came to live on their true authentic self as a transwoman and the reaction Ed to his daughter Rachel was a sequence not common to see on cartoons or television, there was denial but also acceptance in to knowing that we can't as parents make our children a reflection of our own ideals and shattered dreams but instead we need to make them grow in to decent people and that they will know they will have a home to come if something bad happens, and that was probably the biggest twist but lesson in the entire show.

Rocko's Modern Life reflect sometimes the absurdity that is the human experience, not only that it also shows diversity and a honest approach in life that we can't cling to the past but rather we can learn from it, because we have memories of what we associated with happier times but happiness itself comes from living, just living every day to the fullest and that's the aspect of the entire show that made it so appealing.

A Short Analysis of Heathcliff

2021-07-30T21:06:00.004-04:00

As far I've remember, I had a fascination with Heathcliff the Cat, I always remember reading it on the comic strips of the newspapers whenever I traveled to the United States thinking it was a nice sequel of the 1984 cartoon, which is the year I was born but I remember seeing Heathcliff and the Cattilacs way into the 1990's, and not even knowing there was a previous show in the 1980's as it never got a proper distribution in Latin America.

By that moment the impact of Garfield was powerful worldwide, it was the era also where Calvin and Hobbes was outsourced to be published outside the United States and I was mesmerized by the influx of American funnies or comic strips. the diaries in Colombia weren't strong as the ones in the United States with cartoons and as a kid in the 1990's back in Latin America I was visually experiencing something I never seen before, American comic strips and I am still fascinating by them because some of them are non-sequitur and other goes on arc, but what it got my attention the most about Heatcliff is something many other people born before the advent of the Internet it was a ripoff of Garfield while it was the opposite way Jim Davies ripped off the concept of George Gately albeit ht etones of the strips are vastly different especially after the passing of Gately which his nephew Peter Gallagher inherited the strip and it turned it in to a piece of Dadaistic non-sensical pop culture art.

The strips have no sense, at least at first sight or even if you try to place it on a deeper meaning there are none. It seems on an epistemological level to understand the identity of anarchism and the Dadaism, is the notion of truth and the roles that the artist and philosopher play together "is just the concept of absurdism, where no method is regarded as indispensable" where there is an opposition to universal standards and universal laws.

It's a setting where all contact with world has been lost and the stability achieved, and the semblance of truth is achieved through conformism. Is probably the most coherent way to explain why the humans are submissive to their strange environment in which Heathcliff seems as the catalyst of the madness in Westfinster where everything goes

There is no sense whenever is just looked at random times, even on the progression of the comic strip there seems to be an influence of the Family Circus but it diverged on the point where it became a meme before memes existed. Heathcliff doesn't need to have sense because it defies the conventionalisms in the comics strips of the newspapers, it's subversive but also it contains aspects of nothingness where the readers expect to see, a hidden social commentary.

The most non-sequitur aspect of the comment is not the helmets, the strange outfits, flying cats with bubblegum but it's the garbage ape, there can be interpretations about what is the garbage ape; is they a figment of the cats imagination? a construct that they see as the waste management workers going by? It's difficult to say, as it contains elements of David Lynch products where there is no objectivism to understand reality but rather to be absorbed in an universe where sense and reason would emotionally scar Ben Shapiro.

The cartoons versus the comic strip, the comic strip evolution of Gately over his nephew Gallagher, is as two different universes, a what if? Even if Gately introduced the no sense concept, there was some form of conformism that eventually got discarded in favor of anarchistic and Dadaist concepts by Gallagher.

References

Chiodo, S. (2019). The Epistemological Anarchist and the Dadaist. Philosophia, 47(5), 1379–1390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-018-0049-8

Mortality

2021-07-27T20:45:00.000-04:00

We all had a dream about life, it was a short dream, a dream that in reality lasted less than two hours, we blinked and we were gone. I always wondered about if I die tomorrow, what would be the legacy I will leaving? I don't know, I know our existence is erased from the collective consciousness in around 100 years. 200 years if we have an exception life and the resource to fulfill an economical legacy. The what we do today has repercussions on a long term,

We do not know what the tomorrow will bring, and when our last day will but we can live every day as if it was the last one, to live it fully and to be happy that even if is there isn't any mythical purpose for our existence we can implement compassion in other people and animals, without expecting anything back, think of the power of connection and what you can achieve "even if you don't have a physical legacy, you can change people, you can influence your communities and after that a bigger change will come, because is not about the money but how we are all interlocked"

I have surgery of my molars tomorrow, I am anxious because I have previous experience in hospitals that involved bad of parental care when I was younger, I get anxious even if is a day surgery and I know what to do to recover, I have my hours to skip work for 7 days and don't do anything heavy, but I fear the worse and that comes from years of repression and abuse that had channelized in to every time I go to a medical practice. I remember one day when I got one of the hepatitis vaccines and my mother out of nowhere when she was driving back with me, as I was underage "Nobody can't say anything because you are vaccinated" the words always stuck with me and even after 1\3 years of leaving and not going to Cartagena, I still remember the location.

Words have power, they transcend time and even when is been over 20 years since that moment, I still remember it and is one of the many, I am scare of tomorrow because even with insurance I can't linger the image what I associate health care with. I hope I will be OK, I know I shouldn't be scared, but still...