Here Be Dragons

So my family and I had the pleasure of travelling to another major city this weekend.  It was a fun time had by all but something strange kept happening.  Whenever we told anyone we were from Chicago, their faces became downtrodden like we had just returned from a war torn country or something.  "How to you survive out there?" or "How to you cope with all the killing happening all the time?"  I understand that Chicago is getting a pretty bad national identity and most of it is naturally deserved but people need to understand some fundamentals about the city.  This may help them to understand why the problems exist and more importantly, why the problem continues. Chicago is a segregated city and I mean that in the most brutal way possible.  You have the Caucasians, African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Russians, Middle Easterners, and Polish all occupying a defined area in the city with very little commingling.  Couple this with financial segregation which limits the

Let's be clear...anyone who votes for Trump is a maniac...but he does bring to light the quiet negativity of the American people.  You know, the things we don't talk about but generally accept as true.  Racism, Sexism, Elitism, and ignorance just to name a few.  This is what I truly appreciate about Donald Trump....almost every time he speaks, he brings up one or two or five of those unspoken negative qualities embedded in the American culture.  Even better, there are then people who go behind him and try to spin or redefine or justify what he just said....it's very interesting to watch.  These "interactions" highlight some of the problems we have in the world today with popularity and anger and hate.  I hate that guy so much that I'll vote for this other guy (or gal) with all of my heart.  That's politics today...all Trump has said is that I will be better than Obama because we all hate him...but he never provides the "how".  People believe in h

I'm a fan of Batman....the Dark Knight....he makes us believe in the power of human will and desire. There are pretty much 4 versions of him in tv and film.  The detective combing over evidence and using his intelligence and wits to dissect crimes....think CSI: Gotham.  Then you have to warrior, the guy who punches people in the face and strikes fear in the hearts of criminals without killing anyone...Then there's the tortured son of Gotham..., "My parents died and I will struggle with that forever ad it will drive me to punch people in the face and detect things....These 3 were displayed well in the Gotham Knights series.  Then you have the fourth one...the humanitarian, I'm not sure how else to describe it...the guy who cares and makes out with his protege and gets caught off guard and works with the police like he's on the payroll.  I hate that guy.  Batman has to be the most skewed superhero in our era because they try to use him is so many ways simultaneously.

So I'll keep this first one short and sweet.  I have a lot of things to say and I want to say...uh right them down.  It's like a blog journal if you will...the topics will be wide ranging so there will be no consistency whatsoever.  I'm passionate but pessimistic but faithful but cynical but humorous but kind but...I don't know where I was going with this....anyway, let's begin....