Kung Fu is Life

My favorite kung fu movie of all-time!

I treasure a lot of things from my youth.  I only needed a few things to make me happy: football, comic books, and kung fu movies.

What was so enjoyable about kung fu movies was the fact that there was never a complicated plot.  In fact, 90% of those movies from the 70's and 80's had the same plot: student cherishes master, master gets killed by his rival, student goes into the woods and trains until he's good enough to avenge his master's death.

Simple, right?  Mix that simple plot in with mind-numbing action for two hours and it's a young boy's paradise!  I spent my Saturday afternoon's from noon to 2 PM watching "Blackbelt Theater."  A different martial arts movie every week.

Flash forward to 2013 and as a 41 year old man, I haven't grown out of my love for kung fu flicks.  I can appreciate Jason Statham movies, but modern day martial arts movies are completely different from old school kung fu movies.  Most of the kung fu movies that I enjoyed took place in some ancient time in Chinese history.  No guns, cars, or anything like that.  Primitive weapons like blow guns, spears, swords, and other things that encouraged a lot of hand-to-hand fighting.

However, one of the most intriguing parts of these old movies were the supernatural effect!  Seeing these people do things like leaping 20 feet in the air or catching arrows being shot at them is what attracts most kids.  It gives the characters super hero elements that young kids like me could enjoy.  In fact, I was probably close to six years old before I was smart enough to realize that all Asian people didn't have some sort of kung fu ability.  I thought that it was taught in schools over there like the alphabets were taught here.

Needless to say that I was disappointed when I got to 2nd grade and met my first Asian friend.  He couldn't even break through when we played "Red Rover" at school.  I guess he should have spent his Saturday afternoons watching "Blackbelt Theater."

They don't make too many kung fu movies any more.  Recently, I got to enjoy "The Man With The Iron Fists" starring RZA, Russell Crowe, and Lucy Liu.  It was a pretty good movie which took place before modern times.  Mix in the fact that the RZA pretty much did the entire soundtrack for the movie and you have a perfect combination for me: Wu Tang Clan and kung fu.

"Out of my way!  It's a tax free weekend at the mall!"

(VIDEO) Judge Joe Brown Caught Slippin'

Judge Joe Brown & Wife (photo credit)

Oh, Judge Joe, say it ain't so!  If you haven't heard by now, Judge Joe Brown was caught slippin' recently.  He was in Hollywood drinking on a few Bombay Sapphires when a guy with a camera thought it would be a great idea to interview him.

Unfortunately for JJB, he was clearly drunk.  Now, although JJB's show has been canceled for six months, the guy still has a reputation for being "old school" and for "taking care of business."  That reputation could have probably led to politics or public speaking if he wasn't interested in returning to your everyday courtroom again.

However, despite his right to have drinks and enjoy life, he put himself in a very vulnerable position.  This tends to happen to mostly everyone who drinks for more than just the taste.  He left himself wide open to be embarrassed in social media and on TV news gossip stations.

He constantly used profanity during the interview as he posed with some young, attractive ladies.  He even mentioned that he made as much as $20 million per year on his show.  I'm not sure if that's true or not, but if it is, then that must mean that Judge Judy is raking in $30 million per year because her show has kicked butt routinely for a decade now.

The one thing that I will say about JJB is that he's truly a man in love.  He bragged on his hot wife constantly during his slurred interview and he appeared to be very proud of her.  Ladies, any time a man is drunk and he can't stop talking about you, then that man definitely has some love in his heart.

JJB is someone I looked up to in regards to being a model TV personality.  I still think that he's that guy because we all make mistakes.  But, he put himself out there in the worst way.  He showed a side that the public didn't need to see.  We all have something, regardless if it's as innocent as having a few too many to getting busy in the bedroom, that makes us look different to people if the public sees it on camera.

Drinking alone in public is a bad idea if you don't know when to stop.  Someone sober should be around to prevent something like this from occurring.  Judge Joe Brown now has one more court appearance to make in his life: and it's in front of the court of public opinion.

Did Judge Joe Brown do this to himself or did the interviewer take advantage of his situation?

Twerking Is The New Harlem Shake

@Ida_homie referred to Robin Thicke as "Beetlejuice."

Here we go again...

It's time to give a history lesson.  Some people may argue that I sometimes live in the past.  Hmmph.  If people like me didn't bring up history, then young people would think that the world just started when they were born.

The Harlem Shake was revived and re-branded as something new and now another dance from back in the day has been resurrected into mainstream.

Two nights ago, Miley Cyrus performed on the MTV VMA's (Video Music Awards).  Why they give away awards for music videos is beyond me because I didn't know MTV showed videos any more.  I'm waiting on the name change to RTV (Reality TV).

Anyway, people on Twitter tore into Miley because of her attempt at twerking.  Twerking is a dance in which you generally use a lot of gyration / hip movement.  Some were upset at the criticism of her because they assumed people were attacking her for attempting what is stereotyped as a "black woman's dance."  That's not the case, in my opinion.  People were criticizing her because she sucks at twerking.  She tries so hard.  Good thing she's already rich.  I wish her transition from child star to adult well.

However, that's not the point I'm trying to make.  The thing I'm wondering is: how is twerking still around in 2013 and why is it done in public?

Most people may not be aware, but twerking has been around 20+ years.  In fact, the first time I heard the term was from a song back in my college days.  I can't remember the New Orleans rap artist's name, but he talked about twerking on the dance floor.  It is a dance once reserved for the privacy of the bedroom, nightclub, and strip club.  Now it's slipped into prime time TV because parents barely teach kids about what's inappropriate in public.

Twerking reached it's peak in the late-90's as a hardcore stripper dance used to excite men who tend to like it rough.  It wasn't made for 17-year old teen agers to do in YouTube videos and it definitely wasn't made for a former child star turned actress singer rapper dancer to do it on an awards show that attracts kids.

Don't get me wrong!  I love seeing ladies twerk, but I prefer that she's of age, first and foremost, that it's in the correct setting, and that she's actually skilled in doing it.  So, please keep twerking out of places your child can see it and save it for your loved one in the bedroom.  Keep it off the Vine videos, keep it off of award shows, and please keep it out of the grocery stores!


I'll ask, but I think that I know the answer: we can't keep inappropriate things from being mainstream in the public eye any more, can we?"