I suppose it's impossible to forget, but it sure is hard to remember the joys of one's wandering childhood imagination sometimes. I remember how I would correlate things in my mind all the time, even if they really didn't have any relation aside from the same word or name. For example, Blossom Hill Road with Blossom the TV show, or this kid James Phelan at Hoover Middle School with Phelan Avenue. I can't remember any better, non-street-related examples, but I think it's super cool how a child's mind is constantly working, soaking things in, and trying to figure out what these things are all about!
I also remember brainstorming how awesome random concepts would be, like having a fighting video game that pitted the fighters from every franchise against each other. It would've been a big mashup of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Samurai Shodown,
Eternal Champions, Clayfighter, etc. I would make lists of who would be in the game, and think about how Ryu would fare against Larcen from Eternal Champions (I'm probably the only person who remembers this game*).
The reason I bring this all up is that I had one of these moments today. As I was driving, for no reason at all, I thought that it would be totally cool if the USA and Mexico merged into a super giant country. When kids think of this sort of stuff, they don't think of the repercussions of stuff like this, just the concept alone is enough for them. And, seriously, isn't that a totally sweet concept?!?!
Then again, after reading stuff like
this, I'm not sure it would be so great, at least not in the way this guy thinks it is:
The 8% or so of predominantly Spanish-descended Mexicans are the ones our government will need to approach, as they’re the ones with the real power in that country and those whose throats will be slit first if a popular socialist revolution does take place in Mexico. They are internationally invested, educated, and savvy. The frank yet grim appeal should be: Throw in with us now and prosper together, or see your children and grandchildren butchered, as usually happens when the “oppressed masses have their day”.
Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but this guy sounds like he just wants to annex Mexico so he can exploit the cheap immigrant labor force without having to admit that he likes illegal immigrants doing all the labor now. American Whitie + Mexican Whitie = Universal Brownie oppression? NOT NICE!
Anyway, I hope to have more moments like this again, where I can let my mind wander without having my everday worries and rational thought take over.
*When I was in 8th grade, we were tasked with writing short stories in my English class. Mine was some sort of Robotech ripoff, and it was really lame! I used to love writing in middle school, but I was so bad! YEEESH. Anyway, we were able to read the stories that our classmates had written, and I was amused to see that one guy had totally plagiarized one of the character bios from Eternal Champions for his stort story. In fact, the bio may or may not have read as follows:
Jonathan Blade, a former police officer from the year 2030 who was dismissed, due to a very short temper. He is a master in Kenpo karate. He then became a bounty hunter back in his home country Syria, and was in deep pursuit of a mad scientist, who threatened to destroy the human race with a lethal virus. Although he came close to killing the scientist on several occasions, he was only ordered to capture, and bring the scientist to justice. Finally trapping the scientist in an alley, he attempted to retrieve the virus. They were suddenly hit with a stream of bullets, causing the scientist to drop the vial, containing the virus. Blade's last memory involved shards of broken glass. It is clear that he was set up and killed by his own government.
I think that this might just be a paraphrased version of the bio on wikipedia's site, but you get the idea. Coincidentally, that kid was one of the two kids who introduced me to anime in middle school. The other kid was the one who lent me Akira and Macross Plus to watch, and told me that they sold manga at Yaohan supermarket (now Mitsuwa). Check back for an oft-brainstormed blog about anime, coming soon!
TODAY'S JAM: Colossal - The 1/5 Compromise
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