Nick Shamhart's Blog, page 8

Deep Fried Poultry & Discount Electronics

You may have heard me speak a time or two about the universe needing balance. As a citizen of the USA I have to look no further for an example of this than next week’s holiday.

Most out there know the classic classroom story of Pilgrims and American Indians, but what many don’t know is that for centuries after that supposed (yet probable) first feast, the concept was culturally dormant, but for the pagans celebrating the harvest. It wasn’t until President Lincoln turned 21st century Mr. Popular media darling set forth the Thanksgiving Proclamation that it became a celebrated holiday.

A day to be thankful for the bounty our country has enjoyed. A day of Thanksgiving! What a wonderfully positive idea!

So to balance out this grotesque example of humility my generation decided to equalize the scales and follow it up the very next day with Black Friday. A day where a retail mob of crusaders for Mammonism sweep across American towns treating each other like human filth in the pursuit of cheap electronics!

Isn’t that Balance for you! My goodness you’d think a writer would have come along by know and created a modernized narrative that dug deeply into the human psyche and this need for balance. This need for kindness and 24 hours later greed…..Oh wait, I have.

Be you pious Thanks Giver or crusading Mammonite - Enjoy your holiday!

Let’s Talk the Shock Value of SEX!

In the two years ( ’11 & ’12) that Nickshamhart.com has existed the number one tag that brings people to this site is? You guessed it – Sex: bumping uglies, boning, screwing, the horizontal mambo, dancing in the sheets, intercourse, and so on, and so on.

For those of you who don’t know every website has a Dashboard. That is where the administrators can monitor pretty much everything. It even lets you see what search parameters brought a visitor to your site. What people typed into Yahoo, Google, or Bing that brought them to your website. The one Balance short story on here deals with abuse, pedophilia, and other things that I feel would create an angry or demonic soul in the afterlife. Plus I post red herrings as hooks to grab your attention, like celebrity sex scandal, just like all media sites do.

I don’t judge, you are what you are, it’s none of my business. But, it does tire an old soul out to see how many visitors to his site have been from the search Grammpy Spanking Sex 

So readers, what is it about sex? Is it that common life thread of instinct: Eat, Breathe, Sleep, Shit, Fuck, and Die? Is it taboo? Is it an escape from reality? Chemicals & Hormones?

What is it that makes so many people sexually obsessed?

Let’s Talk SEX!

In the two years ( ’11 & ’12) that Nickshamhart.com has existed the number one tag that brings people to this site is? You guessed it – Sex: bumping uglies, boning, screwing, the horizontal mambo, dancing in the sheets, intercourse, and so on, and so on.

For those of you who don’t know every website has a Dashboard. That is where the administrators can monitor pretty much everything. It even lets you see what search parameters brought a visitor to your site. What people typed into Yahoo, Google, or Bing that brought them to your website. The one Balance short story on here deals with abuse, pedophilia, and other things that I feel would create an angry or demonic soul in the afterlife. Plus I post red herrings as hooks to grab your attention, like celebrity sex scandal, just like all media sites do.

I don’t judge, you are what you are, it’s none of my business. But, it does tire an old soul out to see how many visitors to his site have been from the search Grammpy Spanking Sex 

So readers, what is it about sex? Is it that common life thread of instinct: Eat, Breathe, Sleep, Shit, Fuck, and Die? Is it taboo? Is it an escape from reality? Chemicals & Hormones?

What is it that makes so many people sexually obsessed?

Warriors’ Service

Veteran – Every definition of the word contains some form of: service, experience, and old. Those three words give you so much of what a veteran is. They have served (nothing can be more humbling than serving another). They have experience (their task of service was no overnight ordeal). They are old (whether in body, mind, or spirit does not matter). Serving others with your experience at the possible cost of your life will make anyone old. Here’s to the men and women who have served their military and more importantly their people. May you know your experience and service at the cost of age, were not given in vain. You deserve more than a day. Thank you. ~Nick

Hearts & Minds

They say that God sees hearts and minds. That same they will also tell you that God made man in his image. I must confess that I wish that the God of hearts, the God of minds, had chosen those particular attributes to give to his self image creations. We seem to only see in colors. We are forced to listen to only our own hearts and our own minds, highly susceptible to ego and delusion though they may be……

What must it be like to see past the colors to other hearts, to other minds? Perhaps the God of hearts and minds felt that was something beyond our reach, or perhaps it was a gift awarded us and we simply refuse to listen and see?

Flattered by Star Wars Fans!

I was unaware that within certain circles, more so than my close friends that is, people want to know my opinions on George Lucas selling Star Wars to Disney and the blatant statements that there will be new Star Wars movies.

I have received a ton of messages today alone.

So I say, “Wow!” and “I’m flattered.”

The Skywalker saga has always been my “Orphan Child of Destiny” story of choice. I enjoyed what Lucas did with the original trilogy, blending more theology into the Orphan Child of Destiny story, than the others. Shy of Moses, of course. I have enjoyed many of the additions to the Star Wars expanded universe over the years. There are some entertaining books and comics out there (some really suck) but there are great ones too.

What do I think of more movies? 

Despite the prequels, I still would take my kids to go see a new Star Wars in the theater. I see it as no different than parents taking their children to a game by their favorite professional sports team. It isn’t the same players they watched when they were children, but the enjoyment can still be there, sharing a moment with your child.

What do I think of George Lucas?

That is the tougher question. I respect what he did in the seventies. How could you not? He wanted to have as much creative control as possible. Again, bravo…but…somewhere in all the massive mounds of money, I think he lost the artist that wanted that creative control…and it only became about Control! No longer creative. Having never had the chance to speak with him, I will not judge a man or cast about names like so many of my fellow fanboys love to do. All I can say is I have hopes for successes of my own…but if the price of success was to lose the creative part of me and simply want control, then I’d have to say I pity George Lucas. Pity a man who just sold a company for Four Billion dollars, you ask? Yes, because as an artist you can easily sell your soul, your spirit, but that seems to be a non-renewable resource. When it’s gone, it’s gone, and you give the world Gungans instead of daydreams.

I care nothing for money. I’m just a man, an artist, soul intact, creative controlled. 

So pity, that’s my answer. I pity George Lucas. Imagine selling a dream? A dream is something most people only get to chase after, but to catch one, and then sell it? Wow….yeah, pity.

 

Sandusky Library Signing

If you live in the Vacation Land/Cedar Point area get out of the house and join me at the Sandusky Public Library for a bit of Q&A, reading, and I’ll have paperbacks available for purchase (at lower than retail price) to be signed. Tomorrow night Oct. 30 at 6:30 until I don’t know, whenever, so stop on by. http://www.sandusky.lib.oh.us/

Celebrity Sex Scandal! You Won’t Believe Who is Doing Who!

Don’t worry we’ll get to the gossip of what famous celebrity is screwing who in a minute. Let’s talk politics. Not listen to Nick pick a side, no, no, that’s what I want to discuss – the whole side picking part. How do you do it, hmm? All information on any given democratic election (the country doesn’t matter) arrives at you second, third, fourth, or even fifth hand.

Television: Our guiding light in the dark, hallowed be thy name. All networks, all programs are paid for by sponsors. These companies spend millions of dollars to advertise their whatevers, let’s say Thneeds, so, of course, if a network is heavy on the advertising for a product that a political candidate exemplifies, then sure they’ll subtly or ham-handed plug that politician. Information from television should be highly suspect, even debates, you only see a piece of the whole picture.

Print Periodicals: With the information age print newspapers and magazines are seeing monstrous hits. The same rules of advertising influence mentioned for television are double for print with their revenues flagging, but you receive the added bonus of having a journalist color an article with their opinions. I can only speak for articles printed in the USA here, but, somewhere along the line, in the last twenty years, the concept that an article is supposed to be written third-person non-biased was lost….I think that happened somewhere in the early 90′s maybe as early as the mid 80′s.

The Net: Bloggers get paid off constantly to endorse a movie or tv show, depending on the reach of their audience. Anything you read online should be taken with a micron of salt. Search engines like Yahoo and Google are simply interactive billboards. I have never read a Yahoo news article that was not full of typos and personal opinions. Hell, even me, I’m being completely unbiased with this article. I am writing about the modern democratic process. I am not selling you anything, but only asking you to take a second and examine why you believe a certain point to be fact. I am influencing you to… think for yourselves… Ah, gasp, never! I admit that isn’t the same as trying to market you a new gadget or food product, but still it is influence.

Word of Mouth & Social Media: That’s all that’s left right? What your friends and family say. Really? You want to know the scary part? This is actually the most common way people form political opinions. Their peers and parents. Political ideology is handed down generation to generation. An inherited opinion does not make it an informed source. Sorry, grandpa may have been, or still is, a swell guy, but human opinion is opinion. The most suspect source of all political information.

Now? Who is screwing who in the world of celebrity? I have no idea. I wanted to show you how advertising works. I pulled you in to read an article based on your impulse to read about horny actors and athletes. False advertising? Welcome to reality, take a second and think for yourself please. I wish you all clarity of thought. Cheers!

A Mother’s Three Wishes

A mother finds a tarnished brass bottle on the beach. She picks it up, rubs it, and out pops a genie. The genie says to her, “You may have three wishes, but only three. No more, no less.”

The mother says, “I wish for my children to live long healthy lives.”

The genie replies, “First wish granted.”

The mother says, “Well gosh, I don’t want to be greedy about this, so let me do something for everybody else. I wish for there to be no more hunger in the world. Let there be food for everyone.”

The genie replies, “Second wish granted.”

Taking a moment to think, the mother strikes upon what she really wants more than anything else in the world.

The mother says, “I wish my children would listen to me.”

The genie shrugs his shoulders, and replies, “I grant wishes, lady. I’m not a miracle worker!”

Reread Green Eggs & Ham Before You Post Another Word!

The internet and its spastic child social media are wonderful communication tools. But, I have noticed over the last decade as chatrooms morphed into Facebook and Twitter, plus their smaller stepchildren like Pinterest, Goodreads, and ImDb, that everybody has an opinion on everything. Alright, cool, that’s nice to see, but I feel you should keep in mind the question would you actually say the things you type to someone’s face?

Our world is entertainment fueled and addicted. Movies, TV, music, and even books still hold more import for everyday people than real life relationships. Think, “Gee, I wish my boyfriend were more like So&SO.” Nothing wrong with that either as long as you realize he may be thinking the same of you – compromise.

Here’s the problem: with so many avenues for people to talk or “Geek out” over their favorite new entertainment, I have noticed a counterculture subgroup of people that hate what everybody likes, only because other people like it. Please, don’t do this. If you have to call me Nick i Am, then so be it. But, always try something before you say you hate it. Watch a movie more than halfway, watch a TV show past the pilot, read a a couple hundred pages of a book, before you say “I do not like Green Eggs and Ham!”

I read Twilight, not for me, but I read it. I read Fifty Shades of Grey, not for me, but I read it. If there is a specific reason you don’t like something other than that other people do like it, then be specific in your criticism so the world will know you have your reasons and aren’t being a petulant toddler. Here’s an example: I read Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series, and enjoyed the first four novels, but as the series went the immature choices the main character Rachel makes time and again, her constant struggles with bisexuality and her daddy issues became too much, and I felt the character needed to grow more if the series were to continue to my tastes. Now, that does not make Kim’s major series a bad series. It means that for me as a reader I no longer enjoyed the work. But, you see how I gave legitimate reasons for no longer liking the books, and proof that I had indeed read them and not played the childish Green Eggs & Ham card?

When you badmouth a work of entertainment that you haven’t witnessed for yourself, you are only hurting and limiting yourself.