Month: November 2022

U.S. Elections: Exporting ideas to the World

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, Politics2 Comments

I want to talk about the U.S. elections. Why? That’s a very interesting question, considering I’m not a U.S. citizen and not able to vote in their elections. So that being the case, why would I have an opinion or have anything at all to say about another nation’s democratic elections? 

That is another great question. Wow, I’m full of them today, aren’t I? 

The dust is still settling after the U.S. midterm elections, with the Democrats retaining the Senate and the Republicans taking the House, while Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock will be involved in a run off on 6th December, for the Georgia Senate race. Though if Walker does lose, it appears he has a back up job as a vampire-hunting werewolf.

I find the whole American election process quite fascinating, however this blog is looking at how the United States of America and their elections, actually exports ideas.

For context, I live in the South Island of New Zealand. If you don’t know where we are, find a world map and look down in the South Pacific Ocean. Though to be fair, we are getting missed off maps recently, so that doesn’t help. Anyway, with just a hop, skip and a jump to the North East and across the Pacific Ocean, is the United States.

Image by Mary Pahlke from Pixabay

Living in New Zealand is quite odd, because of how much American culture has been actually being incorporated into our own culture.

We have an abundance of American culture here. Some easy food examples of these would be McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Dominos, Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway, and recently Taco Bell; which I have to be perfectly honest, I really want to try. Not that I’m expecting too much of the food, but it’s just the fact that we have Taco Bell now, so I just want to tick that box off my list.

We also have a steady diet of American literature in the form of magazines, comics, newspapers and of course, books. A whole lot of books.

There’s also television and streaming services, where the majority of content on our limited amount of channels is American, with a dash of British, Australian, and New Zealand shows. It would also be pretty remissive of me, not to also mention the massive impact American cinema and social media has had on this country.

The uncountable information about U.S. movies that are locked in my head, serve absolutely no purpose to humanity other than, “Oh cool, that’s a nice fact. Thanks for sharing, Scott!” is quite astounding.

Another way American culture has influenced us is fashion; which let’s be honest, I’ve only had two blogs about that, so I need to up the ante on social media fashion trends. Though I feel old every time I have to ask my wife about the new trend.

Of course all of this babbling, is steering towards politics. America is a superpower in the world. It’s a global leader, whether you like that or not, it just is. America influences the world with it’s choices and ideas, but also food, literature, cinema, fashion, and the list goes on and on.

America export ideas. Now you can debate about which ideas are positive or negative, but that’s up to the individual or each nation’s government. It doesn’t matter, but what does matter is that America is a trendsetter; the world looks to America.

If America started a campaign to ban Sour Cream and Chives crackers for some good reason, you only have to start looking at other countries to see whether they would follow suit or not. I’m not a big fan of that flavour; as you all know, so if there was a campaign to ban them, I would probably be alright with that.

Even though America is not the world, the choices and policy decisions their local and federal governments make, ripple across the world; they really do. Whether these ripples are social reforms, book banning, tax cuts, abortion, military spending; it doesn’t matter, America is the world’s leader and the world takes notice of what they’re doing.  

Because they export ideas, you would have to talk to every country to determine whether they like those ideas as well or if they will reject them. Some of these ideas are not exclusive to America, just like the fight against climate change.

You’ll probably thinking, “That’s all well and good, Scott, but what’s your point?”

Another amazing question asked, thanks for that. After the U.S. 2020 general election, sometime in late December, I saw something that, I’ll be honest with you, completely stunned me. As I was driving to my local discount supermarket, I looked over and I saw a Trump 2020 flag flying in someone’s front yard. I’d never seen that before. The Trump flag didn’t offend me, it was more the fact that it’s a campaign flag from another country over 10,000 km away. It’s around the same distance from New Zealand to China for comparison.

For me, I’m a little bit nervous. Next year is our general election which we hold every three years. I’m worried because there’s a possibility that next year, whether it’s a political party or an individual candidate that has lost fairly, will now have a back up plan. They just need to start saying that the election was rigged, or it was stolen. I find it hilarious and horrifying that’s a real possibility now, but I think the general public would call them out.

I care about America and their elections, because America is a global leader. Whatever positive or negative policies that are introduced and supported through their law makers, the repercussions of those policies vertebrate through each country in the world. They look at them and decide whether they are going to implement similar policies or if they are going to reject them. This includes us, through discussions at work, home, gyms, parliament, schools, and social media; especially social media.

If I was a better writer, I would have done a far greater job at conveying my point, so I’m sorry about that. I’d love to visit the United States of America one day, because I have a mental list of the things I would love to do. However, I do need to check their policies on Sour Cream and Chives and save a whole lot of money.

This is my 101st blog post, which over two years is quite pathetic; however this ridiculous project does keep me off the streets and away from sports bars, just so my wife can watch me. She’s doing it right now, sitting in the same room as me, pretending to read one of the Outlander books, but I know the truth.

With Christmas less than a month away, take it easy on yourself. Thanks for following, walk your dog, read a banned book, and I’ll see you next Monday.

Kevin O’Neill, Carlos Pacheco and Kevin Conroy: Three more Tōtaras lost

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics, People, Television

At the moment 2022 feels less like a year, but rather like a twisted Pokémon trainer that runs around and collecting comic icons, instead of Pokémon. Not only did we lose Neal Adams, George Perez, and Tim Sale this year, but quite recently, Kevin O’Neill, Carlos Pacheco, and Kevin Conroy, also died.

I don’t know what I can say about these three icons, that has not already been said before, by far better writers and journalists over the last few weeks. In saying that, I’d still like to say something.

Image by Emilie Farris from Pixabay

I can’t be sure, and it won’t come as a surprise; but I think the first time I saw Kevin’s art was with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I do realise he had created a lot of art through 2000AD content, Marshal Law, and other material, but the League stands out to me.

I loved his attention to background detail, body proportions and facial expressions; so it meant that Kevin’s art was very recognisable. Have you ever seen a drawing of Daredevil, Green Lantern, Zorro, or any other character, and just by glancing at the art work, you could name the artist? Kevin’s art was like that for me, I could stare at a picture and realise, “Kevin O’Neill drew that, that’s Kevin’s.” I loved his art.

Kevin O’Neill, 2009. © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons

Speaking of loving art, I loved Carlos’ work for different reasons. His work grew on me, because I’d sometimes see his art ranging from Fantastic Four, Captain America, X-Men, Avengers, Inhumans, Excalibur, Green Lantern, The Flash, Superman, Arrowsmith, and so many more.

After discovering that the art I’m looking at belonged to Carlos, I would often comment about how he could draw anything, because it seemed like he was drawing everything on the shelf. I loved his range, but also his commitment to getting each panel to almost sing with positivity and direction.

Both Kevin and Carlos were masters of their beloved trade, and it showed through in the volumes of their work. They helped me to learn and discover new ways to appreciate stories, as well as being gobsmacked with stellar art work.

Carlos Pacheco, 2013. Abbyarcane/Wikimedia Commons

As for Kevin Conroy, well he was Batman’s voice, wasn’t he? I’m old enough to remember when Batman: The Animated Series was released, but young enough to have watched it. It was amazing and so was Kevin. Over the years, if I was watching an animated version of Batman voiced by Kevin, then I knew it was legit.

Through two decades and countless animated series and movies, coupled with his video game work and his live-action performance, Kevin was the definitive Batman. He brought more depth and range to the character than anyone beforehand, but also shone a spotlight on Bruce Wayne’s pain and compassion. He helped to flesh out Batman’s 2-D existence and dragged him by the cape, into our 3-D world. Damn it was glorious and it still is.

Kevin Conroy, 2021. Super Festivals/Wikimedia Commons

Thank you Kevin; Thank you Carlos; Thank you Kevin. I don’t know what else to say about three people that I never met, other than their work has brought a lot of happiness into millions of people’s lives and including my own; and will continue to do so.

This was another strange post to do, so I’m sorry about that. I’ll return to our regular weekly blog about nonsense next week. Thanks for following, go walk your dog, buy a banned book and I’ll see you next week.

Sport is Sport

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Sports

I’d like to interrupt my regular incoherent weekly blog, for the first of two special posts. The first one concerns sport, particularly rugby union, rugby league, football and cricket.

Whether you are aware of it or not; and I do apologise if you already do, but the 2021 Rugby World Cup1 was hosted by New Zealand, and the final was played on Saturday 12th November, between England and New Zealand, aka the Red Roses and the Black Ferns.

Running parallel to this tournament is the 2021 Rugby League World Cup2 which is currently being held in England. Also next year the 2023 FIFA World Cup will be co-hosted between Australia and New Zealand.

Now for those of you that are keeping score, I’ve just named three of my favourite sports, with the exception of cricket.

So what do these three tournaments have got to do with the price of milk and each other? That’s a no brainer, because all three tournaments are for female players. This is important; because I feel at least in my country, we’re at a point where women playing international sport that has been traditionally identified as male, is finally going to get primetime coverage, attention and recognition.

Firstly, the Black Ferns won on Saturday, claiming their 6th World Cup title. Along with England, they put on an amazing display of rugby, that showcases how fantastic the game is to the entire world. My wife, UMC1, UMC2 and myself have watched as many games as possible, and we have not been disappointed. This tournament has lifted the profile of the sport, maybe forever.

The Kiwi Ferns will also be playing England on Monday 14th November at 7.30 pm (local time) in the 2nd semi-final for the Rugby League World Cup. These games I’ve been watching via highlights because of the time zones difference; we’re 13 hours ahead of the United Kingdom. Added to the fact that next year, the best 32 football teams in the world, will travel to Australia and New Zealand to fight for football supremacy.

As a sports fan, a New Zealander, and as a human being, this is phenomenal. Across these codes; and yes, I am including cricket with this, these World Cups were only introduced recently; 1991 for rugby and football, 2000 for rugby league, and 1973 for cricket.

The Black Ferns celebrate winning the Rugby World Cup. (Source: Photosport)

What I’m driving at; and I’m going to sound corny, is that all of these players across these codes; are amazing. Simply amazing. Somewhere along the road, whether it was when they were a girl, teenager or as an adult, these players would have run into obstacles.

They may have been told that they couldn’t play their preferred sport, because it was only played by boys. It could have been they were told to just stick with sports, that are only played by girls, whether at school or at a club level. Maybe they were rejected for being the wrong size, height, or build.

There also could have been the issue of their school or community, not having the resources, staff, management or teams, to run a girls competition in rugby, rugby league, football or cricket. Maybe these players needed to travel hours to another town or city, to fit into a team that could take them in; committing to travel for trainings and games.

Whatever the case, they would have found an obstacle and discovered a way to climb over it, to go around it, and simply, to go through it. To me, sport is sport. You can have team sports like rugby, or individual sports like swimming, that deal in male or female competitions, and that’s fine. However, and it’s what I teach UMC1 and UMC2, there is no such thing as boys sport, or girls sport; there is only sport.

All of these players, regardless of their sport and country are inspirational. They are playing the sport they love; and they are also showing the current and next generation of players and supporters, that sport is for everybody, regardless of your ability and gender. They are role models for girls and boys to support and admire. Seriously, sport is sport.

So what’s next? Well, if you truly believe that sport is sport, you should do something about it. Demand more games from your broadcaster, so you can watch them; attend live games and if the case arises, buy tickets for the games; volunteer your time as a coach; buy merchandise like jerseys or posters; but just do something to support them.

I’ve taken my own advice, because I’ve purchased tickets for the FIFA World Cup next year. UMC1 and I will watch New Zealand (Football Ferns) vs Switzerland in Dunedin and we can’t wait.

Anyway, congratulations to the Black Ferns. Tino pai rawa atu! Damn, I love rugby.

Thanks for reading, go watch some sport, read some banned books, and I’ll see you on Monday for the second special blog.

1 Thanks COVID-19 for delaying it one year.

2 Once again, thanks COVID-19 for delaying it one year.

Remember, remember, the 5th of November

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People, Politics

I want to talk about the 5th of November. Why? Failure is something we all have to live with. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve failed just this week alone. The point is, my failures have not changed the world; well, not yet anyway. But can you imagine failing at something, and 417 years later, people still celebrate that failure?

Guy Fawkes is synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot of 1605; along with a Alan Moore comic book, a Hollywood movie, a famous poem and fireworks. Lots of fireworks. But that’s not the whole story; it was a team effort. It’s complicated, but I’ve always thought that the 5th of November was akin to Dunkirk; victory from the jaws of defeat. You’re probably scratching your head thinking, ”Oh no, what in the hell is he ranting about now?”

Don’t worry, I’ll try to explain this as painlessly as I can, but no promises!

Remember, remember, the 5th of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent

To blow up the King and the Parliament

Three score barrels of powder below

Poor old England to overthrow

By God’s providence he was catch’d

With a dark lantern and burning match

Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring

Holler boys, holler boys

God save the King!

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

You and I haven’t done this in awhile, but let’s sit inside our heads and travel back in time to England, at the turn of the 17th century. This is a time before Brexit, reality television and three prime ministers in two months. This is the time of Shakespeare, the British colonization of the Americas and the First Polish–Swedish War.

Sitting on the English throne was the OG herself, Elizabeth I, from the House of Tudor. She reigned from 1558 to her death in 1603, aged 69. There are two major things to remember about Elizabeth; when she died, she had no children. Therefore, there was no direct line for the succession for the throne. The other part was that Elizabeth was Protestant. Remember that.

At the time, Catholics and Protestants worshipped the same God; they just argued about how do it. A lot. The main problem was that the English monarch determined what the main religion would be for the country; basically you could be punished for the worshipping in the wrong religion. This was an issue across Europe, and Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, made things worse by telling Pope Clement VII to stick it, and created his own religion; the Church of England, so he could divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

This feud between the two denominations, has been passed on for centuries. Some of the best/worst examples of this feud, is currently in Northern Ireland, but also in Scottish Football, of all places, with Celtic FC traditionally supported by Catholics, while Rangers FC were supported by the Protestants.

Anyway, Elizabeth was succeeded by a distant relative, King James VI and I (VI of Scotland and I of England) from the House of Stuart. James was a Protestant, but he was quite tolerant towards Catholics. However, over the next two years and for various reasons; but mainly persecution, some Catholics were feeling it would be better if the Throne of England belonged to a Catholic monarch, and not a Protestant.

This is the part of the story where Guy Fawkes enters, but he’s not alone. The original group of the five conspirators were Guy Fawkes of course, Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy, and the true mastermind behind the whole project, Robert Catesby. This group later recruited other members like Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, Francis Tresham, Robert Keyes, John Grant, Thomas Bates, Ambrose Rookwood, and Sir Everard Digby.

The Gunpowder Plot Conspirators. Source: Crispijn van de Passe the Elder, Wikipedia

Their plan involved two different stages:

1.) To kill King James, his wife and eldest son, along with Lords, Judges, members of Parliament, and other targets. They would do this by blowing up the Houses of Parliament, at the State opening on 5th November, 1605.

2.) To kidnap the nine year old Elizabeth Stuart; King James’ daughter, through a revolt in the Midlands. The idea was to place her on the Throne of England, Scotland and Ireland, as a Catholic Queen. This was provided her father and brother were killed.

To destroy the Houses of Parliament, dozens of gunpowder barrels would be used for the explosion. They would be positioned in a cellar, underneath Parliament. It was decided that Fawkes would light the fuse and detonate the gunpowder, then escape across the River Thames.

Everything was going well with the plot, but the truth is stranger than fiction, because a group of betrayers and plotters, were in turn, betrayed themselves. Tragic irony or poetic justice? At this point, does it matter?

On the 26th October 1605, a letter was delivered to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle; which has famously been known as the Monteagle Letter. This letter was a warning about the conspiracy, but the author has remained a mystery. A suspect is Tresham, because he was Parker’s brother-in-law, however Parker was a suspect also. Regardless of the author’s identity, the letter was shown to several people, before making its way to King James on the 1st November, and well, he was not happy.

James ordered the Houses of Parliament to be searched for any shenanigans on the 4th November; though at the same time, the conspirators were finalising the last details about the plan. Fawkes was going to light the fuse at an agreed time, while others were getting ready to kidnap Princess Elizabeth. What could go wrong?

After the first search of the buildings, Fawkes was discovered with firewood, within the undercroft. Mixing lies with the truth, Fawkes explained that the firewood belonged to Thomas Percy. Fawkes was let go and the report was given to the King James, whom demanded the buildings be searched for a second time.

The second search proved to be more successful, because Fawkes was discovered again in the undercroft, later that night. He had a lantern, coal, firewood, and the barrels of gunpowder; so he was quickly arrested and on the morning of 5th November, he was brought before the King. The rest of the conspirators heard of Fawkes’ arrest fled and regrouped outside of London.

Having going by the alias of “John Johnson,” Fawkes was interrogated and eventually tortured. He had insisted that he was working alone, but after being tortured, Fawkes confessed to the entire plot. The authorities had already a few leads on the conspirators and armed with Fawkes’ confession, they started to seek them out as fast as possible.

Some of the conspirators had fled, while others were held up at Holbeche House, Staffordshire. It was there where someone had the smart idea to dry some of the wet gunpowder they had, in front of an open fire. You can guess what happened, because the gunpowder exploded. After that apocalyptic clown show, more conspirators fled. There was only Thomas Wintour, Grant, Rookwood, Percy, Catesby and the Wright brothers left now.

On the morning of 8th November, 200 men surrounded the house and opened fire. According to the report, several conspirators were killed, with Thomas Wintour, Rookwood, Grant being arrested. Eventually the remaining conspirators were found, arrested and put on trial.

These are the fates of the 13 Gunpowder Plot conspirators:

Thomas Bates: Died on 30th January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Sir Everard Digby: Died on 30th January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

John Grant: Died on 30th January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Robert Keyes: Died on 31st January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Thomas Percy: Killed on 8th November 1605, after being shot at Holbeche House. His body was later exhumed and decapitated. with his head put on a spike outside Parliament.

Ambrose Rookwood: Died on 31st January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Francis Tresham: Died from natural causes, on 23th December 1605, in the Tower of London.

Robert Wintour: Died on 30th January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Thomas Wintour: Died on 31st January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Christopher Wright: Killed on 8th November 1605, after being shot at Holbeche House.

John Wright: Killed on 8th November 1605, after being shot at Holbeche House.

So what happened to the most famous of all the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, Guy Fawkes?

Guy Fawkes: Died on 31st January 1606 in London, after breaking his neck, right before the execution. His body was still drawn and quartered though.

And that just leaves the mastermind behind it all; what happened to Robert Catesby?

Robert Catesby: Killed on 8th November 1605, after being shot at Holbeche House. His body was later exhumed and decapitated. with his head put on a spike outside Parliament.

Their legacy is Fireworks Night, Bonfire Night, or just Guy Fawkes Night; which is celebrated in various countries around the world, including here in New Zealand. But going back to the beginning of this blog, this is the victory I was talking about. Even though the 13 Gunpowder Plot conspirators tried to commit regicide and failed, they did end up changing the world. 417 years later and we still remember their names.

Thanks for sticking with me and subscribing to my weekly editions of verbal diarrhea, I appreciate it. Alright that’s it for me, go and walk your dog, read some banned books, and I’ll see you next week.