The Death of Opie

How shocking and brutal was the death of Opie?  Episode 3 of Season 5 of Sons of Anarchy just blew my mind.  Opie was my favorite character on the show.  He was as real as they got.  He was genuine, honest, intimidating, loveable, and most of all was faithful to the club.  But as they say, you live by the code, and you die by the code.  Why is it that every character on the show who believes in those words usually is the one that gets burned the most?  Honestly think of Opie, Otto, Piney, and JT.  Crime has no place for men of honour.

I really didn’t want to see Opie die.  I especially didn’t like the way he died.  It made me want to see the SONS get revenge on all the guys that killed him.  But then the show took a brilliant turn in my opinion.  It made Jax a business man, a man who didn’t let emotions influence his opinion.  He started talking with Damon Pope (a brilliant actor from OZ), and you could start to see the new level of storytelling the writers from the show were achieving.  Season 5 is about thinking, emotions, and survival.  Something that I haven’t seen since OZ, and The Wire.  So despite having Opie die, it wasn’t in vain, and the show will keep getting better and more groundbreaking.

Boston Red Sox Beckett Jersey

I picked this jersey up during the Labour Day long weekend when clearance items had an extra discount on a website that I shop from.  I was excited because they had a Josh Beckett jersey in stock.  I have been a fan of his ever since he won the World Series back in 2003 with the Marlins.  That series was extra special because he also beat the Yankees.  Becket was impressive in pitching two games in that series.

Although I’m not a fan of the Red Sox either, I still respect their greatness in baseball history.  While their use of math and statistics based on Bill James’ sabermetrics has brought them success in the past, this year the Red Sox haven’t been so lucky.  This awful season was the cause of Boston trading Beckett to the Dodgers.  Lucky for me though it also meant I could pick up his jersey for really cheap.

This is a Majestic replica jersey, and it’s made out of polyester.  I bought it in an extra large because I prefer more space around the collar.  Replica jerseys tend to be on the lower end as far price, so there aren’t many details on the jersey besides the team and players name.  My only complaint about my jersey is that some of the stitching wasn’t done very well, so eventually I might have to re-stitch those areas in the future.  Other than that, this is an excellent jersey from Majestic.

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kaxKi-0WgQ

The Collector

Title: The Collector

Author: John Fowles

Publisher: Back Bay Books
The Collector is a really disturbing book about a man (Fred Clegg) who kidnaps a woman he is obsessed with.  He recently won the lottery and as a result is able to buy a small cottage and keep the woman hostage.  His interests include collecting insects, such as butterflies.  He is a collector and somehow comes to view the woman the same way he views his butterflies, as objects that are best enjoyed captive.

While I do consider Fred’s actions irreprehensible, I read the book with a fair amount of sympathy towards him.  I think this is necessary when reading any book, regardless if the main character is good or bad you need to be able to relate to them.  From this point of view I was able to see how unfair life can be in matters of love and the characteristics we are born with.  Fred had a terrible life growing up which I think was the reason for his low self-esteem and his nonchalance towards life.  Then one day he meets the girl of his dreams, but is disappointed in recognizing that no matter what he does a girl like that would never love him.  To remedy this acknowledgement, Fred creates a world (thanks mostly to his money) where reality can no longer divide him from his obsessions.  He is now in full control. 

The dangers of isolating one’s self from a reality one is disappointed with, is a very common motive for reckless actions from criminals.  Many people who seem to think they are failures in life, will either go out into the world and harm others or will hurt themselves.  The Collector takes a look at the ones that harm others.  I think this book serves as a way to understand why certain people commit crimes against others, their motives and their illusions.  This is a very intriguing book that I first heard about on a show based on real crimes.  The real crime was about two men who after reading this book, actually started to kidnap women and hold them hostage as sex slaves.  I don’t think the book actually made them go out and commit crimes, but it did give them ideas.

The second half of this book takes the point of view from the girl who was kidnapped by Fred Clegg.  If the first part was about understanding the predator’s perspective, the second half was a sober second thought on the crime.  It serves to put humanity back into the crime. The victim was somebody who had family and friends, who loved life and wasn’t just an object to be contained.  This is the part of the book where you start to hate Fred for what he is doing, because he has gone beyond anything that he is entitled to in life.  While life did suck for him, he had no right to take his pain out on others like a coward.  Instead he should have looked for treatment for his depression elsewhere.  I really enjoyed this book because it showed that love must be mutual, and if it’s not you must not destroy it for others.

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Collector-Back-Bay-Books/dp/0316290238/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331674528&sr=1-1

Breaking Bad Paper Dolls

I usually like to Google random stuff that’s on my mind when I’m bored.  This one time though, I was watching part 1 of season 5 of Breaking Bad when I decided to do a search on Breaking Bad art.  I found a lot of really cool art inspired by the show, but the one piece that really got my attention was paper dolls from the show.  The artwork is done by illustrator, Kyle Hilton.  His artwork reminds me of artwork from GTA Vice City and San Andreas. They both have this cel shading type of effect.

Kyle is very talented and likes to create various paper doll characters from TV and movies.  On his website you can find paper dolls from movies such as Pulp Fiction, Drive, and from TV shows such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Eastbound and Down.  You can tell Kyle is a true fan of these movies and shows because of all the detailed accessories he adds to his printouts.  In fact if you’re a fan of these shows too, you’re bound to get a laugh when you see them and they remind you of certain episodes.

Each paper doll character consists of one full color printout.  The cutting is pretty easy, although certain areas require more skill (such as the holes in a ski mask).  Once the cutting is done, each piece of clothing (i.e. pants or suits) adds on pretty easily and cleanly.  I like to use painter’s tape to attach pieces, because painter’s tape holds on pretty well and doesn’t rip paper.  I had fun playing around with this quasi-papercraft, and hope Kyle keep’s up the great work.  (I would also suggest he do characters from the Wire.)

Breaking Bad:

http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad

Kyle Hilton’s website:

http://flannelanimal.tumblr.com

YouTube:

http://youtu.be/V_eQjlCIItw