This is The Manns World

My site www.themannsworld.com is starting to get off of the ground, and my Hip Hop Ebook is chugging along.

I have the preview copy done, and now I really have to get working on the main parts of it.

I'm still undecided with what to do with this site, but I'm thinking of maybe splitting up my topics and giving a more dedicated focus to each blog. I would also like to move this one to Wordpress, if only because I'm more familiar with that now.

We'll see. I'll have a better idea of what I'm going to do in time.

What A Difference...

A few years make. I had completely forgotten about this blog but I'm glad I was able to remember the passwords and login information.

I checked my Google adsense account that was connected to this and found out that it had over 100 dollars. Money that is sorely needed, let me tell you.

I'll try my best to resurrect this site and find a new direction for it, to go along with my other endeavors.

Wall-E Review

What can I say about this movie that hasn't already been said? To me, it teeters on greatness. Not only is it an awesome kid movie, but anyone with a working heart will appreciate its message.

The movie deals with a future Earth that has been left in ruins. There some an attempt to straighten up the planet which failed, and humans left Earth aboard a cruise line spacecraft. Back on Earth we have Wall-E, that last of his kind. He is a robot designed to help collect the trash on Earth. Over the years he has developed a personality and an affinity for old show tunes. Suddenly, the love of his life appears from a probe and his journey to stay with her takes him all over the universe.

The strength of this movie lies in the emotions that are so perfectly conveyed through out pint-sized robot friends. There is little talking done by the robots, and only minimal input from the humans in the film. Despite this, the main characters come off as likable as any character in any Pixar movie.

If, and that is a big if, there is a fault in this movie, it would be the message it sends. But like I said, it depends on how you look at it. The "Green" message of the film doesn't come off as preachy to me, and more importantly I think it is something kids can look at and accept for what it is. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!


I have to say this was one of the most enjoyable movies I have seen in a while. Well worth it. You should see it with a lover, friends, or just go by yourself and freely cry like I did during the touching moments.

Substance- 10/10. A family film with a message about consumerism and saving the environment. It doesn't come off as preachy and thats why it works.
Execution- 9/10.-The main characters don't even talk and you still care for them. Wonderfully done.
Wow Factor-9/10. Another Pixar hit that looks beautiful on the screen.
Staying Power-9/10. You could put this next to one of my favorite Pixar films, Finding Nemo, and see how they both measure up equally.
The Fan Factor-8/10. There isn't a colorful supporting cast as in other Pixar films, but everyone will love Wall-E.
Overall-45/50

Technorati Tags: Wall-E, Movies

"Inside" Art and Life

I knew that real life stuff happened like this, but I couldn't think of any real examples.

If you are a horror fan, and you haven't seen the French film "Inside", I don't know what is wrong with you. It puts everything American has been doing to shame. Bloody-disgusting.com, the horror fan site, called it one of the scariest movies since the original Halloween. And that's saying something. The premise is a French woman, who, after a terrible accident has to raise her child on her own. But she soon realizes that another woman wants what's inside her and is willing to kill to get it. I won't review it here, but honestly its a great movie. I would give it a 9/10 and call it one of my favorite horror movies ever.

But that isn't the disturbing part. It seems that a woman in Washington felt the need to do the same thing. She killed a woman who was almost to term in order to keep her child and pass it off as her own. That is what makes Inside that much scarier. The motivation behind the killer is slightly different in the movie, but insane people actually do things like this. I have to stress that watching that movie gives the real story an even more sickening punch than it already has. Here is the original story from msnbc.com.

KENNEWICK, Wash. - Police said a pregnant woman was killed after being stabbed multiple times in the chest and her nearly full-term baby was cut from her womb. A 23-year-old woman has been arrested.

The baby boy was hospitalized at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane in critical condition.

Court documents said 27-year-old Araceli Camacho Gomez, of Pasco, had her hands and feet bound with yarn and suffered "massive trauma to her stomach area" late Friday night. An autopsy showed she died of the chest wounds, but had other wounds "consistent with the cutting of the body to remove an unborn child."

Her body was found early Saturday in Kennewick's Columbia Park.

A Kennewick woman, Phiengchai Sisouvanh Synhavong, has been arrested for investigation of first-degree murder and is accused of trying to pass the infant boy off as her own in calls made late Friday night to emergency dispatchers. She was being held without bail Monday, with another court appearance scheduled Wednesday.

Court documents say gloves soaked in blood, a boxcutter, bloody paper towels, yarn, baby bottle and baby socks were among some of the items found in Sisouvanh Synhavong's purse.

Technorati Tags: Inside, Horror

Digital Warfare

This is the most disturbing news I've read in a while, mainly because I've visited the attacked sites before. SOHH.com and Allhiphop.com, two of the biggest hip hop sites around, have been targeted by online terrorists. This is the best way to describe them because A., that's what they are, and B., that's what they claim to be.

A group known as 4chan, or Anonymous, claimed responsibility for the attack. This happens all the time on the net. In some instances rival sites will hack others to claim superiority on the net. But this attack seems to be racially motivated, which is the scary part. The sites and their respective forums were hacked, and hate messages demeaning Blacks and other minorities were posted on the sites.

Apparently, the hangout of the hackers was known to be a racist site. In an unprovoked move, a few members of one of the hip hop communities posted messages on their sites. Whatever the messages contained, they provoked an all out war on hip hop sites. Both sites are now getting the authorities involved.

I tell you, its really sad that hackers would try and break down thriving communities. Its not like its just any community, they specifically targeted hip hop communities with their racist message. I think of them as cowards. These guys are supposed to be internet revolutionaries and such, right? Go hack a banking website and get rid of the debt of thousands of people. Otherwise, you are just living out your loser fantasies online by thinking people actually fear you. Expect the FBI to be at your doorstep real soon.

Technorati Tags: cyber terrorism, terrorism

Co-Sign!

I've felt this way for a long time, and it took legends to say what most real hip hop heads are thinking. Marley Marl and Craig G., both legends in the game, had some choice words for the current state of hip hop. The original article is from allhiphop.com. Their responses are from a question asking about their opinions of Lupe and Kanye, or so called "Nerd Rap".

Marley Marl: That part of Hip-Hop is not even as popular as the ignorant part of Hip-Hop. For me I don’t even let my kids listen to Rap. I don’t want my kids talking like most of these rappers. I’m ashamed, I don’t even want my kids hearing that s**t. I want my kids going to college. The college kids getting an education can’t identify what these motherf***ers are saying right now. My kids will not be listening to Hip-Hop, I’m sorry. That’s a quote.

I’ll let my son listen to some classic stuff, but the stuff now I mean really. It’s too illiterate, it’s too dumb. What’s sad is our kids are growing up and learning this language, copying it and think that’s what to talk. A straight educated dude can’t make a hit record right now because he’s too smart.

Craig G.: It’s funny, everyone is saying the same thing but no one is saying anything.

Emphasis added. All I can say is PREACH!!! Someone is saying what I have been feeling for the longest time. Mainstream rap is garbage for the most part. There are a few here and there, but the rest just suck. I turn on Black Exploitation Television and I'm dumbfounded by what they are passing off as rap nowadays. There may have always been a silly and a fun side to rap, but it least it wasn't passed off as being serious. The original pioneers didn't need to demean women and talk about their exploits in the club to be popular. I feel like there are 3 archetypes of what the corporate clowns think a rapper should be. And it seems that everyone who releases a song is forced to fit that mold if they want to sell. Rappers today just suck, there is no way around it.

Hopefully a musical revolution can come sometime soon, because as a jaded rap fan, they better not expect a dollar from me until the industry as a whole changes. Props to the real rappers who are still doing their thing.

Immortal Technique-The Revolutionary

I'll try to remember to do an album review of his latest album.

If you haven't heard, Immortal Technique is a one man army. Fed up with traditional hip hop, he has made it his mission to bring a revolution to hip hop. Notice that I didn't call it a movement. I feel every rapper calls their rise to fame a movement, not realizing that most movements eventually die out. IT's revolution is here for the long term. Not only is this a music thing, he makes sure to reach out to various countries abroad and neighborhoods here to force change amongst regular people who may feel that they don't have a government to count on.

How could I describe his music? It is like a small arms firefight recorded on CD. IT takes shots at the system in the U.S., crooked politicians, and anyone else who stands in the way of the people. The Third World, his latest album/mixtape made with the help of the notable Green Lantern, is his newest official work in years. But greatness takes time. The wait was a little long, but true fans are fine with it. His first two albums Revolutionary Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 are considered underground classics.

Why should you check this out at all? Because it puts mainstream rap to shame. It is hard to find a rapper who has this much passion in his music. The Revolution is coming through your speakers and straight to your brain.

The Devil crept into Heaven
God overslept on the 7th
The New World Order was born on September 11th.-Immortal Technique

Technorati Tags: The Third World, Immortal Technique

The Dark Knight Movie Spoilers?

Again, I won't mention the numerous times I said I was done posting movie information on this blog. Anyways, I couldn't pass this up because it seems to be accurate as far as I can tell. This appears to be a fully synopsis of the film. Based on my read of it I think it leaves out when Harvey Dent becomes disfigured. It also seems like a rough overview, not talking about specific locations that the events happen. But we'll see if this is true or not. If it is, remember who told you first!

I still plan on seeing the movie, and if this is all true, it doesn't spoil too much for me. Like I said, the beauty of this movie will be in the details and craziness of the Joker, which is only briefly explained here.

SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS

The movie begins showing the goings on in Gotham City: it's a real mess. There are a lot of fake Batmans: they show ap at crime scenes and get killed. But the true Batman is always in action, and he's not alone: Gotham City has a new District Attorney, Harvey Dent. His girlfriend is Rachel Dawes, who had a relationship with Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman).

Together, Batman and Dent face the crime: when Gambol, the main mob boss, decides to pool all the mob money (billions of dollars) in China and sends Lau (a crooked accountant) to Hong Kong, Batman is able to follow Lau and bring him to Gotham. Dent uses the information taken after his capture to round up a lot of criminals (even Sal Maroni!): a great victory for justice.

But peace does not last: The Joker, a new criminal, reveals himself asking Batman to take his mask off or he'll start killing people. He says he does it for the mob: he wants their money back, and in exchange wants half of it for himself.
The Joker kills some people, but decides to go higher and kidnaps both Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent: Batman has to decide which one to save.

As part of his plan, Joker gets captured; batman rushes to Rachel to save her, but the Joker has lied, and he ends up saving Harvey Dent, who loses his mind completely when he discovers that not only Joker escaped, but has set on fire the money and the police building.

Joker announces that the Mayor has to die, or he'll blow up Gotham's Hospital. Dent decides to hunt down anyone who was involved in Rachel's kidnap, and kills people too: he finds Maroni and kills him, just after Maroni (worried about Joker's crazyness) has said to Batman where to find the Joker. Meanwhile, the clown blows up the hospital.

Now Joker actually runs Gotham City, so he tells people that they have to deal whit him or to leave. Two ships of pepole leave the metropolis: one full of criminals, and one full of innocents. Joker stops the ships and announces that he'll blow both the ships up at midnight, unless one ship blows the other up (they both have detonators).

Dent finds Commissioner Gordon, who got corrupted (but is still "good") and inevitably led to Rachel's kidnap. Dent threatens him with his gun, but Batman arrives and dives him into a hole in the floor, apparently killing him. Then Batman decides to go on the run: he wants to pretend he killed the people Dent killed, because he thinks Gotham needs it's ex-D.A.'s image untarnished.

Meanwhile, Joker has failed, and he goes in prison. The End...

This is clearly a prelude to the next episode, with the return of Two Face and Batman redemption...

Bonus spoilers:

* Batman and the Joker face off during a wheeled confrontation. Batman, riding the Batpod, shoots and hits the Joker’s Van with two rockets. Simultaneously, one of the Joker’s Clowns makes a direct hit to the Batpod. Batman is thrown from the cycle in the explosion and lands in the street. One of the Clowns grabs Batman and is thrown back by a shocking jolt from the Bat’s electrified belt. The Joker kicks and spits on his Clown Henchman after approaching Batman himself. He spits a spray on Batman and immediately grabs him by the back of the head. The Joker has a knife to Batman’s throat ready to slice when Detective Gordon appears. Gordon’s shotgun is pressed to his head when the Joker slowly turns and jokes, ”Can ya give me a minute?” Sources on site reported the scene took at least 10 takes as the crew perfected the Joker’s spray and fought their own laughter.

Technorati Tags: Batman, The Dark Knight