Veterans Day, A Day That is Celebrated by Civilians and A Reminder to Me, I Could Be Retired or Maybe Dead by Now.

My job has black-out days, and Veterans Day is one those days you cannot take off, unless it's one of your normal two days off per week. Civilians benefit more from Veterans Day than veterans, but it's really no big deal, just interesting to me.

As a veteran I'm required to work on Veterans Day at my place of employment. With all said and done, I wish I'd stayed in the U.S. Army. In 20 years I could have retired. I could have been financially secure for life since 2003, with full medical and dental benefits, now I'm just another modern day pauper with a bleak financial future.

With all that said and done, life goes on, and laughter keeps me adrift as I perpetually shift through the sands of uncertainty. As much I despise war, military is very necessary. The number of weapons and troops nations posses is a bit much, but the military is a fantastic outlet right out of high school or college.

The military taught me how not to be a slob. I learned quickly from the Army, that no matter what you do during any given day, especially if it's your Saturday, whatever you do, get dressed and clean your dwelling place.

Sad indeed, more than 6,880 U.S. soldiers have been killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars since 2003. http://icasualties.org/.  Since the men who hold high places will never advocate for positive change, war is here to stay, tragic for the too many wounded and killed in the battles of war. Outside the combat zone, the military is a great place to start adulthood.  

DVD Sci-Fi Reviews of "Self / Less" & "Terminator Genisys"

"Self / Less", released Monday to the general public on DVD is a science fiction whirlwind into the realms of immortality and the love between man, woman and their children.

Ben Kingsley portrays Damian, a man dying of old age. His extreme wealth enables him to transform all his thoughts, memories and knowledge into the body of a healthy young man. (Ryan Reynolds) At first, this is a fantastic plan, youths teen age lascivious desires become reality, his cancer is gone and his body is several decades younger and stronger. The conflict arises when young Damian (Reynolds) learns of the unscrupulous details of where his young body came from and the life old Damian unintentionally stole from another man.

Old Damian while in the young body sets fourth to reunite the mans life he stole with his wife and very young daughter. The wife Madeline (Natalie Martinez), because of her young daughter is trying to fall back in love with her husband, but everything mentally is not him. The young daughter Anna, so adorably played by Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen knows nothing of this and just wants to have her family life back with her mom and dad.

Old Damian also wants to patch things up with his own daughter who is fully grown. Doing that is pretty difficult when she knows he's died, and approaching your own child, when your about their same age in a completely different body is indeed a tough sell. On top of all this, the underground company that gave Damian his new life wants to take it back and also erase the lives of Anna and her mom Madeline.

There is a lot going on in "Self / Less" and it works well. This movie illustrates what humans will do and sacrifice for true love; the true love shared between two lovers and the love of family. Three and a half stars easy.

"Terminator Genisys," the latest of the "Terminator" flicks hit the DVD shelves also on Monday.
For the record, I love the original 1984 "Terminator" movie, unlike "Terminator Genisys," the original movie  had a great story-line, and the special effects where fitting for the plot.

The new "Terminator Genisys" is a cartoonist suck fest that was not intense nor funny. The world can only be saved by two people, Sarah Connor, played by the gorgeous Emilia Clarke and Kyle Reese, the male looker in the flick, portrayed by Jai Courtney. Anorld Schwarzenegger again plays the villain robot turned good to help the two humans save the world from the complete take over by cyborg machines. 

If film makers are going to have bombastic over the top special effects, the movie had better be done in true comic book nature, such as films like "Sin City," "The Spirit" and "300." The new "Terminator" might have worked if the it were a comedy or even a farce. When movie makers try and be serious, than have a scene in which two mortals, Connor and Reese in this case are in a full sized school bus with no seat beats and the bus does at least two spins in mid air before colliding the the ground, and neither person has so much as a scratch is too stupid and ridiculous to take seriously. 

The film makers should have paid me to watch this lame weak story and special effects geared toward the mind of toddler aged children. While I'm at it,  the 2008 flick "The Dark Knight" was another stupid movie I would have loved if I was 3-years-old. 

I prefer dialogue and acting as opposed to cartoon like special effects and sub moronic story's. Zero stars for "Terminator Genisys" and "The Dark Knight" for that matter.