"The Prodigy" pt.2.5 The Samaritan

(Our Story Continues with David Andrews and good Samaritan Cory at a local Japanese restaurant, immediately following the events of pt. 2)

    

"Ughh.. I think I'm gonna be sore for weeks." said David. His adrenaline finally subsiding, he came to the realization of exactly how much pain he was in.

"Aww come on "Prodigy", that little guy couldn't have hit you that hard. Did you see the look on that punks face when I hit him in the liver?! He's gonna be pissing blood for months."

David could do nothing but cringe, at the thought of urinating blood, but the smell of his first authentic Japanese meal being placed on the table, quickly erased the thought.

"So Mr. internet sensation what are you doing in Japan other than getting your ass kicked?" Cory asked jokingly.

"Well, I'm not really sure.. looking for answer's I guess...". David thought about his answer and wasn't sure why he answered so openly to a complete stranger, but felt a liberation and decided to continue, "Since I can remember my brain has always just been a sponge for gathering and retaining information. Once I read something, or once someone tells me something it is like I can't un-know it... I want to understand why". David looked up and saw that he now had Cory's full attention.

"So you are telling me that your whole "Prodigy" Shtick is for real, huh?" David thought for a moment, and was insulted in a strange way, realizing that there was a demographic of people who doubted the validity abilities.

"Of course its for real, how could you fake this?" he replied.

"Hey man, don't get all wound up with me, I always just thought of you like one of those David Blaine, or Chris Angel "Mind-freak" dudes with an awkward-nerdy twist."

Feeling challenged David responded," You can ask me anything, math, history, science, or whatever right now and I will answer."

"Okay, whats the capital of Mozambique?" Cory asked.

"Maputo, known as City of Acacias"

“Okay smart guy what is Nine times Six, Divided by three, plus two, minus one, times fifty?"

Instantly David blurted out "Nine-hundred and fifty, wait, do you really know the answers to these yourself, or are you just asking questions?"

Cory laughed "Just asking questions... What was the name brand of the baseball bat the dude hit you with?"

With a deep sigh David came to the realization that this guy had the inability to be serious,"...According to the imprint on my back it was a Mizuno." 


Cory saw the look in David’s face, he realized that his jokes weren't helping out, feeling a tad guilty he decided to change the pace of the conversation. "So David, how do you think you are going to find your answers in Japan?"

"Well I enrolled at the Kyoto University; because there is someone there I believe can help me. This guy has recently made decades of neurological advancements in less than two-years. He has written award-winning books and has published articles that contemplate theories of unlocking parts of the brain that man-kind has yet to access."

Appearing interested, Cory replied," Jeeze man, thats crazy! So all in all what kinds of things does this guy think the brain could be capable of?"

"Well in one article he eluded to things like telepathy, and in another he referenced telekinesis..."

Cory, cutting him off," Dude that is the coolest thing I've ever heard! I bet there are tons of other things that are possible too! So when are we gonna go meet this guy?"

David laughed, "Um.. 'We'? I don't know if having you come with me is practical? I mean its kind of a personal journey I'm on here. I appreciate your help in the alley, but.."

"Say no more Brosef, I get it. A guy saves your life, and wants to see telepathy and telekinesis, and you just kick him to the curb."

David feeling bad," Come on, those were just theories I never said that those things actually exist."

"Well "Prodigy" I wish you luck, I am going to assume that the meal is on you, because of the whole saving your ass thing. If you change your mind about inviting me to see the awesome Jedi-mind crap you can find me at the Kyoto Underground every Wednesday and Saturday night, until then.. Deuces!"


David was left alone there at the diner in an empty booth. Given the way the events played out this evening he figured that the old him would be stressed out and on the next plane back to the U.S., but he felt different. He felt a strange excitement, and a feeling that he was truly living life. He felt more driven than ever to meet Dr.Crantz. And for the first time ever he caught himself fantasizing about the possibility of learning something like telekinesis, or telepathy...

The Cake Boss

I was feeling very inspired today by this awesome cake my wife made (seen above) for her dads 61st birthday. Her father is very much into WW2 history, so my wife being the thoughtful daughter she is made him a "War" cake. There was an epic battle raging between, the tan guys, and the green guys. After seeing the finished product I was very proud of my wife, and I just wanted to dedicate a blog entry to her. I have seen her grow so much in all of her talents, specifically in her new found passion for photography. I'm sure if you are reading this, you have already made your way to her blog page. Its hard for me to let go sometimes, because I have always been the one with the media-esque talents. She has gotten so good that I can no longer deny her talents and abilities. I think buying her new camera was probably the best investment we could have made, it is truly humbling to see her but her entire heart and soul into this 365 project, as well as a fantastic way to watch her really dial in and own her craft. So lucky to be married to such an amazingly beautiful woman, and watch her transform into a perfect wife... 

To all the haters...

You know what has been bothering me lately is haters.. Not any group of haters specifically, but just haters in general. For those of you who didnt grow up with the term "hater" its pretty self explanatory  a hater is defined as one who habitually hates. And I myself am very guilty of hating. It is very easy to fall into that mentality. My primary example is Americas Justin Beiber. Many people of all different age, sexes, and races have a shared group discust for the Beibs. Some don't like his haircut, some don't like his music, and most deep down are just envious of his sucees. The reality is that JB is only a teenage kid! He is doing what any one of you would be doing in his situation. There is a video on YouTube of Justin beiber performing a show in Sacramento of all places, where an audience member throws a water bottle and hits the kid in his head. It got an insane number of "Hits", a term used when people are using their computer to look at videos from your computer. Not only did it have a million hits it also had thousands of posts saying that it serves him right, and how he deserves it. Its just sickening to me , this group mentality of hate. The comments only get worse as you read on, people  threaten his life and wish bodily harm on him. He is just a child! I remember how dumb I was at his age, and how clueless about the real world I was. This kid has 99 problems and an itch ain't one. I am gonna do my best to be a conscientious objecter, and realize when I'm sipping on Hater-ade for no good reason. After all Grandmaster Yoda warned us about this when he said," Fear is the path to the darkside. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to HATE, HATE leads to suffering." Also stop hating on Microsoft and Windows products! Its getting ridiculous..


Sent from my Windows phone 7

"The Prodigy" pt.2 The Thieves

In the eleven hours and twenty minutes it took to get from California to Japan, David had memorized almost every word in the Japanese dictionary. Not since he was awarded the title of chess grandmaster at age fifteen, had he been so enthusiastic and optimistic about his life and things to come. He was in a different country, and more importantly a different culture. In America he was becoming a sideshow unable to escape the viral media as "The Prodigy", but now he was just David Andrews. Nobody cared who he was, just as he didn't know them. Away from the spotlight, he was finally able to think clearly.

The reason David chose the Kyoto University was specifically due to the advances in Cerebral research and technology that had taken place there in the last two years. The program was being ran by a man by the name of Dr. Able Crantz. Dr. Crantz was an award winning author and scientist in the field of neurology. He had pioneered new methods for advanced brain surgeries that did not utilize blades or radiation. David was sure that if anyone could figure out what was going on with his brain it would be Crantz.

When his plane had arrived it was almost evening. Using his map he had determined that from the airport to the University would be only a forty-five minute walk, and this way he could find some authentic Japanese food on the way. His father being a structural engineer, David was raised to have great respect and appreciation for architecture. He had trouble walking straight looking up at all of theses magnificent structures, and how they complimented the beautiful mountains in the distance. With the sun falling behind the hills in the distance, he decided to take a picture of his first Japanese sunset. His tripod set up, and the shot lined up perfectly he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find a very attractive girl. "こんにちはあなたは私の青い猫を見たことがある先生", she said looking to him as if she was entitled a response. Puzzled the only two words he could translate were blue and cat. Turning back to his camera he realized it was missing. Scanning the streets in a panic he saw a man running into a nearby alley and instinctively gave chase. 


Wishing he had maybe taken up cross country in high-school, David was making steady progress on catching up to the thief. As he ran his adrenaline was pumping and he began shouting "Tasukete!, Tasukete!". He chased the man into another alley, looking up he noticed that this was a dead end, and the man had now stopped. "What now?" he thought to himself, realizing he has never been in a single fight his whole life.Before he could confront the thief he felt a blunt impact hit him in the back, sending a shock wave of pain from his head to his feet planting him face first onto the concrete. Vision blurred he gathered enough consciousness to identify that he was now surrounded by 3 men, one armed with the baseball bat that had branded his back, one hastily sifting through his wallet, and the other going through his messenger bag. Left with no options, mustering up what strength he had left David again began shouting "Tasukete!". Bat above his head, the thug hovered over David. In anticipation from the pain that he would surly receive, David closed his eyes and winced... to his surprise the blow never came.. instead he heard a quick thump and the sound of the wooden bat being dropped, rattling on the concrete. He opened his eyes and saw the man who once held the bat collapsed on the ground right next to him and the other two thugs in a stand off with this man who seemingly just saved his life. The larger of the two thugs swung wildly with his right hand, the man easily slipped under the hay-maker countering with his own crushing left punch to the liver. As a plea the last remaining thief cautiously put the messenger bag on the ground, along with the wallet and camera. The mysterious man nodded and gestured to the thief's fallen allies. The last thug did his best to gather his friends and they all scurried out of the alley. 


David, using the wall now to get to his feet, was overcome with thanks. "Domo Arigatou.", he said with relief. The man did not respond. "Domo arigatou." he said again this time louder, knowing that the man heard him. The man snickered, "No problem 'Mr. Roboto', you know you really should be more careful in this neighborhood at night." David ,now able to see, realized that the stranger was also american. Embarrassed he replied," Its my first day in Japan... I'm here for school...". As the stranger handed him back his possessions he exclaimed "Hey, I know you... your 'The Prodigy' guy, from Conan! You like sushi?". Even more embarrassed now, still in shock, and starving "Yeah.." he replied".. so you know me, what can I call you?" With a wiley smile the stranger replied," You should be calling me 'Daddy', but since thats gay, you can call me Cory"...

To Be Continued
   

The Mighty Thor!!!

If you haven't been able to tell from my Super Blog posts thus far I do have a passion for some fantasy and fiction, specifically of the comic book/super hero genre. The artwork and pathos of this specific medium has always appealed to me. To imagine that ordinary people could be capable of such amazing feats, and commit great acts of nobility to counter pure evil just never gets old for me. While reading a good comic I can truly just black out, drop reality temporarily, and buy into this completely fictional world and let my imagination run wild. 

That being said I would like to take this opportunity to talk about my favorite comic book character "The Mighty Thor". For those of you unfamiliar with Thor, don't worry the movie is coming soon, Hollywood will surely sell you a watered-down silver screen friendly version of the Asgardian Juggernaut later in 2011. Basically the extremely brief synopsis for current day Thor is that he is the son of Odin, the main man in asgard, and Gaea, the earth goddess. This essentially makes Thor half Asgardian god and half human. Thor was raised in Asgard with his adopted brother Loki, the god of mischief. When Odin deemed Thor a mighty enough warrior he endowed Thor with his primary weapon, the hammer, Mjolnir. Mjolnir is a hammer enchanted with magic and can only be picked up an wielded by those the hammer deems worthy. Oh yeah and its kind of worth mentioning that Thor is the God of Thunder allowing him to summon lightning  as an offensive weapon. He also has super strength, speed and endurance. Thor truly has on of the most overpowered skill sets in the marvel universe, and that is one of the things that draws me to the character. 

Reading a Thor comic you are almost guaranteed  only the most epic battles you can get from a comic on a consistent basis. Thor is the poster boy for being one of the purist "good guys" and rarely dives into the earthly politics. When Thor looks at situations he looks through the politics and looks at the issue and whether it is good or evil, and ultimately how it will effect his home, Asgard. That is how I feel I go through life. Everyone in our world has their own agendas. It can be difficult sometimes to look through those agendas and determine what is good, what is evil, and what will effect our homes. Although Thor's home is Asgard, and mine is just a little 1,100 square foot home in Sacramento, to me Thor's attitude and decision making is how I feel I relate to him the most. Just like Thor makes his number one priority to defend his home and family, I will do the same. 

"The Prodigy" pt.1 The Genesis

"It's a baby boy!", exclaimed the nurse as she handed the newly born infant to his exhausted lovestruck parents. As the baby lied screaming in his mothers arms, his father whispered "David Albert Andrews... my son... you are going to grow up to be very special... you are going accomplish anything you set your mind too...". Just 3 minutes into Davids existence he was delivered the biggest understatement he'd potentially ever have prophesied to him. What the boys father had yet to realize was that his son David would in fact truly grow up to be unique and throughout his life would be recognized worldwide as "the Prodigy".

In his early years David was extremely average. He was raised by both his mother and father in a middle-class neighborhood in the city of Sacramento, California. His father worked for the state as an engineer, and his mother a successful business woman. They dedicated themselves to providing him with the finest education possible, enrolling him in only the most widely recognized preschool in the state as well as the most prestigious elementary school academy. His performance in these schools was average until one day... David was 10 years old now, while the rest of the class was reading their history lesson David was studying the maps in the back of the book, daydreaming, thinking about what life would be like in different sates or countries or planets. "David, did you hear what I just said?" the teacher called out. "Um.. no.. sorry.. I..",the teacher cut him off, "I know you didn't  I have been looking at you staring at the maps for the past 15 minutes. We are studying Native American Culture now, not how to find Timbuktu!",the kids all laugh. Embarrassed, David responded meekly,"Timbuktu is located in Africa...", "Wow, very impressive Mr. Andrews and without looking at your map can you tell me which country within Africa Timbuktu is located?", David pondered briefly and could see the maps from his book vividly in his mind,"Mali... which is surrounded by Algeria, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea...", in mild shock the teacher responded,"Well Mr. Andrews, looks like you will be representing our class in the Geography Bee...".

David won the Geography Bee, then went on to dominate the Spelling Bee, and just about every other Bee in the district. He went on to win the Geography bee at the regional, national and eventually world level by age 12. News paper and television articles speculated that David was a "Geography Prodigy", others credited his success to a super natural photographic memory, and insisted he be banned from competition. Given the bizarre circumstances and  bureaucracy of the board, David was not allowed to participate on the Geography Bee circuit.. his family outraged, "the Geography Prodigy" discovered the game of chess. Much like before, he was a phenomenon becoming a grandmaster by age 15. The Chess league spread the word that the boy was a "Chess Prodigy". From age 16-20, through different sources of media he was referred to as a "Musical Prodigy", a "Mathematics Prodigy", and a "Literary Prodigy" until finally fed up with coming up with more titles they began recognizing him simply as "the Prodigy".

Going through so much success in such a short period of time weighed as difficult for David. He knew he was a freak of knowledge and learning, but he still had no idea why. He was on the circuit of late night tv shows, when it hit him.. at the rate he was going he would become nothing more than a circus sideshow. People on internet forums were calling him a phony, and a social train wreck. His awkwardness on camera made his television appearances go viral. More people were laughing at him rather than recognizing his many achievements. Feeling the need to escape, he resigned acceptance to Harvard and Cambridge and instead decided to study at Kyoto University in Japan. There he dropped off the grid of mainstream media. Now it was time to figure out what he really was....

To Be Continued...

Super Hero Dream: Across the Universe pt.1

The following is from a dream I had a few weeks ago, which I'm guessing was brought on by a long conversation I had one night with my friend and fellow true believer David Ng. 


*Note that I will try to tell the story as close to the actual dream as possible, but due to lack of clarity and lapses in consciousness I may take some creative liberties. 

The year is 2011, and the world is much like the one you and I live in today, with one distinct difference. Through a miracle of the universe special people inherited enhanced abilities, "powers" if you will. Some used their powers to make money, petty crime/sideshows, some used their powers to commit evil deeds, and thankfully some dedicated their abilities to the greater good. All in all there was a steady balance between good and evil.

May 31st 2010 there was  an unexpected celestial occurrence which launched a massive meteor directly at earth. The meteor was completely unexpected , and undetectable. The blast lit up the sky and shook the entire planet causing volcanoes to erupt, and massive tsunamis devastate many countries. In a complete paranoia inspired panic the worlds super powers launch all out war on their enemies.

In the many years that followed there was a complete breakdown of civilization. No laws or jurisdictions were in place,and what was left of the government had no power over the gangs and affiliations that inhabited the space. What nobody had sensed to realize was that when the meteor hit the earth those years ago what it actually had done was knock the earth out of the orbit of the sun. The global temperature was dropping at an increasing rate and the days grew longer as the earths rotation was slowing down.



... to be continued ...

The Beatles

 


My whole life from the womb to to Twenty-Two people have been telling me about this British pop-rock-psychedelic group "The Beatles". And recently I heard that Kanye West made a recent claim in regards to the legendary group and I quote:

"America has, and probably always will, dominate music across the globe but it's always been the British who pull out that very special band. We have had amazing bands like Nirvana and Guns N' Roses but it's the British who have had the cream with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones setting the standard. I love Coldplay, and I honestly think they are on the same level as The Beatles."  -Kanye West  
"In 30 years, when Coldplay are old men, people will look back and say, 'These guys were more talented than The Beatles.' I have worked with Chris Martin and the man is a genius - as a performer and a songwriter he is on the same level as John Lennon. I am not saying this sort of s**t lightly, it's really how talented the guy is. And Coldplay can go down as the best ever - even bigger than The Beatles."  -Kanye West

Now you may disagree with Mr. West or agree, but as far as I was concerned I had no experience in which to base my opinion, so I set out to look into this for myself, and make the call on whether Kanye has a legitimate argument or if these are just patent falsehoods.

Call me a late bloomer, or call me the anti-Christ but before today I never really took the Beatles seriously. I was always aware of the Beatles, but I always kind of passed them up as irrelevant, and the majority of people who listened to them as just followers to an idea that they should be listening to the Beatles, because they are "The Beatles". Now before you pass judgment I am music savvy, and most of my favorite musicians and albums are from the 1960's and 1970's. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here, Led Zeppelin - I,II,III,IV The Who- Tommy, Jimi Hendrix- Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, are among my favorites. But the Beatles have always escaped my musical grasp, until one faithful day I had a good "convo" with Matty Bee AKA ToastRobot (http://toastrobot.blogspot.com/).  Matt is I guess the first Beatlevangelist I have really had a chance to talk to. He kinda of filled me in on some ideas on how the Beatles influenced him personally in his music taste and how they influenced the American Culture in general, which lead me to ponder... but I'll get to that in a second.

Matty Bee vowed to get me the essentials collection of Beatles music, now mind you this is not the "Beatles 1"  essentials this is the raw Beatles, the true essentials for the more cultured Beatlemaniacs. After months and months of me hounding Toast Robot he finally delivered today on half of his promise, and I can safely say that so far it has been worth the wait. Scanning through the song list I recognized maybe 5-6 songs by name, however just putting the collection on shuffle it seems like each song is so unique, whether its an interesting time signature, with haunting harmonized vocals, or its a more upbeat simple love song, I'm finding the music overall enjoyable and intriguing. I'm not really expecting to fully understand the Beatles in one afternoon but today is the beginning of an adventure. I'm gonna keep listening and learning and will revisit the Kanye quotes regarding Coldplay. But for now I feel Fine.