At times I find myself vascillating between opening up more social media channels to be able to have at least some engagement on the pieces I write or the videos I make. In February this year I finally opened up a twitter account. The sole purpose of that was to be able to find useful and meaningful sources of information with regard to the ongoing war as I wasn't content with most of what I was receiving. This hasn't changed. I think Twitter's importance far outweighs its ills and its usefulness as a tool(and at times a weapon)is what has made it relevant, especially for those who just seek informaton, not the constant tassling with roving gangs of twitterati.

However, every single idea that I consider to be of importance to me, and by extension to others, has been birthed or at least nurtured to maturity on locals. This is from ideas I have for videos or the written essays that I enjoy putting out. Often, thoughts percolating in my mind are bred in captivity on locals before being set free to roam the wilds of the interwebs. More than just being a farm for thoughts, locals has also proven to be a field of bountiful yield. While many have chosen to use locals to debate and engage around ideology and politics, as was intended by locals' creators, it also serves as a useful avenue for distributing hope and ideas. A place for sharing likes and dislikes, music playlists and movie suggestions.

While I do feel like a frontiersman who's wandered off just to the edge of the settlement on his lonesome, the call of the wild beckons and my heart yearns to establish something that will outlast me. A locals page that serves not only as my mind palace but an oasis that offers much needed respite to weary internauters. Happy hour all day as I bar tend to the needs of others through my hopefully unique offerings. A place we can all call our own and welcome each other not only as natives but as locals.

There seems to be an eargeness amongst some in the populace to find an object to be subjected to their ire. A singular evil in which the warlocks of the interwebs can gather covens of similarly minded witches and vent out their frustrations on. Pinning all the worlds ills on their chosen voodoo doll. For the past 8 years or so their chosen voodoo doll has been one Donald J. Trump. Presently, this dishonour seems to be split between the president-elect and entrepreneur Elon Musk. While public figures should not be free from criticism, a lot of the criticism lobbed at these men reeks of infantility.

The slightest perceived infraction will feed online streams with rivers of commentary that ultimately denounce either of these men as one form of evil or another. The latest of these internet witch trials, convenved by the internet's Wizengamot is over Mr. Musk's gaming abilities. Some seem to believe that Mr. Musk is not as good as he claims to be or he has hired someone to game for him and keep him atop gaming leaderboards in Diablo IV and Path Of Exile. This purported great evil act has been used as a springboard for many to dive into an ocean of bile made up of their own vomit. Self-made internet psychiatrists have surmised that this purported fakery by Musk portends a great evil. To them it is proof positive of his machinations to "interfere" with foreign governments.

Allowing ourselves, for the briefest of moments, to partake in this banquet of hatred, does this trivial nonsense outweigh the complete and total exposure of British Elite in the rape gang scandal? Perhaps not being good at Path of Exile is of greater import than the courage to stand up to the tyranny of censorship? I would have thought these people pariahs but it turns out we are the exiles. Cast out from their ocean of self loathing onto the shores of sanity.

Image credits here.

I finally watched Batman V Superman(Ultimate edition). I think Snyder's greatest obstacle is that he misinterpreted the character. Perhaps he had wanted to subvert the audience's expectations with his rendition. Unfortunately, I don't think the material quite lands. A lot more questions are raised than Mr. Snyder cares to answer and this leaves one with the sense that the questions were either unintentional or inserted for the sake of creating an air mystery where none was needed.

Why is Wayne Manor abandoned? It is key to the mythos of the Batman character in nearly all interpretations of the character. Almost a character in itself. While Mr. Wayne and Alfred have always been criminals this has always been in reference to the law(breaking and entering, vigilantism, etc). Here it seems Bruce embraces criminality as a philosophy. Why is Batman afraid of Superman? In the source material he is afraid of Superman's power. He is not afraid of being killed by him. Bruce has always embraced his own mortality. His greatest fear is that he will fail Gotham and thus also fail his parents. When did Batman embrace live rounds in Mr. Snyder's rendition? In the source material when forced to use ammunition he uses rubber bullets. While being on the edge of becoming a murderer, Batman did not kill the Joker, Joker snapped his own neck to prove a point.

Additionally, I think Amy Adams' Lois Lane and Jessy Eisenberg's Lex Luthor were horribly miscast. Miss Adams' performance attempts to give gravitas to a role that doesn't have much. Eisenberg on the other hand is simply not Lex Luthor. The words coming out of his mouth are right but his mannerism and characterisation imply he is an imposter who has only read footnotes about Mr. Luthor. He lacks the flare, charisma and drive that the Luthor of old has.

While Mr. Snyder has injected some of his signature camera work into the final product, a lot of it seems devoid of meaning. Cool shots that portend to a deeper symbolism but lack the substance to support the portrait being painted. Preceding shots don't seem to lend themselves to any deeper visual story telling that would help decipher the symbolism of the cooler follow up shots thus they end up being all style and no substance. 

Image credits here.