Cloves and Fedoras: Ty thinks "A Deadly Adoption" was deadly boring.

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture (or older pieces).  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known. 

I finally got around to watching the Lifetime movie "A Deadly Adoption" the other night.

You know the movie I am talking about, the made for Lifetime movie starring Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig. I had huge expectations for this. I thought it was going to be a work of comedic over acting and terribly written dialogue delivered from two pretty great actors.

Well, the dialogue was pretty terribly written and performed as such, but the jokes and Wiig and Ferrell being in on the absurdity of this was missing. This was a pretty straight forward, completely ridiculous Lifetime presentation. It was just like every other movie on that channel. It was melodramatic lunacy and Ferrell and Wiig were acting as if they weren't humongous stars. They acted as if this was a real job for them, like they really needed the work. There was little to no lunacy from the two of them and that was highly upsetting to me. The only humor I really got out of "A Deadly Adoption" was how seriously they tackled the issue of child diabetes. Wiig and Ferrell's daughter in the movie has diabetes and there were many mentions about not keeping real sugar in the house and how she desperately needed her insulin when she was held captive. The movie was insane from start to finish. It opened with a pregnant Wiig hanging out on a dock by a boat and she slips off the dock, can't swim and Ferrell rescues her, but they lose the baby. Fast forward five years and Ferrell is a very over protective father of their one child. He's also a very successful financial author. They take in a young pregnant girl because they want to adopt her baby so their daughter can have a brother. But, a little to on the nose, there's something a little off about this girl. She's clearly hitting on Ferrell's character and wants Wiig's character out of the picture. She also has a bad news boyfriend who is about as white trash as they come. It's eventually found out that the young lady isn't pregnant at all. I know, real shocker right? She and her boyfriend just want ransom money from Wiig and Ferrell since they've decided to kidnap their daughter. At least that's what the boyfriend wants. Turns out that after they lost their child in the accident five years ago, Ferrell's character hit the bottle pretty hard and met a groupie of his on the road and slept with her. You know that common story of a famous author having groupies and a crippling alcohol addiction. Ridiculous. Well that groupie turned out to be, wait for it, the young "pregnant" lady they let stay in their home. Needless to say, she just wants to be with Ferrell and his daughter and have a "normal" family. She tries to kill Wiig by knocking her unconscious and putting her in her car and turning the engine on and closing the garage door. Ferrell comes home after a night of searching for his daughter only to be met by the crazy girl(I can't remember any of the names of the characters because this movie was so stupid) and she shoots him twice in the arm, albeit by accident because she says she doesn't want to hurt him. She flees and Ferrell finds Wiig in the garage. He removes her from the car and gets her breathing again and he's back on the road to search for his daughter. Now, we see the crazy girl and the daughter speeding away in a pick up truck, all the while the little girl complaining that her stomach hurts and she needs her insulin. I say again, ridiculous. Ferrell finds them, confronts the crazy girl, pretends to let his daughter go with her, only to have them both jump in an idling boat under the bridge and before the crazy girl can get a shot off, Wiig plugs her in the back with a bullet. Another flash forward, this time only six months, and all is well. Ferrell has even calmed down on the over bearing parenting and the family breaks out into a dance. Then, end credits.

All I could think of was, WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?! This made me feel like I was going crazy. It was so bizarre. I guess I expected something different, akin to James Franco's role on the soap opera he was on. I didn't expect Ferrell and Wiig to take it so seriously. Maybe it's just me, but I was looking for something way different and therein lies the problem. Don't expect anything good or promising from any programming Lifetime TV puts out there. You will be highly disappointed.

This was a real drag.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing. He is an author but does not have groupies (yet). Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

Cloves and Fedoras: Ty gives praise to Leon Bridges, the new voice of soul.

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture (or older pieces).  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known. 

This is a follow up an earlier blog post about Leon Bridges.  You can find it here.

The sound of Sixties soul music is back today.

The sound comes in the form of a young man that was born thirty years after Stax Records and guys like Otis Redding and Rufus Thomas were making their strides in the soul music world. He's a twenty five year old music genius named Leon Bridges. His first album "Coming Home" was released today and it is so perfectly a throwback to the golden age of soul/R&B. This record is phenomenal. I didn't think I'd hear an album the rest of 2015 that I liked as much as Alabama Shakes "Sound and Color", but I've already listened to "Coming Home" two and a half times and I've got to say, it's now my album to beat for the year. Leon Bridges vocals are so damn smooth. I like to call this type of music "baby making music". He sounds like a much better version of Raphael Saadiq, and I love me some Raphael Saadiq. His guitar playing and his band are really tight. I seems like they've been perfecting this sound for sometime now, and they hit a grand slam. This may sound like it's from the Sixties because Leon Bridges asked to record on vintage equipment. He was taking a huge chance doing this because, in my opinion, you have to be one hundred percent committed to the equipment being used and you can't succumb to the technology today. That's got to be pretty difficult. But they did a wonderfully masterful job. It sounds like a recording from Stax in it's heyday. I've mentioned Leon Bridges on this site before, stating that I thought he would be the next great soul star, and today has not changed my mind at all. In fact, I feel even stronger about this prediction after listening to his record. He is going to be HUGE. There's ten songs on the album, with the longest being about four and a half minutes. This is great because that's how songs were back in the day. Singers back then only needed two to three minutes per track and they packed each song with as much soul as possible. Leon Bridges is no exception. He effortlessly flows from upbeat, drums and guitar heavy songs to slower songs with horns being his main background music. For example, for the more up beat songs, check out "Smooth Sailin" or "Twistin and Groovin". Both these songs are powered by Bridges vocals and his excellent guitar work. His drummer is superb with the groove of these songs too. With songs like "Shine" he lets the keyboardist take front stage and, accompanied by his vocals, they sing a sweet, slow soul song. My favorite song on the record is a slow song, which is very unlike me. But, "River" is a beautiful closer to this excellent album. It starts out with strumming from an acoustic guitar and soft vocals. It builds until the last minute of the song and it's just Leon Bridges and an all female chorus singing "take me to your river, I want to go". It's beautiful. I literally got goose bumps while listening. I hope his tour brings him to Saint Louis. I'd love to see him perform live. "Coming Home" by Leon Bridges is fantastic.

Go out and get this album as soon as possible.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing. He has made two babies, we do not know what kind of music was on. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

A day in podcasting history. Ty talks about the President on WTF with Marc Maron.

This is a follow up to Ty's piece on WTF with Marc Maron.

Today was the WTF with President Obama and it did not disappoint.

During the historic episode politics were talked about, but that was not the majority of the interview. I'd say about 30 minutes focused on Barack Obama as a person, not just the President. Those thirty minutes will be what I focus on.

 President Obama openly talked about growing up with a single mother, candidly talking about writing a book about his father, commenting on the art and, as President Obama put it, the "knick knacks" on Marc Maron's walls and even talking about which comedians he enjoys. I was impressed with the President's knowledge of stand up comedy. He mentioned that he likes Richard Pryor, Dick Gregory and "newer" comics like Louis CK and Jerry Seinfeld. Marc Maron made a point to say that President Obama saying he likes Louis CK will make his life complete, CK's life that is. To hear President Obama so openly talk about his father being an abuser and womanizer and drunk was very humanizing. I think we see someone achieve the level of president and we think they most likely grew up with a "Leave it to Beaver" type home. This is not the case with President Obama. His dad was not there while he was growing up and becoming the person that he is today. To hear him be so candid was refreshing. Here's a person who had a shitty father and look at him now, he's on his second term as President. This goes to show you that, if you work hard enough, you can achieve a whole lot. He sang his mother's praises throughout the interview as well. He's very grateful and loves his mom a lot.

One of the big things that has stuck with me after listening to the interview was how relaxed and calm and almost carefree President Obama sounded. I have to believe that if I was the President, I'd be terrified every second of everyday and I feel like that would show. Not with Obama, he doesn't sound like every other politician I've ever heard or listened to, he doesn't sound like he's trying to sell me on his brand or fill my head with empty promises. He just sounds like a regular guy. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SOUNDED RELAXED! HOW CRAZY IS THAT! He was so at ease, he was giving Marc Maron advice on how to get over anger and other stuff.

I was immensely impressed with the President's interview today. This made me even more happy that I voted for him and that I support him still. Like I said in my lead up, he knows what the younger generation is in to, and by going on a very popular podcast made himself even cooler. I also want to say thank you to Marc Maron for doing this. This was just as big a deal to his listeners as it was to him. It may not seem like that to him now, but the fact that he got the leader of the free world to be open, honest and talked to him like he would interview anybody else is huge for his listeners. This was a great day for President Obama, Marc Maron and listeners of WTF.

A great day.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing. He is preparing his big debut on the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

The Problem is Gun Culture

(Ed. note: Seed Sing is a community of voices. The author is expressing his opinion and invites any questions and criticisms. Write for Seed Sing.)

It saddens me to think about the number of times President Obama has had to address the nation after a mass shooting or a race related death. We have nine people dead because in the killers eyes they were a problem. This killer was a racist, a terrorist, and a monster. His motivation was hatred, his tool was a handgun. The same motivation and tool can be attributed to the majority of mass killings in the United States. A large part of my sadness stems from the actual violence and loss of life, but there is another part to my sadness related to modern American gun culture. 

I spent a few years working as an advocate to stem gun violence, or in other words I was a lobbyist working against the NRA. I was somewhat unique in the gun violence prevention movement, I did not have a gun violence victim profile and I was not very interested in banning guns. The primary reason I worked on the issue was the allure of the challenge. I am very socially liberal, but libertarian in my view of personal responsibility. The gun issue stood on the intersection of personal responsibility and social consequence.  I approached the guns as a public relations problem. People either were yes or no on guns. I wanted to make people on the no side become yes on something reasonable. It is always better to argue an issue from the yes perspective. The particular issue I was brought in to manipulate was carrying a concealed weapon (CCW). I would use polls, business testimonies, and advertising to convince the legislators that CCW is not wanted. Never was there a mention of guns, death, or violence. There was some success, and some failure, but the narrative of gun violence prevention was changing.

So I thought. My career did not last long in the gun violence prevention movement. Many of the primary players have been there for years, and the majority were victims of gun violence. More states were passing laws that loosened restrictions on gun ownership. The old guard went back to their old methods. New gun violence prevention groups would rise up after the latest shooting and come up with "new" ideas on curbing the violence. The debate resorted back to yes and no. The media would treat any gun violence news as a debate between an old white guy from the NRA (or the US Congress) and some non-media savvy victim of gun violence. The idea of working to stop gun violence was the most pure Sisyphean task one could image.

My ambivalence to guns changed on December 12th, 2012. The deaths of twenty children and six school staff members at the hands of a person wielding legal weapons caused me to take a side in the gun debate. I started to firmly believe something needed to be done by our government to regulate and ban most firearms. With my professional experience I set out to have a discussion with people on the dangers of firearms.  What I received in return was mostly anger from the pro gun people. The debate quickly turned into why these 26 (28 including the killer and his mother) died and evolved into a discussion about not limiting guns. 

On Wednesday nine people, who were in church, were killed in Charleston South Carolina by a monster with a gun.  It is now Friday and I have heard little about the victims and more about why guns need less regulation. I am confused and pissed off about the society I live in.

The pro gunner's arguments have not changed in the ten years since I left the gun violence prevention movement. Here are some examples of their arguments followed by my hypothetical responses. 

GUNNERS: Guns don't kill people, people do.

ME: The famous comedian Eddie Izzard famously said "Well I think the gun helps". 

GUNNERS: If someone in the church had a gun, this would not have been as bad.

ME: How many times have you heard about a "good" CCW license holder stopping any mass shooting, zero? 

GUNNERS: You are using this tragedy to push your liberal agenda.

ME: I am sorry, tell me once again when we had any kind of reasonable gun control legislation in the last twenty years.  Also when should we talk about gun violence? When everyone has been killed?

GUNNERS: FREEDOM!!!!!!

ME: ???????

There is no way to have a rational discussion with people who use innocent deaths to protect their beliefs. I will admit that guns may not be the problem, gun culture is the problem. Why do we give the gunners a rational position in our society. What is a gun used for. I will give the gunners credit for the hunting argument. Their are a lot of hunters who use rifles.  What about assault rifles and handguns? Those weapons are not used by serious hunters. What in the world are people using assault rifles and handguns for? The answer I normally get is that those guns are for sport shooting and protection. First, you do not need to have those weapons in your home if they are used for sport shooting. Second, what do you need protecting from. Statistics are numbers and have no political motivation.  The incident of accidental death and suicide is a lot larger than the number of people who have successfully used these weapons for protection. We have trained police who can protect you from the "bad guys". I lived in the urban core for most of my twenties and thirties. I know of more people in the suburbs with handguns and assault rifles than I ever knew in the city. 

The best way to approach the problem of gun violence is to marginalize the gun culture. People who make guns a religion need to be treated as non-rational beings. I love Star Wars, yet I do not demean people who do not like it (I privately judge them).  You can love guns, but you do not need to be obnoxious about it. Many people love expensive sports cars, even if they cannot afford them.  One does not need to own a gun to enjoy them. Do you really love guns. Go to a regulated shooting range, play a first person shooter. You do not need to have the extra ability to kill someone with your hobby.

Once the gun culture is marginalized in society, spineless politicians will stop bending over backward for the NRA. Gun manufacturers depend on the NRA to continue a campaign of misdirection, lying, and fear mongering. The fact that the media does not marginalize the NRA makes our congress even more ineffectual. The gun violence prevention movement is way too emotional and fractured in their beliefs to be an effective counterbalance to the NRA. Bringing the gun violence prevention movement together as one voice is a non-starter. Pushing the same boulder up the same hill is going to give you the same results.

The best way to honor the people killed by guns is to do whatever possible to not add new gun violence victims. Forget about the guns and focus on the culture. Once everyone truly sees that the narrative states we honor the dead by demanding more guns, people will wake up and see the insanity. We will demand real discussion, from rational people. Change will start to happen.

Be kind to each other.

RD Kulik 

RD Kulik is the founder and Head Editor for Seed Sing

Cloves and Fedoras: Ty gives praise to Marc Maron, King of the Podcasts

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture (or older pieces).  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known. 

When it comes to podcasting, one of the pioneers has to be Marc Maron.

He was one of the first people out there to start a podcast. His show, WTF With Marc Maron (you can find it here), was there in the beginning and continues to run strong, with two episodes every week. One on Mondays and one on Thursdays. The episodes will be there every week, it's like death and taxes, WTF will be there for you to listen to two times a week. IFC even gave him a TV show which is loosely based on his life as a comedian and podcaster. That's how popular his show is. Marc Maron has had pretty much every important person in comedy, from people like Eddie Peppitone, to heavy hitters like Louis CK. In fact, his episode with Louis CK was voted best podcast episode ever in a publication last year. WTF With Marc Maron has featured character actors like Kevin Corrigan on and he's had huge stars like Will Ferrell. He's had legends like Dick Van Dyke and Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner on. He's also had former big time stars such as Pauly Shore on his show. Some episodes went away from comedy and highlighted musicians. Marc Maron has interviewed smaller guys like Mark Oliver Everett(E from the Eels) to big time rock legends like David Byrne. He's brought on countless other people, he's done over six hundred episodes of WTF.  

This coming Monday, June 22nd, he's got the biggest, most important interview that any podcaster will ever have on their show. This Monday, he will be interviewing The President of the United States, Barack Obama. I cannot tell you how excited I am to listen to this episode. First of all, I voted for and support President Obama. I'm so happy that he's a smart, cool and hip enough President to realize how big a deal podcasts are to a younger generation. I'm also pumped that he's letting Marc Maron interview him. This is huge. People may forget that Maron was a part of the Air America family when they had a radio broadcast. So, he's no slouch when it comes to talking politics, but after at least three plus years of listening to WTF, I'm pretty sure politics will only be 10 to 15 minutes of the hour long interview. I'm hoping he asks President Obama stuff like, if he enjoys stand up comedy, or what it was like being a young kid growing up in the Midwest. Basically, I'm hoping, as hard as it's going to be, that Marc Maron treats this episode like every other WTF. President Obama is the most powerful man in the United States, but he's also a person with a story to tell, just like we all are people with different stories to tell. This is a huge deal for the millennials since the majority of us listen to podcasts everyday. To have someone as important and powerful as President Obama appear on a podcast is a huge deal. I cannot express that enough. IT"S HUGE. Please, if you're a conservative, a liberal, an independent, or whatever else there is out there, listen to WTF on Monday and I think you will see that we are all just people with stories, even if you happen to be the President. 

Thank you Marc Maron for doing this interview, you are a pioneer and you just keep getting better and better. You're the man.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He is getting ready to co-host his own podcast The X Millennial Man. Follow him on twitter @tykulik

The NBA Finals are over, but what did it all mean?

Now that the NBA Finals are over and the Golden State Warriors are champs, let's look back at the series and how my prediction turned out.

Initially I picked the Warriors to win in five games, stating that the Cavs have Lebron James, so he will get them at least one game, but Golden State was so much more well rounded. After game one, when Kyrie Irving went down, I was certain, a little too certain, that the Warriors would sweep. I didn't see the Cavs being able to overcome two huge injuries to their team and the remaining players left were going to cripple them, no matter how well James played. Games two and three proved me wrong. The guy I crushed, Matthew Dellavedova, played excellent defense on Steph Curry, and he was coming up with improbable basket after improbable basket. Tristan Thompson and Timofy Mozgov were killing them on the boards and their defense was suffocating. Things were looking great for the Cavs after game three, leading the series 2-1.

Then game four happened.

The Warriors backs were against the wall and it was a must win. With this much at stake, Steve Kerr made a big change in his starting lineup which ended up being very crucial for the Warriors, he inserted Andre Iguodala into the lineup over Andrew Bogut. Iguodala was the only player who seemed to annoy Lebron on defense, forcing him into contested jumpers. That's how you beat a team led by Lebron James, you turn him into a jump shooter. As great as Lebron is, he's, at best, an average jump shooter. This isn't meant to take anything away from Lebron. He was dominate in this series, seeming un-guardable at times. He led both teams in points per game, rebounds and assists per game. That's never happened in the finals before. With the Finals being all said and done, Lebron deserved the MVP of the series, even in a losing effort. He was the best player on the court by far. Kudos to Lebron James. But, let's get back to game four. The Warriors, using this smaller lineup, ran up and down the court on a very tired, poor shooting Cavs team. This was how I expected the Warriors to play the whole series. They crushed Cleveland in Cleveland. They won the game by twenty one points and it wasn't even that close. Three days later, back at Oracle in Oakland, game five was played and Steph Curry decided it was time to go off. This was a very competitive game for three and a half quarters, with what seemed like a hundred lead changes. Then Steph started to do Steph Curry type things. I'm sure he was tired of hearing that Dellavedova, who on his best day is a good tenth or eleventh guy off the bench in the NBA, was shutting him down. His wizardry as a ball handler and supreme scorer was on full display for the last twelve minutes of game five. He would dribble himself open and he seemed to bury almost every three he took, defended or guarded, it didn't matter. This was the Steph Curry I expected all series long. He schooled Dellavedova and I've got to say, I enjoyed watching him abuse Dellavedova's pride and ankles. He was on skates. Needless to say, the Warriors pulled away late and won game five by double digits, despite Lebron's forty plus points and triple double. Then last night was game six, the potential close out game. The Cavs and the self proclaimed "best player in the world" Lebron James came out with a purpose. They tried, and succeeded for about a quarter, to turn this into a slow, low scoring game. But, the Warriors and specially Andre Igoudala and Draymond Green would not be denied. Igoudala scored a season high 23 points and Green recorded a triple double. Two role players coming up huge once again for the Warriors. That's what Lebron lacked in the series. His "role" players did next to nothing for him, and when he needed them the most, they didn't show up. Dellavedova was afraid to shoot the ball and kept throwing his terrible lob passes. Iman Shumpert is way more injured than he's letting on and JR Smith checked out of this series a long time ago. The only guys he could count on were Thompson and Mozgov, and that's not going to win you rings. Curry on the other hand, got help from everyone on the team except for, shockingly, Klay Thompson. He had no impact on this series whatsoever. Andre Igoudala was so impressive in this series he ended up winning MVP, deservedly so if they weren't going to give it to Lebron. He's the first player to win MVP of the finals that didn't start every game. Lebron played out of his mind and proved that he's the best player in basketball at the current moment, but you need a whole team of, at the very least, half way decent players and the Warriors have that. So, I was only off by one game from my initial preview. I also hope that Steph continues to bring his daughter to press conferences so assholes like Skip Bayless and Brian Windhorst have to deal with it. Those two are smug, arrogant buttheads that deserve to be "annoyed" by someone's child being at their so called "job". Almost nothing else would make me jump for joy like having to watch those two be put in uncomfortable situations for them. They're the worst. But I digress.

Congrats Golden State, you earned and deserve this title.

(Ed note: This is why Ty picks the sports, once again I was wrong with my Cavs in 6 pick)

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing. There is not enough internet to say how much Skip Bayless annoys him. Follow him on twitter @tykulik

Cloves and Fedoras: Who is joining Ty for a Lifetime movie viewing?

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture (or older pieces).  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known. 

This Saturday on the Lifetime Television Network everyone needs to tune in to watch "A Deadly Adoption."

This is the rumored movie starring Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell on the Lifetime Channel! It's really happening! I saw the trailer for it this morning and was shocked at how serious it looked. This is a legit Lifetime type movie according to the preview.

Will Ferrell and Kristin Wiig play a successful married couple with what looks to be one daughter. Next, we see Wiig talking to Ferrell saying, "the agency may have found us a single mother." I guess they can't have anymore kids, we will have to tune in to find out, but want a brother or sister for their daughter. Then Ferrell begins to treat this young, attractive pregnant girl with extreme politeness. He seems almost too kind, almost as if he has a thing for her. Smash cut to Wiig yelling at him saying that he is ruining the good thing that they have, and he brought this into their house. The next thing they show in the trailer is the pregnant girl ripping Wiig's character out of a picture so it only shows Ferrell's characters face. This I assume implies that she wants Wiig out of the picture. Then the final thing we see is a car barreling down on Ferrell, who's wearing a blood stained shirt and hooded sweatshirt while the pregnant lady watches from a distance. Fade to black and then the awesome title, "A Deadly Adoption" appears on screen, with the word deadly a bright color of red.

The craziest thing, amongst many crazy things about this, it looks like the actors are taking this very seriously. This doesn't look like a "Sharknado" type movie, where everyone is in on the joke. I think the only ones who are in on the joke are Wiig and Ferrell. These are two huge stars that have been the leads in big time productions. I commend the two of them for doing what looks to be a type of soap opera Lifetime movie. I wonder if they're looking at this like James Franco looked at his role on General Hospital. He is also a big star, who took a small, but weird and very memorable role as a criminal that's into art on the soap. He was incredible because he seemed to take it seriously, but was for sure in on the joke. I can only hope that Wiig and Ferrell take the same approach to their roles in this movie. If the trailer is true, that's exactly what the two of them are doing. I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I'm very excited to watch a movie on the Lifetime Network. I hope this is everything I'm expecting and wishing for, because, if this movie is half as good as the trailer, it's going to be EPIC.

Join me and tune in this Saturday, June 20th to Lifetime and watch the craziness that will be "A Deadly Adoption."

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing.  He was not even born when The Burning Bed came out. Follow him on twitter @tykulik

Cloves and Fedoras: Like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ty tells you the definitive movie to watch (hint it is not the new one)

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture (or older pieces).  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known. 

As a kid, I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I mean I was obsessed. I had all the action figures and the toys attached with the action figures. Hell, I even had a Ninja Turtle back pack at some point during elementary school. You all know who I'm talking about when I talk about the Turtles. Leonardo, my favorite and the responsible one of the group, Michaelangelo, the prankster of the group, Donatello, the smart, engineer and inventor of the group and Raphael, the strong, bad boy loner of the group (ed note: What about my favorite - Splinter the Yoda like rat). As I got older, I, as most adults do, lost interest in "kid" things and my passions turned to sports and girls. It's kind of sad when I think about it now.  

The other day I was shopping for stuff at Target and I saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. The one from the 1990(pre-Vanilla Ice). I continued to shop, but going through the aisles all I could think about was buying the DVD. The inner child in me was beginning to come out and my passion for the Turtles was returning! The movie was only five dollars to boot. It definitely helps that I'm a father to a three year old boy that is now equally, if not more, obsessed with the Ninja Turtles. He and I were equally excited when I grabbed the DVD, showed it to my wife and proclaimed, "WE ARE BUYING THIS!" She was very happy as well. She is also a fan of the Ninja Turtles, I guess I married the right woman. So, first goal is achieved, myself, my wife and my son are all on board, excited and we purchase the movie. Next my wife and I decide we will watch it that night to see if it's appropriate for our son to watch. But, I was secretly concerned that it may not hold up and not only will it not be good for my child to watch, but adult me may not like it as much as kid me. This was a very big concern.

I'm here to tell you, if you were a fan as a kid and are now in your thirties, this movie 100 percent holds up. It's so damn good. I was as intrigued now as I was when I was a little kid. What made it even better, I actually understood the jokes and references the directors put in the movie for the adults. I also was able to spot a young Sam Rockwell playing a thug that sells cigarettes. I was pleased watching the movie remembering how dark it was. In the comics, the Ninja Turtles are put in many adult situations and they handle those in adult ways. The movie is pretty kid friendly, but some of the fight scenes are pretty brutal, with the Turtles and the Foot Clan taking some big time beatings. There is a whole scene where Raph gets his butt kicked by the Foot Clan and he takes a good beating. So bad in fact that Leonardo is relieved when Raph wakes up. Implying that Leo was worried that his friend may not wake up. That's dark for a kids movie. Casey Jones was pretty bad ass as well. He still had his patented goalie stick and Jason face mask and the writers of the movie decided to give him a baseball bat as well. He is also a super impressive fighter too. The fight scene when Raph runs into him in the park is really cool. The fact they made it look that real in a movie made in 1990 is pretty fantastic. April O'Neil was pretty cool in the movie too. She was an independent, funny journalist, who no matter what the circumstance, be it her house getting destroyed during a fight between the Foot Clan and Turtles, or her losing her job, she always stayed on the Turtles side and was happy and eager to help them. Splinter was classic Splinter. He treats the Turtles as if they're his children, which if you think about it they really are, and he just wants them to be safe. Shredder is pretty terrifying as well. He's very ominous and even captures and tortures Splinter early on in the movie. See what I'm saying when I say it's dark. This was everything I remember it being, but means so much more to me now. I still haven't shown it to my son yet being that it is pretty dark, but in a year or two I will show it to him. This was more for my wife and I. We were both very into it, so into it we didn't even play on our phones or chit chat during it, we just watched it.

Don't watch the new, terrible Michael Bay produced TMNT, watch the original from the nineties. You will not be disappointed.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He is one man with one love for early nineties superhero films and needs people to help him cover pop culture. Write for Seed Sing.

Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik

How do you solve a problem like Ohio Part 2: Local Messaging

(feel free to sing along)

Ohio always turns out for the president

But all other elections she is absent

Ohio attracts all the talent

Except in non summer Olympic years

I hate that I have to say it

But I feel very strongly

Ohio may not be an asset to her citizens

How do you solve a problem like Ohio.

Local candidates are rarely experienced, nuanced, political animals.  Many times these candidates are recruited by local parties because they have strong opinions and can articulate these ideas well. The local bosses rely upon state and national support in order to maintain their positions in the local party offices.  It is in the interest of the local political bosses that their candidates toe the national party line  These national ideas do not always serve the best interest of the local voters.  This causes a lack of voter enthusiasm and usually leads to low voter engagement.

The local candidate should create a local message.  National politics is a glamour contest.  The Republican Party has not fared well the last two presidential elections because they could not capture the votes needed in a contest for millions of votes.  The Republicans use divisive and outdated rhetoric, and as a consequence they are not growing their voter base (see here for a deeper explanation). When it comes to local politics, the republicans tend to not be overshadowed by their national figures.  The current divisions in the national Republican Party can be directly linked to the rise of strong, ideological, local movements. The religious right, tea party, and libertarians all began as smaller local movements.  These groups maintain their strength at the local level, and they can rarely find national success.  The lack of success with a bigger voter pool has caused these local movements to radicalize their beliefs and create division within their own national party.  These groups were co-opted by the national party when there was electoral success down on the regional level. Theses groups also can use local electoral advantage (gerrymandered districts, lower voter turnout) that is not possible in a large national election. They cannot create a message that works for a large, diverse, pool of voters.

The Democratic Party needs to take a page from the republican regional success.  The democrats need to create messages that directly speak to the voters they need.  Some of the national party issues should be ignored, and in some cases should be rejected.  Not that long ago there were pro-life democrats.  Those democrats won local elections. Once a locally elected official wants to move on and campaign for higher office, their message should evolve for the voters that are needed for victory. Many would call this flip-flopping. The only people who care about flip-flopping are the media and the opposition. The regular voter does not care.  By evolving the message, there is a greater chance to add voters.  The ability to add voters is more important than any other aspect of a political campaign.

In order for Ohioans to see a more representative state and local government, the parties need to learn and adapt to the voters in these smaller elections. That has not happened because of the national drain that occurs on the homegrown politically talent. When politically minded Ohioans learn to work for themselves, we will see the Ohio problem begin to disappear.

RD Kulik

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for Seed Sing. He wants to solve the media problem by having you write for Seed Sing.

Why do you demand misery from someone who is trying to not be miserable?

This site published an article recently questioning ESPN's decision to award their Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Caitlyn Jenner (ESPN does not care about courage).  The editorial staff and the writer made it clear that we do not question the courage of Caitlyn Jenner, we question the integrity of ESPN.  What Jenner has done in normalizing the conversation surrounding the transgender community is miraculous. Most of the pop culture and political community have been supportive in Jenner's announcement. The ugly vitriol has come from the obvious non-surprising sources, I will not link to these comments here.  What is truly amazing is that within the hateful community, some Republican politicians have been supportive of Caitlyn Jenner. Maybe the Republicans are realizing that they need to create more votes? 

This week the story of Rachel Dolezal became public (see here for an explanation). The media predictably began to destroy Ms. Dolezal.  People were rending garments and wondering how could this privileged woman do something so horrible. There has been no room for debate, Rachel Dolezal is a racist and she must be brought down. The lazy media moved this story to the top of everyone's news feed. The internet hate machine was put into action, everyone had a negative opinion of the disaster that is named Rachel Dolezal.

What exactly did Rachel Dolezal do that was wrong? She may have lied on a federal form about race. That is a crime. When Caitlyn Jenner files her taxes (or more likely when she sets up her tax shelters) will she commit a crime if she checks the female box on the forms? Will people be up in arms if she is not allowed checks the female box?  Rachel Dolezal has spent her adult life being an advocate for African-american art and issues. By all accounts she was very good at her job. Being a successful advocate means one needs to remove themselves from the conversation. Ms. Dolezal has built a career being the voice behind the faces. Her work afforded the opportunity to serve on a committee where she could enhance the advocacy for African-american issues.

The relation between Caitlyn Jenner and Rachel Dolezal is minor, except in how the media wants to cover personal identification.  The Huffington Post, once a valuable resource for liberal voices, has quickly become the poster child of clickbait (need to see the latest in celebrity side-boob, the good liberals at HuffPo have you covered). Huffington Post reliably had to weigh in with the pitchfork crowd, and they want to find every way to tear Rachel Dolezal down. The debate in the minds of HuffPo's professional liberals is one of Caitlyn Jenner's courage and Rachel Dolezal's institutional racism. I had never thought of comparing Jenner's and Dolezal"s issues, but thanks to HuffPo I will now look at the issues side by side. Caitlyn Jenner has been part of the zeitgeist for a very long time.  She was able to create relationships, and sympathy, in the liberal popular culture because of Bruce Jenner's treatment by the Kardashian machine.  Transgender issues have made positive strides in our popular culture, and thankfully we are becoming more accepting of people based on their personal identifications. Rachel Dolezal's race identification is an unknown issue in today's society.  New is never good for social liberals or conservatives.

We have thankfully started to accept people's personal identification, except for race. This is the ugly truth of the Rachel Dolezal story. Caitlyn Jenner can be born a man, identify as a woman, and we SHOULD accept it. There is outdated people who will direct hate towards the transgender community, but the good people will control the public acceptance. These same good liberals will not give the same courtesy to Rachel Dolezal.  What is the deal? I have seen some people accuse Ms. Dolezal of engaging in the disgusting practice of blackface. Many high profile white people have recently used blackface in some manner (Robert Downey Jr, Julianne Hough, Sarah Silverman, Billy Crystal, to name just a few). Some of these celebrities were questioned, others were given a pass, but in all cases it was wrong. Rachel Dolezal is not a large public figure, she is not playing a part, she is trying to be the person she is. I can not believe she is trying to cause a stir by being an African-american women. Why has she not sought fame for nearly twenty years of identifying as an African-american? Why does that bother anyone?

My belief is that the good liberals, and predictable social conservatives, fear anything that does not fit their basic narrative. Here is the common ground. The liberals push for acceptance, and fight for equality, but will not tolerate any change in the conversation on race. Social conservatives just want things to not change(I think their ideal year was sometime in the 1950's). Race relations has been on the front of social change conversation recently, and people are understandably touchy on what race means.  Rachel Dolezal is not choosing to identify as African-american because of recent events.  She has been identifying as an African American for years.

Rachel Dolezal has not hurt anyone, as a matter of fact she has helped a large amount of people.  She was already in a lesser power class by being a woman, identifying as an African-american women only gave her less social power. Why does anyone care? She has not been going out of her way maliciously deceiving people. She found out who she is. We celebrate Caitlyn Jenner and urge the public to let her live life in happiness.  Rachel Dolezal deserves to live life in happiness.

RD Kulik

RD Kulik is the Head Editor of Seed Sing. We are looking for contributors and podcast guests. Contact us here.

ESPN does not care about courage

(Ed. note:   We think Caitlyn Jenner is being very brave, and  respect her courage.  This is not about her, this is about people at ESPN not caring for the transgender community and only interested in ratings. The actions at ESPN are not fair to sports courage or transgender people. The executives over there have said and covered nothing leading up to Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair article.  They saw the mostly positive response from the public, and ESPN typically decided to see ratings only.  They never looked for athletic courage, and it is all around them. The award may seem silly, but if ESPN really cares about supporting everyone associated with sports,maybe they could start making transgender athletes struggles part of the regular sports conversation.  When will ESPN talk about a current athlete dealing with a bigoted community?  We are not holding our breathe.)

Why are the ESPY's giving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Caitlyn Jenner this year? Why does she deserve a courage award? What she is doing, coming out as transgender is brave, but what about all the other transgender people out there that don't get awards? How do they feel about this? Are they happy or would they rather she go on and live her life as a female now? Why does she deserve an award for this? I'll say it once again, what she's doing is very brave, but more brave than Lauren Hill?

Do you guys know who she is?

Lauren Hill was a  young girl with inoperable brain cancer that just wanted to play in a game of college basketball. Not only did she play in a game, but she scored buckets and inspired the players on her team. That's bravery. Going out there, incredibly ill and playing basketball. She didn't do it for a heart warming story, or to show people that she could do it, she did it for herself and her family and her teammates. She has unfortunately passed away, but dammit what she did took incredible courage and bravery. Lauren Hill was so incredibly sick and when you saw her on the court, there was nothing but smiles coming from her face. That's bravery. That's courage.

How about the double amputee war vet, who has turned his life around with running and exercise?  You lose two body parts, pick yourself up and give yourself as much a normal life as possible. I can't imagine what I'd do if I lost a fingernail, let alone body parts. Once again, that takes courage and bravery.

I guess the thing that upsets me most about Caitlyn Jenner getting the award is, it's a clear ratings grab from the awful, awful executives at ESPN. They see the opportunity that a former Olympic champion, who's now coming out as transgender will bring them. They see tons of new viewers, but I do not think they care for those viewers. It also saddens me that the people who will watch her accept the award don't know who she was when she was Bruce Jenner. They only know her from the horrible monster family known as the Kardashians. That's so sad, especially for a sports based show. Fans of the Kardashian show don't care about sports, but the higher ups at ESPN obviously don't care about that. They just want viewers. I also feel like this is taking advantage of Caitlyn Jenner. She's been in the limelight for awhile now due to her horrible ex wife and her terrible children and I think she wants to keep the story on her as much as possible so she can stay famous. It may not be a popular opinion, but it's mine and it's pretty sad what they're doing at ESPN. With that being said, let me reiterate, what Caitlyn Jenner is doing is brave, just not on the level of a double amputee or Lauren Hill. Not even close. ESPN could've done the right thing and given this honor to the double amputee or, in my opinion the truly brave and courageous one, Lauren Hill. But, they don't care about honoring those two, they only care about the ratings.

Once again for shame ESPN

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  Give him a follow on twitter @tykulik

Ty does not give a pass to garbage people like Hope Solo

Why the double standard for Hope Solo?

By all accounts she's a garbage person who goes on national TV and lies and then sees no discipline from the US Women's National Soccer team. She blatantly lied and was made to look like the victim when she was the instigator. She physically beat up her sister and her nephew, but when she saw an opportunity for a "redemption" story from the Today Show and ESPN The Magazine, she decided that she could lie herself into looking like a victim. The fact that her nephew is 6'7 and about 280 pounds, who would question her, she has an athlete's body, but she is still smallish. But her sister is much smaller than she is, so why did no one question this at the time. Well, it looks like one (and only one) group in the ESPN family, Outside the Lines, decided it was time to go back and look at the police records and they found quite the treasure trove. Apparently Hope Solo called at least two of the police officers a gay slur, called them 14 year old boys, and when they asked her to remove a necklace, she told them that it was worth more money than they make in a year. Now, I'm not a fan of police officers, especially in the town of Ballwin in St. Louis County, but I have at least the dignity and the respect to not talk to authority like that.

Hope Solo seems to have a  speaking tone like the one employed by trash people who live in the gutter. Why does she think she is so much better than these police officers? Why does she think she can hit people and get away with it? Does she believe she can get away with this type of behavior because she's good at soccer? Spoiler alert, most Americans don't care about soccer. And you're not some world class athlete with sponsorships coming out of your ears. If Outside the Lines hadn't done this story, I wouldn't be able to pick her out of a police lineup, which I'm sure she's been in a ton. This isn't her first domestic abuse case either. She's had at least one other incident that's been reported. So she's had, at the very least, two reported domestic violence cases and yet team USA soccer does nothing in the way of discipline. She gets to travel with the team and play soccer and when reporters ask her about the cases, she deflects the question and says she just wants to talk about soccer. Spoken like someone who's guilty. What Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice did was just as bad. They are both big time athletes, one who knocked his wife out cold in an elevator, the other who beat up his 4 year old child, at least faced some consequences from the NFL. Both of them got suspended, without pay, for an entire season. They did terrible, horrible, unforgivable things to women and children and at least faced some form of discipline. Hell, Ray Rice still has not been signed by a team, because I think, no one wants that kind of PR nightmare. So, I ask the question again, why the double standard for Hope Solo? Yes, she's a woman and there's barely any cases of a woman being the aggressor in domestic disputes but, coming from my mom who works in the social work field, the disputes when they involve a female as the chief instigator are treated the same as when the man is the instigator. And good for Hope Solo's sister for coming out and speaking out in defense of herself and her son. These abusers need to realize that they can't get away with the horrible crimes they are committing by beating people up. You shouldn't stand for it and if someone is abusing you seek professional help. There are people out there to protect you from the Ray Rice's and the Hope Solo's of the world. So, shame on you Hope Solo and USA Women's soccer. You are just helping this horrible person think they can do whatever they want because they are good at a sport.

Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, Hope Solo, and their media enablers disgust me.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor at Seed Sing. Throw him a follow on twitter @tykulik If you are a victim of domestic violence, get help, that is the only way to stop the violence.

Cloves and Fedoras: If you love movies Ty says listen to Maltin on Movies

My podcast pick to talk about this week is Wolfpop's Maltin on Movies with co-host Baron Vaughn.

Each week, Leonard Maltin and Baron Vaughn take a subject and review three movies associated with the topic.  In the first segment they talk about a well known movie that they both enjoy. They tell you what they both like about the particular movie and why they think you should watch it. This weeks episode was titled Adult Cartoons, and they chose a French movie called Persepolis for their first segment. This movie takes place through the eyes of an Iranian French girl growing up through war times in Israel. I've never seen the movie before, but hearing the two of them talk about it, makes me want to watch it. According to Vaughn, it's a real tear jerker. In the second segment they talk about a movie neither of them like, or as they call it, a turkey. This segment might be my favorite. I like to hear them tear apart movies that almost no one likes. Both of them are very eloquent as well, so it doesn't sound like my friends and I ripping a movie apart. These two actually know what they're talking about. This week their turkey was Cool World. This movie sounds so bad that I want to watch it to see how bad it is. Apparently it was meant to be a horror cartoon, but the studio turned it into a dark noir comedy. Those words don't work together at all. The third and final segment, they talk about a sleeper movie. These movies are off the radar to most movie goers and not very well known, but highly regarded by both Vaughn and Maltin. I like the suggestions given during this part, because I hardly ever know what movie they're talking about, but every one that I've seen since I started this podcast, I've really enjoyed. The movie they mentioned this week is called Max and Mary. It's a story of friendship between two loners. One being a young outcast girl, Mary. The other, a 44 year old man with no family or friends named Max. According to Vaughn, this is a must watch, but it's very off beat and very dark at times. So, it may not be for everyone, but I'm going to check it out. The episodes come out every Wednesday and are no more than an hour long. They're 31 episodes in, but for movie buffs, this is a must listen.

I highly recommend it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He loves movies and hearing people talk (or write) about movies.  Follow him on twitter @tykulik

Cloves and Fedoras: Ty lets you know about the greatness of Silicon Valley

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known. 

I just want to take a moment of my time to talk about one of the best shows on T.V.

Silicon Valley may be the best comedy on TV(maybe the second best behind Louie). The cast is made up of great improvisers that have known each other one way or another since before they were cast on the show together. Thomas Middleditch, who plays the lead character Richard, is perfectly cast as the squirmy, uncomfortable founder and CEO of Pied Piper. Some of my favorite moments are when Richard tries to stand up for himself and take charge. It's so funny to watch him try to be a bad ass. It doesn't fit his demeanor at all, but Thomas Middleditch is such a good actor, you think in your mind, he might have this tough side to him. Gilfolye(Martin Starr) and Dinesh(Kumail Nanjiani) are great as Pied Piper's two main coders. These two are always trying to one up each other. But, I also feel like they're really best friends and this is just how you act towards your best friend. Starr and Nanjiani take their smallish roles in the show and make them huge. They're great comedy actors and improvisers. Jared(Zach Woods), who's Pied Piper's business manager is the quiet, mousy punching bag for everyone, but he's also the most cheerful guy working there. Every challenge they're faced with, Jared finds a positive spin for it. And this brings us to Ehrlich(the wonderfully cast TJ Miller). He's the "incubator" for the guys. Pied Piper is run through his living room. He's a guy who cashed in his company when the bids were high and now he has people with business ideas come to him and pitch. TJ Miller is so good in this role. It's almost as if Mike Judge wrote it specifically for him. He's so egotistical, but there's moments when you see shreds of humility in him. TJ Miller deserves any and every award that should be coming his way for his role in this show. He's incredible. The addition of Russ Hanneman(Chris Diamantopoulos), the billionaire financier, has been really good too. He's a very douchey, rich guy who's never really earned his money, but believes that Pied Piper can make him richer. Every scene with him is met, by me, with a held breath, thinking how will he screw these guys over. This show is a must watch for improvised comedy fans out there. It is so well acted and directed. The season finale(season two) is this Sunday, June 14th, so catch up if you haven't already and enjoy this wonderful show.

It's really excellent.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He is one man with one T.V. and needs people to help him cover pop culture.  Write for Seed Sing. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik
 

Last Generation Gamer: The Beautiful Loneliness of Skyrim

Last Generation Gamer is Seed Sings way of reflecting on the greatest video games that were released before the current gen systems.  These are not necessarily reviews.  Let's look at these thoughts as a walk down memory lane.  If you have any ideas for Last Generation Gamer contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

So you know there are SPOILERS of the plot to Skyrim in this article.

When Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios, 2011) begins you are not alone.  The first person view all the Elder Scroll games start with show the back of a horse drawn cart with prisoners being escorted through a rough mountain road. Through the dialogue of others it quickly becomes clear that you are a prisoner going to execution with your fellow cart travelers.  Although you are with others, you are not part of their group.  One man is a horse thief who will not factor into the plot.  The other two men are rebels who are fighting the empire (one of the men is the leader of the Stormcloaks, I assumed the reader knew this but I did not want to leave important info out).  You are not a thief (yet, if you want) or part of the rebellion (again yet, if you want).  You have no identity. You are alone.

I purchased Skyrim in 2015 to see all the fuss.  It has been heralded as one of the greatest video games ever made.  I played Oblivion (not yet finished, but still loving the game) and I purchased Skyrim on a Gamestop buy two get one free deal.  My plan was to finish Oblivion, but one day I decided to pop Skyrim into the X-Box 360 to see if it lived up to the hype.  It begins like most other games, a big event facilitates you taking control, then a simple dungeon so you can learn all the basic controls.  Once you complete the first dungeon, the world opens up.

It is the most magnificent first look at the open world in any game I have ever seen.  Cyrodill in Oblivion looks majestic, mostly green, and bright.  Skyrim feels, rocky, cold and isolated. I can remember going north in Oblivion through the Jerrall mountains and seeing the wasteland beyond the horizon I could not cross  The first unassisted view of Skyrim makes you feel alone in that challenging wasteland. There is a rough, partially snow covered, stone road. Once you look around you see snow dusted trees and massive mountians all around you. This is the land of dragons, there is no doubt.  I feared any creature early on in the game because I thought anything that could thrive in this environment is going to be tough. 

I want to take a quick detour and elaborate on why my visceral reaction was so strong.  My parents grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan right near the shores of Lake Superior. When I was young my parents would take myself along with my brothers for vacations in the U.P.. On the way to my parents homeland, the highway stops about a hundred miles out.  The rest of the trip is a two lane road through dense woods and quaint towns.  We mainly went up there in the summer, but on a few occasions we ventured there in the winter(once for a cousins wedding the first week of October, I slid my Dad's car off the road because it had snowed a few feet the night before).  It was bleak, desolate, and cold in the U.P. those winters.  I was truly surprised that anyone lived there year round (like my grandparents).  My first look at Skyrim reminded me of the U.P..  The first person I talked with in Skyrim sounded like a retaliative. This was going to cause a little bit of extra immersion during my gaming sessions.

I do not want to make it sound like Skyrim's grays and desolation make it unattractive, it is gorgeous. The first time you trek up the Throat of the World, and take some time to look out over the expanse, it is breathtaking.  When I approached Solitude and saw the grand tower built on top of a natural rock bridge formation above me, I simply stopped and stared at my television for a few minutes. Walking through the quiet snow packed plains in the middle of the night on my way to Solitude was strangely tranquil.   I have spent over half my time in Skyrim just staring.  There have been other games with beautiful vistas, but none of them have put me in a state of awe like Skyrim.

The other part of Skyrim the game that makes Skyrim the territory so overwhelming is the loneliness. The majority of your journey can be done all alone.  There are plenty of opportunities to pick up people who will help you on your quests, but they are not required.  A novice player, like myself, will not even know how to bring an ally around.  When Lydia was assigned as my Housecarl in Whiterun, I unintentionally had her stay put.  I did not find her again until I bought a house in Whiterun.  Once I had her join me, she was killed within the next hour because of my exploring.  Most of the game I have been alone, and Skyrim makes you feel isolated.  There is a quest option to join the Imperial Army and bring down the rebellion.  There is an alternative quest option to join the Stormcloaks and bring Skyrim independence.  Both of these quests may bring you new friends, but neither is necessary. The introduction of teammates may seem anti isolationist, but the ambiance of Skyrim will always make you feel alone.  The low tones of the noises in dungeons,  the ambient noise of the outdoors, the sudden break of silence due to a wolf, all of these atmospheric touches make Skyrim a jumpy place. Feeling like you are a lone soul in this beautiful and dangerous vista is Skyrim's crowing achievement.

I have not finished the main quest of Skyrim. I absolutely adore this game and do plan on completing the main storyline, and then dive into some of the DLC (I hear you can ride a dragon, that in it self will be worth the effort). While the quest may not be completed, I do get the urge to load Skyrim up and just walk around for a while.  Most of the time I tell myself that I need to do some character development, but the real reason is I just would like to enjoy the views in quiet solitude.

RD Kulik

RD Kulik is the Head Editor of Seed Sing.  Thanks to reading a random book in Skyrim he knows how Oblivion ends.  That will not stop him from completing the game, it just might have to wait a few hundred hours until the last dragon soul of Skyrim has been absorbed.

Cleveland once again will need to wait for next year.

Well there goes my hope for a great NBA Finals.

Now that its been reported that Kyrie Irving has a fractured knee cap and requires surgery and he will be out 3 to 4 months, I need to make a change to my NBA Finals prediction. In my previous blog, I picked the Warriors to win in five games. Now, with Irving out and Matthew Dellavedova, the guy that the team left at the arena the other night and he had to take an Uber to the team hotel, will be starting, I'm changing my pick from Warriors in five, to a sweep by the Warriors. This is a huge blow to an already hobbled Cavaliers team. If the game on Thursday night showed us anything, no matter how well Lebron James plays, the Warriors have a complete team that plays great defense and offense. Way too many iso plays by the Cavs, with the only two being able to score Lebron and Irving, the Cavs are in serious trouble. They have to feel even worse, because both Klay Thompson and Steph Curry didn't play anywhere close to where they normally do. They threw up some air balls and they were throwing bad passes that turned into turnovers. I don't see the two of them playing any worse than they did on Thursday night and that is doom for Cleveland. Now with Dellavedova being the point guard and having to guard Steph Curry. That simply means Curry is going to light Dellavedova up. It might be embarrassing for the Saint Mary's grad. Unfortunately for all of us watching the Finals, after how great Game One was, this is going to be a stomping for the Warriors. Lebron can carry the Cavs only so far. Even if he goes for 60 points in each of the next three games, it won't be enough. JR Smith's jumper looks broken, and Shumpert and Dellavedova can only make threes when they are wide open. That won't happen against the Warriors. And, Tristan Thompson and Timofy Mozgov can only give a little help on offense. I think they had a combined 20 to 25 points on Thursday and that was a great night from the two of them.

Sorry, GM, coach and player, Lebron, you'll have to wait until next season to have a shot at another ring.

(Ed note: I originally disagreed with Ty and said Cavs in 6.  I am a wrong person and agree with Ty on this one. Warriors in 4).

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor at Seed Sing.  He was all church league first team three years in a row.  Follow him on twitter@tykulik.

The impotence of the Republican Party's national identity

The Republican Party has equipment that does not work.  Their national identity does not have the ability to bring excitement and stimulate the imagination of the national electorate.  There are a few of the little things they do right.  They can get some of the small things done adequately, get us mildly interested.  However when it comes to the big show, it will end in disaster with a lot of soul searching and finger pointing.

Tired of the impotency metaphor.  Let's move on.

The modern Republican Party has built a brand that works in carved out legislative districts, and states that have local Democratic parties who do not know how to win elections (see the reasons Democrats have failed in state elections here.) I want to address the issue of branding in the local districts. While the republicans worked to get majorities in state houses, and in turn created districts that look like a 4 year old was coloring way out of the lines, the Democratic Party worked on a national messaging and outreach programs.  The republicans created a brand that would cater to a slight majority of the people in these gerrymandered districts.  Their local brand became dependent on political rhetoric that would cause the majority to fear the minority.  Black lives matter, equal pay for women, transgender acceptance, gay marriage, and many more social issues became the fodder for republican attacks. Divide and hate were the core of republican rhetoric. 

While campaigning in the local districts, these wedge issues can help drive necessary voter turnout among certain segments of the white vote.  In addition to creating the majority fear, the local republicans worked very hard to create a narrative of Democratic party voter fraud.

Go ahead and look up cases of actual voter fraud over the last twenty years, I can wait.

Welcome back, I am sure you came across a few cases (the name Ann Coulter definitely came up) but for the most part there is an insignificantly small amount of voter fraud cases.  Why are the republicans so worried? It works in their narrative to protect the right to vote, and to deny the vote at the same time.

These dividing tactics have served the Republican Party very well in the local elections, and helped push their message through a lazy corporate media.  Why do they not work at the national level? The answer is quite simple. They cannot sell their majority fear to a large nation. The urban areas have actual power in the national election.  Very few big states, like New York and California, can give a candidate a sizable electoral advantage (plus Texas is clearly in the national Democratic Party sights, watch out).  The Democratic party has been less than desirable on their social messaging, just look at Hillary Clinton, but they are not publicly speaking out against these emerging minority groups.  When Caitlyn Jenner makes news, Mike Huckabee makes a moronic joke about dressing like a girl to shower with girls in high school. He completely gave up any chance to win a national election with that comment, and he does not care.  It is more important for Mike Huckabee to be appealing to an out of touch voting block who will vote republican no matter what a candidate says.  When the scion of the Duggar clan admits to molesting young girls, including his own sisters, most of the national republicans do not condemn.  Instead they spend their time pushing false equivalence narratives to again protect a voter base that will never abandon them.  I know the argument will arise that you need the out of touch hate groups of the party to win the primary.  Even if that is the case, what you say to appeal to the hate groups will live on through the election (see Romney and 47%).  

I want you to think about what I just explained, the republicans need the out of touch hate groups.  Regardless of what the Fox News pundits say, America has always been socially progressive.  We have a number of amendments giving people rights, and we have only one taking away rights (plus that amendment was repealed so chalk up one more to giving rights). The electorate has expanded for one group when we acknowledge the minority rights. The early Republican Party (Lincoln's party, not Reagan's) saw an influx of voters after the 15th amendment.  The republicans again saw a voter influx after the 19th amendment.  The USA is the melting pot, we want your huddle masses yearning to breathe free.  Where in the hell does intolerance fit into that narrative.  There is no law demanding that anyone get married, so why do you want to deny marriage? There is no law dictating ones gender, so why do you care what someone feels in their soul?  The Republican Party seems to care about these issues, and that is why they are always fighting uphill in the national elections.

This is where my impotence metaphor is valid.  The republicans have all the right equipment, and it works for the most part.  The issue lies in a very important action, the republicans cannot achieve the ultimate satisfaction (the Presidency I mean of course).  Their grass roots of intolerance does not allow for them to reach out to an audience that does not buy the social division.  The Democratic Party has been sleep walking for decades on governance and strategy.  Their greatest advantage is the disdain for the Republican Party. Social division will always drive the disenfranchised urban centers to turn out (usually barely enough) for the elections that matter to them.  Without Ralph Nader, Al Gore would have been the President. George W Bush needed that Democratic Party division in one particular state to win the election with his light hate. Time has moved forward, communication technology has improved, and the Republican Party has continued their policy of division and hate.  

The first Republican to learn that all Americans can vote will be the person the Democrats have not been prepared to face.

RD Kulik

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for Seed Sing.  He is flabbergasted that people who openly hate other Americans will be featured on Meet the Press this Sunday.  Come write for us to express your ideas. Join us.

Goodbye Reggie Watts, this fan of Comedy! Bang! Bang! will miss you

Last night marked the end of the Reggie Watts era on The Comedy Bang! Bang! TV show.

They gave him a pretty fitting send off. The episode opened with an aged Scott Aukerman giving an interview in the future about his old best friend Reggie Watts. Flash back to present time and the show started like it always does, with the theme song, intros and the guest coming to the couch. Judd Apatow was the guest last night, but he was only in the first five minutes of the episode. I appreciated this because this episode needed to be about Reggie and Scott's friendship and what it's like for a close friend to leave for higher profile job(Reggie Watts is the band leader for the new Late Late Show with James Corden).

Throughout the time Apatow was being interviewed, many jokes were made about how great a comedy team Scott and Reggie are and how it's great that they will always work together. During the interview though, US Army soldiers raid the stage and say they were sent to capture Reggie Watts because he's an alien and his race was coming to destroy Earth. I felt this was a good way to send him off. It wasn't sad or corny, it was a typical CBB bit. Reggie's alien race, made up of three different versions of himself, proceed on Earth, but Reggie and Scott come up with a plan to film a video saying that Earth was covered with water and this is very poisonous to their race. The video worked and the aliens retreated. Everyone was very happy and you thought that things would go on as normal.

Oh the contrary my friend. The Army was still planning on capturing Reggie and taking him away. Scott refused to let them do this, saying that they'd have to kill him if they wanted Reggie. Well, the lieutenant said okay and fired at Scott. Reggie stepped in front of the bullet and was hit in the chest and yellow goo oozed out of him. Seeing that they had taken care of Reggie, the army felt they did their job and left Scott to grieve over his friend. After the soldiers were gone, it was revealed that Reggie was okay, stating that bullets are like Viagra to his race. Seeing that his friend was alive Scott was relieved and thought the show would go on as it always had, with Reggie as his band leader.  Reggie pointed out that when the Army found out he was still alive they'd come back for him and he didn't want to put anyone in harms way. Scott asked him what he would do and Reggie said he would roam the Earth like a nomad. Scott and Reggie hug, say their good byes and Reggie walked out the stage door. Flash forward, back to old Scott Aukerman and he's doing a crossword puzzle and the clue is, someone who misses and loves his friend Scott dearly and they pan to a picture in the paper and it's an aged photo of Reggie Watts, the crossword puzzle author(a call back to a joke earlier in the episode). This was a great way to say good bye to a guy who's been with the show since its infancy. Very goofy and silly. Exactly what you'd expect from CBB. Reggie Watts wrote the theme song for the podcast, he wrote and performed most of the songs that are used for games and segments in the show and podcast. He did pretty much all the music stuff for Comedy Bang! Bang! He was an integral part. Kid Cudi will be the new band leader when the show comes back on July 9th and while I enjoy his music, he's no Reggie Watts. It will be interesting to see if Kid Cudi has the comedic chops Reggie Watts has.

You will be missed Mr Watts, but you are on to bigger and better things. And for all the alternative comedy fans out there, I'm sure he will still show up from time to time, so he's not really going away, he just got a new opportunity.

Good for him.
 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He thinks one day people will leave network late night shows to join Comedy Bang Bang as a better opportunity.  Give him a twitter follow @tykulik.

Ty takes a close look at the NBA Finals.

Tomorrow, June 4th, marks the start of the NBA Finals, maybe one of the greatest finals match ups, between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs came out of the Eastern conference with relative ease. The only team that beat them in any series were the Chicago Bulls, who only got two games out of them. They swept the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks. Golden State didn't have much trouble in the Western Conference either. They swept the New Orleans Pelicans, beat the Memphis Grizzlies in six and beat the Houston Rockets in the conference finals in five games. Both teams should be very well rested since they cake walked to the finals and have had nine days off.

The Cavs have been bitten by the injury bug in the playoffs, losing Kevin Love for the playoffs in their first round series and Kyrie Irving is at about, I'd say, thirty percent tops. Lebron James has/had one or both ankles sprained, but he should be 100% by the time the Finals start tomorrow night. Golden State on the other hand have had some close calls, with that scary fall from Stephen Curry in the conference finals and the concussion suffered by Klay Thompson, also in the conference finals, but they have stayed pretty healthy for the most part. Klay Thompson was cleared yesterday to play in Game One of the Finals.

Now, let's breakdown the rosters of each team. Cleveland boasts the best player in the world, Lebron James. They also have former All Star Game MVP Kyrie Irving, but as I said, he's very injured right now. With Kevin Love out, after those three, the Cavs have, at best, a rag tag bunch of players. Some are fringe All Stars like JR Smith and Iman Shumpert. They have a decent rim protector in Timofy Mozgov. A relentless rebounder in Tristan Thompson, although his offense leaves something to be desired. After these six guys, they only have a few other players who see any type of real minutes in the NBA. Their next guy in line is probably Matthew Dellavedova, who's a relentless hustler, but may also be the dirtiest player in the playoffs.(just ask Kyle Korver, Al Horford, and Taj Gibson). After him no one besides James Jones or Shawn Marion really see the floor at all and that's just for their shooting abilities since they're liabilities on defense, then can guard no one. Mike Miller, Brendan Haywood, Joe Harris and Kendrick Perkins round out the rest of the roster, but the four of them only get in during garbage time. What this team does have though, is Finals experience. Lebron James has played in five straight NBA finals(a record). Along with James, Mike Miller and James Jones played with him while they were on the Miami Heat when they were regulars in the Finals and Brendan Haywood was on the Dallas Mavericks when they won the 2011 NBA Championship. Golden State on the other hand has a roster with no NBA Finals experience, but it's loaded with talented players all over the floor. They also go way deeper than seven players like the Cavs do. Golden State is led by 2015 NBA MVP, and best shooter and ball handler in the league, Stephen Curry. The rest of their starting five consists of, the other Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, Defensive Player of the Year runner up, Draymond Green, supreme rim protector and rebounding monster Andrew Bogut and lock down defender and all around great athlete, Harrison Barnes. The bench has some pretty key components as well. First off the bench for Golden State is Andre Iguodala who they still run some parts of their offense through and he's still a pretty good defender. After Iguodala, they have 6'7 point guard Shaun Livingston, instant offense in Leandro Barbosa, one defensive minded big in Festus Ezeli and one offensive minded big in Mareese Speights. David Lee has not seen much time in the playoffs since he's such a liability on defense, but he was once an All Star. The rest of the bench is rounded out with guys that barely play at all. Guys like, Justin Holiday, Brandon Rush and Ongjen Kuzmic. I'd have to say that Golden State has the better, deeper roster overall. But, like I said, the Cavs have the experience. Both coaches are rookie coaches, so this is their first Finals as head coaches, obviously. Comparing the two is pretty easy in my opinion though. David Blatt is basically a substitute teacher. He looks like he's in charge, but you, me and the rest of the basketball watching world knows that Lebron is not only the Cavs best player, but he's also the coach and the GM. Hell, bench coach Tyronn Lue gets more respect from the players than Blatt does. Steve Kerr on the other hand, took a pretty decent Golden State team and turned them into a 67 win team. This team already played very good defense, but since Kerr has instituted his offense, they went up into a whole new level. This team fires on all cylinders and a lot of that has to do with their head coach. Once again, advantage Golden State. As far as Golden State guarding Lebron, that's a toss up to me. If I had to guess, I'd say they will start with Harrison Barnes on him and if he can't cut it, they will put Draymond Green on him. But let's face it, Lebron will get his. He's a beast. The rest of the matchups are much more of a toss up. A banged up Kyrie Irving won't be able to keep up with Steph Curry. I don't think a fully healthy Irving would be able to stop Curry.Shumpert and Klay Thompson is a wash. Both are excellent defenders, but Klay Thompson is so much better on offense than Shumpert, so I'll give this one to Golden State. The Warrior tasked with guarding Tristan Thompson, be it Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green, better dust off the hard hat and get ready for a rebounding battle. Thompson is relentless on the glass, especially on the offensive glass. Advantage Cavs. Bogut and Mozgov are pretty much equals when it comes to rim protecting and rebounding, but Mozgov is a touch better on offense, so I will give the Cavs the advantage here. The benches are so different. Golden State's bench is about a thousand times better than Cleveland's. A thousand times better. No contest, advantage Golden State. Wth all this being said, even with the starters being pretty even, and Cleveland having the best player in the world, Golden State's team is so much better, their bench and their coach are light years ahead of Cleveland's that I don't see how Golden State doesn't win the championship this season. Lebron will get at least one win because he's Lebron James, but I only see Cleveland getting one game. The Oracle Arena is almost impossible for a road team to win there and Golden State has home court advantage.

I'm picking Golden State to win in five games and Curry will cap off his MVP season with an NBA finals MVP.

(Ed. note:  I cannot compete with Ty's breakdown, but I will make my own prediction.  We will see Lebron James complete the greatest season a player has ever accomplished and will this Cleveland team to a championship.  Cavs in 6.)

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor at Seed Sing.  He was all church league first team three years in a row.  Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

The Fallacy of Hillary's Inevitability

Hillary Clinton will not be President of the United States.  Hillary Clinton will not even be the Democratic Party nominee.  Will I be the first person to say this? I'll check back in a year.

Hillary Clinton vs the republican clown car.  That is the grand narrative from a broken and lazy national media a year before the final state presidential primaries will be wrapping up. You cannot stop it.  Hillary 2016, I'm with Hillary, Hillary's time, whatever the work shopped slogan may be - IT IS HILLARY'S TURN.

I could have written those exact same words (substitute Hillary 2016 with Hillary 2008) back in 2007.  I was working in the political field at the time, and that was all I heard from my Democratic Party friends.  Hillary had the experienced staff. Hillary had the money network. Hillary had history.  There was no denying her ascendancy.

Problem is that Obama won the primary, and he became the President.  Hillary waited, she is ready, and nothing will stop her now.  I am telling you that 2016 will end exactly as 2008 (not with Obama, but someone different). 

Why am I so sour on Hillary's inevitability.  Because the exact same narrative is playing out, and technology has changed the world.  I will explain.  I have many friends who have gone to work for a "Hillary Clinton Exploratory campaign" over the course of the last year.  I myself have been approached a few times to "work" on a possible presidential campaign.  The experienced Democratic Party talent has all been gobbled up by the Hillary Clinton campaign. Along with the talent, the money has also been holding for the Clinton campaign.  I have a whole trunk full of problems with the talent and money at the states being held out for a national election, and I address those issues here.   The tactic that the Hillary campaign seems to be employing this time around is to gather all the resources and starve out any potential challenger. That seems to be the grand strategic plan.

Hillary Clinton, along with most national political figures, have yet to figure out how to capitalize on free social media platforms.  The current political, and media, models are all built around catering to the Baby Boomer generation.  The Generation Xers and millennials have yet to be considered in a Hillary Clinton campaign, except for lip service on issues that have become politically beneficial(i.e. LBGT rights).  The non-boomers want more.  We want consideration for student debt issues (Hillary is silent), we want government surveillance to be reigned in (Hillary is silent), we want an end to the endless wars (Hillary has not completely owned up to her support for Bush's wars), we want to be considered.  The boomer culture will not relinquish control of the political culture, and Hillary Clinton feeds off of this. She needs to start addressing these issues to create excitement for her presidency.

The boomer only kind of pandering is what caused the non-boomers to flock towards an unproven, and unknown, Barack Obama.  The allure of words like "change" and "hope" spoke to the non-boomers.  We were ready for anyone who was not part of the insipid boomers who have told us how worthless we were. The Hillary 2016 campaign sure as stuff cannot use words like hope and change, especially after the Obama presidency. How is the Clinton campaign going to reach the non-boomers.  Being able to get campaign info through our smart phones was infinitely more valuable than the constant door knockers asking about my feelings on the Democratic Party. I keep hearing more about the canvasing plans for the Hillary 2016 campaign and I cringe. Where is the innovative social media campaigning.  Why have they not learned?  The boomers are still a large voting block, but the gen Xers and millennials can win you the election.

These systemic issues are not the only thing that can derail Hillary Clinton's inevitability.  There is always the stink of the Clinton brand. The Clinton Cash issues, and the history of Bill and Hillary may seem minor to many loyal Democrats, but they always produce smoke.  The lazy media will want a horse race, and they will keep these scandals burning.  An enterprising Democratic Party candidate can take advantage of these scandals, and media unprofessional-ism, to move up in the public perception. 

I have yet to see a candidate who could capitalize on Clinton's shortcomings.  Missouri Governor Jay Nixon had the ability, then he decided to muck up everything about Ferguson. Martin O'Malley will have the same issues with Baltimore. Bernie Sanders has some excitement, but he has a very small percentage of the party and its money (let's pray he does not become another Ralph Nader).  The Hillary Clinton campaign seems inevitable now, but there is a ways to go in this horse race.

Stay tuned.

RD Kulik

RD Kulik is the Creator and Head Editor for Seed Sing. We want your thoughts on the 2016 election.  Write for us.  RD is looking forward to the day boomer culture does not constantly infect his politics.