Bringing balance to the world - Legend of Korra: Season One reviews, musings, and predicitons for future episodes

One of the reasons why Legend of Korra is one of the greatest shows on TV ever is that even though it's a cartoon, it's very true to life and people can relate to each episode in so many levels, not to mention it's just a flat out work of art in practically all levels. This post will not only provide as a review and thoughts about the future of the series, but also tie many elements of the show into real life and how they're happening today, such as the "War on Terror" and the "Occupy" movement.

Legend of Korra: Season One was definitely the best season to date by the producers of the Avatar cartoon series.  Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino definitely have outdone themselves as the creators of the series.  They have managed to maintain the original humor, drama, real-life lessons (while not being cheesy, which is hard to do), romance, action sequences and animation quality from its prequel, Avatar: the Last Airbender.  Even the soundtrack from this season is beyond amazing, much less the entire series.

***WARNING: Spoilers ahead*** but you may want to watch the entire season here first for a limited time: http://www.nick.com/videos/playlist/play/legend-of-korra-season-one-full-episodes-playlist.html

I may have appeared on YouTube and travel the world, but I'm not special

"Even if you're one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion, that means that there are nearly 7,000 people just like you."

- David McCullough Jr. during his now famous "You Are Not Special" Wellesley High School commencement speech

This post is very much going to be based on this viral video, so I might as well embed it in this post.  This video, albeit far from the prettiest graduation speech, has a refreshing dose of reality that the speaker delivers to the audience.

He brings up a very good point that's not really thought about.  We are not special.  However, it's not what you think it is in that he's basically berating everyone and saying they suck (this was what I first thought when I heard the title).  He's basically saying that being "special" is just a title that's bestowed upon people just to brand them unique or better than others.  He uses valedictorian as an example, where there can only be one, but there's also many other valedictorians from other high schools just like that one valedictorian.  As he very eloquently states, "If everyone is special, then no one is.  If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless."

What an NYC street performer taught me about the power of perseverance

"I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

- Michael Jordan

NOTE: This was originally posted on my Tumblr (agentarmando.tumblr.com)

I was headed home with my friend Jonathan after watching Jesus Christ Superstar off Broadway (I’d rate it 6.5/10: Good).  We hop on the E train headed back to Queens when lo and behold, a street performer comes along sure to be soliciting money.  Big surprise, right?

Now this guy’s gag was apparently doing magic tricks.  I saw this guy and figured “What else is new?”  I mean, you live in New York City long enough, nothing surprises you anymore.  I basically blew it off at first because I figured the man was just performing for money.  The man didn’t even look that presentable.  He was somewhat unkept and his clothes had that used, beaten-up look.  Yup, he fits the street performer bill all right.

The Art of Wasting Time (and why it might be a good thing)

“Focus on mastering the correct technique, not the end results. Once you master the basics, the good results you seek will follow on their own.”

- my own personal maxim (now known as Rule #1)

NOTE: This was originally posted on my Tumblr (agentarmando.tumblr.com)

Sometimes, I find myself in an office getting that huge workload off my desk.  Finally, after so much time and effort placed on work, I can finally breathe.

But wait a minute!  Now that I’m finishing up on work, I all of sudden feel a deep sense of dread coming on.  What am I going to do now?  If I have nothing to do at work, I’m going to be dreadfully bored at work!  Damn, that’s probably worse that being worked to death.  I HATE being stuck in an office having nothing to do.  I can’t leave my post or start doing other things on my “to-do” list for the day.  I’m not going to be able to be productive now!  I can’t take this!  I’m getting stressed just thinking about the multitude of things I need to do, and I can’t even do a damn thing.  I have this “free time” and it’s killing me!  I want to take it easy but I can’t!!!  #@%!*

My review of The Legend of Korra (so far)

NOTE: This was originally posted on my Tumblr (agentarmando.tumblr.com)

Happy Avatar Day everyone!  Today is the premiere of the first two episodes of the new series Legend of Korra, which is supposed to be a sequel to the original series Avatar: The Last Airbender.  I’m here to give you a breakdown!

***slight spoiler alert, so watch the episodes using the links at the end!***

My first impressions in the first minute or two is “WOW!”  It’s interesting how they immediately thrust you into the action.  This is compared to the original Avatar series, where it took a while for character development and action to happen.  The creators of the Avatar series said they would only create 26 episodes so they could avoid “filler” episodes.  Let me tell you that they made good on their promise.  Not to say that Avatar: the Last Airbender was a whole bunch of fluff.  It’s just that it was not always a linear story, and sometimes that took away from the enjoyment and excitement of the show, but it was very negligible.  Sometimes, it was nice seeing a slight departure from the main storyline (like with “Tales of Ba Sing Se”), but at other times, it didn’t work so well (like with “The Beach”).  Another reason why the Legend of Korra gets down to the nitty-gritty right away is because they assume that you’re a fan of Avatar (like me) and know already what the role of the Avatar is.  That being said, for best enjoyment, watch the Avatar: the Last Airbender series.  It’s built for the Avatar audience, as many underlying stories have roots in The Last Airbender series (what happened to you, Zukko’s mom?  Darn Ikki and her ADD!) and a lot of these storylines may fly over your head if you don’t know about them.

40 days and 40 nights wandering the desert: my experience without Facebook

NOTE: This was originally posted on my Tumblr (agentarmando.tumblr.com)

First post ever.  Yay!

Tonight, I start off with my experience with Lent, the process of self-renewal and self-acceptance that it’s supposed to mean, AND how Facebook factors into all of this.  Now, for those who don’t know, I’m not one of those preachy, you’re-going-to-hell-if-you-don’t-believe-in-God types that tells everyone how sinful they are and that the Bible is the only truth.  However, I do consider myself very religious.  Just that I show it differently.  I never go to Sunday mass (I actually hate the church for the most part for its policies and methods), but I pray to God every night before going to sleep and I’m never afraid of saying I believe in God and even carry my Rosary everywhere with me.

For those who don’t know what Lent is, it’s the time starting from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.  It’s supposed to signify the time when Jesus Christ wandered the desert for 40 days and 40 nights fasting.  During that time, the devil (Satan) appeared and tried to tempt Him in an effort to distract and keep Him from doing so.  This is important because in Biblical writings, all fasts are followed by enlightenment in the form of God imparting His divine wisdom.  In a way, Satan was keeping God from His ultimate goal: enlightenment.  That’s basically what Lent is supposed to be for Catholics like me: a time of reflection, penance and coming to terms to the “negative” things in life, such as death.  Hence, when you get ashed on Ash Wednesday, the priest doing the ashing says “Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.”