My Encounter with the Prince of Persia

I'm not sure exactly what those who read this post will get from it. I wrote it because I felt the need to vent my annoyance with the person sitting next to me in my favorite spot, the coffee shop. Sorry for the ramble, but happy reading and I hope you chuckle a little too.

I'm thinking of a title for this post and the following rant is definitely not about a prince or Persia. Today I decided to visit my favorite hangout, the coffee shop. I won't state the location or the name of the coffee shop in the off chance that my former neighbor to the right might happen to come across this blog.  On a scale of 1 to 10, my annoyance level peaked to around 20. Sometimes one happens to listen in on the conversations around oneself, especially if said person (me) was flying solo for the day. It's like Shikata Ga Nai, "It can't be helped, it must be done."

I had just finished my grading and whisked out my laptop to start writing my review of Black Panther, when a male entered the coffee shop (this is beginning to sound like a police report). Tim, not the Tim I'm married to, but the gentlemen who walked into the coffee shop and sat down next to lucky ol' me.  He asked very politely if I could please plug in his laptop. I was sitting by three empty plugs so I was happy to oblige. He proceeded to tell me that he loved sitting in the seat that he chose because it look very regal. I didn't realize I was going to be sitting next to the Prince of Persia or the King of England. He was neither Persian nor English and I highly doubt he was of royal blood. I said I like my chair because it looked comfy and was close to the outlet, my laptop needed some juice.  He then told me a strange story about semi-colons and emails, I tried to tune him out. I wished him happy writing and then went about my business.

Suddenly, in walked his friend. She had just come from the gym, but according to my seat neighbor she smelled like she had just done her laundry. He started to tell his friend about a time that he forgot to put his car in park and his car rolled into another car. He said that he was more concerned about his car and didn't care that the other car was damaged. He did leave a note (I wonder if he was the person who hit me in the CVS parking lot while I was picking up a prescription).  He said that on the day the accident happened, he walked out of wherever he was, and saw the car crash. He stated that he felt bad for the person who had the car like his, a Mazda Miata, and that his car was better with amazing added features, but upon closer examination,  realized the Mazda Miata in the accident was actually his and how unfortunate it was that he had to pay for the damages he caused to the other person's car. WHAT????????

First off yes dude, your new haircut IS STUPID (I heard you ask your friend if she thought so), second, who gave you the award for participating as a bench warmer? (this is why not everyone should get a trophy, because then you create entitled people like this guy) and third, who put it into your head that you're better than everyone else. Maybe these were your insecurities talking, I highly doubt you're insecure. (Run-on rant approaching) You told your friend the only reason you want to run, whatever it is you run, (not a marathon because you're a short distance runner, yes I heard that too, all the while trying to review Black Panther) is because you want to win and you won't compete in a marathon because you can't win a marathon, wow entitled much?? 

There is an amazing essay written by Marta Salinas that I read with my students called, "The Scholarship Jacket." It's about a young girl, whose family were farmers and couldn't afford to pay for the various sports, extracurricular activities that I know cost parents a fortune. Martha, (the girl in the story) is very studious and at the end of her eight years at her school, is expected the win/earn the scholarship jacket, however, the school wants to give it to another student, one whose father is very prominent in the town that they live. I read this with my students in the hope that they, work hard and don't expect accolades and pats on the back. My students say they can relate to it. One even went so far as to say that when everyone gets an award, it cheapens the meaning for those who truly earn it. Good job kids, you're already doing better than this guy!

Listening to the conversation next to me, I realized that I was basically listening to a grown man talk as if he was a five-year-old. This is our future, thanks planet!! This isn't a Generation X vs Millennial thing, (according to MetLife, I would be considered a millennial. All other sources say I'm GenX thank God for that!). This is a respect people and be humble thing.

I hope that Tim, my seat neighbor, not my husband, realizes how pretentious and entitled he sounded and I hope that he changes his "all about me" outlook on life. He was polite to me and I wish him all the best, but please sir (I'm calling him sir, but I know I'm older than he is) try being a better human.

Black Panther Review

****For some reason, the coloring is off on this blog. I tried to fix it the best I could. Sorry in advance. 

How can I come across in this review and not sound like a Debbie Downer? I had super high expectations for Black Panther and while my expectations weren't quite met, I still enjoyed the movie.

First off, the last Marvel outing, Thor Ragnarok, blew my mind. Every other Marvel film will now be set to that standard. It took Thor, three outings before they finally succeed in making a cool film. Even Kenneth Branagh couldn't get it right. 

Black Panther is such a multi-faceted character, he's a king and a superhero. He must protect the people of Wakanda, and yet also be a part of regular society. I loved his (Black Panther's) first outing in Captain America: Civil War. I love Chadwick Boseman! He's very nice too look at, especially on the cover of Rolling Stones Magazine. On that note, here's what I thought about the characters/actors.  

I've loved Chadwick Boseman since 42 and he was great in Marshall too. He is amazing as T'Challa. Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia is great too, but I couldn't help but hear the voice of Maz Canata (I wonder why?). My favorite character by far was Letitia Wright as T'Challa's sister, Shuri. She was funny and strong willed and kicked some butt on her own. I couldn't help but feel annoyed at Michael B. Jordan's, Erik Killmonger. I get that he's upset about being left behind, but what about his mother? She isn't mentioned except for once, when they say that his father, Sterling K. Brown (Randall from This Is Us, the BEST show on the planet) fell in love with an American. We don't know much about his life growing up. T'Challa had no idea that this man existed. Why must T'Challa pay for the sins of his father, who wasn't a bad guy to begin with. I don't clearly understand why T'Challa's dad didn't take Erik with him in the end anyway. This is the problem I had with the movie. The fact that Michael B. Jordan's character felt to entitled to a throne that didn't belong to him.  In the end there was no redemption in his character either, and that annoyed me. 

The action was just ok. There weren't too many on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments. I thought those  very few moments, were what we were given in the promos/commercials for the movie. There were a few fight scenes, but nothing to wow me the way Captain America: Civil War did. My husband fell asleep in this movie and he didn't fall asleep when we watched Fifty Shades Freed. What does that tell me. This couldn't hold his interest.  He did say he wanted to see Black Panther again, probably to watch all that he missed when his eyes were closed and his snoring got too loud. 

The visual effects were great, except the spaceship in the sky. I didn't like that. I thought it was silly. Why would no one mention this fancy spaceship in the 80's or question why it was flying overhead? I love how Wakanda is so exotic. 

I'm not all too familiar with the Black Panther mythos. In fact, I'm not too familiar with much of the Marvel mythology, just what I've read and learned in the more recent years. I think that because I heard so many amazing things about this movie before I went to see it, my expectations were just too high. As I mentioned Thor earlier, I had low expectations for that movie. Thor and Thor: The Dark World weren't that great, then they released Ragnarok, which was a super fun ride. The opposite could be said about Iron Man. I thought the first in the trilogy far surpassed the two sequels. Anyway I digress (as per my usual). 

I liked the acting, that wasn't the problem. The storyline wasn't as great as I thought it could be. I  feel a bit burned out by the amount of Marvel/DC action films being released, and yet I feel the need to watch them all. 

I would give Black Panther 3.5 out of 5 Pink Gerber Daisies. 

On a side note someone I know asked me if this film was about the rise of the Black Panther movement of the sixties. I had no words.