#Eduardo Pluto
Weekend Open Bar: I Don’t Know How This Works But Let’s Work It Anyway
Our great Captain Caffeine is about a trillion light-years away from his usual spot in the cosmos, doing super cool and high-spirited married things that bring new meaning and mirth to his life, while the rest of us have been stuck in the doldrums of dull work and the even duller day-to-day routine for another week. But not anymore! I am here with some good news, friends: We made it to another weekend, a time when not only does all this malaise die a most righteous death, but when real good living and rocking good times spring eternal for all who are willing and sufficiently wild. I’ve taken it upon myself to forge ahead without Caffeine–some might call this a minor act of mutiny, but let’s keep this positive–so tell me exactly why your life is going to be ridiculously enjoyable over the next few days. What are you doing? What will you experience? But most importantly, what on earth will you eat? Welcome to Weekend Open Bar with your temporary captain, Eduardo Pluto.
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Weekend Open Bar: Comic Conning The Masses
Welcome, one and all, to another Weekend Open Bar! You are in for quite a treat this time because this is no normal Open Bar. Oh, no! If you didn’t already know, Team Omega will be reigning supreme at the Boston Comic Con again this weekend. A glorious three-peat if there ever was one. All of your favorite OL knuckleheads in the Boston area will be in attendance at various and highly irregular points throughout the next three days, so if you are geographically capable and willing to partake in the shenanigans and inspired lunacy, I highly recommend you make the trek in to hang out with the gang. It should be a damn good time. But if for some reason you can’t make it, then fear not: Coming here to share what you’ll be up to is the next best thing. And it’s easily the best thing going on this here Internet.
Opinions Vary: Or How Opinions Can Conform when Book Covers Fly Out the Window of Tow Trucks Operated by Exceedingly Curious Drivers
In Opinions Vary, we deal in opinions that might be a bit off-beat or strange compared to ones held by non-frequenters of this site. But in truth, when it comes to our everyday lives in the real world, we oftentimes harbor conventional opinions that aren’t too far off from those of many people around us. In our own little ways, in our own little lives, we follow the cultural norms, retain common-sense beliefs, and exhibit etiquettes we’ve absorbed from family, friends, educators, and just about anyone else who give us the time of day. These opinions are the tried-and-true sentiments of our social souls; there’s little to nothing individual or unique about them, in and of themselves. What is individual and unique, however, is how we take these opinions on and how we solidify and reinforce them through personal experience. Even if we might ultimately conform to these popular sentiments, these opinions are genuine because how we get them and keep them is what gives each its own variation and an extra vitality that’s dependent on its holder, making it more meaningful and alive. After all, the tried-and-true has to be tried and found to be true in order for it to stay that way for each person.
Opinions Vary: Matinee Movies and More!
It’s once again that glorious time of year when every week brings a new tent-pole movie that can make a studio’s year as easily as it can break a fan’s heart, that special stretch when restless teenagers want to get out of the house and run-down adults want to get away from their boring lives, so they collectively, one and all, dash through the sun and heat into the dark and cool local cinema. That’s right, friends: It’s the summer blockbuster season (one that seems to start earlier each year, kicked off this time by the new Marvel installment, Captain America: The Winter Soldier). Like the rest of you, I will certainly be there, as I am looking forward to the big-budget entertainment the season typically offers in abundance. I plan to see most if not all of the most anticipated ones, so I can come back here to Omega-Level and discuss their merits and flaws with you fine folks. And I have no doubt that you will do the same too. We will all be there at the movies this summer, except for probably one small difference: I’ll be there when few others are with me at the matinee showings—and this option is something I’d like to trumpet in this week’s OV.
Opinions Vary: Why I Read Real Books
When you pick up a novel, you basically know what you’re going to get: some characters, a setting or two, probably some discernible overriding theme—you know, the bare necessities of storytelling. These components are in any narrative concoction; whether it’s good or not is usually all a matter of mixing it up the right way. And there in the middle, moving them all about in some dramatically interesting fashion, is the conflict. Conflict can be a make-or-break element because a story’s clashes and bashes and gnashes propel everything and really make the story come to life. But for me there’s an even more primary conflict attached to this whole process, one that exists outside story itself: summoning the strength to actually pick up the novel to read in the first place. And, if you don’t mind, this conflict is what I’d like to investigate here today.
And the Oscar Goes to the Omega-Level!
Have you ever watched the Oscars and said to yourself, “Gee, if only I had a chance to win my own trophy like those happy Oscar winners. That would really spice up my life—or at least make watching this protracted awards show a little bit more interesting.” Honestly, I don’t even know why I asked: I know you’ve thought this because I have thought the same thing and we Omega-Levellers think alike. It’s just how we roll; it’s what makes us us. Up until now, we have had no outlet to realize this dream, no real chance to shine in the spotlight. But then The Dude, always the innovator in our midst, came up with a brilliant idea to rectify this sorry state of affairs, one so simple and perfect and right for us: We should have our own Omega-Level Oscar award! And now that the Oscars air this Sunday, it’s time to unveil the competition for the inaugural (yes, I’m just going to assume there will be many, many more after this) Best Oscar-Picker award! Hit the jump if you want a piece of some OL Oscar glory.
Best of 2013–Eduardo Pluto’s Long-Winded and Late Picks
A week ago, I went out to dinner with a group of my friends. It was a memorable time, but it brought my year into focus—or rather, brought out its relative indistinctness. One friend, whom I hadn’t seen for a year, sat next to me during this festive occasion, and of course, having not spoken much to each other in some time, we decided to catch up. The problem was I didn’t have much to offer, so we were close to being caught up from the get-go. (It’s a wonder how I have any friends to begin with.)
The most pertinent conversation went like this:
“Hey, Eduardo! It’s great seeing you! So what have you been up to?”
“Not much.”
“Really?
“Ya, same old, same old, really.”
“I haven’t seen you in a year and nothing new has happened? I find that hard to believe.”
“Well, I’m a year older than I was the last time I saw you, so I guess that’s something.”
Fin.
Opinions Vary: Trolling Aliens
Although it is oftentimes bogged down by its own insular squabbling on this planet, humankind has a fascinating propensity to be open-minded about the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere. The unbelievable vastness of the universe coupled with the strangeness of our potentially singular existence within it seems to make many hesitant to commit to the conviction that we are alone. Rather, it’s more understandable to long for others to be with us. After all, if there’s a whole lot of life here, then surely it can conceivably happen somewhere else. And while some believe that here and elsewhere have already mixed and intelligent life forms have visited from afar to our pale blue dot, most supporters hold that there’s a better chance that aliens exist just outside our celestial periphery and will continue to do so until a future time when, with the assistance of technological and even social advancements, we might at last meet. But even without the realistic prospects of such a superior tomorrow in our sight, there remains a genuine willingness to take the necessary steps to get there, to reach out in the hope that we can commence a cosmic dialogue with anyone or anything that might be receptive to a human how-do-you-do.
Opinions Vary: Pop (Culture) Quiz, Hotshot!
Being funny is really difficult. In fact, it’s so difficult that I don’t even try to be funny (and my writing for Omega-Level records this abstention quite nicely). And to prove my dedication to humorlessness even more in this OV piece, I am going to do one of the least funny things a person can do: I will try to discuss some qualities of comedy methodically by submitting my sober thoughts on a comedic modus operandi that’s used today to an overwhelming degree: pop culture referencing. So, please, sit back and wallow in my unfunny criticism of pop culture comedy.
Opinions Vary: My Television Predicament
Rejoice, my friends! We are living in a golden age of television, when viewers have more and better options than ever before. There’s something for everyone, and that something is oftentimes quite impressive. In particular, dramatic narratives have become a go-to form for fans of creative story arcs and complex characters, presenting a more wide-ranging, novelistic approach to visual storytelling than even what most commercial films currently offer. And a pulp paragon of this form is Breaking Bad. It’s so defining, in fact, that some contemplate that it may be seen as this age’s end someday. But let’s be more optimistic than that. There is still a lot of quality TV-watching to be done and now that Breaking Bad has come to an end and fans of the show, myself included, start to turn to other shows, to find quality entertainment somewhere else, I think it’s a good time to explicate my strangely hesitant relationship with narrative television.
