AdamKontras.com - Christmas Randoms





month ever. 4:13 PM, Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014: I cannot remember the last randoms entry. Man there's a ton of stuff going on. 1) Sony Bony (would love it if ANYONE caught that reference) This has already been covered to death. Clooney basically said everything I was screaming (specifically the media covering the wrong story) and then some... and then Obama just knocked it out of the park having the balls to say it was a mistake to pull it. Wow. The one thing that hasn't really been covered was the move that could've "won" this for Sony and avoided so much drama: leadership. Had Sony simply replied to the threat like this: "We will not only release it theatrically, but we will do an industry first: day and date online. Instead of thousands of theaters premiering it, we will have millions." Throw it on iTunes on Christmas morning for $10 AND release it in theaters - suddenly all the pressure is off the theater owners. You just made too many targets. Then of course, the theater owners have actual power. If they wish not to show it, they're welcome to... but had Sony said that? In the 10 days leading up to the release, I guarantee you the threat and fear would've waned. That's what leadership does. It solves problems by giving everyone POWER. Sony didn't support the theaters AT ALL. They threw the hot potato at them and the theater owners said: "Well, yeah, fuck you - why are we propping this up? We've got a dozen other movies to play." Then Sony plays the victim "Well, if no one is gonna show it!!??!? We just have to pull it." Fuckouttahere. It was a great opportunity to be a LEADER. Granted the amount of bureaucratic tape that a 47,000 employee company would have to go through just to prepare such a release in a matter of days was staggering, but suffice to say - Sony has nothing even remotely as important as this hack. I hate missed opportunities. Now everything looks like backtracking, saving face. "WE DIDN'T BACK DOWN!" Oh yes you fucking did. Not backing down would've been releasing it in a million theaters and most likely changing the entire movie industry RIGHT at that moment. You could've been a leader. Ugggggggggggggh what an opportunity lost. 2) I Can't Breathe I've stayed out of these debates for the most part online because I've already had them. My uniquity in these arguments is I believe the Michael Brown case is grey as fuck and the Eric Garner case is clearly negligent homicide. Everyone seems to lump it all into one pile and it makes me a little crazy. I can't talk about one without everyone assuming I'm on a "side" and my biggest frustration (as it was with Sony) is that the media sucks SOOOOOOOOOO much at their job. You don't prop up the Brown case and make it the symbol of police oppression when there's dozens of cases that are CLEAR AS DAY unless you're just looking for a fight. Do you want to shine light on a problem? Or do you want entertaining television? No matter what witnesses were lying or what could've been proven or disproven in a trial - there wasn't enough evidence to convict Wilson. Not even close. I do believe that in every case where a policeman kills someone who ends up being unarmed there should be a trial, but in this case? Wilson's story matches up with the forensics and the everyone acting like where Mike Brown's hands were at the end know nothing about the law. Unless Brown was shot in the back? Wilson is clear by virtue of the altercation at the car. That's just the way it is... so move onto the DOZENS OF OTHER CASES where it's completely black and white and we can make an actual change. Body cameras are a HUGE step. Mandatory trials for every death of an unarmed assailant would be a HUGE step and finally? Retraining our police staff. As I showed in the Powell video I stabalized a couple months back - the training is WAY off. And hell, that kid had a knife so it wouldn't fall under the parameters of a trial, but it shouldn't - it should change the way we train our police. Love, love, love Rose/James/Bryant rocking those shirts. This is a legit issue and as much as people didn't like the "I CAN BREATHE" (because I didn't commit a crime) shirts the cops wore, they have a place in this discussion and when we ignore or scream at that side we no longer grow. I still contend that social media makes our world so small that the last moments of our race issues get blown out of the fucking water. This isn't 1975... but Facebook can certainly make it seem like it. And don't get me started on the politicizing of the cops that were just killed. Crazy fucker killed his girlfriend AND himself and took people with him. That's all this is. Absolute tragedy and why I appreciate cops that put their lives on the line each day. 3) Boys vs. Girls There's a group of people on this planet that make me very, very tired. That's an old man's way of saying "I fucking hate these people"... except I'm just too exhausted to drum up that type of passion. So I just say they make me tired. Those people are the ones that demand gender equality for all toys to the point of ignoring their own children. Because whether they like it or not? Statistically speaking? Vienna is gonna like princess stuff and Cameron is gonna like cars. Most parents know this whether or not they say it publically. The difference between boys and girls is so immediate it can shock you if you happen to have a headspace in the "total gender equality" realm of the world. Now as humans, of course you all know how often I'm arguing for equality. This whole "toy" issue however is nauseating. Your kids will tell you who they are if you stop telling them who they should be. Listen, I would love to have the boy that wants to wear a dress and I say "FUCK YEAH! Let's wear a dress" and we go out and turn heads and I'm that COOL dad (I type this rolling me fucking eyes because of just how arrogant this action would really be). But the chances of that are extremely slim. And to start? I'm going to hand my kids what will most likely fall into the boy or girl category as a freaking numbers game. 95% chance Vienna is gonna like Frozen. <shrugs> Turn it on? SHE LOSES HER FUCKING MIND. "Anna! Elsa! Anna Elsa!" all damn day. She is also fascinated by puzzles and doing things that require extreme dexterity beyond her years. She obsesses over it. She stacks things like it's "A beautiful mind" up in her head and seems driven by numbers. Very engineer-like. How wonderful to see her literally SHOW US who she is. We will follow that lead for sure. But to try and force your kid one way or another because it's more "progressive" is about as stupid as telling your kid they CAN'T do something because they're one gender or another. Shut up and let 'em live. This video is a perfect example to me. Vienna, although I always let her fall and tumble around GolfKon and she was quite advanced at climbing early on, would come up to a slide and be cautious. Here's what Cam does, and fucker isn't even ONE yet. He can barely stand. Yet he does this: Throws his ass down that slide head first laughing all the way. Oh my fucking JESUS that video is hilarious to me. THAT is boy vs. girl in all its glory. Vienna actually has some boys in her mommy & me class that I noticed this with. I would speak to the moms and they'd say "Oh yeah, boys are fucking insane. They will throw themselves out a window if you don't watch 'em." Dude, it's the truest thing ever. Of course there are examples where these genders are reversed but again, statistically it's silly to force that reversal. It's also silly to act like there aren't MASSIVE DIFFERENCES between genders. Turn off your brain and just observe for a little bit. Clear as day. And holy shit is it going to be a challenge to keep these little fuckers alive next year. Ha. 4) Lights AND Santa Talk about 2 birds. This was intitally going to be an entry completely about seeing the infamous LA Christmas lights in a certain neighborhood and happening upon a house where a dude just had a freaking sleigh and allowed you to take pictures with Santa there without a line or anything.... but there's so damned much stuff to cover and we're running out of #s in the 1400s. Of course we had to break it up a bit, Cam was totally cool: ...though totally confused... Vienna needed Dada to be with her: ...and was decidedly not cool. And unfortunately we didn't have a cameraman (or the lovely selfie stick) to get all of us, but it was spur of the moment. If you're in LA, google whatever the hell you would google to find the christmas light block in the valley for next year. Or better yet, don't. It was crowded as fuck and we'd like to do it again without so many damn people. ;-) Merry Christmas indeed. 5) Facebook Status/Thread opener last week: I'm writing this at night and after a cocktail because I'm not entirely certain I'm right, but it's the truth. Vienna is 2. And a very newly turned 2 at that (9/28). We were at a little indoor playground last week in a mall where a little boy, probably 5 or 6 pushed her from walking up a slide, She stood there a little stunned as he progressed ahead of her. Since she was on the slide when the push occured I came up to them fearing she would fall. Normally I let everything play out (all the way to a fall) before I intervene. I'm apparently big on my kids falling on their ass and learning to get back up. This time was different. A BOY pushed my kid and she didn't fight back. This is what happened verbatim: "Vienna..." now in my arms and me whispering in her ear... "...if someone ever puts their hand on you? You FUCK THEM UP. Do you understand what I'm saying? Don't you EVER let someone push you around. STAND. YOUR. GROUND." She looked off into the distance absolutely bewildered and I realized my parenting moment was EASILY 2 years early... but it kinda shocked me. I didn't want to kill that fucker (well part of me did)... I wanted HER to pummel that fucker off of her the MOMENT he tried to overpower her. I said "FUCK" to my 2 year old daughter. What on earth got into me? I set her down and she continued playing with him (and only him) until we left. Proving the "bad boy" will always be the initial target. But I stood back absolutely stunned at how quickly I was ready to tell her "OH FUCK NO - YOU KNOCK THAT BASTARD BACK BEFORE YOU EVER LET HIM AHEAD OF YOU." I have no idea if I was right. In fact, I'm almost certain she was right in letting the bull power through and her going 2nd. But man was it immediate. Still can't believe I said "fuck" to my daughter like she would understand. ""...if someone ever puts their hand on you? You FUCK THEM UP. Do you understand what I'm saying?" No she doesn't, she's 26 months old you dumbass. LOL. Parenthood is fun. The responses were supportive - other parents telling their own stories of similar situations. This isn't the first time it has come up and I honestly usually back off and let the two kids work it out even if she's being bullied. It was only because she was ON the slide when pushed that I jumped. And man, I really did lose it for a second. Your brain snaps. Vienna is usually quite good in these situations though. She just stares at the kid like "the fuck is wrong with you" as he barrels through and she just waits until she can get her turn. Cam is in the same HOUSE as her and she has a temper tantrum, but a boy hits her on a slide and she's like "Whatever." Saddest part? He became her boyfriend the rest of the playtime. She played with him and only him laughing the whole time and chasing each other. Draw on that what you will. (sigh) 6) Awesome Guests With a little friend-hopping on Facebook I was able to get in touch with 2 guests I literally cannot wait to interview. It goes along with the theme of being known for something ridiculously minor and long ago, but being fascinating beyond that. Scut Farkus (red-head bully) from A Christmas Story played by Zack Ward and Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch played by Robbie Rist. Overjoyed about both of these guys. I've seen interviews with both of them and have found them extremely intelligent and most important: incredibly self-aware of how silly their infamy is. Both Robbie and Zack have incredibly long IMDB credits and work all over the industry and Robbie in particular revels in how hilarious it is that his character is part of television LORE. He's the ultimate "Jumping The Shark" move: pulling a "Cousin Oliver" where a sitcom just throws in a new character at the end of a run signifying they're out of ideas. I mean, Cousin Oliver was the fucking worst. I specifically remember watching reruns of Brady Bunch episodes and when he came in my Uncle Tim and I were like "What the fuck is this?". He's only on 6 episodes, kid worked 6 weeks and he's a legend. Love it. Zack and I were trying to pull off his episode TODAY so I could have it ready for Christmas but he's just so swamped. We're gonna do it after the holidays and make-belive. :-) 7) Jedi in Waiting I did a locked entry last month that was seemingly going to come to fruition (or not) within days. Alas, nothing has happened and I don't have the power to force the issue without over-stepping my bounds. It involves radio and Mo'Kelly helpin' me out and it's a pretty perfect opportunity considering my life right now raising the kids. In fact, it's so perfect it took my breath away. However I know this business well, and you have to push and push to be the one that gets in - and I have no way of doing that. Mo has made them aware of my interest (as he was the one who referred me) but until they say "Let's bring him in", this just isn't going to happen. So it's still a maybe... it's still out there - but if I were a betting man I would simply chalk it up to this: Morris Will O'Kelly is a stand-up dude who thought of me for an opening and I will not forget that. He takes friendship and loyalty very seriously, he has always been hyper-aware of those around him that act professionally and I am in that group. I dig that he "gets it" when it comes to things like grammar, how you represent yourself, how you speak, how you conduct business. Those are crucially important things to me as well and I feel that's not something that is valued the way it once was. So I'm glad we're on the same team and eventually - something will come of that. I'm gonna let this one float away for the time being and focus my energy to other things in the new year, but thank you Mo. You rock. 8) Oh Mo! Speaking of Mos, I never mentioned it on The Journey but I confirmed Mo Collins! Also supposed to be this month but things got crazy. Finally a woman on Hats & Minigolf. Oh and Jerry Adler got booked in a show on broadway so he's pushed well into 2015 if ever. He so rarely gets out to LA, this would've been the only time. We'll see though. But yeah, the guests for H&M thing is going very, very well. 9) Oh yeah, a car. Seriously, every single one of these randoms could've been an entry. So much stuff going on: we bought a car. A car that was such a good deal I thought I had just bought a stolen car. Thankfully after dealing with all the registration stuff today, it was not stolen merchanidise - it was simply fantastic timing (a guy getting divorced, just bought a sports car, wanted to get rid of the family mobile). Also, when the guy got the car from the dealership in 2010, he didn't do the correct papaerwork with the DMV which made all his registration so the DEALER as the lienholder. So for several hours after I purchased the car, I believed there was still a lien against it and got so stressed out I am now actually feeling sick. Fucking hell. Again, everything is fine, but whew. What a dumbass (me AND the dude who didn't do the paperwork). Anyway, so for the first time in my life, I am the owner of something other than a Toyota. 2007 Ford Explorer for roughly half of what the lots around the city were charging. Spectacular interior and exterior... 7000+ pound towing capacity since it's a V8 for towing The Delorean - just can't ask for anything more. Kids have a bit more room... life is good. Also still have the Camry, so we're good on all counts. And it's black. Goddamn I love a black car. Alright, got a few more I could add, but I actually need to hit #1499 by the end of this month so I'm gonna hold off. ;-) Giddy-up. Missed doing randoms. Good times. Adam