When 3 year old Sara went with her father to the most famous hotel in the country, the Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel, no one knew that she was moving toward her own death. A while after entering the hotel, she was not the jolly, playful child anymore but a cadaverous mass stranded between life and death. She was electrocuted on the floor of the hotel while she played there with a few other kids and now is lying on deathbed in a hospital awaiting God’s mercy to return her to life.

It is Meher Bokhari of SAMAA TV again, the one journalist in Pakistan who raises issues that no other dares to raise, who in her popular show News Beat, dated June 08, 2010, shook up the entire nation once again by covering the story of 3 year old Sara, the victim of the country’s most famous hotel’s negligence, telling how the poor child went with her father to the PC hotel in Lahore on 29th May, 2010. As her father sat at a table, Sara and a couple of other kids were attracted to the aquarium in the hotel’s hall. Fascinated by the colorful fish swimming in the aquarium, Sara and the kids imitated the act of swimming on the hotel’s floor, entirely unaware of death lurking next to her.

There, rolling and playing fish on the floor, Sara received a life-threatening electric shock from a decorative light. Her father’s glance caught sight of the child lying motionless on the floor. He rushed to his baby and found her lifeless, her pulse and heartbeat miles away. And when he asked for help, to his shocking disappointment, this topmost hotel of the country had no arrangement for an ambulance or any first-aid specialist, not even an ordinary doctor or any kind of emergency service that would get the poor child some quick medical help.

The unfortunate father had to pick his dying daughter up in his own arms and rush to the nearest hospital to save her life. Later, he would shift her to a major hospital with the help of an ambulance that arrived after much effort. Now, poor Sara is struggling for her life in coma for over 10 days while her parents are praying for her day and night. Meher Bokhari almost cried for the suffering of the child, and the nation cried with her. People called on phone to express their sympathies with the parents and prayed for Sara. But what about the hotel and the authorities?

Well, it turns out that the hotel has altogether denied the girl receiving an electric shock. While the doctor’s reports clearly mark electrocution as the cause of the injury, the hotel management states that it may be due to something the girl swallowed accidentally. The high position holders in the hotel didn’t even commiserate with the miserable parents. Sara’s uncle tried to file a report of criminal negligence against the hotel (it was over 200 volts of electric potential flowing through that lighting item, instead of harmless 10 or 12 volts, on the floor) but the police refused to file an FIR.

And media? The media that we consider the voice of the nation? They have been silent. Maybe they themselves would like to tell what gagged their mouths. But Kudos to Meher Bokhari and to SAMAA TV who brought this issue up and broke the apathetic silence over the tragedy – the silence that electrocutes worse than Sara. It is worth mentioning that during the show, a man with job experience in hotel management called and told Meher that these fancy hotels have no arrangements of any kind for dealing with an emergency and their staff is instructed to deny any responsibility on the management’s behalf in such cases.

Sara’s wounds are on the nation’s consciousness. She is stranded between life and death. Anyone reading this post is requested to pray for her, to wish her life. Her parents, so noble that during the entire show they didn’t say a even single bitter thing against anyone but just kept asking all to pray for their daughter, deserve all the prayers and good wishes of this nation.

This horror story is yet to appear in mainstream media (if at all). And of course, the next time you think of going to a fancy hotel in Lahore, please go in your personal ambulance to save yourselves the trouble of finding first aid in case your child’s life is endangered.

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Simple Fact #1: We already have social programs in this country. Passing universal healthcare will not turn us all into communists.

Simple Fact #2: If you are a diehard Republican all you care about is yourself. That’s a sorry existence. Why shouldn’t there be a healthcare safety net for everyone? If you were poor you would want one and if you are a poor Republican in the current context of the party, well you’re being used for your vote because nobody cares about you.

This all comes down to Republicans playing politics. The party has decided it hates Obama and they refuse to vote for anything he puts on the table no matter how beneficial to the American people. Great for the party’s image of “standing up against all things liberal,” but bad for the country. I don’t care what party you belong to, if you don’t have the interest of the people at the forefront of your agenda, you don’t deserve re-election and a paycheck.

Believe it or not ‘fiscal conservatives,’ preventative care saves money over time because many of the catastrophic treatments and surgeries that are so expensive don’t happen when people are properly treated. Conservatives seem so gung ho over preemptive attacks regarding war, but when it comes to preemptive attacks on disease and health issues they cry communism.

There was an older gentleman walking around my hometown this past weekend wearing a large shirt that read: No Obama Care. The graphic on the shirt displayed a large red star and hammer and sickle. First of all this guy is clearly old enough to be collecting SOCIAL security and he was walking with a bit of a limp so there is reason to believe he is using MEDICAID. Those are both social programs. If he really wants to be hardcore about it he should just kill himself instead of taking his weekly government check and buying an XXXL shirt and red and black textile paint.

The reality is that healthcare companies are charging outrageous sums to cover individuals. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s profit was in the billions in 2009. Not revenue, PROFIT! In five years my monthly rate jumped 200%. Is that consistent with the rate of inflation? I think not. There have to be protections set in place by the government because in this instance the market is not controlling itself.

Healthcare is a concern for the government because it deals with the people. The government is in place by the people to protect the interests of the people. That is the point. Nobody complains that we have a program to protect us from foreign invaders (the military) so why not have a program that protects us from falling ill and dying?

The gloom and doom is all rhetorical bullshit. There were over 200 Republican amendments to the healthcare bill, which proves that they were willing to work on it and they knew it would pass, but they wouldn’t vote for it in order to keep up the image that they are determined to fight all things Obama.

Now they are threatening not to work with Democrats on other thing such as climate change. How old are you people? Do we have a bunch of first graders on the Republican side of the house and senate? You’re going to sulk like spoiled children when they get their toy taken away? Man up.

You are there to work for the American people. Never forget that.

I believe John McCain rode off into the sunset crying: “You haven’t heard the last from me on this issue.” No shit John, you never shut-up. When is the alien controlling that geriatric robot body of yours going to call it quits?

-The Wanderboy

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Anyway, after seeing a movie, I quickly rate it and write a very brief review, while it’s all still fresh in my mind. I don’t allow myself to ever change a rating or edit the intial review, as I want them to be raw and uninfluenced by outside opinion. In other words, these are my very first thoughts after finishing a film.

The Matties tend to award smaller, lesser known films, that take a chance and do something new. The idea being to open up some people to some films that they wouldn’t typically see. This year, the first two movies on the list are probably two that you didn’t see. They are both gut wrenching tragedies that will tear you up. I strongly recommend a box of tissues for either.

Enjoy.

1. Gardens of the Night. 9.5 (from 2008). Starring Tom Arnold and Gillian Jacobs (Community). Saddest movie I’ve seen in a long time. Young Leslie is kidnapped and turned into a child prostitute. Her only friend is a boy who is also kidnapped. Their life is hell and once they hit puberty they become no use to their kidnappers and are dumped. They become homeless, and knowing only one thing, they embrace it and start working the streets, prostituting themselves to survive. Their parents are looking for them, but how do you go home after ten years of that kind of life? What is home? This movie was real and important, shedding light on an issue in our communities, child prostitution, that is often ignored in our society.
2. The girl next door. 9.4. This movie, starring and unknown cast, and based on a true story, shows the true evil nature of human kind better than any other movie I’ve ever seen. The pure evil incarnate in these people is absolutely mind blowing and almost impossible to believe that it truly happens in real life. However, it is and it does, and as sickening as it was to watch, movies like this are important for us to watch, to better understand life and how evil humans can be. Superbly acted and great adaptation of the Jack Ketchum novel, based on a true story.
3. Freedom Writers. 9.4. (from 2007). Hillary Swank. When this movie came out, despite hearing good things, I avoided it, because it was formulaic, and nothing shows a greater lack of respect for the artistic process than ripping a plot from someone else. However, it was late on a Sunday, and it came on, so I watched. WOW. Great movie. You know the story- gang bangers in a troubled school, saved by ambitious teacher-coach-principle-whatever. This movie was different though. Instead of just blaming whitey for blackie’s problems (which are part of the problem), it focused more on the demons in the inner city: poverty and ignorance. In our inner cities here in LA, it’s blacks versus Mexicans versus Koreans, etc. There isn’t much of white versus black, because there aren’t too many whites in the ghetto. These racial groups team up together because there is safety in numbers, because they don’t know any better, and because poverty breeds this kind of stuff. The ghetto is kind of like prison, and when you go to prison the first thing they tell you is to stick with your own. If we are ever going to fix this problem in society we need more educators that give a shit, more politicians willing to spend money in the ghetto schools, and new curriculums that are paramount to these kids. This movie made me cry no less than five times. That’s a home run in my book. And it’s a true story. I’m all over that book. I’d have it rated higher, but it did follow that formula, so I’ve got to knock it down a few notches.
4. Away We Go. 9.3. Starring John Krazinski. Written by David Eggers. A young couple is seeking stability in life, to prepare for the birth of their child. They travel the country looking for the perfect home, and along the way they begin to question themselves and fear what parenthood might have in store for them, eventually coming to the conclusion that all they can do is to love their baby, and the rest is beyond their control. A must see for any expecting parents.
5. Good Dick. 9.3. 2008. Mariana Palka and Jason Ritter. A woman, with an obviously shattered past, and an addiction to soft-core porn, lives as a shut-in, living off her rich daddies dollar and watching movies all day. A man with a history of drug abuse, falls in love with her, and pursues her, against all her hateful resistance. To say anymore would spoil this movie, and I don’t want to do that. It was a very unique film that held my interest with rapt attention, until it all came together to make sense, in the end.
6. The Soloist. 9.2. Starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. Incredible individual acting performances. The writing and Jamie Foxx’s performance took me to the very edge. I felt like a gentle shove would have pushed me over the edge and into his world. The schizophrenic gibberish he was speaking started making sense, and that takes incredible writing and an amazing performance to pull that off. More than anything I walked away from this movie feeling uncomfortable and in need of some clear answers that we are incapable of getting before death. Great flick, but make sure you’re in good spirits before you see it.
7. Where God Left His Shoes. 9.2. Excellent movie, superbly acted. Frank, Angela and their two children end up homeless after Frank’s boxing career suddenly ends. Frank is unable to get another job due to his hidden inability to read, and lack of any other skills. John Leguizamo (highly underrated actor) is superb, as is the supporting cast. This movie follows Frank, on a single day, as he tries to get an apartment for his family on Christmas Eve, to avoid spending the night on the streets. Two years ago I would have found this movie to be beautiful, emotional, well done, and entertaining. Today, on the verge of starting my family, I find it to be terrifying and honest. With our faltering economic situation, it shows how quickly a family can end up in a situation like this, and how fragile the netting can be when you fall.
8. The Hunting Party. 9.2. Starring Jessie Eisenberg, Richard Gere, and Terrence Howard. Bosnian war criminal, the most wanted in the world, has been on the lam for five years with the CIA and United Nations “looking” for him. He manages to avoid all of them, but is somehow found by three journalists in just three days. This story is based on the real situation of Bosnian war criminals whom have never been brought to justice by the US or UN, and urban legend that one was captured by reporters and left for dead in a town that he once raped and pillaged. A parallel between this story and our “hunt” for Osama Bin Laden could be made by a conspiracy lover.
9. WALL-E. 9.2. Best Pixar movie ever. Fun kids movie that adults will enjoy too for its social commentary on subjects such as social apathy, becoming a world full of lazy techno-addicted obese people, protecting our earth, and the ultimate necessity of love.
10. 500 Days of Summer. 9.1. Starring Zoey Deschannel and Joseph Gorden Lovitt. Great story about love, told unsequentially, which when done well like this, is very beneficial. Great acting, good storyline, great art direction. A must see
11. Frost/Nixon. 9.1. Starring Frank Langela. Somehow this movie made me feel pity on Nixon. Very well done. Great portrayal by Langela
12. I Love You Man. 9.1. Just hilarious movie about the bond between men. Anyone who’s ever had a best friend will laugh their ass off on this one
13. Hump Day. 9.0. Indy film about two long lost friends, one married, and one a single world travel, both straight, who end up at a party where they end up daring each other into making a porn with each other. At first, it is just a joke, but as the two begin to dive into the many facets of their personality, they decide that doing it is important on many levels. Very interesting and funny.
14. Marley and Me. 9.0. Not usually my type of movie, this man loves dog family comedy couldn’t have been more relevant to my life. I was in tears. Every bit as good as Old Yeller
15. Reporter. 9.0. 2009. Documentary about reporter Nicholas Kristoff investigating the Congo. This blew my mind. I decided that this reporter nick kristoff, is my second adult idol in life. He has reached the pinnacle of what a writer or humanitarian can accomplish in life. In this documentary, kristoff goes into the Congo to interview warlords and the victims of these wars. What is going on in Africa is so horrible, and it’s so sad that so few people in America truly understand or get it. I’ve traveled quite a bit, even to third world countries, and I still had a hard time wrapping my mind around this stuff. watch it
16. Whatever it Takes. 8.9. Starring Larry David. Great script. This movie, about a physics genius who is losing out to the certainty of ultimate despair, finally gets some real meaning in his life. Woody Allen playing the lead role would have made this movie great.
17. Doubt. 8.9. 2008. Just a phenomenally acted movie about the Catholic Church and the uncertainty that always clouds it, concerning priests and sexual harassment of altar boys. This was based on a true story.
18. Shattered Glass. 8.8. Starring Hayden Christenson. A true story about a journalist who wrote for the New Republic that fabricated all of his stories. A great tale of caution for anyone looking to get into journalism
19. Bruno. 8.8. Sasha Baren Cohen hits another out of the park. His absurd characters go a long way in displaying the irrational fears Americans have of minorities like blacks, gays, and middle easterners.
20. In the Time of the Butterfly. 8.8. 2009. Starring Selma Hayek. Story of Dominican dictator who killed over 30,000 of his own, and the brave woman (the butterfly), and her followers, who fought against him, to the death.
21. Fugitive Pieces. 8.7. A move about a holocaust survivor who longs for his dead family. And how love heals.
22. Incendiary. 8.5. 2009. Starring Michelle Williams and wan McGregor. Woman loses son and husband in a terrorist blast to soccer stadium while in the middle of an affair.
23. My Sisters Keeper. 8.4. Starring Abigail Breslen and Cameron Diaz. Was expecting a chick flick, and instead got a film posing a good moral debate. Abigail Breslen is Kate, a girl genetically engineered to be a biological match for her sick sister, so that she can give her “parts” when needed. Well done, and they didn’t go for the cheesy Hollywood ending, which is always points with me.
24. The Fourth Kind. 8.4. This movie was so well done that it had me convinced that it really was real video based on a real story.
25. Crossing Over. 8.4. Starring Harrison Ford. Done in the style of Crash, this movie follows several illegal immigrants trying to get Green Cards, and the government officials that stand in their way. Excellent movie telling all sides of the story, without showing any bias or taking a position.

Best Actor:

1. Jamie Foxx. The Soloist. 9.7
2. John Leguizamo. Where God Left His Shoes. 9.4
3. Jason Ritter. Good Dick. 9.1
4. Frank Langela. Frost/Nixon. 9.0
5. Shia LeBouf. A Guide to Knowing Your Saints. 9.0

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Tom Arnold. Gardens of the Night. 9.3
2. Phillip Seymour Hoffman. (2008) Doubt. 9.1
3. Robert Downey Jr. The Solosit. 8.8
4. Robert Downey Jr. A Guide to Knowing Your Saints. 8.7
5. Joshua Leonard. Hump Day. 8.5

Best Actress:

1. Michelle Williams. Incendiary. 9.5
2. Meryl Streep. (2008) Doubt. 9.4
3. Jessica Biel. Powder Blue. 9.0
4. Mariana Palka. Good Dick. 9.0
5. Anne Hathaway. Rachel Getting Married. 9.0

Best Supporting Actress

1. Ryan Simpkins. Gardens of the night. 9.1
2. Abigale Breslen. My Sisters Keeper. 8.7
3. Mo’Nique. Precious. 8.6
4. Maggie Gyllenhall. Crazy Heart. 8.5
5. Kristen Stewart. Cake Eaters. 8.2

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There are about ten people who run the world.

These ten people are made up of ten of the wealthiest men in the world.

The control our governments, have more power than the President, and control our media.

These people are part of the conservative movement.

And unless you are one of them, you should favor the liberal position in 99% of all economic issues (and almost all issues come down to economics)

Through the years, I’ve taken just about every piece of proposed legislation to you, and broken it down for that specific piece. But now I’m going to come at it from a different angle, one that is more broad, to see if maybe that will help to convince a few more of you.

The uber wealthy- these men I speak of who run the world, they didn’t get into the position they are in by being good ethical people. Their ascension to power was one that was bloody. There is a finite amount of resources in this world, and to accumulate the amount of resources that these singular individuals acquire for themselves, directly leads to others having much much less. It leads to others dying of starvation. These people who acquire all this money and power do not use ethical means to get where they are. And these people, who have this power and money, aren’t interested in social issues, religious issues, any issues. All they are interested in is taking more from us and putting it in their pockets.

These people have taken over our government. Republican or Democrat, these people own them. They buy politicians by funding their campaigns. Then, the politicians owe them and vote in their favor.

Their goal is to take and take and take until they have it all. And to do that they need to continue to deregulate the restrictions on their corporations, expand the 1200 page tax code to include more and more loopholes for their multi-billion dollar corporations, and get rid of all trade restrictions.

And you know what? The Republican champion, Ronald Regan, the person that they handpicked, the person whom they’ve told you is the greatest President of all time, is the same one who started doing all of the things they wanted, all of the things I just mentioned.

But it wasn’t just Regan. It was Bush, the Clinton, and then Bush again, getting rid of all the regulation that had been put in place by FDR, after the last collapse of the economy. FDR saved our butts. And now we are just about back in the same position as we were before he took over. We don’t have much longer to get somebody back in there to fix it all again and put restrictions on these companies.

But maybe the most frustrating thing in all this is that these uber elite wealthy not only control government, but they control the minds of so many of our citizens as well. How? A few ways:

1. Spending zillions on propaganda.
2. Owning multi-media.

One of these powerful men I speak of, one of the men who is truly running the world, is Rupert Murdoch. Rupert Murdoch has more money than God. He also owns a lot of media. Fox news is one of the media outlets that he owns. Ever wonder why Fox media leans so hard to the right? It’s because that is in the best interest in Rupert Murdoch.

They also control the churches, because they understand that if they control the churches, they control even more votes. Again, they do this with large amounts of money and by making deals to support certain social issues (which they don’t care about, like abortion), in exchange for the church peddling their ideas. Now, I’m gonna stop with this idea, concerning the churches, because I know this is a hot button issue and I’ll lose a lot of people before I have them. So let’s move on.

Let’s talk about the tea party.

The people of the tea party movement are angry, and I understand their anger, because I’m angry too. I’m angry about the same things as them. The middle class is dying, our economic situation is turning more and direr by the minute, and it’s frustrating. However, they are directing their anger in the wrong direction. Where their anger needs to be directed at is the one and only minority that is really a true threat to our well-being-

The uber elite.

However, that’s not where they are taking out their frustration. The tea party is going after Obama and his “socialist” movement. Do you know who funds the Tea Party? The same people who I’m talking about at the top of this blog. The wealthiest men in the world.

The Republican mantra is that they want government so small that he could drown it in a bathtub.

That would not be a good thing.

The function of government is to protect the best interest of the greater good and to keep any one group from gaining too much power.

Yes, government has failed us. They have allowed these transnational corporations to take all the power. But deconstructing government is not how you fix that. Deconstructing government just gives these corporations exactly what they want. More power. Less regulation.

These people have zero ethics. They don’t care about anything. We need our government to protect us from them.

The first thing we have to do is take our government back from these politicians who are in the back pockets of these men.

The next election, the Senate races of 2010, don’t vote Republican. Don’t vote democrat. Find a politician who does not have his campaign funded by a transnational corporation and vote for that person. These are the people we need to put into government. And we have to do it now. We are running out of time.

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If my car was to start accelerating and I could not stop it the FIRST thing I would do is put it in neutral. You know, that big N on your shifting column? If you slide the shifter into that position, which you can do from drive on a Toyota and I know because I own one, it disengages the transmission. When the transmission is disengaged there is nothing powering the drive train i.e. your car will start slowing down. The engine would rev with the accelerator stuck, but you’re not accelerating anymore. Worst case scenario slam the damn shifter into park and ruin your transmission – at least you’ll be alive.

A few days ago a Pruis sped out of control on the San Diego Freeway and the driver slammed on the brakes, the cops got in front of him and did the same so that the car slowed down to 50 mph and he was able to turn it off. Why not flip that little shifter into neutral and hit the brakes? I didn’t read anything in the report of that incident that cited the driver unsuccessfully attempting to put the car in neutral. Just seems to make sense.

It is a bit ironic because at present the company seems to be stuck in the same position you should put your over-accelerating Toyota in: neutral. If Toyota weren’t so massive they would likely be done. Even now Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Nissan seem to be ramping up advertisements although they’re not keying in on the failure because they all know this sort of thing could happen at any time to any car company and then they would look like idiots to the general public. Nissan actually had a recall of its own a couple weeks ago.

Now Toyota is running a bunch of ads about loyal customer having bought Toyota’s recently and ensuring would be new car buyers that the company is safe and reliable. The campaign comes across as fake and Toyota is likely going to spend quite a bit of time cleaning up this mess and rebuilding its image.

The braking issue is entirely different. I suppose if you put the car in neutral it would start slowing down, but there’d be no way to stop immediately without brakes. You got your work cut out for you on that one Toyota.

On a side note, David Letterman did a skit with a Japanese guy pretending to be the CEO of Toyota on Tuesday night. It was not funny and was downright racist. I get that those nightly talk shows are looking to be more edgy, but if you’re going to do it at least make it kind of funny. There was nervous laughter and clapping afterwards, but probably just because of the big light up signs in the studio that tell people to do so. Come on Dave, you’re better than that.

-The Wanderboy

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Joseph Matthew Nespoli is the author of the recent novel Broken (World Audience Publishers, New York, 2010), a book that tells the stories of several characters with broken lives. Whether they can fix their lives to emerge from the broken state of being is the main point of the book. Following is a brief interview with Matt about Broken.

Ernest: Hello Matt, your first novel Broken is out now. Would you like to tell our readers what is it about?

Matt: Broken is about you and me. It’s told from the point of view of fourteen different characters, all of whom have run to California. It’s about our human nature to seek out others like ourselves, and our need for human companionship and love. The characters in Broken are all extremely varied from one another, so everyone reading it will find at least one character whom they can relate to, which makes the story much more personal to the reader.

Ernest: How long did it take you to write the book since the conception of its idea and what inspired its creation?

Matt: There was no conception of an idea for this novel. It just kind of happened. I was traveling the country, a bit of a nomad, hopping from state to state, staying for three months and moving on. I met many other travelers along the way, and what I found is that most of them were running away from something every bit as much as they were running towards something new. With a little self-reflection, I realized I was doing the same thing. The characters are based on the people I met during my travels. I started journaling my travels, never intending to write a novel, but just trying to keep track of all these incredibly interesting people to help offset my horrific memory. The women in Broken are all based on girls that I’ve dated and the men’s personalities are a combination of guys I’ve met, and my own multi-faceted, complex, odd personality. I didn’t consciously decide to write the novel until I met a girl here in California, who inspired me and turned me on to literature. I based one of the main characters on her as well. It took me only about 2-3 months to write Broken, because I write very stream of conscious. I write it as I think it. However, after writing the first draft, it took about 12 months to edit it.

Ernest: You tell the life stories of a number of people from different backgrounds. Why did you prefer this style of mosaic of stories instead of a single plot followed all along like in most other novels?

Matt: It’s not necessarily that I preferred this style of storytelling; I didn’t even know that this type of storytelling had been done before. In fact, I feared that this style could make the story to confusing for the reader. However, it was the only way the story could be told. If I was going to get my message across to the reader, then each individual character had to be able to directly communicate his/her feelings with the reader. Writing from the perspective of fourteen people, and making sure they all had unique voices, was hard, but it was also the most fun aspect of it. And I believe it was successful because most readers find a character they can really relate to. Many people compare Broken’s style to that of “Crash”. That’s nice, because Crash was a great story; however, it also upsets me, because I wrote this long before Crash came out.

Ernest: The sampler available online at http://www.worldaudience.org/pdfs_samplers/Broken__Sampler_Scrd.pdf seems to show that the novel deals with the role of drug and sex in breaking people. How exactly does the novel treat this topic?

Matt: I chose some hard hitting topics like sexual abuse, drug abuse, and homelessness, because this is what I saw the most of when I traveled. These stories, these tragic pasts, are real, and I wanted to put something out there, for other victims of abuse to read, that would help them feel less alone in their own tragedy. You’d be surprised how many people in this country have fallen victim to abuse. Most people keep it to themselves because they don’t want others to view them in a negative light. I have a very non-threatening personality and for some reason, that I still don’t understand, many people feel comfortable opening up to me. I can’t tell you how many women have approached me with their stories of sexual abuse, both before this novel, and even more after it. However, Broken isn’t a downer; it’s not all hard-hitting and sad. Several of the characters, whom are also broken, have much less tragic pasts. But they are every bit as broken, because to them, it’s all they know. A character who has a bad relationship with his father, feels broken, and though he may not be a drug addict or a victim of sexual abuse, his pain is no greater or lesser than the woman who’s been sexually abused. The point is that everyone’s pain is personal and everyone’s pain is real, no matter how insignificant it may seem to the rest of us.

Ernest: Is Broken an upbeat book and does it have something important to show about healing or recovering from loss in life?

Matt: Well, yeah, that’s kind of the entire point. Broken stays true to real life and that some people find healing and happiness, but not everyone. The message that Broken tries to communicate is that we need each other. We all need love, and not necessarily of the romantic kind, but we all need love, someone to hold us, someone to tell our secrets to. It’s a rough life and can get lonely, and without someone to lean on, it’s nearly an impossible journey.

Ernest: Okay Matt, do you think your novel is more appealing to an adult male audience than women?

Matt: Honestly, I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking about that when I wrote it. I know that the women connect a lot more with the tragedy and romance in the novel and the men connect a lot more with the humor in it. One thing that I’m proud of is that there is something for everyone in it. It’s heavy hitting in spots, but I also try to keep very light and comedic tones throughout, and that was the benefit of writing from multiple points of view. Some of the characters are completely tragic and broken and see the world from a very pessimistic point of view. Others have very humorous takes on the exact same subject matter.

Ernest: Did you personally learn or gain anything significant while writing Broken?

Matt: I learned that I’m no different than anyone else. I too am broken, and through love, I have found my saving grace. Also, in writing, I’ve found some peace. Some people go to therapy to exorcise their demons, I write about mine.

Ernest: How do you compare your fiction writing experience with other kinds of article and essay writing that you practice on your site http://mattsnakedword.com/?

Matt: Now we’re talking about two completely different things. NakedWordSurfer.com was started for political reasons. I’ve grown very frustrated with the political landscape of this country. Corporate America has taken over government and we all sit, like passive little sheep, as the wealthy take more and more from the rest of us every year. The middle class is all but dead. So, I started this website to try to make a difference. However, my bride had a baby, and I found that fatherhood was extremely hilarious. So, I started writing little humor stories about my wonderful little kid, and when we got the numbers back on the site, we found that the humor blogs were being read about four times as much as the political stories. So, we’ve used those stories to rope people into the site, and then we try to keep them there to read our socio-political stories. We want to wake up America. We’ve found that it’s become very apathetic about things we should care about.

Ernest: So are you up for writing another novel in the near future?

Matt: Oh, absolutely! I’m currently working on a humor memoir about fatherhood as well as a screenplay about two brothers who love the same girl. Besides playing with my kid, kissing on my bride, and playing beach volleyball, writing is my favorite thing in life. I intend to write many more novels. However, I’m not going to allow myself to be pigeon-holed into any type of genre. I think Broken sort of defied all genres and maybe even invented a new one. Future novels may not be as ambitious as to invent a new genre, but I’ll never become complacent within any one genre. I’ve got ideas for romance novels, horror novels, political novels, humor novels, etc.

Ernest: Thank you Matt for taking the time for this interview!

Matt: Thank you! I love talking about Broken and I thank you for the opportunity.

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I’m eternally haunted by a story that mother-in-law has told me many times, more times than I would like to hear.

She was picking up my husband from Kindergarten and his teacher yelled to her across the parking lot “Mrs. Davidson! Mrs. Davidson, I need to talk to you!”  When the teacher approached, she said “You know that Kindergarten is NOT mandatory, right?” and then proceeded to discuss my husband’s difficult behavior while my mother-in-law listened, overwhelmed and mentally exhausted. I mean, seriously, who isn’t welcome in Kindergarten?

The reason the story haunts me is that I know this is my future. I feel like I’ve tried so hard to raise a child more like me – always the teacher’s pet, quiet, good listener, always willing to help. Starting at about the age of 12 months, I was told by my child’s daycare provider that he was hitting and pushing his friends.  Every morning when we drove to school I would have the same discussion with him “Do we hit Ava? No.  Do we hit Evan? No.  Do we hit Lukas? No.  Do we hit Jia? No.”  I was constantly told that it was a phase, that as he got older it would end.  The pediatrician recommended time outs.  I’ve bought every potentially helpful book out there, including No Hitting and Hands are Not for Hitting, and Let’s Share. To my sheer disappointment, none of these books have helped.  My son loves to read them, he will often ask for the No Hitting book, it’s a bedtime favorite.  Likewise, none of my conversations have made a difference.  If I ask my son whether it’s ok to hit his friends, he will respond with “No, it’s not okay.”  The next day, he will hit or push someone.

Today my fears came true.  I went to pickup my son and he was outside playing.  I asked the teacher how his day was.  She proceeded to tell me how he had been pushing the girls in class all day.  Specifically, he pushed the smallest girl in the neck and she fell into a bookcase, nearly knocking the wind out of her.  I almost cried.  I walked outside to where he was.  The other teacher came up to me and said “you know, I wrote on his report card but he has been pushing his friends a lot today, and I wanted to talk to you about what happened….” Thank god I was wearing sunglasses or I would have started bawling right there.  I said to her “I know, the other teacher already told me all the details.”  I got my son and I think she noticed I was bummed about it because she said “he had a really nice apology, with a big hug and it was really nice.”  Hmm, I guess at least he knows how to say he’s sorry?  When we got to the car, I said “Did you hit your friends today?” He replied “Yes.” I said “Is it ok to hit your friends?” He replied, “No, it is not okay.”  So the concepts are there but for some reason, they are not sticking.

Given everything I have been through, I wasn’t surprised to come home only to have the madness continue.  My son pushed his little brother over onto his head on the bathroom tile.  Then, as I gave them baths together, he stood up and peed right on his little brother’s head.  This prompted me to give him a time out, take away Thomas the Train for the night, and have several conversations on how we don’t push our brother or pee on our brother.  Will this work?  I don’t know, based on my historical experience I am not counting my chickens.

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There is a war going on people and it is a war that is taking place on Facebook.  The contest is between Nickelback and a lone pickle.

You know Nickelback: that douchey rock band from Canada that has somehow become popular despite playing the shittiest music since…well I don’t know, perhaps ever.  I remember a few years ago someone sent me a music file in which a DJ had mixed two Nickelback songs together so that one played from the left and the other from the right speaker.  There was no difference!  They were the same song with the same melodies and a couple different guitar rifts.  It was like Vanilla Ice arguing that he hadn’t completely ripped off Queen.  Come on.

And of course you know The Pickle: that tried and true salty cucumber friend lying dutifully next to the sandwich for centuries.  Whoever put the pickle up against Nickelback was smart because while it is an unassuming foe who doesn’t like pickles?

I am happy to report that the Pickle recently eclipsed Nickelback and currently has about 100,000 more friends than Chad Kroeger and company.  The best part is that it took less than a month for the gherkin to amass more pals and not only are they making t-shirts to celebrate the event, but someone also got a tattoo of The Pickle.

How humiliating as a band to work for years to build a fanbase and then have so many people dislike your crappy music that they become friends with a pickle – no offense my man – and in one short month said pickle blows you away not because it is so cool, but because you are so bad.

I don’t care what Nickelback says, or doesn’t say in response to this, a couple long-haired, tight shirt wearing rockers will be taking a long hard look in the mirror on that tour bus.

Whoever did this I salute you.  I think the next Facebook battle should be a Twinkie versus Rush Limbaugh.

Here is a link to The Pickle’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Can-this-pickle-get-more-fans-than-Nickleback/282013353726?ref=ts

-The Wanderboy

You like that blog?!  Read more at http://www.thewanderboy.com

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Brancheau had been “interacting” with the whale when the giant Orca, named Tikikum, jumped up, grabbed her by her ponytail, and began tossing her around mercilessly. She died from “multiple traumatic injuries” and hundred of spectators – including many children – found themselves affirmed of what they had been told on the tour; they are, in fact, Killer Whales.

This is not an isolated incident. Killer whales have a history of…well…killing. Tikikum has had blood on his fins in the past. He is personally responsible for the death of at least two other people. One of which was found naked, laying ontop of the 12,000 pound behemoth. Apparently, Tikikum just “wasn’t that kind of Orca”, and didn’t take kindly to the drunkard’s advances. The Chicago Tribune says that the whale is regularly kept in a separate tank, away from the others.

HNL has also mentioned the death of at least 22 other people in the past thirty of so years. That’s like taking a dead pool bet once a year on who’s going to be murdered. Reports of the amount of janitors murdered by this primitive creature are still pending. SeaWorld says that they are going to keep the whale, despite these findings.

As expected, the trainer-killing attractions have been temporarily shut down. But no worries, someone else’s little boy or girl will be traumatized next week
when they reopen. I’m almost willing to take the side of Bob Barker – a major animal rights activist, and perhaps an animal in his own right – as he urges the Parks to release the whales into the ocean.

Detectives are now investigating this as a homicide. There’s merit in that. If I left one of my young nephews with a pit bull, who’s foaming at the mouth and sniffing around for something to eat, I could be in the same predicament. Although, just maybe, if put a sign outside the door, indicating some sort of canine attraction – at a $1.50 a pop – I might be able to offer a legitimate defense when the police come hull my ass off to jail. Prosecutors are much more inclined to give you a break if you tell them there’s a business license involved. But I think in the end the Florida dics’ are going to come up with the same conclusion, and dismiss the whole ordeal as a rare occurrence, cite the insurance claim Ms. Brancheau signed before jumping in the tank, and be done with the entire thing. Treating this as a homicide is the right thing; it just won’t result in anything constructive.

Michael Harris, a professional in this sort of field, said in a recent interview, “Anybody who knows these whales, in the wild, like our whales out in Puget Sound, know that these whales travel 100-miles a day.” He further went one to say, “I mean, they’re constantly on the move.  You see them in large groups, sometimes up to 100 whales at a time…and you see them in the tanks in SeaWorld or other marine parks and there are a handful of them at best.” What he’s saying, for those not paying attention, is that these animals are constantly showing more and more psychotic behavior. And in the public arena, it’s and obvious danger.

There’s a reason why these professionals are warning against the domestication of wild animals. How many more people need to die? Or have their faces ripped off, as in the case of Charla Nash. How long will it be before we see lions being strapped up with leashes and taking a stroll around the block with their 70-year old owner? “Little Kitty was so sweet; he would never harm anybody – not even after he clawed at my throat and ripped my thyroid out.”

Email me at TheLastAnarchist@aol.com

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