Marcos' Philosophy 101 What is Philosophy?

I know I reserved this for last week but I can do it now.

So Welcome To Marcos' 101 Philosophy Course. Just the basic knowledge of the big ideas. (Trust me, they are vital and sometimes confusing depending on who you chose to read.)

So Let's start with 3 Important Questions

1) What is Philosophy?

2) What are the main branches of Philosophy?

3) What is the use of Philosophy?

What is Philosophy? Philosophy is simply Put, the literal love of knowledge from 2 Greek roots. But primarily it's a system of beliefs rooted in logic to understand the world around us.

I think might be too simplistic an answer but the gist is still the same. Philosophy allows us to look at the world more analytically and understand how the world works and what make us human. It's the vital essence of discovery primarily.

What are the main branches of Philosophy?
Philosophy has been divided into many specific categories of schools of interpretation, knowledge, and belief and it can all be pretty confusing as someone might talk of philosophy of science and mathematics or be a materialist or determinism, but just ignore all these primarily other than their names. I'll get into some of them later when we talk about ethics and the other branches.

In fact, Ethics is one of the main branches.

I categorized the main branches of Philosophy down to 5 Branches each with a question in need of an answer.

Metaphysics: What is the world made of and is it real?

Epistemology: How do we discover knowledge for ourselves?

Ethics: What Moral Code should I follow to lead me to a good life?

Politics: What social structure shall be used to govern the people?

Aesthetics: What is art/beauty and its purpose?

These 5 are just my personal opinion on the most important subjects since every philosopher must at least talk about these 5 branches once in their works, though sadly many have brushed aesthetics aside.

What is the use of Philosophy?

Like Religion, Philosophy is meant to be used as a guide for living a better life. It's to find solace in the difficult times and understand ourselves a lot more than the average person sees them self. It's to find meaning in our world and many atheists, such as myself, explore this world to find the answers and the purpose in our lives. Even the religious have used or studied philosophy, specifically their own religion and sometimes, other religions to gain understanding. Remember, Know Thyself.

Thanks for tuning in, Next week, we'll be looking at metaphysics and discussing the two most debated positions of metaphysics.

A Gamer's Halloween

Hey Darlings! I have good news! It's Friday the 13th! And what better way to do this than suggest games for all of you guys to play for the rest of Halloween. Today, I'm gonna suggest some of the video games I follow/am interested/played that fill the scares this Halloween. So get those controllers and get ready to face your monsters!

1) REsident Evil: This is the remake of the game, not the one where you are a "Jill Sandwich." Yeah, I know, its cheesy but all the dialogue was cheesy. "You the master of unlocking?" "Don't scare me! That's what I was gonna say!" Ok. I'm gonna try not to give back cringy memories of bad voice acting but lets face it, we all kinda loved it and learned not to make bad voice acting in gaming. Resident Evil was the game to revolutionize survival horror with limited ammunition and choices, a maze-like manor to survive the zombies from, and a couple of new add-ons to make the game still feel fresh. Let's hope REsident Evil 2 (RE meaning remake) follows a similar suit compared to the action packed Resident Evil 5 and 6. It's available for Gamecube, PS3, PS4, XBOX 360, and XBOX One.

2) The House of the Dead Series: This Light Gun Series used to scare me but then I realized it was just 1 and 2 with their low pixelization but still fun game play. This game has more bad voice acting "To protect the LIFE CYCLE!" "Our Emperor shall awaken soon, Hurry Friends." Just imagine Goldman's voice saying this and it's very very bad. But I did like the guy they chose for HOTD 4. But anyway, it's another zombie game but more action oriented than our previous game and there is HOTD 2 & 3 return for Wii and HOTD 3 and 4 for PS3 and PS4 download. No efforts had been made to remaster 1 but there HOTD Overkill which parodies Rated X Grind-house Exploitation Movies. It's Hilarious and I love how Issac Washington was inspired the great Sam. L. Jackson. Also Overkill features the most swearing in a video game for cut scenes and dialogue. "Freeze Bitches!"

3) Castlevania series: I've only played 3 of the games but at least I played Symphony of the Night. Definitely get your hands on it as you can PS Store Download it as part of the PS1 classics. The other two are Lament of Innocence and Order of Ecclesia. The metroidvania style is pretty cool and some people have tried to bring it back. But anyway, this was one of the first horror themed games. Unlike most with a scary level, it was all about the monsters. But warning for those playing SOTN. Another cheesy dialogue game but still solid game play. (Honestly, I think the acting is good but the translators and scriptwriters could've tried a little harder looking at their mistakes.) "I'm sorry young master, but I can't betray the master." (This is the librarian talking to Alucard about not wanting to betray Dracula and the PSP remake fixed this flub referring them respectively as the Young Master and The Count.)

4) Clock Tower and Haunting Ground: This is a double whammy because I watched both of the playthoughs on YouTube and it's a shame both are highly underrated. The Steam Game Cry Night was a call back to the original Clock Tower but got mixed reviews. However, Clock Tower is a fun game with that looming sense of dread with your killer and you can only knock him out or avoid/hide. It adds that sense of helplessness. It's only avaiable on PSX and a PS Emulator but it was pretty good with a great horror story and a good cast of both victims and suspects for who the Scissorman is. (More cheesy dialogue with cheesier acting.) "Come here you scissor fingered little runt." But he just wields a pair of scissors. And Haunting Ground was supposed to be Clock Tower 4 but it was given a different name and no Scissor wielding psycho made an appearance. Don't get me started with Clock Tower 3. But it featured a female protagonist in a seemingly abandoned castle with a very stranged and isolated feel. The cast is minimal but I think that's what makes the story better because they decided not to add so many characters. Also, I love the dog Hewie who will protect you. Haunting Ground is only available for PS2 and is a very rare find but when you get it, hold on to it and protect it.

5) Costume Quest 1 and 2: This is for the kiddies. And it's a fun game. When evil creatures take over a neighborhood for Halloween, a mysterious pumpkin scarecrow gives you magic powers to unleash your costumes. The Game is short but sweet and was created by the Tim Schafer studio Double Fine so you can expect a bunch of jokes that are good, clever, and oddball. It's a very short but sweet game and there is a sequel which i have yet to play. I love how this game makes you feel like a kid again with trick or treating and how your mom used to make those handmade costumes, (I loved it when she made my Capt. Hook costume one Halloween and I wish I had a pic of it.) It's available on Steam and PS3 from what I know.

6) Darkest Dungeon: This is a VERY Hard game. You will quit the missions a lot but that's the point from the creators. A Kickstarter Game inspired by Lovecraftian Horror, you inheirit a mansion and assemble a team to search the titular Darkest Dungeon. Beware the monsters, cultists, and people who went insane looking for the secrets of the Darkest Dungeon. The playstyle is an RPG but the set up preparations might be the most intricate and difficult I've seen but it will take a lot of trial and error similar to Dark Souls. And once you get through, it can be very rewarding. Oh and your team mates will die ... eventually. So sometimes, you shouldn't invest too much in them or you can and make them stronger. There are many paths that get you through the Darkest Dungeon. Choose Carefully.

7) Dark Souls/Bloodbourne: These are most difficult games of the modern era but they are fun. I rage quit Dark Souls 1 though. Bloodbourne is missing but I'll get it back soon. I have to give more to Bloodboure because I love the Victorian Gothic Aesthetic of the Game and all the enemies are that combo of trial and error as I mentioned. The enviornments are wonderfully grim and foreboding, giving you fear about what lies beyond even if it's a surrounding you are familiar with. And the enemies are the most grotesque even if the game isn't fully considered horror. They bring elements of dread, fear, panic, helplessness, and other aspects of Horror Video Games that make sense Bloodbourne is available on PS4 only. Dark Souls is available for PS3.

Honorable Mentions:
Remothered: Tormented Fathers: This game is made by Chris Darill, an italian fanartist who tried his hand in remaking Clock Tower but evolved into something I could definitely say is better. Check out his deviantart and Facebook Pages. Remothered will be coming soon to Steam.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem: A Highly Underrated Game, my friends told me about this one. Sadly, It's rare and was only released for Gamecube. But this game's Sanity Meter fucked things up with hallucinations of monsters, ghosts, and even the system pretending to act up to give a 4th wall break that is truly an interesting experience.

Bioshock: It is horror but some consider it more a tragedy but there elements of fear in this immersive underwater city inspired (very very loosely by the philosophy of Objectivism. I'll go into another article mentioning this and what most Objectivists skip on Bioshock 2 and Bioshock Infinite.) But it's still a fearful ride as you try to survive and get out of Rapture with a simplistic choice matters game mechanic of saving or using the Little Sisters.

Higurashi and Umineko no Naku Koro Ni: These two are Japanese Sound Novels, so you read it but at your own pace. The stories are confusing, intricate, and maddening with characters going psycho, betraying one another, people disappearing or being killed by either diseases, each other, or bloodthirsty witches from Hell. In the later ends of these stories, they evolve into Tragedies moreover than Horror. Any fan of slasher stories would love these games.

Tune in for some Board Game suggestions next Friday!

Archaic Smile Review

OK everyone. After all the waiting and patience you had, allow me to review "Archaic Smile."

Archaic Smile is a book of Poems by A.E. Stallings, an American Poet currently living in Greece. In fact I would say this move had prompted her ideas to write this set of poems.

Background
"Archaic Smile" is primarily inspired from Greek Myth. In fact the title of the book refers to sculptors in Ancient Greece had given to statues to give them a more realistic look from two types of statues, Kouros, the male statues, and Kore, the female statues and the time period that popularly used them in the B.C./B.C. E. On the jacket cover is a statue of Kore, sometimes depending on interpretation being Persephone's name before she was Hades' wife, or just a regular woman of city life.

Poetic Style
Unlike the modern free verse poetry that popularized the movement, many poets like Robert Frost chose to write and respect the classic norms of poetry. A.E. Stallings follows this movement now currently called New Formalism. New Formalism is a call back to respect rhyme, line, form, rhythm, and meter in poetry. Of course many of us usually read poetry as if it was in a sing song style but the rhythm of poetry is variously different especially with the subject matter. Also, The way the book opens up with "A Postcard from Greece" and ends with "Night Shift" which focuses on an after midnight train ride which is in my opinion, a great way to get us into the world of her poetry and characterizing the leave as like that midnight train ride to look back, sleepless due to the experiences we had when reading these poems.

Poems
"Archaic Smile" is divided into 4 parts of poems: A Beastiary, Underworld, For the Loser of Things and Touring the Labyrinth (Not in that order though) And each poem in the parts are respected with being in other poems in each specific part.  In Underworld, Stallings writes about the two famous myths of the underworld being Persephone and Hades and Orpheus and Eurydice. But what she does with the poems is add on to the story in prose form with Persephone writing to her mother about what the underworld is like and describes how the roots of trees adorn the ceilings of the underworld. But I also love her own unique myths or interpretations of myths as seen in "How the Demons were Assimilated and Became Productive Citizens." 

Imagery
Since all poems use Imagery to conceptualize their ideas, values, and stories, Stallings' imagery is mostly focused on detailed sight and sounds from specific items. Like when Persephone describes the chiming of the shovels unearthing the ground in "Persephone Writes a Letter to her Mother." Primarily her direct usage of the English language also allows her to use words for their lyrical aspects in a similar fashion to the style of plays with dialogue being lyrical in a sense.

Opinion and Review
"Archaic Smile" does a wonderful job with the resource material used to reinterpret, add on, or create myths of all kinds in relation to Greek Myth. The prose, symbols, and imagery used in her poems are all wonderfully used and are quick to read and wonderful To any of my readers who love poetry or want a book of poetry to begin reading poetry, or who love Greek Myth, Archaic smile is a great start and a good book to read as well as giving a unexpected beacon of hope for good art and uplifting art in a postmodern art society. 4.5/5

Archaic Smile is available on Amazon for $15 plus shipping and handling.

What Plans Do I Have in Mind and Progress on the so far

Kind of a simple title I think and a little clickbaitey but what can you do.

But for those who didn't know, I lived with my great aunt Sophia and her husband/my great uncle and family friend Leo. Sadly within two years of living with them Opa Leo passed away and it was very difficult for just the two of us to pick up the pieces with living together without a third member of our home. Eventually my Aunt had to be moved to a nursing home where she is still staying in and will be there for almost a whole year now and it makes me look back because in about one year so much was shoved onto me and I had to do my best to navigate how I would do it. Overall, there were definable missteps around the situation but now things are pretty ok.

I would say right now, I'm looking at a different angle on how to progress with my life in both my oriented goals/dreams and more practical work that I plan to do. So far I have things in the general but specifically, I'd say we're on track. But to explain, allow me to say what has happened.

I've started paying off my debts I owe people but I still have some left creeping over my shoulder. Overall though, I'm doing a pretty good job of budgeting and managing my finances over time. I keeping with my responsibility though there are some debts I have pushed on the backburner a bit with a recent one being on my mind just recently and my plans to make it smaller are hopeful but it's a lets see.

I paid my first rent last month with the acquisition of our new home from our landlord and also I am happy to say that my room is complete but It could be cleaner due to a box on my desk of books that i won't be able to read or am not interested in reading them or I already own a copy of it. (If anyone is interested please message me on FB and I'll see if I remember what I have and what it's about.) Although now that I think about it, I still have many books left in the storage unit that I need to bring back to the room. But that's for another time since I also want to begin the process of trashing the entire storage unit.

I've recently went back to the gym to improve my health and am going back on a diet to motivate my healthy eating habits again. Sadly after my aunt went to the nursing home, I didn't have the best budget to do groceries and I had to cancel my gym membership. Now with the recent work I'm doing and the other debts I pay off, I am able to contribute more to groceries for my grandparents. (I live with them now.)

Also I am beginning the process of starting to take over my grandfathers business as a tax accountant. But as of right now, it's more on the physical aspect as I am beginning, with him, to move the office more into our new front house. However, since the rushed aspects of moving to our new home has gotten us a little tired, we are taking things slow even so since other events, my work with Uber, his need to finish the late taxes before the 15th of this month, and our slow progress to make the final touches shine in making our new home, our new home. So far, the biggest progress made was when I cleaned out his office of old and bad paperwork which is a very good start so far.

As for writing, I'm afraid I've stumbled into a bit of writers block. Even if it's just for a few stories, that means a few stories have to be cut which is not my favorite thing to do. especially when some I want to make my premiere stories overall as well. But I'd say my short story anthology has the best progress so far with all the different short stories I've been planning. All of which are of different genres, tales, and hopefully, will become larger than what they are into expanding them for plans into my own writing universe or universes depending. And my first play is still in the drafting aspects and I'm juggling whether some characters should be considered major or minor or deleted altogether. Some characters are just better being missing from the action in the long run. But it doesn't mean I probably won't use them or we won't see them again as I've always looked at some of my budding beginner ideas before I fully took the course of writer into my own hands to reintroduce old characters and make them have prominence elsewhere. Also, I'd say that I'm still trying to find out which of my podcast ideas I want to develop first. So far I got 4 main ones, 5 if I could the one with 20 cast members that I still am deciding what their character arcs are. But pieces are falling into place and I have time to scribble a few notes to myself.

All in all, it's a slow process but things are getting done. Hopefully some things can be done a little faster but it will take time. Thanks. Sorry it wasn't all just a fun musing but stay tuned tomorrow for my review of Archaic Smile.

Apologies and The Whole Mess of Vegas

So I want to apologize for not writing yesterday as events led me to do different things, Now I'm starting to get ahead of things again which is good.

Ok, well I know you guys wanted to hear me say my opinion as I opted out because well, It was a shell shock to me about this but the more and more I think about this case, there are a lot of  places that need to be investigated. I'm not a conspiracy theorist in any way, Hardly. I believe in conviction, facts, and proof. If I see a well reasoned argument, I will listen and admit my mistakes. But this case was lousily investigated and doesn't do justice for those who have died in this tragic accident.

For example, how did the gunman get all those guns and ammunition to his hotel room? Hotel security in a Las Vegas Hotel is very tight and it would be suspicious for any man to not only hide them but get cleaning services in there. Also, was there just one gunman where my family members, mostly in the marines, police force, or have shot guns before, were able to recognize the sounds of two different guns going off? And these are just a few questions of numerous that well, we won't be able to answer or explain. It's all lost because of the issue that the police will take care of it but the way the police has done the investigation is lousy and off putting and is shaming to anyone who calls themselves investigators to stop crime. But the origins of a lousy investigation goes with the media who have warped it into an agenda fueled crisis.

The media has exploited all these people into being treated as martyrs for their cause of creating their agenda to ban guns rather than investigate the truth behind if we have a lone gunman or more than one person on record here (there was a maniac crying out "you're all going to die" but whether we can say for sure he's crazy or working with the gunman, we won't figure it out any more.) And trust me, Fake News couldn't fit these mongrels in the media more. The more I heard about the investigation, the more I heard about this need for gun control and that the NRA is a bunch of heartless monsters and on and on and on. (And you'd think they'd learn their lesson with all this accusatory idealism with need to back their claims with something called EVIDENCE!) For the media, it's all about control and controlling the opinion of the masses in de herder (German for The Herd) mentality. (I apologize but I will sometimes use Latin or other language phrases and euphemisms if appropriate.)

The Media mostly claims that guns are the problem but this is an outright lie. The problem is people like the killer here who psychologically is insane, totally knew what he was doing with spreading murder and chaos. People with no apathy for other's concerns or safety who take it upon themselves to control people and it's obvious this killer acted like he was a puppet master cutting the strings of what he perceived to be "his dolls." His actions we're totally into account but blaming a gun, a tool used for various things to hunt and survive, to get food, to protect friends and family, to stop evil people, is all preposterous. And every time the media and socialists (they don't deserve to be called Liberals because I am a Liberal and I'm taking my name back bitches! Also they're a bunch of money grubbing and money hating assholes) look for a scapegoat to avoid the real reason why people do this. Because they feel entitled to something and not getting it provides the darker motives for any case. A Sense of entitlement is the core of this deep rooted hatred but motive will vary on what kind of entitlement that is. And as we all have learned from Prohibition, The Drug Wars, and other bans and embargo, Banning something will not cause a solution to happen. Criminals are also not effected by the law because they break the law anyway and can easily manipulate their surroundings to do so. They can even find ammunition in the black market to try to cause a panic. They will find a way. And once they do, more bloodshed will happen. Our guns aren't only just a right to decide whether we want one or not but also, they protect us in case the police can't get to us fast enough and keep an environment safer with people and RESPONSIBLE gun owners know better than to do things like this. I should know. I was one when I owned a gun so all those accusations of all gun owners are bad eventually go back to myself as a former owner of a Glock 17 and you also attack many of my friends and family which is not cool.

I want to leave off with two important messages before I go. There was an infamous socialist named Saul Alinksy (you'll need to do your homework on him kids) and he was famous for saying a more eloquent version of the phrase "Never let a good crisis go to waste." A radical socialists himself, Alinsky had written the book Rules for Radicals to motivate political upheavals and movements akin to the Communist/Socialist agenda to make sure to take advantage of innocents to motivate a minority to an often wicked Revolution. And on that note, there is one thing I want to mention one more thing. I wanted to see the series The People vs. O.J. Simpson. This is a good TV series I heard and one reviewer (a member of the forum For the New Intellectuals on Facebook if you ever want the knowledge and firepower to lash back at the real fascists) said that for the court episodes "One side presented the facts and one side presented a story." Think hard about that and you'll see why the Socialists love presenting a story more than the facts.

My New Blog Schedule

Hello Darlings.

While doing work, I have came up with a new schedule that will be posted Monday through Friday to discuss various topics. Don't worry, the best will all be for when we're closer to the weekend.

Every Monday is dedicated to my Philosophy Class where I discuss different philosophies, talk about which ones have influenced my life, my personal stances on controversial positions and stances, and a basic 101 course if you're interested. (Best part is, you don't have to pay a penny for this. But note this will be very basic until I go into specific philosophies I have studied or am studying.) So it's a wake up for your week and trust me, it's big. But I'll make it understandable for us all. Just to prepare you guys, for the next couple of weeks, I'll be going on to discussing What is Philosophy as well as the main branches of every philosophy or what branches each philosophy should contain.

Tuesday is for our occasional politics so Monday and Tuesday have correlations between one another so you can imagine that. But it's gonna be one post a week or some political commentary but luckily unlike most of your annoying political friends who post on and on again about how either Trump or Obama or who the fuck they're complain about is ruining the country, you'll hear bias on my politics but with a more rational edge.

Wednesday is my personal life blog. A day in regards to what's been going on in my life though this will be both long and short depending on what is on my mind and what projects I've been working on, (I still have a lot and I'm still working on all those short stories. I can go into further details but don't ask what they're about as I keep making that mistake. I'm looking at you T.K. Coleman with your response to let everyone know about the progress of your work because I'm still trying to do that without spoiling plot, characterization, and other important aspects.) Also I'll talk about my cosplay projects too I have in the upcoming future so that'll be fun as well.

Thursday is Book Day. I'll be reviewing both Classical and Pop Literature and what inspires me or what books I'll be trying to read or find out more about. Also I'll be including some of the authors that have inspired me or that I've started getting into. And this upcoming Thursday I'll be reviewing A. E. Stallings' Archaic Smile, a book of poetry you can get on Amazon for $15.

Lastly, Friday is all about Games. Board Games, Video Games, just gaming in general. Also since it's Halloween, (and though Horror scares the hell out of me) I'll suggest some Halloween related games or in the spirit of Halloween Games, and just any special announcements from some of my favorite companies and their games as well as once in a while, a Friday-Monday continuation with Philosophy and Philosophic Ideas in video gaming.

I hope to enjoy more from you guys! Later Darlings!

Good News, Bad News, and Happy Boyfriend Day!

We have now moved into our new place. Now it’s just to get the knickknacks ready so that’s why I haven’t posted pictures yet. Also, we’re still in the process of getting our WiFi and TV (I just need Netflix and other things to make me happy. Note to self, need to get CrunchyRoll after I pay off debts.) But everything is working out pretty great.

For the bad news, well I haven’t come up with a schedule but overall it’s to write a new blog post every weekday and each has a different theme or intertwines with other days too. Also, I wanted to take some moments of silence for the Tragedy of Las Vegas, Puerto Rico and it’s recovery (and the recoveries of Texas and Florida as we still have a lot to build up before we can go back on track), the deaths of Hugh Heffner (though we played on different playing fields I respected your view on sex that it was unapologetic, fun, and Good despite Church and Society loving to say no all the time) Tom Petty (you fought hard man, now go free falling out in style and we won’t do you like that) and to Gameshow host and icon Monty Hall (thanks for making many deals with us). But a small word before I finish. I know among tragedies many of us love to go all political after them especially with what I’ve seen with this domestic terrorist. But let’s mourn first. Don’t let those who think “Let no crisis go to waste” overpower what needs to be done with ensuring people’s lives and safety comes first and then we can discuss what we should do, (that will be a topic for another day just later in the month.) Thank you.

Now as I just learned it’s Boyfriend Day so I want to make a very important shout out to mine! Happy Boyfriends day Boo! And here’s to many more of them! :)

And to all the rest of the guys and girls out there, have a fun time with your boyfriends!
(Sorry Husbands you’ll have to wait a different day unless this is it. Then join on in!)