First ramble

So "late to the game" would be an understatement, but here is the first blog post of the rest of my life. My name is John, and I am currently a 42 year old man-child.  I find myself caring way too much about things someone my age shouldn't.  I love sports, which is fairly normal for a male in their forties, but I also still love pop culture, movies, music, video games, and other "nerdy" pursuits. What drives me to finally do this is the "big news" out of Hollywood in the last 24 hours-Mr. Ben Affleck being confirmed to portray Bruce Wayne/Batman in the next Warner Bros. superhero film.  Why would this be the impetus to drive me to the blogosphere?  Because I am sick of everyone jumping all over this decision like they know ANYTHING about it. There is nothing that has come out other than the script of the new flick being "informed" by Frank Miller's seminal work "The Dark Knight Returns", and that they were looking to cast an older Batman. That's it! Everything else has been speculation. Certainly nothing that has given us any reason to make an informed judgement on this casting.

While in a vacuum, the predominantly negative reaction to this news shouldn't be enough to get someone fired up and writing a blog, but we live in a world where everything gets keyboard warriors up in arms. As I stated in my introductory paragraph, I love video games.  Anyone with even an ancillary knowledge of what is going on in that world knows about the new console launches from Microsoft and Sony that will be occurring later this year.  The 1% of those people, like myself, spend a lot of time following the news on Twitter, and sites such as IGN.  The articles written, for the most part, are fair, balanced and informative.  That is not the problem.  The problem lies in the comments sections of said articles where there are people who think they can say anything they want without consequence.

I have zero issue with anyone who wants to comment about why they think one console is better than the other, or if they think Ben will make a good Batman, or practically anything that they have passion for.  But what should always be in the front of one's mind is how they deliver that opinion.  There is absolutely never a reason to call people names or deliver hurtful invective to get a point across.  In fact, as a moderator on IGN, if I see certain red flag words, your comment is gone, regardless of what else is in it.

We are fortunate enough to have the ability to have our voices heard in today's day and age.  Don't blow it by acting like a fool.  We must be better than that!

Peace!