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The Way of Men (Book Review 2012)

Having just read The Way of Men by author Jack Donovan, I have come to the conclusion that my idea of masculinity has been wrong all these years.
Strength and masculinity have been considered, for years, abstract concepts. That is to say, everyone has their own interpretation on what makes men, men and they are whitewashed hypocritical versions of masculinity to borrow a phrase from Anton LaVey.

Men will often refer to gangster movies as the ideal man movies but in reality, suggest that being a man is something completely different.
In The Way of Men, Jack posits the question of what masculinity is and if there is indeed a true way to BE a man and if indeed there is a true way to be a man, then what is the way of man?

The Way of Men is suggesting that manhood is the way of the gang. Men, traditionally being the hunters of the tribes would naturally have to get along to succeed and keep each other and their tribe alive.
This traditionally makes sense, especially on a Selfish Gene scenario. With Richard Dawkins suggesting the cost benefit scenario that all males of various species adhere to by nature.

Mans true nature is to be territorial, aggressive, dominant, strong and strategic, even to the point of being thieves and going so far as to steal wives from competing tribes. Yet men can also be compassionate and fair.

Men are born with the desire to compete for resources and as horrible and vulgar as that sounds to reduce woman to resources that is the way it has been for centuries. It was the way evolution intended it and the way our human biology still sees it.

It also seems to be suggesting and I could be wrong, but crime, in the traditional sense is really men being locked up for being, well, men.

It is not suggesting a release of prisoners or anything of the like but rather just suggesting that we lock men up more often for being themselves.
It is the fact that society no longer needs for men like that, that leads to frustrated young men turning to drugs and other avenues, often leading to criminal activity for lack of ability to express their true natures.

The Way of Man can be seen as a call to action. For young men to grab society by the balls in only the way men can and assert ourselves to not be breed out of extinction. We must reclaim masculinity and not make our young men feel demonized for their natural predictions.

Men are a completely natural thing and if we allow ourselves to, we will be destroyed.

So then I pose the question: What is the future way of man? The answer is the way of the dinosaurs.

Five out of Five Stars.

Dare to Be Stupid

     Ultimately, we’re a social species and our main goal is almost always winning people over, no matter the area. The most major fear of not attempting to engage yourself in a favorite pastime is rejection. People don’t like to be rejected, for most people, it hurts, but for me, I thrive on rejection when it is combined with an understanding as to why I was. I love honestly and while I don’t need feedback, I am quite able to improve myself with no help, not everyone is like me.

     There is nothing wrong with rejection in and of itself. Criticism should never be dismissed as “Hater’s gon hate!” when we might be able to gleam an insight into how we might improve ourselves on a daily basis, provided say criticism has merit. Its way too easy to say “You suck!” and get a plethora of up votes or views on Youtube, retweet on Twitter or like’s on Facebook. These people are considered trolls, but sadly troll is thrust upon any level of criticism that doesn’t jibe with what the receiver desires. Just like no one likes to be rejected, no one likes to be intellectually refuted either and the stubborn are excessively likely to cling to their abject delusions in the face of evidence, valid argument or anything that pops that bubble they live in.

     I think the best way to live is to court failure and rejection like it’s the high school prom queen. Crave it, desire it and make it your bitch. Don’t be subjected to being its slave by being fearful of it. The best way to get over rejection? Find the rejection of that which you fear most and kick that fear in the teeth. Say you had a crush on a celebrity when you were a kid. You’re almost certainly going to be rejected by the person. How does that impact your value though? It doesn’t impact your value and it sure as hell isn’t bad for you. Maybe your ego takes a hit, but big deal. I want anyone reading this to go out and intentionally get rejected by the thing you want most. Be it a job, a person, or otherwise. Once you have had the worst level of rejection you could experience, everything else is a cake walk. You should never fear rejection again after such a loss, nor should you take anything overly personal again. Nothing could possibly be worse than rejection from that which you crave most and it never means you couldn’t attempt it again later on.

     How many people get fired from WWE only to find themselves back again? Don’t you think that the foremost wrestling company rejecting you, if you grew up watching their product, would sting? In some cases yes in other cases, maybe not. Why care what someone else thinks of you? Improve, and keep improving. Don’t just try to be the best, actually be the best. Study what works and why it works. Be it dating, a job or otherwise. Nothing is holding you back. Just remind yourself about my favorite saying, “any idiot can do this.” Well, I’m any idiot and so are you! To borrow from Weird AL, “Dare to be stupid.”

     When you dare to be stupid and have no fucks to give about rejection or anything else, many doorways will open up to you. Give it a try, because I’m any idiot and you are too, so dare to be stupid, we’re all waiting for you!

The Luchagors:Review

Luchagors-

     I’m going to stay away from what I did in my last musical review, which, as you may recall linked past to present career paths, and instead look at this from a perspective of a band as if I just found them. I think going this away removes a past bias for the performer in one aspect of their life and creates a far more objective outlook at the present. Although I guess I’m wicked late to reviewing this, though.

     So this is the debut album for a band called The Luchagors. Which, according to the internets is wordplay combination, Lucha Libre and Horror flicks. Right up my alley, as I greatly enjoy both. I haven’t had the chance to see them live, so it is just for the album which you can easily find on Itunes or Amazon.

     The band consist of members: Amy Dumas (Lead vocals), Shane Morton (Guitar and vocals), Jay Hedberg (Bass and vocals.), Racci Shay (Drummer). The latter apparently replaced Troy King on drums.

     Right from the first song titled White Boy, the songs are catchy, fast paced, angst filled with all the good stuff punk music is known for. The theme through most of the lyrics seem consistent through several songs, which are that of a woman scorned. An indictment on an unknown person, most likely an ex, whom seems like a little bitch and a going through the motions of regaining independence of her life and eventually resulting in self-fulfillment of a brighter future.

     Granted that could just be a hell of a lot of inference on absolutely nothing, but you can view the lyrics and judge for yourself.

     The vocals are strong, the music crisp, and the lyrical content is interesting, even if it is somewhat banal for lyrical content. Originality can be overrated, though. You can pick up on many of the bands influences if you know about enough about punk rock. I managed to note and find The Misfits influence and I’m sure many more experienced punk rock listeners will find more.

     The run time is over a half hour long, so you won’t spend too much time having to sit down and really and give much thought to it. Given the edgy sound and style, it still manages to be fun. Which is more than I can say about most edgy bands. Usually they’re dark and brooding. Like back before vampires were twinks who sparkled. I digress and… seriously, fuckin’ sparkle? Never mind.

     If you want something you could speed through, say, shopping or at the gym, this is an interesting and excellent choice. Pick up a copy and you can finally stick it to your hipster friend about how you found and like a new band, but they probably never heard of them. That alone would be worth picking up this gem from 2007, never mind actually enjoying it. Enjoying it would just be a bonus. You could spend $9.99 on far worse, like say, 50 Shades of Grey, or you could listen to something that is at least 25 shades of enjoyable.

     This album gets the fingerofapproval