Martin Morrow / OPINIONS STAFF

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Guest Commentary: 'Sober, Unnaturally Crazy'

By Martin Morrow / OPINIONS STAFF | October 8

There are a few things that are excused when you're sober.You may become temperamental and get into a physical altercation, it's OK, we all have our boiling points.You may have a moment in the car dancing and singing out loud or picking your nose, if it's in there then it's gotta come out some how.There are a few moments though that, if you are in public or social situations, seem to be unacceptable.We all have our crazy moments, but typically there is some reason.We may not admit it as humans, but we are all weird in one way or another so it's difficult to decipher what odd is until something truly off the wall is viewed.

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Whiteout Points Out the Obvious

By Martin Morrow / OPINIONS STAFF | September 17

The summer is winding down and with that comes a wide assortment of movies from the heavily advertised to the films you probably had no clue existed, and I find it only right to indicate a few of the hits and misses of the past few weeks.I'd like to give a special thanks to the Trussville Regal Cinemas 16 in Trussville, Ala., for allowing me to watch these movies for free.Remember how I mentioned movies that most people probably didn't know were coming out?Well sometimes that happens with good reason and such is the case of Whiteout.For starters, the title almost feels like we're in store for a movie about a snow storm that cancels school so instantly you're thinking feel-good Disney flick, but we're met with a terrible murder thriller set in Antarctica, of all places.At the beginning of the movie we're open with a title card that dares insult the intelligence of the viewer by displaying an image of Antarctica and telling us under it that the place is very cold because apparently seeing the snow didn't do enough justice.Another issue with this film is the way it tries to sell the obvious by having a character point out something and then show what the character pointed out in a crazy, long-drawn out fashion that just gives it a lame feeling.If a character mentions blood being in the snow, they really want to drive the point home that there is blood in the snow by showing you the blood in the snow, and it ends up being more cheesy than thrilling.You might jump a few times, but the biggest jump will be from your seat to the parking lot after sitting through this.

Columns

Kayne West Stirs Emotions When He Steals Winners Spotlight at the 2009 VMAs

By Martin Morrow / OPINIONS STAFF | September 17

Being black and living in Alabama the majority of my life, I've seen and heard the worst of racism throughout my years.I've been harassed by the police; I've been unable to date girls of races outside of my own; and yes, I've even been called the sinister "n-word."But it wasn't until I watched the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards that I came to realize why racism still exists in society today.The brilliantly talented singer/songwriter Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Video besting the likes of the popularly insane Lady Gaga and the insanely popular Beyonce.The crowd applauded such a victory because Swift was truly the underdog and out of the blue came none other than the nefarious Kanye West.We all understand he is a great rapper and producer in addition to one of the biggest egos the world over. So for Kanye to jump on stage, steal the microphone from Swift, and proceed to bark about how Beyonce's video was one of the best videos of all time just seemed a little over the top, even for Kanye.For most, there is a breaking point and trust me, I have tried to allow Kanye to save face for me despite that it almost cracked when Kanye started a trend of wearing sunglasses that: 1) Don't protect against the sun. 2) You can't see out of.I still allowed Kanye a pass, but not after this stunt.So now the question is asked as to how West provided an OK for such a horrible thing as racism.Now, while I don't condone racism, I find it to be understandable once you see things like Kanye West jumping on stage to tell Taylor Swift she isn't worthy of an award.Something about the ignorance of West makes you angry.It makes you so angry the only thing you can possibly blurt out is how much you hate him and anyone like him.At this point, you can't tell who or what you should be angry toward following Beyonce allowing Swift to do her acceptance speech when Beyonce won Video of the Year.

Guest Commentary: 'Sober, Unnaturally Crazy'

Whiteout Points Out the Obvious

Kayne West Stirs Emotions When He Steals Winners Spotlight at the 2009 VMAs

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