Pause

So, I must apologize for the very long time since I have posted on this blog.  The reason for my disappearance is because I was diagnosed with a blood cancer called Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (A.L.L.) in November 2013.  Immediately after that I went into treatment.  During the early stage of the treatment, one of the chemo medicines had a bad effect on me with the combination of steroids.  I had to go off treatment and went into rehabilitation at a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF).  That went for 6 weeks then I went into outpatient rehab. 

Shortly after that I returned to treatment, but on a different protocol mind you they were not sure if I was able to return at first.  From February 2014 through June 2014 I went through this protocol with no issues.  At least none like what happened during the first protocol.  Before the end of the treatment, we (My Oncologist, my wife and me) discussed doing a transplant.  After learning the level of survival percentages, we decided to proceed with the transplant.  The transplant ended up being stem cell and my younger brother became the donor.  I actually went through 2 transplants where the first one failed to graft in August 2014 and the second became a successful graft in October 2014. 

I finally made it home early November 2014 and now in the post-transplant stage, which could bring a whole new slew of possible problems.  The two largest are the return of cancer (same or different) or Graft verses Host Decease (GvHD).  So they and us are on constant monitoring of me and making sure neither of these and some lesser issues rear their ugly little heads.  During the treatment and even now I am what they call immunosuppressed, which means in a nut shell my immune system is very low.  Now my system is stronger, but one of the medicines I am on now keeps it kind of low or stagnant.  I should end sometime within the year.  I am now considered in Complete Remission which makes me a Cancer Survivor, but the journey is far from over.

Coming up on October 9th is the one year anniversary for my Stem Cell Transplant that actually took.  We plan to have a party to celebrate this and I also have to go for a series of tests (no fun, but.....) just to make sure nothing bad is happening. 

There is a plan for me to return to school hopefully in Spring 2016 and I can finish that journey.

If you want to learn more details of our journey to Fight The Big Fight please follow our blog at http://fightthebigfight.blogspot.com/ also if you are on Facebook, find our page (same name) and click like to get smaller updates counting up the days from the successful transplant.  This blog was started by me at first, but then when I started to have problems, my wife took it over and now it is in the eyes of the spouse/caregiver. 

BTW, this is Day +327.

It may be a while until my nest post on here, but like I said we plan for me to return to school in Spring 2015.

I am currently posting on my other blogs: Because I'm Wil my main sort of venting blog,  Sifl And Olly for only entertainment and Brainstorm! for Trivia, Riddles, Mind Games, etc.

I also have a YouTube page called CocoaVision (Click to see).

Take care.

Movie Reviews: Inside Out of this World

It has been a long while since I have done these, but I am back.  I will try to do more since me and my wife are seeing more films.  I will try hard not to spoil anything.  If you are worried, stop reading this until a later time.  And now............

Inside Out

This film created by John Lasseter and Pixar is a flick about feelings understanding feelings.  We start out with the birth of Riley and the feelings she develops in time.  The five feeling portrayed were Joy by Amy Poehler (SNL and Parks & Recreations), Fear by Bill Hader (SNL and Skeleton Twins), Disqust by Mindy Kaling, Anger by Lewis Black (Stand Up and The Daily Show) and Sadness by Phillis Smith.

The movies shows a lot of the aspects of the human mind.  The one that I need to yet understand is Abstract Thought.  I will need to look that up.  Another area that threw me was The Sub-conscience.  I thought it had a part in what we call second nature, but this movie showed different.  Either way, this movie was very toughing and emotional.  It seriously tug at the heart strings and has a great deal of funny scenes.  This movie was very well done and I would place it as one of my favorite Pixar films.  Highly recommend all to see.

Oh and the short film, that Pixar always shows before the major feature, was wonderful.  You will see if you haven't seen Inside Out yet.  Enjoy!

5 Stars


Jurassic World

The Jurassic series returns with a whole new cast which includes Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio and Irran Khan.  They also brought back BD Wong who was in Jurassic Park.  Although they revamped the cast, the storyline pattern pretty much stayed the same.  Welcome to the island, see amazing herbivores, learn of great new predator, predator escapes, unusual plan solves situation.  I am actually glad they did not change this format because to me it still kept the movie entertaining.  I will say this was no better or worse than the others.  I still recommend folks to see it, especially fans of the Jurassic Park Series.

It does leave a bit of a cliffhanger that could or could not lead to another sequel.  We shall see.

3.5 Stars

We do plan to see more film in the near future and so I will keep sending reviews as we see them.  Feel free to leave comments below.  See ya soon.

Until then..........

Name-Spray

So I am now getting fixated on the show, The Bachelorette.  I got pulled into the show by my wife mid-season of the last Bachelor.  I always knew the premise of the show, but refused to watch it because I thought it was extremely silly.  I did find it intriging, but just would not watch it, until now.

The first few episodes were good.  I definitely found a trend where someone gets kicked out or quits before the rose ceremony.  The most entertaining one was this Healer named Tony (I think).  The show had an event that offended him so much that he ranted for most of the day and then decided to quit.  The most hilarious part was even though he was supposed to be a peaceful, mature, and mindful person he is screaming and does a couple spits of to the side of the balcony.  We were like "seriously?".  It just through us off a bit.  It was just too funny.

So I don't know how many of these blog entries I will do on this show, but if I see something that makes me say, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?", I will post about it.

Later.........

Why, A Centrist View........

So I am a Left-Leaning Centrist or I also call myself a Progressive Moderate.  I strive to keep an open mind and understand/consider the whole picture before drawing up my on conclusion/opinion.  To some liberals I am kind of conservative, which is true and to the conservatives I am too liberal, which is kind of true.  The truth is I am Left of Center but not a leftist.  My political history is somewhat complicated, but not difficult to follow.  

I started in the political world in high school through Civics and Social Studies and became a supporter of the Democratic Party.  Now I will tell you that I was still learning about the system, but during that time, that's where I felt my views stood.  I didn't identify as a Liberal or a Conservative and to be honest to you, Heck, I didn't know of them at all.  I was never introduced to it until my first college in 1991.  I then realized my belief system was fairly conservative.  Well at least on the economic side, but I felt on social issues I still felt good being an ally with the Democrats.  So, that I labeled myself to be a Conservative Democrat.  I voted democrat most of the time (yes, I did vote for some Republicans), but then by 1996 I noticed a small shift in the Conservatives and I started to understand the Liberals a bit more.

By 2000, the Conservative base shifted more to the right aligning with the Republican Party, but I remained where I am.  I then worked to learn more about the political spectrum and with the help of a great friend, who also is a Libritarian, I finally found where I stood.  I am a Centrist or a Moderate.  Some even say Independent, but I mostly see that as being part of the Independent Party.  Now I say it like that because not only did I accept bring a Centrist, I also decided to no longer align myself with a party.  I was never a fan of restriction anyway.  Also, not only was I a Centrist, but I was a Left-Leaning Centrist.  Here is the diagram or spectum I was shown after taking several test to find where I am:

Marinate on that, though. 

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and Instagram @acentristview.  You can also follow my blog at http://acentristview.blogspot.com/.   Now remember, it's "A" Centrist View not "The Centrist View.  I am not that arrogant.  I hope this helps in explaining this blog and myself.  If you have any questions please comment here or email me at acentristview@gmail.com

You can also follow me @ACentristView on:
 

That's all for now.  

Until next time........

Gangs Shifting Bridges

So it has been a while since I have done one of these, but I have been watching a lot of TV during my treatment for this cancer.  I am checking out a few shows, some are new others I am binging on.

First show is called Gang Related by Fox.  It stars Ramon Rodriguez (The Wire & Charlie's Angels), RZA (Wu Tang Clan) and Terry O'Quinn (Lost & Hawaii 5-0).  Pretty much a gang task force who works hard to eliminate as much gang activity as possible.  It seems pretty ok, but I am not sure if the show will last past one season.  If it does survive, it would probably be because it was released in the summer.

Next is The Night Shift on NBC.  Stars Jill Flint (Royal Pains), Daniella Alonso (Revolution) and Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under & Chaos).  Shows the days of night shift doctors at San Antonio Memorial who were formerly military medics.  I think this show is good, but like Gang Related, I am not sure it will  not make it past one season.  Also, like Gang Related, if it does survive, it would be because it is a summer show. 

My final show for this blog is called, The Bridge on FX.  This one I am binging the first season (season 2 starts in July) and just a after one episode, I really like it.  Starring Diane Kruger (National Treasure 1 & 2) and Demian Bichir (Weeds & Che).  This show looks really great as expected from FX.  I look forward to finishing the first season with my wife and be ready for Season 2 coming this summer.

So, check these shows out if you haven't already.

Later.........

October Cancellations

So 4 shows have gotten the axe; Lucky 7, We Are Men, Ironside and Welcome to the Family.

I never really checked out Lucky 7 so I can't tell you much about it.  I was going to check it out on Hulu and may still will, but I can probably see why it became a victim.

We Are Men starred an unkown actor with three veteran stars including, Jerry O'Connell, Kal Penn and Tony Shalhoub.  This show was pretty funny with some dumb antics that single guys who think they are still young do.  There were a lot of very good comedies that it was up against and it was eventually going to be dropped regardless of the cast.  The premise was too weak.  Sorry Tony.

Ironside stars Pablo Schrieber and the great Blair Underwood.  I hate to say it, but I did kind of call this one.  As I said before Remakes usually do not survive; Knight Rider and Bionic Woman were recent others.  Hawaii 5-0 is the only one that I know of that is still running strong, but now I think it may be in trouble.  I hope not.   I know they were trying to keep the Ironside remake similar to the original with a modern twist, but it had a hard time keeping my attention, even though I have not missed an episode.  Oh well.  Best of luck to Blair, Pablo and the rest of the cast.  They will have new projects very soon.  They are too good of actors not to.

I was pretty shocked by Welcome to the Family.  I thought Fox's Dads with Green and Ribisi would be cancelled before this one, but I was wrong.  I really like this show.  I was very funny and even the young, soon to be parents, teenagers kept me interested.  Chavira and O'Malley really sold the show in my opinion and McCormick was just as funny as she was in USA's In Plain Sight.  I think they were dropped because NBC is still more strict on their Thursday comedies than anything else.  Parks and Recreations are the new veterans and going very strong.  The other new comedies on Thursdays for NBC are Sean Saves the World (Stupid Title) starring Sean Hayes and The Michael J. Fox Show (Again stupid title).  I think NBC held on to those two shows (for now) simply because of who is in them.  I never had any interest in them.  I may check out an episode of each to see, but I doubt I will stay with them.  I feel that canceling this show was a bad idea, but I am not in the show business.

I predict the next possible cancellations; Dads (Fox), Betrayal (ABC), Michael J. Fox Show (NBC) and Back In The Game (ABC).

Later..........

Dads Pilot

This show stars Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi and Martin Mull.  Pretty much a sitcom of two friends who run a video game business and is stuck with their overbearing and embarrassing dads. 

It looks like a fairly funny show and I will continue to watch it, but I feel it will not last a full season.  The joke timing seems a bit off and the storyline will not last long at all.  

We shall see.  Good luck

Later....

TV Review: Ironside Rebirth

Blair Underwood stars in the rebirth of Ironside, which origonally starred Raymond Burr (1967).  For those who don't know, Robert Ironside is a rough, experienced detective who is restricted to a wheelchair after a shooting accident on the job.  I worry about remakes like these because they usually do not survive long, but it could be possible with another rebirth that is one of my current favorites, Hawaii 5-0.  NBC needs another crime drama to work along side of Law & Order: SVU.  This show could do it.  Crossing fingers for this one.

Underwood is joined by Pablo Schreiber (The Wire, Weeds & Orange is the New Black), Spencer Grammer (As The World Turns & Greek) and Brent Sexton (Deadwood, Life & The Killing).

TV Review: NBC's Welcome to the Family

Welcome to the Family is a new NBC comedy that stars, Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives), Justina Machado (Six Feet Under & Three Rivers), Mary McCormack (The West Wing & In Plain Sight) and Mike O'Malley (Yes, Dear & Glee).  Two newly high school graduates got a new surprise when they  discover that they are pregnant.  It throws the parents plan completely out the window, but they try to make it work.

This show look very funny and given that it stars actors from previous successful show, I see a promising future for it.  It has some serious shoes to fill.

Premieres Thursday, October 3rd.

Three Schools in One Year

So It has been a while since the last post.  December in fact.  I have moved on to the University of North Texas at Dallas to pursue my B.A. in Mathematics w/ a Secondary Teaching Certification.  The first semester there was a bit tough, but I managed to make it through with a 4.0.  My classes were Pre-Calculus and Teaching Diverse Classroom.  I could have bypassed Pre-Calculus with my taking of Trigonometry and AP-Calculus from high school, but it has been over 20 years and I seriously needed the refresher.

My instructor in the Diverse Teaching course was probably the most confrontational professor I have ever had.  I fortunately made it to her good side, but I did have a few good talks with her.  The Pre-Calculus class was probably the smallest I've been in and it had to be specially requested because some of us needed it to move forward in our degree programs.  By the end of the semester there was only 6 of us left.  My time at UNT-Dallas only lasted one semester because of an usual rule in one of their student services departments.  Oh well.

I then went back to Tarrant County College to take Calculus 1 & II during the summer and man was that a crazy idea.  I survived both classes, but feel that if I had taken it during regular semesters I would have done better.  The instructor in this class was a very difficult one as well who was very confrontational as well.  He was not hesitant to fuss at the class almost every day.

This fall I decided to transfer to the University of Texas at Arlington and can I say that the student services there so far are great (professionals and student workers).  They made it very easy to get everything set for the semester.  I was prepared to take the semester off in case I ran out of time, but all good. 

I really like my academic advisor and loved her office.  She did some serious geek decorations which included an entire bookshelf (one shelf actually) full of My Little Pony figures.  My favorite thing she had in the room was a photo that showed the many emotions of Spock (the Vulcan).  For this semester I will be taking Statistical Inference and Calculus III (yes, a third Calculus class).

I hope to do very well at this school and graduate quickly.

Later........