If not for that tv spot, I wouldn’t have known of the event or their existence. So I give their advertising department some props. They sold me. Didn’t wanna go alone so I convinced my friend (who shall remain nameless) to go with me. The condition was that we’d go our separate ways once on property cuz he believes in god and didn’t wanna cut up with me. His way of respecting the lord. Piece of shit had to be convinced to fucking go to church to begin with and he’s the one that believes in this shit. I don’t. When I told him about it, he was flabbergasted that I’d be willing to subject myself to such a religious atmosphere. Just goes to show how open-minded I am.

We ate before we went which was a great idea since the event lasted close to 2 hours and they wasn’t serving no food inside. No vending machines or nothing in the joint either. Guess they got their reasons. I’m thinking cleanliness and appearance cuz of all them damn kids that go in and out of the place. Damn place is big on the outside and even bigger on the inside. Plenty of parking and entrances. I didn’t know where the fuck to park or where the fuck to go once inside. Had to ask on both occasions. Everything was free, free, free. Can’t complain about that since they were charging for the event in the day and for previous shows. I have to assume there was more performance for those shows too as they only did about 3 segments for this one: breaking bricks (some were on fire to start the show), ice, and bats, and bending frying pans.

Far as them breaking bricks, my friend said he saw some holes drilled into ‘em. That’d make ‘em easier to break. I can’t confirm that so I have no opinion on that. Far as breaking ice, the ice had time to melt on stage so that’d naturally make it easier to crash through like the guy did. Far as breaking bats, when the one guy was breaking them over his knee, I was wondering what it would be like if he did that to a person’s arm or leg. Ouch! My mind is just so morbid and fucked up, ain’t it? And when that big black guy broke 4 bats over his back, my thoughts were that he was making it seem like he couldn’t do it at first to add suspense. The way he just broke them like nothing later on kinda cinched that idea. Hey, I ain’t shittin’ on ya Team Impact. Just callin’ it like I see it.

People wasn’t all dressed up like you expect for a church. Jeans and tennis shoes all the way for the most part. Very informal. Mostly whites and very few minorities in comparison. They had a section reserved for the deaf but no alternative language translation that I could see or know of. I’m kinda leaning towards that deaf sign I shot in the video was just left behind. Probably really used for sermons and shit. Every seat was a good seat; cushioned and comfortable. Or were they considered upscale pews? I don’t know. Indoor temperature was comfortable. Not too cold, not too hot or warm. It was just right. No indoor sweater necessary and you know what I’m talkin’ about. Whole place was clean as far as what I saw. Very professional presentation. Lighting and sound was on point. Techs were right behind me too and upstairs. Everyone has flipped channels and seen these monstrous ass churches that look like arenas and shit. This was similar yet on a smaller scale. Ambiance was nice. Production quality definitely was on the high end.

I had just bought a new tripod (the mx 2000 from OSN - One Source Network), my first one ever, from Walmart on early Sunday morning. The video is gonna seem amateur in some places as I’m still getting accustomed to my cam and getting used to using it with the tripod which, as you’ll see, I had no prior experience using. I mean, it ain’t gonna be so painfully obvious that the vid is unwatchable. It’s just that in some places I snapped pics while filming video (you’ll know when that happens), and jerked the tripod around cuz I wasn’t sure what knob or lever did what. But I know now. Gonna work on trying to add wittier and more informative commentary in the future too. My wit is super quick and I ain’t stupid but you can’t tell from the way I talk on these videos. That’ll all change with experience though.

The vid is in two parts cuz I use MPEG Streamclip to edit and max file size for avi’s with that program is 1.5gbs from what I’ve tested. My Canon S5 IS records in avi and I used the 320x240 at 30fps setting. I could’ve just edited and converted the files to .mov or .mp4 in QuickTime Pro for one complete vid in a smaller file size but opted out to preserve quality when converting to .flv.

They started out with the baptisms. Later in the night I was reminded that this was a Baptist church, not Christian. I have no clue what the differences are in all these religions. I honestly don’t see the point in dipping someone in dirty, cold water to wipe away their sins and bring themselves into god’s good graces. I really don’t. Unless that water was like a pool and constantly filtered, man, you don’t know the hygiene practices or health of the person who got dipped before you or how often they clean that shit. Something for those people to think about.

I seriously thought this was gonna be a macho kinda thing. Briefly skimming their website beforehand also gave me that impression. I really am glad it was free cuz it was way too preachy for me. I just wanted to see some destruction and I did. But along with that came lots of talking. No, I ain’t complaining about something that was free. All I’m saying is that if I paid and got what I got, I wouldn’t be happy about it. Team Impact delivers a very powerful message and provides a fun, positive atmosphere at the same time. These guys are doing good things. I don’t necessarily agree with the god and Jesus aspect of it. If they could do what they’re doing without that part of it, I’d give ‘em my full support. Wanna show your support? Click here to see the envelope they provided for donations and such. Lots of info on it.

Here’s the deal. They (religious folk) acknowledge that everyone is born a sinner. You can accept god and Jesus and when you repent, those sins will be wiped away and you can start fresh. My problem with that is, first of all, to be a sinner to begin with, you have to acknowledge the existence of god as a higher power. That’s something I just don’t, and won’t, do. I went in there not sharing the beliefs of 99.99% of the people in there but that didn’t bother me. Am I a sinner in their eyes? Of course. Do I think I’m a sinner? Fuck no. Things I do are sins to them but to me, I’m just living my life to its fullest and to the best of my ability. No sin involved. Just trying to survive and accomplish personal goals.

So we now know what a true sinner is. Someone who believes in god as a higher power and disobeys his rules. So you’re gonna sit here and tell me that 100% of the people in there, regardless of their faith and religion, and the fact that some of them got baptized, and some newbs converted at the end, you’re gonna tell me that everyone in there doesn’t sin anymore to remain in god’s good graces come time for the rapture? That’s complete and total bullshit in my opinion. The fact that everyone is born a sinner in their eyes is also acknowledgement that people are capable of sin throughout their lives. Keep on sinnin’ and just ask god to forgive you and he will. I know for a fact that’s how some people think. Fucking retarded hypocrites.

At the end of the event upstairs when I was snappin’ pics, I ran into the security guard who earlier, thanks to me, discovered a door that wasn’t locked and it was supposed to be. I wasn’t gonna get into no religious convo with him but I did tell him I didn’t agree with a lot of things that were said. I also told him I believe in humanity: the power of human beings to be responsible for and fulfill their own destiny. No gods or higher powers involved. He didn’t judge me at all and offered his 2 cents about free will and the choice to accept Jesus or not and that was that. No judgment placed upon me. Now that truly impressed me more than anything else I saw or heard that night.

Now if you need to turn to the church for guidance, need to reconnect with your faith, or are looking for something to believe in that’ll send you down a better path than the downward spiral you may or may not be in now, I recommend their events cuz the community is awesome and very supportive. Checking out the church program that was passed out that night, the church itself has lots of positive programs and events for kids, families, and individuals from all walks of life and experience. Lots of volunteer opportunities too. I’m not gonna sit here and down Team Impact or church as a whole. They’re doing good things. I just wish organized religion wasn’t a part of it.

More so than before, I don’t believe in god. I acknowledge Jesus as a man who had a vision for a better world and spread his message which is seemingly everlasting, yet continually distorted as time goes on. Not that I went to try and be converted. I went for entertainment. Believe it or not, I was raised Catholic. But I developed my own beliefs as I got older. Imagine me going to fucking church as a kid only to fucking shoplift comic books at the mall during the fieldtrips. Nah, that shit just wasn’t gonna work for me. I’m not a thief by any means anymore. Just the ignorance of youth at the time. But what I’m saying is all that religious stuff just doesn’t work for me. Might work for others, but not for me. If someone like me can step foot inside a church and not get offended, be accepted and not judged no matter what my beliefs, then I can definitely support that.

Would I return to the First (not the second or third but the first) Baptist Church of Orlando? Sure, if they’re providing something that I think has entertainment value for me. You sure as shit ain’t gonna see me there every Sunday, that’s for fucking sure. And it ain’t just this church. I have no problem with places of organized religion. Meaning location and structure. The people on the other hand, well, let’s just say this night and this event have changed my views on things. You got those fanatical religious folk who preach away about god (using his name in vain), telling people they’re going to hell, and judging people and shit cuz they don’t believe in the same shit as them, yet they’re committing sin just by doing all that dumb shit. The hypocrites and fanatics are the ones I got a prob with. They skew the message which I’ve learned is a very positive one. See? At the very least they changed my opinion about their kind. All in all, the Team Impact event was a great experience and I’d do it again or something similar if the opportunity presented itself. Highly recommended for those in need. Just remember to eat first.

This is kinda old news, but last Thursday (October 18) someone at work brought in a USA Today from last Monday (October 15). I peeped the Money section and on the very back was an ad for CNBC (I Frankensteined the image above); showin’ off their on-air talent in the middle (and especially the female talent if you get my drift), displaying in large font their slogan at the top, and some descriptive tags at the bottom. At first glance, I was checkin’ out the chics. Not bad. Second glance was everyone altogether. Third was that last word at the bottom: unbiased. Then I thought about my second glance. Other than hair, clothes, and shoes, there was no color anywhere. No darkies or tanners at all. Just white meat. Possibly with some ethnics blended in there that lean towards the white side so you can’t tell the diff. So how the hell are they unbiased if they don’t have any sort of realistic minority (women excluded) perspective?

I peeped around online and apparently this has been an issue for a little bit. The fact that they don’t have any diversity, mainly blacks, in their staff. The ad was placed because Fox started up their new business channel that day from what I understand and they got front page treatment from USA Today. So CNBC was like, “Okay. These motherfuckers got the front page, we’ll get the last one…all of it!” Guess they had to remind people that they still existed for fear that good ol’ Fox would outfox ‘em. I personally could care less for either one of ‘em. I get my news online, from local news, CNN Headline News, and the newspaper. But the big deal is that CNBC is making claims that are very clearly untrue.

Some people will tell you that Fox News, in all its forms, is very biased. That’s why I don’t watch that shit. Cuz it is! At a job I had not too long ago, there was a tv in the break room and the fucking Fox News Channel was the default and only channel. So much of that shit was so opinionated and one-sided it’s ridiculous. It was more like Fox shoving their views down people’s throats. Well, I don’t work at that joint no more. And although the provided example was a generalization, let me just say that I don’t watch that channel either…ever! But getting back to CNBC, their claim is complete bullshit cuz their talent is representative of primarily one segment of the consensus: whites.

As of tonight, here’s the faces that they have displayed on their US page. Very similar to the newspaper ad, right? No fucking color! Sure, there’s a mickey or two. A few chinny-chin-chins. Maybe some minnows here and there and some spics too. And one, and only one, negra. But if you look, at first glance without knowing any names, what color are you gonna think every single person is? The slants stick out like daylight for obvious reasons but other than those chics, does everyone appear to lean towards the white? Even the one black chic is a redbone and blends in with the others.

So what gives? The ad is showcasing mostly whites or white-leaners with the chics out front. No dark skin in the whole bunch. Their website is practically the same. The complaints around the net have been that there’s no blacks at that network or not enough of ‘em. I see something different. I don’t see any dark skin. No spics, niggers, gook, or injun varieties of dark complexion at all. Everyone there looks white. So even though they do have minorities and some ethnicity employed there, none of them look (and probably don’t talk because they’ve been trained that way) stereotypical. There a reason for that? I got an idea why.

First of all, this is a business channel. And who owns or runs most of the big, and even small, businesses in the US? You got it, the whites. Men in particular. Who makes the most money? Whites. Again, men in particular. Therefore, who’s got the power? With that info in mind, they’re gonna appeal to that segment over any other. That’s their target audience. White fat cats like having hot chics under them. So what does CNBC and the other business networks do? They pull a Univision and hire smokin’ hotties in alluring attire to report the news. That’ll keep the people they want to watch watching. Chics like chics and guys do to. Really, are any of their female on-air talent not hittable? It’s a win/win formula appealing to the sexes. And they mix in the middle-aged/older guys so their primary audience will feel comfortable seeing and listening to their peers and seemingly more knowledgeable counterparts. Ever notice there ain’t no old, broken down ladies on any of these networks like there are these old, broken down men? Remember who’s got the power and what they like to see. That’s the short version. It ain’t rocket science.

Is CNBC doing anything wrong? I wouldn’t say so. It’s their network, they can do whatever the fuck they want as far as I’m concerned. It’s all about ratings, ad dollars, and competition. You gotta do what you gotta do to survive in tv land. Fox is the new competitor on the block. They gotta step it the fuck up now. Do something different. First step would be to be more diverse. Live up to that unbiased claim. On-air talent are whites and leaners. What about the motherfuckers behind the camera? In the control room? More crackers or is there some dark skin there?

With shit the way it is for CNBC, there’s no way they can be unbiased. There’s no true minority point-of-view. And this is just my observational opinion and nothing more, btw. Unless the producers and writers and shit are truly minorities and just the on-air talent are whites and leaners. But I doubt that seriously. How they gonna give an objective view on what blacks and spanish people really think and how they’re living? About shit that matters to them? The second and third place racial groups in the US? This is America. It ain’t as prosperous as people think. There’s more poor people, of all races, here than people wanna admit. I understand it’s a business channel, and small business is what drives the country, but catering to the whites and practically excluding the perspective of anyone else kinda alienates a segment of the audience, dontcha think? Minorities own businesses too, ya know. Where they gonna turn to get relevant news? Sure as shit ain’t the so-called unbiased business channel.

Imagine if there was some on-air color that reported race-appropriate news. And to too many people (not myself), color matters. That’s guaranteed ratings (which translates into all-important ad revenue) because the right people would be reporting the right kind of news that appeals to the right kind of people. Make sense? Blacks reporting black news? Whites reporting white news? No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m saying CNBC can be more diverse with their anchors/reporters and the news that they cover. Include, don’t exclude. I know the latter is the white way, but times have a-changed. All of them can report news that matters to the total business audience, not just their own. The real blame lies on the top dogs. The producers and directors. Writers. The ones who make the decisions on what gets reported and who reports it. That’s where all the complaining energy needs to be sent, not to the faces on tv. They’re just trying to maintain their career and pay their bills.