The Portland Paradigm
2Pac - Rapper
White Mamba - Redhead
Phelps - Olympic Medalist
Jefferson - Presidential Loser
Leprechaun - Mythical Being
Michelangelo - Artist
Mackey - TV Cop
Lucky - Mascot
Likes: I like the pick of Leprachauns as mythical creature, they're perverse powerful little tricksters, basically likes fairy with a sense of humor and I bet they know the best dirty jokes. I like Scalabreezy as the redhead, or, as I like to refer to him, 'The Ghostface Thrillah'. I love Thomas Jefferson as...anything. A philandering scholar who dabbled in a myriad of schools, who liked his homegrown and was too smart for his own good. A man after my own heart.
Kinda likes: Vic Mackey as tv cop, a sullen passionate rip off of Tony Soprano. Somewhere in a pitch meeting the guy who made the series started out with the words, 'A man who plays by his own rules, Vic Mackey....' tupac is also a kinda like. Always thought he was more important then he was, Tupac was a deft MC who couldnt evolve like Jay-z did. Maybe the most prolific case of 'Keepin it real' that ever existed. He can spin 'Dear Mama' and 'Brenda's Got A. Baby' along with 'California Love' and 'Picture Me Rollin'.
Dislikes: phelps, cuz he's lame, michalangelo cuz he's...well I don't know a ton about him, but he's just not a 'wow' pick for me. Lucky as a mascot, meh.
Possible personality conflicts: Vic Mackey and Tupac, they might shoot each other over a dice game. Lucky and the real Leprachauns, I think the 'legit Leprachauns' or 'Double L's' will look at Lucky as an Uncle Tom, with no real pot of gold, doing handstands for coppers!
Thanks for the review, IP. Just a note on Michelangelo: Coming from a family of artists, I was raised on the fine arts, and thanks to my Mom's insistance and tutelage, I could recognize different artists by their brush-strokes/styles by the age of eight. I can see where "Mikey" might not be a "wow"-type pick, or even a pick that everyone would be real familiar with. But I can tell you, (and with a little surfing), that anyone who knows art or even can approach an appreciation of it, would, with a little time spent in perusal of his work, know without question that he was one of the greatest artistic talents and geniuses that this world has ever known, and was called "The Divine One" by his peers and contemporaries, (including Leonardo).
Da Vinci was a great artist as well, but just plain didn't have the talent for it that Michelangelo had, and was more influenced by the sciences and invention anyway, (no doubt he was capable enough, but he did not spend the time with the fine arts that M did, and wasn't as compelled to do so). The painting of the frescos on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, Rome, Italy, is considered by many as the greatest achievement by a single artist in the history of mankind, and while small sections were done by other artists at other times, (including Boticelli and Raphael), Michelangelo painted over
12,000 square feet, (between 1508 and 1512), on his
back, and
not with traditional painting with a brush, but with all freso technique.
Just painting an area that size
alone would be an extraordinary feat, but the exquisite composition and detailed story that is told within that amazing work of art, makes it one of the most incredible things ever produced in the world of fine arts, and that is an understatement. But even beyond that, Michelangelo was an amazing sculptor, (The Pieta', David, for example, done before he was 30 years old), architect, (designed St. Peter's basilica, one of the greatest architectural works by man to this day), poet, and engineer, and had two biographies published about him while he was still alive, (something very rare for that period). He was the original archetypal Renaissance Man, and his unique style actually created the next major movement in art of the times, called
Mannerism.
The Pieta'
Sistine Chapel, (Part):
Just some of his architectural designs:
The Campidoglio, the façade for the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, the Medici Chapel (Capella Medicea) and Laurentian Library there, the fortifications of Florence, St. Peter's Cathedral, Palazzo Farnese, San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, the Sforza Chapel (Capella Sforza) in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Porta Pia and Santa Maria degli Angeli.
Some of his poetry:
I feel as lit by fire a cold countenance
That burns me from afar and keeps itself ice-chill;
A strength I feel two shapely arms to fill
Which without motion moves every balance.His style may not have the popularity today that some of the more modern artists garner, (Picasso, Pollock, the Impressionists like Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Renoir, etc.), but if
anyone in the world of Fine Arts ever deserved a "wow" appreciation, it's Michelangelo. I guess what I'm saying is that you don't always have to like the style of an artist's work to appreciate how incredible that artist
is, (or his talent), and he would certainly fall into that category for many. Art (painting/sculpture) is much like music, in that each of us has our own tastes, and what you like, you like, even though you don't always know why, but while his work may not wow you with his particular style, his genius, talent and accomplishment is certainly worthy of that consideration. He is not my
favorite artist by any means, as I personally enjoy impressionists and colorists, (my favs are Turner, Cezanne, Chen Chi, and modernists like Benson, Armin Hansen, etc.), but when it comes to the question of talent, genius, ability, diversity, and accomplishment, there really is no one that comes close to Michelangelo.
Didn't mean to get carried away, just enjoy this topic a great deal.
Now, as far as Phelps being "lame", not sure why you'd say that ... the guy has won more medals than any other athlete in the history of the games, and has done so with class and integirty, and a refreshing lack of "bad boy" crapola. So when it comes to "Gold Medals", (and that's the category), nobody else here quite measures up. The guy is an amazing athlete, and a great guy.
Lucky certainly isn't the most interesting, unique or flamboyant of mascots, but he's
our mascot, the mascot of my favorite team in the world, and that's the only home-run he needs to hit, in my humble opinion. Shoe-in.
Vic Macky? The badass cop of badass cops, and while he may take some pointers from those before him, (like everyone does), he definitely has his own style and character, and makes no apologies for his faults and imprefections ... which I personally love as much as any cop show I've ever seen. Fresh and unique in a world of copy-cats and lame CSI spin-offs.
As far as Tupac thinking he was more improtant than he was, that one baffles me ... sorry, but that's a popular culture thing I've heard before, and there's nothing solid to back it up. If anything, he was far
more important than
anyone thought he was at the time, and this has just gotten clearer and clearer in the years following his death. He went places no one had ever been, and fused his style with other genres to a level not known before him. Ask almost any rapper today who's had the most influence on their career, and many will say Tupac, without question.
Again, like art, it's ultimately a personal preference thing, but Tupac is the Michelangelo of Rap, and easily one of the greatest ever.
The tension between Mackey and 2Pac? I love it ... I think more of these teams need a little spark and face-off electricity in the locker-room. Besides, everyone knows Tupac loves his nine, and Mackey always sides a .45, (Tupac has also been turning Vic's extra unspent energy into writing and helping him in the studio, and the two are now like brothers, and have each others backs - a great one-two punch for our team, and part of our intimidation factor).
Poll
Topic: Ultimate Draft III - D..U..N spells DUN (Read 358861 times)