Thursday, May 13, 2010

X-MEN: Origins -Smoke

X-MEN: Origins -Smoke

Smoke (Jacob James Owens) is a fictional superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. He has been known under the aliases Smokescreen or Vapor, and is best known for being the first openly homosexual member of the X-Men. The Comics Code Authority and Marvel policy prohibited the explicit portrayal of gay or bisexual characters

Smoke is an important figure to the people of the X-Men. Professor X, who is like a father figure to him; Gambit who is a very good friend and, at several points, a potential love interest; his best friend Storm, who is like a sister figure; Cyclops, who is a very good friend and a brother-like figure; Wolverine, who became something of a mentor to him despite his usually gruff personality and Bishop, whom he shared a close personal connection with.

Powers and Abilities
Smoke is a mutant born with superhuman strength, agility, the ability to teleport, levitate, and fly. His physical mutation includes changing into a cloud of smoke at will. Smoke also possesses superhuman speed and the ability to sense the powers and locations of other mutants. He is also skilled in hand-to-hand combat, having received training from Wolverine and Cyclops. He also has had training in acrobatics and sword fighting from Nightcrawler. It is unclear what Smoke’s limitations on his abilities are.

Smoke must also deal with being an Omega-level mutant one of few mutants with this ability i.e. Jean Grey/The Phoenix, Robert Drake/Iceman and Rachel Summers/Marvel Girl (daughter of Jean Grey & Scott Summers/Cyclops). He has faced death several times with his history with the X-Men. He has completed college-level courses at Xavier's school.

Smoke has a separate personality as a result of being an Omega-level mutant. His separate personality is named Vapor. Vapor is an assassin, whose breath or touch could kill whatever he came into contact with. He has a poison touch would spread vastly throughout an area at his will, killing life. He is resistant to pain, extreme heat and cold. He is also able to keep to the shadows and move with such speed that he can remain unseen even in daylight.

Fictional character biography

Background

Smoke suffered much during his young life. He lost his mother from decapitation in a car accident at the age of 6, and his father was killed a few years later by a loan shark. Smoke primarily raised himself, put himself through school and survived on the streets and becomes a proficient thief. His powers first manifested at the age of 13, when he saw his childhood best friend shot in the head during recess during school.

X-Men: The Dark Future
In X-Men: The Dark Future [volume & issue needed] Rogue confronts Smoke on the front steps of the Xavier Institute (Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters), after a heated argument (it had been rumored that Rogue believed that Smoke and Gambit had an illicit affair with each other. Smoke would not reveal if this had been true or not. Gambit would later denied anything had happened and told Rogue the he and Smoke just have a bro-mance relationship with each other) Rogue deliberately tries absorbs his powers. Something goes wrong as Rogue fights hard absorb Smoke’s powers something manifests in him and he counteracts her absorbing powers and permanently absorbing her super strength and ability to fly as well as some of her memories.



Super Name: Smoke

Real Name: Jacob James Owens

Aliases: Vapor, Smokescreen, Dark Havoc

Gender: Male

Character Type: Mutant

1st Appearance:

Birthday: Unknown

Died:

Created by La Ron Owens, (May 12, 2009). Smoke, made his first appearance as Dark Havoc in X-Men #??? After his resurrection, he changed his name to Smoke and joined the X-Men, becoming a mainstay character.

The Earthquake

The Earthquake
By: Jacob Owens


I can barely remember what this unrealistic nightmare was all about, but it was definitely unlike any dream or nightmare I have ever had before in my life. It was all about an earthquake.

It all started when my family and I went to our families church (Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church). I can’t remember if it was a regular Sunday church service or some special church event. Homecoming, fellowship or something like that, but I know we were at church. Pastor Cannon was preaching a sermon. The church members were was praising the Lord’s word and then suddenly, I look over and there out of nowhere my niece Shalina appeared. She sat to the left of me, and then to the right of her was an embryo. Each time I would look at Shalina then glance back over to the embryo it would get older and older looking, progressing in age. The embryo had gotten older to the age six or seven years old. I looked back over at my niece, and then suddenly the embryo jumped up from the seat and ran out of the church. I then chased her out of the church as well. I ran through the double doors that separated the church pulpit and the church waiting lobby. After running through the double doors of the church I entered into a mall. I wasn’t quite sure what mall I was in or where the mall was. I saw the embryo run down the hall of the mall. I took chase after her again. I ended up in the center of the mall where I lost chase. I somehow forgot why and how I had gotten there because I was mesmerized by all the things that I saw.

Everything was made out of glass. The floors, the walls, the counters in all the department stores. Everything was glass, you could see straight through everything. Right in the middle of the floor in the mall was a fish tank and in the fish tank there were white rocks at the bottom of this fish tank. There were also the most beautiful, the greenest plants I have ever seen. There was something weird and strange about the way the fish were swimming in the tank. The fish were swimming around the tank in circles, in the order of the food chain line like; biggest, bigger, big, medium, small and smallest. As I was in not so much aw, but in a state of stuck, that’s when the earthquake happened. The ground began to shake; the building began to sway back and forth. People began to scream, shout and yell. Glass fell from the sky, but not from broken glass, the glass was falling from the sky. The glass was cutting off people’s arms and leg’s. People were getting stabbed in the face, neck and stomach. I quickly took cover. I got under a metal door way near an exit sign by the fish tank. I looked at all the people running. Just then I noticed the fish tank. All the fish were dead, and the water was boiling. I could hear cars outside screeching and crashing into each other. People continue to scream and yell. People grabbed and held close to one another. Parents grabbed their babies and children.

People grabbed their dogs and small animals. Boyfriends held tight to girlfriends. Husbands and wives held each other closely for dear life not know if they would survive the earth quake. There were people running in every direction possible. It was like every man was for themselves. There were some people helping the elderly and disabled, the rest just fled for themselves. I just stood there, helpless, watching. I couldn’t move. My mind was telling me legs and feet to move. Nothing! I was stiff as a board. I could not let go of the place my feet were stuck in. I just watched in horror. I wasn’t even able to shut my eyes nor could I blink. I wasn’t able to find anyone I have came to church with. My family, my friends, I wasn’t able to find anyone. I wasn’t even able to find the door I had come in through. All I could do is witness the destruction of this glass mall, killing and injuring people. All this misery. All this destruction. All this devastation, this earth quake has caused to the people and community. Outside I could her buildings falling down and collapsing. Destroying other buildings, cars and trucks. The ground opened up. People, children, dogs, cats, cars, trucks fell into the black hole. Houses caught fire. Bridges fell in. Freeways and highways gave way and collapsed. Then I heard a roar of thunder and lighting. It began to storm. Thunder, lighting, hail the sized of quarters began pounding the ground everywhere. The fog that rolled in was thick. The rain was so intense and poured down so hard that it will bruise you. The rain water was very warm. The street began to become flooded. It washed away all the destruction and devastation. Then with a snap of your finger’s there was peace and quite.

The sun appeared, and everything was calm. It was like nothing ever happened. The sun was so shinny and bright. It was like a sun we have never seen or had before. It rose over the hillsides and trees. It shined bright as ever before. I could hear in the distance a new born baby crying. A new baby entering this new life. This new world. Just then, I awakened from yet another dream.

The Long Journey

The Long Journey
By: Jacob Owens





It was Saturday, April 22nd, 1995, when Roslyn, Tonnie and Heather teamed up with Ron, Hallie, Tyrone and Darrian. They ran across the corn field. They had to walk through the corn field to get to the other side. As they got to the other side…



“How did we get here?”
Roslyn had asked.



“I don’t know?”
Darrian replied.


Everyone looking around at each other. Looking dazed and confused. Unsure and unclear on what happened and how they got in the place they are in. Everyone just stood there, standing. Not know how or why they got there. They only knew that they had somewhere or someplace to get to.



“How did we get here?”
Tyrone asked.



“Where did you come from?”
Tonnie responded to Tyrone.



The walk they took was long, hard and not to mention tiring. After hours and hours of walking and hiking they came across a picnic area, everyone felt like it was the place they were supposed to be. There was a clothesline near one of the picnic tables with sheets aligned across the whole line. A gust of wind began blowing wildly, and then all of a sudden it stopped. And as Hallie listened she could hear water. She and Tyrone began walking towards were the sound was coming from. There they found another line of clothes and back beyond that, they saw a stream of river. The water was as blue as the sky and as clear as drinking water. Roslyn walked up to the clothesline and pulled it back, she saw the stream of water running upwards in stead of the normal downwards stream, As she looked up past the river of water she saw a large ran down house. Heather and Tonnie ran up to meet with Roslyn. Tonnie then looked back at the river and the most horrifying thing happened. She say was baby doll dressed in a white gown with a bonnet around her head and a rope tied around the baby’s neck and the baby was floating face down in the water. Tonnie yelled and everyone gather around her to see the horrifying image. They all then ran across the river, some ran faster than other, they all ran as fast and as hard as they could, but they all ran making sure each other had gotten across.


They all met up at the run down house that was in the middle of nowhere, which appeared to be strange, but no one seemed to care, they just wanted help to get out of the place that we were magnetically taken to without force. We all ran up these stairs, Tyrone and Ron knocked and banged on the front doors but no one ever answered the doors. Roslyn, Tonnie, Heather, Ron, Hallie, Tyrone and Darrian looked all around the house. They went to every window on the very large porch that wrapped around the whole house.



“Hey guys?”
Heather yelled to everyone.



“I see people? I see people walking around in here?”
Heather continued to yell while looking through one of the windows of the house.



“Hello”
Everyone yelled and screamed into the windows of the house.


No one in the house heard them yelling. No one in the house heard them screaming. Nor did anyone in the house hear them banging on the windows. It was like they could not even see and hear us screaming to them; even though, the windows in the house were wide open.



“Hey!”
Roslyn shouted out.



“Hello!”
Hallie screamed.



“They can’t hear us?”
Heather said to Hallie.



“What! Why?”
Ron screamed out along with Hallie.



“I don’t know?”
Tyrone hollered out.



“Hello!”
Hallie continued to scream.


“Hello!”
Both, Darrian and Tonnie shouted.


Still no one heard them. The people appeared to be trapped in the house. We were not sure how or why they were trapped in the house. We didn’t know if they were trapped by something, someone or if they were trapped in by some type of force. We all started yelling, hollering and shouting again, one last time. But still they could not hear us through the glass windows and doors…

Just then, I woke up to find it was all a dream. Why is it that we have dreams or nightmares about things, people or places that have nothing to do with you? Why is it we dream about people we have never met? Why are those people mixed into the same dreams or nightmares with the people you love?

Thank God, it was only just a dream.

The Sentinel

The Sentinel
By: Jacob Owens

Hopefully by me writing down my dreams past, present and future. It would or will some how give me the chance to put all my dreams and nightmares into a storyline, book, and script or maybe even a movie. That’s how Stephen King got started… Right!

This is how this nightmare got started…
(The Dream Sequence)


I was asleep when I was awakened to go to the bathroom to do the usual thing. I entered the bathroom, I heard a noise and I suddenly forgot what I went into the bathroom for. I turned and walked into the hallway, and there I was standing… cold, moist, and partially wet. There was a stench of mold and mildew reeking from the air. And voices coming from my bedroom. When I entered my bedroom I was over whelmed with the scent of roses and as I looked around I saw people, family and friends that have died and passed on. I wanted to ask if they have gone to Heaven or Hell, but I was afraid to ask. They looked like they did before they died. The older people were as young as myself. It was weird because the friends that I once had and the people in my family did not know each other. They all were carrying on conversations like they have known each other for years and years. It scared and shocked me to the point where all I could think of was turning my back to them, closing my eyes and say “This is all a dream. All I have to do is wake up. Come on, wake up. You can do it. Wake up!” to myself. I tried to imagine that they weren’t there, but it was no use. All I could think of was to run like hell. I then started running down the hallway which had become stretched long and far. And it seamed the harder and fast I ran the longer the hallway became. Then, the living room door slowly creeped open and a shadow slowly entered into the door way, then a head rolled in, in between the legs of the shadow person that stood in the doorway. I was stuck there in the spot I was in. There was nowhere left for me to run. Nowhere for me to go. Nowhere left for me to hide. I ran to the corner of the living room near the couch, there was an end table with a lamp on it, I sat down there curled up and yelling. I then mustard up enough nerve to look up and everything was gone. Quite. Lifeless. I stood up, walked around the house, looked in my mother bedroom, she was sound asleep. I looked in my bedroom and everything seemed okay. I walked back into the living room; I opened the front door and looked out onto the porch both ways, things still appeared to be fine. Just then something, some kind of force pushed me out on to the porch. Once on the porch it got unbearably hot from heat. I did not know where the heat came from. Just as I was looking around to determine where the heat was coming from I saw demons. Little demons they stood about 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall. The demons were dancing, giggling and laughing around the outside of the porch floating on air. Some of the demons were crying from the torture of hell. Then all of as sudden I awakened from another dream.

Days of Future's Past

High School Reunion Days
By: Jacob Owens

In the past I’ve always had dreams about being back in school. Sometimes I will remember being back in elementary school in Ms. Haley’s, Mr. Jackson’s or even Mr. Williams’ class.
I think these were the only teachers that left a lasting impression on me, not that I did anything significant in or with my life. I mean, come on now. I haven’t done or become what I have dreamt about becoming. I’m not a model or an actor. I’m not a writer (by that I mean I haven’t written a major book or screen play) or even a dancer for that fact. Then there Ms. Andress, my very favorite teacher. I think it was after summer school, when she divorced her husband. She left school one year as Ms. Andress, and then she returned the next year as Ms. Wilson.

I don’t know what day it was or what made me even have this dream about being back in school. High school even, especially in Mr. King’s World History class (I think I should add to this story ‘not that it has anything to do with the story’ I saw Mr. King at the time one of the local gay clubs in downtown Oakland named Cable’s). Anyways, back to the story in hand. In my dream as I said, I was in Mr. King’s World History class, which was my first period class. It was me and my play sister Ena, and a couple of other people I did not know. One thing I’ll never know is why people dream about people they have never met before. Maybe, this is some sort of sign saying I need to go back to school or something. Maybe, it’s a type of sign showing me that I never achieved in school what I wished I have achieved. I wish in school I was smarter, applied myself and stayed focus. I wished I would have worked harder, stayed in class and not cut all the time. I wish I had gotten better grades. I merely did what I needed to do to get by. What is it! What can I do to stop having these damn dreams about being back in school?

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

In Memory of... Lena Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010)

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, and dancer.

At the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer at the famous Cotton Club before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather.

Ms. Horne past away on May 9, 2010, at the New York–Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. She is survived by her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, grand-daughters Jenny and Amy Lumet, Lena Jones, and grandsons, William and Thomas Jones. The circumstances of her death were withheld.

Diva of The Day "Naomi Campbell" (5/11/10)

Naomi Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is a British model. Discovered while shopping in London, Campbell started her career in the 1980s and soon appeared on the catwalks of Milan and Paris as well as on the cover pages of internationally renowned fashion magazines.

During the so-called supermodel era of the early 1990s, she was part of the "Big Six", alongside Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss. Naomi Campbell alongside Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista were also called "The Trinity". Campbell has appeared on more than 100 magazine covers and has enjoyed a runway career longevity matched by very few.


On an episode of her reality show America 's Next Top Model, friend and former alleged rival Tyra Banks once described Campbell 's body as one of the "best in the business."

Divo of The Day "Jensen Ackles" (5/11/10)

Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) better known as just Jensen Ackles, is an American actor. He is notable for his television roles as Dean Winchester on the CW television series Supernatural.

In 2003, The WB took Jensen under contract and put him on the last season of their teen drama hit Dawson's Creek in the role of C.J., Jen's (Michelle Williams) boyfriend. After Dawson's Creek ended, Jensen then was relocated to Vancouver to become a regular on The WB's Smallville, where he stayed for another year in the role of Jason Teague, Lana Lang's (Kristin Kreuk) boyfriend.

In 2005, after initially auditioning for the role of Sam, Jensen was cast as Dean Winchester in Supernatural.