Hawaiian Adventure: Evening Sky and Oddities Found in Hawaii

Hey there, everyone!

Remember me?  Yeah, it's been awhile.  I was absent from the world of blogging because my wife and I were on a cruise in Hawaii from the 29th of September through October 6th.  I've been recuperating and getting things back in order ever since.

The first day and night was, during our adventure, September 28th, and all about flying for 10 hours on two different flights to Hawaii and staying at the Marriott Hotel in Honolulu.  Our first flight was from Cincinnati.  The flights going to Hawaii weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be.  I watched two and a half movies on the biggest plane that had seven seats going across each row (one of them was Prometheus- which I liked) while my wife read a book on Steven Tyler.  The 2nd plane, on our second flight we had to take, was in Utah.  The Salt Lake City airport is tiny compared to the airports in Honolulu and Cincinnati, where we joyously we ended up, with only a little turbulence, experienced, during the long flights.

The Marriott Hotel offered us some great views of Waikiki beach in Honolulu.  We stayed there our first day and night before boarding our cruise ship, Pride of America, the next day. Staying at this 4 star hotel on the 19th floor gave us a breather and a chance to look around Honolulu before we started our 7 day cruise, the next day.  There was an incredible 33 floors to this hotel.  It was pretty friggin' big but some buildings in Honolulu stood taller.

Honolulu is a very busy place with a lot to see.  Tattoo parlors, bars, malls, small mom and pop stores, crazy traffic, a melting pot of people, surfers carrying surfboards and a beach that makes you feel as if you're dreaming.  My wife and I loved it.

We took walks along Waikiki beach, enjoying the water and talking to people and being invigorated by the beautiful scenery.

We had an awesome, entertaining time on our cruise and on five different islands in Hawaii.  I will be doing a series of posts of our time spent in Hawaii and on our cruise ship.  Events and places I write about won't be in any particular order.  I'll just be talking about this or that.  I'll be mixing it up and going crazy with it.  Lol.

Note:  I spent my birthday in Hawaii, during our cruise and island time.  How cool and great is that for a gift?

I'd like to show you this poem.  I wrote this during our time spent at the airport, in Honolulu, before coming back home.  I was almost completely exhausted, beyond repair, when I wrote this, but I was inspired by a particular picture I took during our cruise.  I took it as I stood on our balcony, outside our stateroom cabin on the ship.  I felt at such magnificent peace.

This poem is called "Evening Sky"

EVENING SKY

Hello
Goodbye
I say to the evening sky
Tomorrow will come
With what it decides

Some will make what
Seems to be mistakes
While others will see and take lessons
That they might embrace

I see and feel the peace that affects anyone of us
The Hawaiian atmosphere offers locales, beauty and kind people
You can't help but feel blessed

Walk
Run
Or be still

Take in the nature
That surrounds you in joyous or troubled times
Embrace the peace that takes care of you
While you stand, walk, run or hide
For a time

Meanwhile, say hello and goodbye
To that unbiased night sky
Tomorrow still comes
As you let those thoughts fly

I took this shot while standing on the top deck of our cruise ship

Going over the mountains to land in Salt Lake City

Taken from our room at the Marriott hotel in Honolulu.  You can see the ocean and beach from where we stayed.

Waikiki beach, as evening comes

Oddity #1- While we were on one of the Hawaii islands, we found out that there were numerous locations where people were being overrun and annoyed by numerous random chickens and roosters and if you happened to run over one, you had to get out of your vehicle, pick up the chicken, barely alive or dead, to throw it away or eat it.  No joke.  We were told this by a native Hawaiian man.  It was a law or something.

Oddity #2- My wife and I, almost continuously, encountered an elderly couple, strangers, that actually lived a few small towns away from our own town, back home, in the mainland.  They were nice and we enjoyed talking to them.  We found it to be such a coincidence that we were staying at the same hotel, going on the same cruise and we had lived so close by to each other in our home state.  That's nearly 4,300 miles away.

Even on the last flight home, we bumped into them again.  His name was John and her name was Connie.  Sometimes we would help each other locate where we had to be or where we wanted to go on the island or on the cruise or at the hotel.  I think we gave each other a sense of comfort and a feeling of contentedness, knowing we were around, off and on, people that were from our home state.  They were likable, helpful, interesting, conversational neighbors during our entire adventure.

Oddity #3- We learned that a lot of their highways on the islands are made partially from lava rock that has been mixed with asphalt.  They make good use of any lava that erupts and pours from volcanoes to build roads, walls that separate the ocean at beaches or property of any kind.

The lava creates new land, in Hawaii, eventually, but it is also used to build roads and walls on many of the islands.

Oddity #4- The Hawaiian word, mahalo, means "thank you" in the English language.  a lot of people will say this word to you if they witness you doing something thoughtful or nice to them or for another reason.  If you mix up the letters of this word just a bit, you can get "malaho", which our native Hawaiian shuttle bus driver, said at one point, meant a male body part (a man's genitals).  I've tried looking this up on the internet, for the hell of it, but can't find it.  Maybe I don't have the exact spelling of it right but that's what he told us.

Probably just fucking around with the tourists that we all were- but it gave us a chuckle, anyway.  A lot of people laughed.  We found everyone, on any of the islands or on the cruise ship, itself, to be friendly.  We talked to people from all around the world.  There especially seemed to be a lot of folks from Australia, the UK or the continent of Asia.  We enjoyed conversing with them about almost anything and learning about their culture and what they were paying for gas for their cars these days.  :)

In conclusion, I don't know if the shuttle bus driver was yanking my 'malaho' or what- but he sternly warned us not to say that dirty word to anyone on the streets on any of the Hawaiian islands or you would get a dirty look.  And maybe even a punch to the nutsack or coochie.  He didn't say that last part but I thought I would, because I care about your safety if you should go to Hawaii for a visit.  :)

Say, "Mahalo, Kelly!"

I'll be continuing this series of blog posts about our time in Hawaii for a short time.  I have posted all the pictures I took (around 530 pics- yeah, I know- WOW, huh?) during our Hawaiian adventure on Facebook, if you're interested.  I will be posting, in the future, more Hawaiian pictures on this blog and on my photo blog, Pics for Kicks, when I have more time.

We're taking over this island.  If you wanna get past me, you're gonna have to kill me and eat my corpse, damn it!

I'll be checking out and commenting on your blogs when I get the time.  It seems my birthday of October 3rd is being celebrated, off and on, this month, with friends and family.  I'll also be spending time with the wife and I'm still trying to put things in order and working on getting things fixed that happened right before our trip. I couldn't do things before our trip because we were busy and financially strapped.  For one thing, we had to buy a new, used car.  The old car broke down for good.  That put a huge dent into our spending money for the trip.

Later, someone ran into the back of our newly purchased car two weeks later where my wife worked.  Nope... no one saw what happened and nope... there are no security cameras aimed at the employee parking lot (how convenient and stupid) and yes, our insurance company will pay for getting it worked on but we still have to pay a five hundred dollar deductible.  Please don't ask any questions about the damage to the "new" car.  I'd rather not talk about it.  It's a thorn in my side or in my mind, actually.

I have a lot of those, of course.  Most are caused by people.  God, I wish I was back in Hawaii, already.  :) I try to picture myself there, nowadays.

Well, guys, that's all I can stand to write- for now.  See ya later, folks!  More fun and craziness to come!

Cool Air Has Inspired and Enthralled

The taint is dry.  My brow is sweat-free.  I can actually walk around in something besides my Cousin Eddie outfits.

Happy to report:  The main AC unit has been officially repaired and installed in the wall.  Before that, the temperatures ran around 80 degrees F. in the apartment.  When the area around us wasn't getting pounded by thunderstorms and 40-60 mph wind gusts and hailstones, the temperatures rose to record numbers this time of year.  Not even summer yet and it easily would get up to 85 degrees outside.  Most of the time, I walked around in my underwear or boxers and a pair of sandals or black slippers.  Nothing else.  My wife warned me not to go outside, saying that I might get raped in my seductive get up.  Somehow, I didn't believe her.

Watch Cousin Eddie, in action, below, in National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation.  This is likely my least favorite "Vacation" movie of the series but it had it's moments. Methinks Cousin Eddie may suffer some anxiety disorder, at times.  I can't fault him for being a moron, though.  He's the entertaining kind of moron.  God puts 'em on Earth for our entertainment, I think.

Beats being around a boring moron- one like most of us encounter each day, on several occasions. This clip below is not the "shitter was full" scene of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation- but I like this scene.  Everyone and their butt mole has got that one memorized and it has been shown to death.  Hell, it's tradition for us to watch the Christmas one each year.  I still get a boner when the girl in the red bathing suit is on the diving board of the fantasy pool.  My wife ruins my mood by saying that when she flips her suit up in the air with her foot, she is cutting a pussy fart at the same time.

I also slap myself on my head to recall things.

Now I can come into this room, play games, make witty as heck comments on blogs and entertain myself by spouting off words of wisdom.  By the way, I saw the mentally challenged man again at the park.  He was still mumbling, frequently waving his arms up and down and made quacking noises.  He paced back and forth, every so often shouting, "Gimbiddy Goobey Blaaarghh!"

The mother or caretaker of this person was looking at the picnic table she was sitting at, perhaps thinking of a creamy fudge bar or slitting her own throat.  I know it's hard for people to take care of people when they're mentally challenged.  I feel for them as much or more than the mentally retarded folks they take care of- they're like the unspoken heroes and people don't say enough good about them.

At least, he, the dude I was just yakkin' about, wasn't like this other asshole in the park.  This old guy, The Curmudgeon, I call him. He was all stretched out underneath a shelter, sweating profusely, red in the face, swiggin' out of his bottle of whatever like he was thirsty or something.  :)  Anyway, he, of course, makes one of his negative remarks about how the weather is.  He doesn't miss a chance, whenever we pass each other in the park, while walking, to say how crappy the weather is or if it is a nice day, he'll say, for example "Gee, it almost feels decent today."

After he says something that I don't really feel like fully absorbing in my brain because I know how his mind works, partially, I ask him, nicely, if he is okay.  No sarcasm to my tone, whatsoever.  He breathes in, sort of okay, but his breathing is a bit ragged.  Based on this and his appearance, I had asked if he was okay.  If he needed any assistance.  Ever since I've had earlier dramatic incidents, this year, of people collapsing in front of me or onto me, in my arms, I'm a little anxious.  I'm ready to call 911 on his crazy, obnoxious, old ass.

But he says that he's okay and I walk on my usual path.  Apparently, he was "okay" because I saw him walking again.  I tried to say hello to him and get him to stop, briefly, to ask how he was but he ignored me and made sure I knew he was doing it on purpose.

I thought he was being silly, vain and stupid.  So I laughed each time as distance separated us when we walked in opposite directions.  The next day, he must have known he looked like an ass because of his attitude because he immediately engaged me in a conversation about trips he and his wife have taken to Hawaii and other locations.  At least, he isn't a total turd.

When people start conveying personal info, it's usually easier for me and quite a few people, I notice, to warm up to them.  They seem more human.  That's the lesson I take from it during my experiences of these kind.  People play odd games.  I like the straightforward, honest approach.  Why be something you're not?  Don't fear!  Show yourself-- flaws, talents, interests and all.

By the way, my neighbor, across the street, has a dozen flags in his yard.  Big flagpoles with American flags in his small yard. I don't know why he has them there.  Memorial Day is quite a long time from now.  I took a picture of his front yard-in case he kills me later on.  He reminds me of the Bruce Dern character of the movie "The Burbs."  The neighbor across the road from us is always sitting in his lawn chair in his open garage, watching the movements of all in the neighborhood.

  

This Is How I Drive My Truck

I thought this scene was one of the best parts of the movie, Drive Angry. So cool.

"And that's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it, uh huh, uh huh."

lol

Right On Cue

You're watching a movie at home, something supposedly bad happens to the supposedly likable female character. She starts to tear up. The sad music begins to play because the director wants to illicit a reaction from the movie's audience. The actress begins to cry. Right on cue, the sad music becomes louder, practically begging you to go for a Kleenex. After all, it is the intention of the director manipulate you into crying, feel sorry for the character, perhaps think of the situation happening to you for that personal response.

Or it could be a movie that's meant to be hilarious. Right on cue, there is music to set that mood, too.

You may or may not react but it's important to the producers of said movie that you do react. It is their intention that you purchase the movie later or do whatever they want you to do that usually involves you buying something in connection to the (product) movie.

You turn on the TV. There's Paris Hilton. "Dumb" rich blonde, always needing attention. She'll do the baby talk routine, show some skin for a sexual response from straight men and gay women, will act stupid, will promote her company's product, will do whatever it takes to get what she wants but never what she needs. Right on cue, she flashes a smile, craving attention from the media because, deep down, she has low self esteem. Cameras flash as she gets out of the limo. Heck, Paris might even pretend to forget to wear panties for some scandalous pictures that only add to the attention that is craved or for marketing purposes.

Is that Paris's pussy? Better zoom in for the possible genital warts. Either that or ignore that and her obvious act and read an interesting book, instead. Might I suggest Jon Stewart's Earth?

And it's nearly the same routine for a lot of the superficial folks in Hollywood. And it goes on and on. You got your Lohans, your Sheens, your desperate Reality TV " wannabe stars", your politicians and a puffed up, egotistical Donald Trump thrown in- just for good measure. Wants and insecurities. Putting on acts for a response or money. Blah fucking blah, blah, blah.

Or for another scenario: A friend or family member you know tells you "a deeply moving" story to get you to help them that involves you breaking your back or giving them money or causing you stress. Or something else you can probably think of. Put on your thinking cap!

How about the restaurant scene? The waitress at the restaurant is joking around with you, hoping you'll leave a big tip for her. She asks how you are, how your day is. The waitress smiles, laughs, maybe even flirts. Whatever it takes to make money. She plays as if she's been your friend for who knows how long in her act.

Personally, I'm just interested in getting some decent service while I'm eating the food, transparent food industry employee. I will give you a tip if the service is good. The tip amount will not be based on how exceptional your friendliness routine was. The end.

Commercials are painfully obvious with their agendas, as well. See this, they say and this will happen. Let us make you laugh or smile or nod in agreement. We want you to feel good about buying our product, because we care. If that doesn't work, maybe we'll scare you, subtly or not so subtly, into buying it.

And then there's the news programs. A reporter or anchorperson reads their script to get the intended response. Right on cue, his or her voice will waver, maybe slow their words for the effect on you. Or maybe they will infuse their words with faked excitement about an event or group or individual. And because you're the target, you are supposed to have pity, happiness or anger for this person or situation. What fun they're having! I'm wanking furiously in tribute to their supposed ingenuity. Either that or I'm shrugging my shoulders and moving on to something that's actually substantial and worthy of thinking about.

Those wacky fucks on TV will talk about a politician named Weiner sending a Twitter pic of his wiener. They will talk about the latest celebrity break up. They will say things that you've heard before too many other times. Different names. Same old shit. All because they want the response, ratings and/or money.

The images on the TV go by quickly. Our attention spans have dwindled to mere seconds.

Ugh! It's a blessing and a curse to see through people. This will sound cynical. This will sound paranoid. But it's the truth. Everyone has an agenda. I've said it before. I'm saying it again- because the superficiality of it all has bothered me almost from the very beginning of existence. I just want honesty, my fellow human wads of fuck. Tell me what you want. If it feels right for me, I'll give it to you, because I, as well, might have an agenda.

Ha! Ha! Ha! What silly shitting, eating, self-absorbed, needlessly manipulative, sometimes easily manipulated beings we are!

And here lies the truth, in the next paragraph. Watch your step! Please, don't trip over it or you may or may not acknowledge it.

When you hear or say the word "agenda" it conjures up something conspiratorial in one's mind but the agenda, itself, doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Everyone has their own motives (agendas) or goals in life. This can be a positive objective like the good feeling you get from helping someone out. But people will deny that that wasn't their intention or it wasn't in the back of their minds before coming to somebody's aid. It doesn't matter, though. As long as they truly helped someone out.

I'm sure you can think of other agendas that can be positive. And some that are not, like some of those mentioned above.

I shall now step off of my soapbox, thus ending the lecture. Was I hoping to illicit a response to this topic? Nope. I just like stating the obvious (to me) and making observations. That's my thing. Manipulation isn't usually my game. I leave it to the experts. Besides, I find it boring and repulsive.

So right on cue, I say, "Have yourselves the dandiest of days!"

Galaxy Song

Every time I watch Monty Python's The Meaning of Life movie, I take away some funny and wise message from it. The best kind of comedy movies, I find, are the ones that expose the hard to take (for some people) truths about life that we frequently bump into, yet still can make us laugh.

I liked nearly all the skits and songs in the movie but this one, for me, anyway, was the most educational and deceptively simplest one. Plus, it's funny and illustrates a valid point about the significance of our existence while giving us a bouncy little tune.

Ah, fuck it! Enough with the boring descriptions. Ignore what I said and just watch the damn clip! You'll probably like it.

The AA-12 Combat Shotgun

For those times when a regular combat shotgun isn't generating enough flying body parts, gun connoisseurs turn to what must be the most outrageously devastating hand-held anti-personnel murder machine in existence: the Atchisson Assault Shotgun, or AA-12.

Assault rifles are all well and good, but when you really need to tear a person to pieces, nothing fills the air with metal quite like a AA-12 combat shotgun.

Damn, I want one of these guns. You know, just for the casual stroll in the park or the next time I want to completely destroy something- like an old car. Take my old vehicle, for instance. That damn thing needs to be put out of it's misery. While firing away with this baby, I'd be giggling like a little kid in a candy store. What fun! Of course, my inability to control the damned thing would probably shut me down, permanently, in the first couple of seconds. No, in truth, I'd be afraid to fire it but it is kinda fun to fantasize about.

I first saw and heard about this insane weapon in that testosterone-fueled movie, The Expendables. I couldn't believe the gun was real and when I came home from the movie theater that night, I looked up information on this military shotgun from hell.

I later watched a documentary on this gun and yes, it can do just what it looks like it can do in The Expendables. The AA-12's power is truly remarkable.

Here's a video clip featuring choice scenes of the AA-12 in action in the film, The Expendables. It looks like good fun had by all. :)

More info on the AA-12:

The Auto Assault-12 (AA-12), originally designed and known as the Atchisson Assault Shotgun, is a shotgun developed in 1972 by Maxwell Atchisson. The fully operational prototype was built in a garage shop by Richard Taylor. The current 2005 version has been developed over 18 years since the patent was sold to Military Police Systems, Inc. The original design was the basis of several later weapons, including the USAS-12 combat shotgun. The weapon is selective fire, operating as a semi-automatic, or in fully automatic mode at 300 rounds per minute. It is fed from either an 8-shell box magazine, or a 20- or 32-shell drum magazine.

Always Look On The Bright Side of Life

When I'm in one of my deepest of deepest pits of depression, it's fucking hard, if not damn near impossible, to look at the bright side of life. I fell into one of those fucking pits over the weekend. Too much shit hit the proverbial fan, while tearing away at me like I was made of third grade toilet tissue. Normally, I'm fine with one crappy event dropping down on top of me like a two ton load of elephant dung. But not too fine when a succession of things hit me from all directions.

So this is what I have to do:

I have to step back, find a quiet place and muster all of my inner strength to find peace. Once I find that peace, I can clear my mind. Once I've done that, I can put things in their proper perspective. When I've achieved this, I can take it one step at a time and eventually recover from any bad feelings and work on the problem at hand. It's either that or go on a killing spree or worse.

When a string of bad to horrible happenstances keep pummeling you to the ground, so to speak, it's best that you try to step back inside your mind, maybe laugh at the sheer insanity of life and people in this world and attempt to realize you only have this one life to live and things may not be as bad as they seem.

That is, unless you're locked up somewhere with a lunatic who is cutting off your body parts, piece by piece. Then you're pretty much screwed.

In most cases, however, it is possible to find something to give you peace of mind, no matter how bleak things seem to be. Even if you can't always look on the bright side of life, you can, with inner persistence, find a glimmer of light in the dark woods of hopelessness. And once you find it, you'll find yourself at the beginning of a path leading to a life worth living again.

This video clip and scene from Life of Brian always makes me laugh. It's always been one of my favorite scenes from any movie. I mean, here they all are, being crucified on their crosses, yet they're singing this happy little ditty of a song. It's absurd, just like life and death are, if you think about it, yet they're all just whistling and singing away.

And why the hell not? It beats dwelling in the pits of depression. Play it and sing along, won't you?

Ending scene from the Monty Python movie, Life of Brian

Favorite Movie Quotes (volume one)

MY FAVORITE MOVIE QUOTES (volume one)

"Sometimes you eat the bear... Sometimes the bear eats you."

From The Big Lebowski

"We all go a little mad sometimes"

Norman Bates in Psycho

"Hey, don't knock masturbation. It's done with someone I love."

From Annie Hall

"Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddhism is not 'every man for himself.' And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked 'em up."

Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) from A Fish Called Wanda

"Wendy?...Darling. Light of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said: 'I'm not gonna hurt ya.' I'm just gonna bash your brains in. I'm gonna bash 'em right the fuck in! Ha, ha."

Jack Nicholson in The Shining

"...I have nipples, Greg. Could you milk me?"

Robert De Niro in Meet The Parents

"Excuse me while I whip this out."

Cleavon Little in Blazing Saddles

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die."

Rutget Hauer in Blade Runner

"Greetings, my friends! We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friends; future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable; that is why you are here. And now for the first time we are bringing to you the full story of what happened on that faithful day. We are giving you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimonies of the miserable souls who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places, my friends, we can not keep this a secret any longer; let us punish the guilty, let us reward the innocent. My friends, can your heart stand the shocking facts about the grave robbers from outer space?"

Plan 9 From Outer Space

"There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence."

A Clockwork Orange

"Norman. Come here. Come here, Norman. Hurry up. The loons! The loons! They're welcoming us back."

"I don't hear a thing."

On Golden Pond

"My precious."

Gollum from The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers

"At my signal, unleash hell."

Russell Crowe from Gladiator

"It's a funny old world - a man's lucky if he gets out of it alive."

W.C. Fields from You're Telling Me

(This isn't from a movie but I thought it was funny and true enough)
"I feel sorry for straight men. The only reason women will have sex with them is that sex is the price they are willing to pay for a relationship with a man, which is what they want."

Stephen Fry, actor, claims straight women don't really like sex.

"Let's turn on the juice and see what shakes loose."

Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) from Beetlejuice

"Have you ever had two people look at you, with complete lust and devotion, through the same pair of eyes?"

Maxine from Being John Malkovich

"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we have a full tank of gas, half a packet of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses... HIT IT!"

From The Blues Brothers

Kirk: "What is this power you have to control the minds of my crew?"
Sybok: "I don't control minds. I free them."

From Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier

"There's no earthly way of knowing / Which direction we are going / There's no knowing where we're rowing / Or which way the river's flowing / Is it raining? / Is it snowing? / Is a hurricane a-blowing? / Not a speck of light is showing / So the danger must be growing / Are the fires of hell a-glowing? / Is the grisly reaper mowing? / Yes, the danger must be growing / 'Cause the rowers keep on rowing / And they're certainly not showing / Any signs that they are slowing!"

Willy Wonka From Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

Pete: What's the devil look like?
Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, Pete, there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, but the great Satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail, and he carries a hay fork.
Tommy Johnson: Oh no, sir. He's white, as white as you folks, with empty eyes and a big hollow voice. He likes to travel around with a mean old hound.

From O' Brother, Where Art Thou?

"What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it."

McMurphy (Nicholson) From One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Man Quits Job To Realize Dream

Matt Green is an inspiration.

Thirty year old Matt Green worked as a civil engineer, a roadway designer, ironically, to quit his job to walk across America, a roughly 3,100 mile journey to a destination in Oregon. For Matt Green, there's just something about the act of walking that makes him happier than he ever would have been in his workplace cubicle in New York. In that cubicle, he used to daydream about doing something epic like this.

As he pushes his cart full of clothes, food and other gear, people often stop to ask him during his trek why he's doing it. Is it a fundraiser? Is he looking to break a record? Is it for any particular cause. The answer is no to all of the above.

"Good questions," he has replied.

Reflecting on his mundane life in Manhattan, inside his workplace cubicle, Matt says, "Playing it safe isn't really that safe. If you do that, you miss out on a lot of the great things life has to offer."

For months, Matt lived frugally in order to save up enough money and buy the supplies need to make his simple quest a reality. Along the way from Rockaway Beach in New York to Rockaway Beach, Oregon, people have offered him shelter, meals and money to realize his dream. He has seen many remarkable, beautiful sights and has met many charitable, interesting and kind people during his trek so far.

For the record, he has been walking his route for 63 days, thus far- with about 7 more months of walking to go.

You can check out his website, I'm Just Walkin', to read details of his experiences and to look at the photos of the people and the scenes he experiences every day.

How many of us would dare to walk away from our routine lives to live out a dream that we have only mused about in our normally stagnate existence? I know I've thought about doing something so grand and adventurous.

While working horrible jobs in hot, uncomfortable factories and filthy warehouses in the past, I would often search for a window to look out of for a chance that my mind could escape to somewhere I could call sanctuary for just a moment. Many places I worked at, there were no windows. As well as no air conditioning or reprieve from the hectic pace we were all expected to move at.

One such place, Mubea, was an automotive parts factory/warehouse. They manufactured stabilizer bars, suspensions and other similar parts for cars and trucks. It was the hottest, dirtiest and most unsafe place I've ever worked at. You would work next to dangerously hot ovens and assembly lines, receiving only two ten minute breaks throughout a nine and a half hour work day. After working at Mubea for five years, if you survived that long, you would be awarded a twenty minute lunch break during your working days.

Glowing red parts would pop out of the huge steel oven doors and you would be expected to grab them off of the above hanging assembly lines, wearing lightly protective gloves, to hurriedly put them on metal racks to be later shipped off to god knows where. The stench of the place, no matter where you were stationed, was overwhelming. A true sweat shop and hell hole with no windows, open or closed, to peer out of.

Everyone working there carried an expression on their face that seemed to be begging for a means of escape or quick death. Nearly everyone working there smoked and smoked their cigarettes until they hacked up black phlegm and gasped for air that was filled with paint and metal fumes. This often caused me to wonder if they were intentionally trying to kill themselves in order to leave anyway they could, only bound there to feed their families.

I withstood all the chaos and the inhuman environment that Mubea offered for roughly two months and left, never looking back.

When I could, while there, I would fantasize about being somewhere clean and a destination, whether in my mind or actual location, where I could feel at peace. A place like the Caribbean Islands- my destination this summer.

There was a scene in the movie, "Joe Vs. The Volcano" with Tom Hanks, that actually inspired me to take this upcoming cruise out on the ocean waters.

If you've never seen the movie, I'll give you a brief description of the scene.

Hanks' character, for almost the entire movie, mistakenly believes he is dying. Later we find out he was tricked by a greedy businessman in order for Hanks to willingly throw himself into a volcano. This movie is a comedy but it also has a lot of life's truths in it. To this day, I have no idea why this movie got mixed to bad reviews by the critics.

Anyway, the scene is this: Hanks is on a raft made of huge suitcases, out in the middle of the ocean. It is night time. He has been slowly dying of thirst for days. Meg Ryan's character is unconscious, lying off to his side. He has kept her alive by giving her small cap fulls of water each day. Suddenly the moon, huge in scope, is seen rising above the horizon of the water. Tom's character stands up, completely in awe of this wondrous sight, at complete peace and serenity with himself and the world around him. It's one of the most goddamn inspiring scenes I've ever witnessed in a movie and it's always been a secret fantasy of mine to see such a sight on the ocean waters.

Hopefully, I will. Hopefully, everyone can be taken in and enchanted by such an experience sometime during their lives. I think Matt Green, from New York, has the right idea. I wish him nothing but the best.

Song About Society And Greed

Eddie Vedder's song about society and greed. I haven't watched the movie, "Into The Wild" yet because I've heard and read that the main character dies. I don't care much for movies like that due to what I've been through in the past.

But now, in my present state of mind, I'd like to watch it because I've read that it's an inspirational movie about really living outside the constraints of today's society. If anyone reading this post has ever watched this flick or heard this song, let me know what you think. I'd really like to know.

Movie Reviews -#4,037

Alice In Wonderland in 3D -As I promised to do a long time ago, I am finally reviewing this movie.

We got in the theater, put on our 3D glasses and oohed and ahhed while we watched the cool special effects of this movie. All the plants, wild other-worldly Wonderland scenery and computer animated characters really come alive in all manner of colors and textures in this movie. The movie is very trippy and very soothing... in a spiritual kind of way.

The Chesire Cat, Mad Hatter, Caterpillar and Alice were my personal favorite characters.

The core story throughout, is about twenty-ish year old Alice, getting up the courage to make hard choices in life. The exampled choices presented to her are: Accepting a weak dufus' hand in marriage in front of a huge audience of people, a few really piling on the pressure to say "yes". Then there is the choice to tell her "keepers" to get off her back about being a "proper woman" with their idea of being proper actually meaning to be continuously anal retentive and do the supposed "right thing at all times". There are more, but you'll just have to see the movie, if you haven't already. What's also interesting is that other character's in this flick have their own battles within to deal with, as well.

It's easy to empathize with Johhny Depp's character, the Mad Hatter. You'll know why when you see the flick.

Thankfully, Alice musters up the courage to stand up to her battles within herself, to make hard choices in her life. This is a thinking man's/woman's Alice In Wonderland. Sure the 3D effects are great, but I also give this movie an enthusiastic thumbs up for it's philosophical atmosphere and ponderings.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

The movie stars George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and for me, Jeff Bridges, stole the show, so to speak. Jeff Bridges is the real core to this movie.

Produced by prankster, George "Bat Nipples" Clooney, this movie is certainly a wild, sometimes comedic ride. It also, like Alice in wonderland, has a philosophical feel to it, bringing questions of what's right and wrong and real to one's mind. At least, it did for me.

Jeff Bridges is Bill Django, the genius behind the Army unit that uses their psychic abilities to find hostages through using "remote viewing" (which means attempting to get a mental picture, a "snapshot", of some far off actual event and/or location) and finding ways to defend the country through peaceful means. Even if it means, turning invisible and running through walls. Unfortunately, Kevin Spacey's character spoils the project for everyone but thankfully gets a little comeuppance towards the end. I will say no more.

Ewan McGregor's part, the reporter who narrates and is a vital character in the movie is told, by Clooney's character, how an Army Officer, Django, put together the New Earth Army philosophy and the team of recruits, who are encouraged to use their special abilities . We're shown how Django traveled throughout the world during the sixties and seventies, learning all manner of incredibly enlightening, yet sometimes, slightly goofy beliefs and how to accomplish fantastic feats with only your mind.

The journey that the viewer takes in this movie is the main part of this flick. The movie has inspired me to want to go out and buy the book by Jon Ronson (the actual reporter), who investigated the original story of this actual part of U.S Army history. The book is likely more detailed and even more fascinating. Then, I'll have my own investigating to do. Heh heh.

In summary, I give the Men Who Stare At Goats a very solid (not invisible) thumbs up.

Computer Fire and Repair

After seeing smoke rolling out of both ends of my CPU, Sunday and nearly having a stroke, I figured that my computer was completely trashed. I took it to the computer repair shop and told them to call me and give me an estimate on labor and parts before doing anything to it (if it was salvageable). If the cost was going to be too high, I would get the hard drive and other components out of it that wasn't damaged and chuck the rest in the dumpster or elsewhere.

Maybe one of Gary's wee folks at Klahanie could have used the burned out CPU casing as a new home. Who knows? I would definitely advise getting a air freshener in that scenario.

Three days slowly went by before I got a call from the repair shop. Before that, I was suffering some major computer usage withdrawals. Luckily, I had a five hour long porno DVD called "Fuck My Face!" to get me through the tough times for awhile. And by awhile, I mean ten minutes. I pulled it out after that. And by "pulling it out", I mean taking the movie out of the DVD player.

Porn DVDs are boring to me, anymore. Kinda icky, too. Close up shots of ass zits, droopy cunt flaps and suspicious looking blemishes or sores are a real turn off.

The human body, in general, is a real turn off if you think about it. But don't!

In reality, I filled in the computer void by reading books I meant to read, like two years ago and talking more to my wife. The first part worked. The second part... not so much. Turns out my wife's irresponsible sister was causing us some problems which I won't get into here.

As usual, I'm getting off topic (and not getting off on the previous porno topic). :-)

The computer repair guy said the power supply was toast, burned up and screwed, royally. Well, in so many words, he said that. Also, he explained that the cooling fan was trashed. Furthermore, the video card's capacitors were cooked. That, he said, was the reason I heard the loud popping noise before the fire and smoke occurred. He gave me an estimate of $142.00 for labor and parts. Since I can't afford another computer these days, for a variety of reasons, I gave him the go ahead with repairing the fucking thing.

Now the next day, when it was ready for pick up, he showed me the damaged parts and gave me some good news. He was able to find a used power supply back in his storage bin that would fit in the proper spot in my CPU. Dell computer parts, he had explained before, were tricky and often complicated to replace (especially since the Dell computer I have is five years old -which is considered ancient in computer techie world, apparently).

Because he was able to put in the slightly used power supply, the cost of everything dropped to eighty-nine dollars. Hooray. Happy ending, for once. I hooked the computer up and went through the nearly 100 emails that I had gotten since the fire. After the cruise and getting some major medical bills paid off and buying a hearing aid, at long last, I plan on having a custom built computer made for me. No Dell parts.

In the end, I would have to say I'm lucky. It could have been far worse. The apartment could have caught on fire and the "Fuck My Face" DVD would have been lost forever. So sad.

Not really. Lol.

And now, I must catch up on my favorite blogs. Ready. Set. Go!

Alice In Wonderland

If I'm watching the trailers, correctly, for this latest movie version of Alice in Wonderland, I would have to say the people who made this flick had to have been dropping some major acid. I'm sure you've seen the previews at one time or another. They come on TV about every three seconds or so. That tells me it will either blow cat chunks or... or it will blow a deranged transvestite wearing a funny hat and freaky makeup. Kinda like that picture of Johnny Depp in the upper left corner.

Scary shit!

Still, with all that said, I will likely go see it this weekend or the next. I might have to smoke something for several hours before truckin' off to the theatre, you know... banana peels or something to be able to fully get into this flick, but I'd still like to see it. Eh, I've taken my chances with Tim Burton movies before and I have managed to enjoy a little over half of them, thus far.

Escapist movies are all the rage now, due to the recession and unemployment woes of a nation whose public is considered unworthy of consideration by an ultra-uptight, wealthy, idiotic conservative party called Republicans. Not that I'm pointing any fingers at anyone. Ahem.

I've never read the books, written by English author, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) but from what little I have read of those books, Alice's adventures seem to be rife with insane, menacing characters and mind blowing, psychedelic imagery. Not to mention quite a few drug references. For example, check out this synopsis of chapter five from Wikpedia.org:

Chapter 5- Advice from a Caterpillar -Alice comes upon a mushroom and sitting on it is a Caterpillar smoking a hookah. The Caterpillar questions Alice and she admits to her current identity crisis, compounded by her inability to remember a poem. Before crawling away, the caterpillar tells Alice that one side of the mushroom will make her taller and the other side will make her shorter. She breaks off two pieces from the mushroom. One side makes her shrink smaller than ever, while another causes her neck to grow high into the trees, where a pigeon mistakes her for a serpent. With some effort, Alice brings herself back to her usual height. She stumbles upon a small estate and uses the mushroom to reach a more appropriate height.

I'm no expert but that sounds suspiciously like someone was hittin' the ol' bong-eroo (or hookah) back in 1865.

Anyway, the movie might prove to be fun. Even funny, in a strange sort of way. In any event, I definitely want to see it, if only, for what looks to be a fantastic spectacle.

Movies I'm Looking Forward To

I'm all psyched up to catch the following movies, in no particular order:



Sherlock Holmes stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law (in theaters now)



The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Heath Ledger's last movie made. Terry Gilliam directs. (in theaters now-limited)



The Book of Eli Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis (comes out January 15th, 2010)



The Wolfman Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt (February 12, 2010)



Alice In Wonderland stars Johnny Depp, directed by Tim Burton. Should be freaking cool. (It comes out March 5th 2010)



Iron Man 2 stars Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow (May 7 2010)



And then there's this under-hyped (so far) movie called Wonderful World that stars Matthew Broderick is scheduled to come out January 8th, 2010. I've read the basic summary of this movie and watched the clips on Yahoo and it looks appealing to me on many different levels. You can read about it, yourself, of course, by clicking the link. I especially loved the "Depraved Indifference" clip featured on the page. There's so much truth packed in that two minute, fifty second clip that's worth checking out.

DVD Movie Review of Untraceable

It's hard to believe I picked this DVD up for a mere four bucks at a local store, recently. A movie for that price that has Diane Lane in it? That's crazy. The movie is not much more than a year or so old and it's pretty damn good. I wanted to see this film when it was originally playing in theaters but didn't get the chance.

Untraceable stars Diane Lane as Special Agent Jennifer Marsh and Colin Hanks as Agent Griffin Dowd. Both FBI agents are on the case of a fucking freak that gets his kicks by displaying graphic murders on his website. The name of his website is aptly named Kill With Me. This loon is very tech-savvy, unfortunately, which keeps the FBI jumping from one location to the other, in an attempt to catch this guy. The fate of each of his tormented victims is left in the hands of the public.

That last bit of info, alone, should make any NORMAL person cringe.

Moving onward: The more hits the asshole's site gets, the faster his captives die. Not that they die that quickly, really. Meanwhile, the media, knowing this fact, has zero qualms in telling the public all the details about this freak's website and his "torture show". Of course, the hits on his website go through the roof. Soon, it gets personal when Jennifer's partner is kidnapped by the seriously disturbed maniac and becomes part of his "show".

I won't go into any more details than that. I think I've already given away enough.

There are a lot of elements that make this a great movie- at least for me. For one, it's intense. A true thriller. You really keep hoping that they nab (preferably kill) this fucker before he puts on another one of his insidious shows. The acting is great. The pace is swift.

Note: The statement this movie makes about the media and the general public is very important and should not be dismissed. The truth in it's message about human behaviour is undeniable.

The scenes of cruelty don't last that long, so don't be discouraged from watching Untraceable because of that element. The torture scenes are there to make a point, unlike the Saw movies where the scenes in those movies show prolonged scenes of torture for the delight of the depraved viewer.

My advice is to definitely rent or buy Untraceable. You won't be disappointed.

Ninja Assasin--Movie Review

Like Avatar, I'm sure you already saw the previews and trailers for Ninja Assassin. Even as we speak, Ninja Assassin is on it's way out of the big multiplex cinemas, being pushed out by the big budget movies. I'm sure there are still a few showing it and I hope more people give it a chance and go see it. Of course, almost every overpaid, narrow minded movie critic gave it a bad review and that didn't help the flick stick around longer, I'm sure. More than half of the time, I ignore those uptight jerks have to say and go see the movie, anyway, if it appeals to me.




Here's the basic story:

Raizo is one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them...and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

Nearly all of the "professional" movie critics said the acting was terrible- which it wasn't. The movie isn't going to garner any Academy Awards for that department but the acting was okay. The main character, Raizo, keeps the movie going strong with the torment and anger exuding from him, with the skills and pain he displays in every frame of the film. I felt pity for him for what he had to go through all his life. You'll see what I mean if you dare to check the film out (obvious sarcasm).

Be prepared for a lot of bloodletting and dead body counts in Ninja Assassin. But don't be discouraged from seeing it because of those details. It's not as gruesome as the Saw movies, all of which I consider just "torture flicks" with truly shitty acting.

Ninja Assassin is a super stylish, well orchestrated revenge film with action galore. Check it out, if you can, before it hits the rental stores. Seeing it on the big screen does the movie better justice and will be more satisfying.

Avatar- Movie Review

The next 3 posts will be movie reviews. I'll also include movies that I'm looking forward to and their upcoming opening theatre dates.


I just came back from seeing Avatar two hours ago. I'll start with that one first.


Avatar, directed by James Cameron, stars Sigourney Weaver and a couple of other well known actors. It's a sci-fi movie with that's filled with a lot of heart, action and breakthrough special effects. It's a lengthy movie (160 minutes) but you won't mind it and it certainly doesn't feel that long.



It's story is set in the year 2154. Earth's corporations are aggressively mining the planet, Pandora, where it's inhabitants, the Na'vi, live in peace and have a natural connection with the energy and spirit of their world and it's many spectacular lifeforms. The Na'vi have blue skin and cat-like features and they will likely remind you of Indians because of the way they revere nature and all of it's lifeforms. They are also fierce warriors, like the Indians of the old west.




Earth's greedy corporate head honchos and ruthless military respect nothing and they do everything from tricking the Na'vi to destroying their world and their lives in order to get the mineral they seek. Several times it is mentioned that Earth is used up, nearly dead planet- so naturally they find another planet to exploit and destroy.




The symbolism is unmistakable. The story is much like our American heritage of the old west when the military nearly wiped out the Indians. Notice that I don't say American Indians! To give them that title , I feel, shows disrespect to Indians of the past and present. America was their land long before the Europeans came along, spreading disease, death and deceit before claiming Indian land as their own.




But back to the movie. I could rant on all night on that subject.



The hero, Jake Sully, is a wheelchair bound marine from Earth. He grows to respect the Na'vi and ultimately fights for them during the second half of the movie. His avatar counterpart is strong and whole. I can't explain, with any degree of technological clarity, how the Earth scientists are able to place the minds of the Earth soldiers and scientists into their Na'vi avatar counterparts- but they do. And it's totally believable.




I loved Avatar. The story is great and has real meaning that you can connect with. The pace is swift but doesn't feel rushed at all. The acting and all round performances by everyone are well above par with any movie I've seen all year. And I've seen quite a few. The special effects are cool and extremely detailed. Best of all, the ending is fully satisfactory. You won't leave the theatre feeling like you've been cheated or beat down with any heavy-heartedness. It's not just an adventuresome, special effects filled flick. It's an event that has to be seen on the big screen.



I was blown away by Avatar and I can't wait to own the movie when it comes out on dvd.

Movie Review: Wolverine, Taken and Fast and the Furious

I liked all three.

Favorite Horror Movies

Since it is Halloween Time, I thought I'd share my list of favorite horror movies. Let me know what ya think of any of these and if you know of any good ones, that aren't listed here, let me know.

These are my favorite. Not in any particular order.

The Exorcist (when I saw this as a kid, I kept thinking, for weeks, the devil was hiding under the bed)
Alien (This one nearly gave me a stroke when the toothy snake thingy popped out of his chest)
Psycho
Jaws
The Thing (You never knew who was the monster)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (One of the funniest horror movies of all time)
HellRaiser (Made me shit and have a stroke, simultaneously)

HellRaiser 2 (The doctor in the movie has a wicked sense of humor. Especially when he gets the big drill poked in through the top of his skull.)
The Grudge (Produced a wee bit o' pee in my pants)
The Ring
The Descent (I like how the demon thingies ate the people)
Final Destination
Friday The 13th
An American Werewolf in London (Ahead of it's time in terms of special effects. It was also very humorous)
The Shining (Gotta love that crazy Jack Nicholson)
Anaconda (I love it when Jon Voight gets swallowed by the big snake and then gets spat out. If you don't know what I mean, see the movie)
Queen Of The Damned (based on two of Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles" books)
Young Frankenstein (Funny horror movie with emphasis on "funny")

My favorite weird/horror movies. You would swear they were on acid or, at the very least, drinking heavily while these flicks were being created. When you're watching one of these films, you feel as though you're trippin' out.

Nosferatu
House on Haunted Hill
Event Horizon
In The Mouth Of Madness
Silent Hill
Re-Animator
The Serpent and The Rainbow

My favorite horror/superhero type movies:

Ghost Rider
Spawn
Hellboy
Hellboy 2
Underworld

Many of you will not agree with me on this, but I award these two movies as being the worst I've ever seen.

The Blair Witch Project (It sucked, quite horribly. Very boring. It was obviously produced and directed by amateurs. I get the idea of the movie (College kids lost in the woods, film of their "spooky adventure" gets found but the kids aren't found and so on) but the shaky camera bit was too much. I got sick and sleepy watching this turd of a movie.
Saw (I thought this was the most tedious torture flick I have ever seen)

So there ya have it. If you have any ideas or comments about my lists, scare them up and offer them up to me for sacrifice. Heh heh heh.

Squeal!

HAPPY FIFTH OF JULY AND GOD BLESS AMERICA EVERYONE