Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts

Sunday, December 12, 2021

Pookon's Ill Cinema - February 2021

Now that I've introduced the idea and laid out the ground rules, I'm not sure what to do with the opening paragraph. I guess I can talk about February. There's not much to this month aside from it being cold outside and there being only 28 days, which gives me 2-3 less days in which to watch movies. I guess when I tally things up at the bottom of the post we'll see if that played a difference in how many movies I was able to watch this month. 

Aside from that the only thing I know is that it snowed a lot this month. So much to the point that I didn't know what to do with it anymore. The only reason that I bring that up is that because my car is parked on a slab next to the garage which is in back of the house along an alley. With little to no yard space and needing to keep the alley open, there is no way to put the snow if it doesn't melt and keeps on accumulating. At some point I gave up on trying to keep a clear path to get my car in and out of the parking spot, so eventually I just gave up and decided not to go anywhere. The only reason that I bring that up is because with no ride and no place to go, I had nothing better to do than to lay back and watch some movies. So that might help the overall numbers. Well, there's nothing left to do but get right into it. Lights, camera, action bitches!

2/01 - Monday
  • American Pie 2
2/02 - Tuesday
  • The Long Kiss Goodnight
  • Groundhog Day
  • Groundhog Day (2nd watch of the day)
  • Man of the House (1995)
The Long Kiss Goodnight is one of my favorite Christmas movies. Yes, you heard me right. If the movie takes place at Christmas and it is essential to the plot, then it is a Christmas movie. I can't remember if I watched it during the 2020 Christmas season (as I wasn't keeping track), but I sure as hell know I watched and enjoyed the shit out of it today.

With today also being Groundhog Day, one of my annual traditions is to get together with Jenny and Kevin and watch the Bill Murray classic on one of the best holidays of the entire year. I often watch it multiple times on and around this date, which is why it is listed twice. Since Phil Connors keep reliving the same day (*SPOLER ALERT*), I feel like that's a good enough reason to watch it more than once today. Like I needed a reason.

2/03 - Wednesday
  • American Wedding
  • Kingsman: The Golden Circle
2/04 - Thursday
  • American Reunion
2/05 - Friday
  • Odd Thomas *
This movie has been on my docket to watch probably since I first heard about it in 2013. I don't know why it took me this long to watch it, but that's kind of the point of this experiment as I'm making a point to watch a handful of "new" movies each month. If you're into ghosts and the paranormal, I suggest giving this a watch. 

2/06 - Saturday
  • Just Like Heaven
  • Blended *
Blended might have been the worst movie I watched this month and would be a candidate for worst of the year, but I just can't bring myself to put it on either list. And that's because of two things. 1 - I'm a sucker for Adam Sandler. So many of his movies are pretty bad but god damn it do I watch every single one and at least laugh a little bit. And 2 - Terry Crews absolutely steals every scene he is in. I laughed at him more than I do at some entire movies and he singlehandedly saved this movie for me. I would never recommend this or watch it ever again, but I can't say I hated it even though it was terrible.

2/07 - Sunday
  • Space Cowboys
  • Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2/08 - Monday
  • Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2/09 - Tuesday
  • Shallow Hal
  • The Mummy (2017) *
Obviously I watch a lot of movies. You probably knew that about me before I started this blog series. I only say this because these two movies I watched today couldn't be more different in my memory. Shallow Hal is one of those movies that I just adore and would watch if I was flipping through the channels and saw it was on. And there are some scenes in this movie I think about all the time. 

The Mummy (2017) starring Tom Cruise is one of the more forgettable movies I have ever seen. Honestly if not for this list, I don't think I would remember seeing it. It didn't bring anything new to the game (characters, plot, special effects, action sequences, etc.) and was a big disappointment seeing as it was supposed to set up Universal Monsters "Dark Universe" with Russell Crowe's Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde being the connective tissue. But that kind of fizzled out after just one movie and led to the cancelation of some pretty high profile projects (like The Invisible Man with Johnny Depp, The Bride of Frankenstein with Angelina Jolie and Frankenstein with Javier Bardem). File this one under who cares/don't care. 

2/10 - Wednesday
  • Beavis & Butthead Do America
  • Back to the Future
Beavis & Butthead Do America is a comedic masterpiece and is in my Top 10 movies of all time. It's not even fair how good this movie is yet I never hear anyone talking about it. I think of some of the lines in this movie almost every week and laugh about how hilarious they are.

2/11 - Thursday
  • Clifford
  • Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie *
I was watching Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie near the end of my work shift and my Roommate (Mom) walked in on me (came home from work) and all I could think to say was, "It's not what it looks like." That was embarrassing because it was what it looked like. 

2/12 - Friday
  • The Wedding Singer
  • 50 First Dates
  • Happy Death Day
  • Happy Death Day 2 U
I enjoyed Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2 U so much that I had to show them to Jenny and Andy. And Andy was into them so much that he stayed awake for both movies, which is rare as his bedtime is usually around 1030pm even on the weekends. 

2/13 - Saturday

2/14 - Sunday
  • Muppet Treasure Island *
  • Grosse Pointe Blank
  • The Mask
  • The Man Who Knew Too Little
I don't know why it took me this long into my life to watch Muppet Treasure Island. The only reason I can think of is that I was 15 years old when it came out and I was too busy trying to be cool, avoiding kid things like the Muppets and doing adult things instead. I was dumb as a teenager. Never try to be like everyone else. Never try to be cool. Just be yourself. That's what's really cool. I know that now.

2/15 - Monday
  • Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
2/16 - Tuesday
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
2/17 - Wednesday
  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2/18 - Thursday
  • Superman: The Movie
  • The Legend of Drunken Master *
2/19 - Friday
  • Double Team *
2/20 - Saturday
  • Dr. Suess' Horton Hears a Who! *
  • The Peanuts Movie *
I can't say that I was ever a big fan of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. I don't watch the holiday specials (Christmas/Halloween) and I read the comics, just not on a regular basis. This 2015 film wasn't really on my radar but I did intend to watch it some day. And I'm glad that I did because it was such a wholesome, genuinely fun, well done G-rated film that everyone can enjoy. I don't know how else to describe it but to say that it was incredibly refreshing that something like this was made (and made well) in today's world. I would encourage everyone to check out this animated film.

2/21 - Sunday
  • John Q
2/22 - Monday
  • Big
  • Mrs. Doubtfire
2/23 - Tuesday
  • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
2/24 - Wednesday
  • Fantastic Four
  • Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
2/25 - Thursday
  • Fantastic 4 (2015)
  • The Nutty Professor
2/26 - Friday
  • The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
  • Superman III
  • Left Behind (2014 Nicolas Cage) *
2/27 - Saturday
  • Left Behind: The Movie (2000 Kirk Cameron) *
  • Left Behind II: Tribulation Force *
  • Left Behind III: World at War *
  • John Wick
  • John Wick Chapter 2
I do love me some end of the World/Apocalypse movies, but the Left Behind series? Woof. After watching the Nicolas Cage version first (which was made after these ones), I should have known that it couldn't get any better than that. And was I right. Woof indeed. 

2/28 - Sunday
  • Greenland *
  • The Quake *
I'm a real sucker for disaster movies. I'll watch any and all of them no matter how good (which is rare) or how bad (which is common) they are. But that's why this last day of February was such a delight. Greenland was a movie I knew I was going to like from when I first saw the preview. I just wasn't going to pay to see it in theaters so I just needed to wait until it arrived on a streaming service. It gave me everything I wanted from an end of the world comet movie.

Last year I watched a Norwegian film from 2015 called The Wave and even though it was subtitled (which is hard for someone like me who has problems paying attention), I thought it was really good. Besides, does the dialogue really matter in a disaster movie? The Quake is a sequel to The Wave and is about an Earthquake instead (although the Wave was caused by an earthquake). If you're into disaster movies and don't mind Norwegians or subtitles, I would say definitely check it out. 

Number of Movies Watched this Month: 56
Most Watched Movie this Month: Groundhog Day (2 times)
Number of New Movies Watched this Month: 15
Best New Movie Watched this Month: 
The Peanuts Movie
Worst Movie Watched this Month: Left Behind 1-3 (the Kirk Cameron ones)


Number of Movies Watched this Year: 118
Most Watched Movie this Year: Back to the Future (2 times) Groundhog Day (2 times) / Happy Death Day (2 times) / Happy Death Day 2 U (2 times)
Number of New Movies Watched this Year: 33
Best New Movie Watched this Year: The Peanuts Movie

Worst Movie Watched this Year: 
Left Behind 1-3 (the Kirk Cameron ones)


 - Scott Reck -

Wednesday, December 08, 2021

Pookon's Ill Cinema - January 2021

I think I forgot to lay out the ground rules in the first article that I posted. Well I'm not going to go back and edit that one to include them, so I'll just post them here. Movie and documentaries (for the most part) count. TV shows do not, even if the formula is more like a movie (examples of this would be things like The Mandalorian or WandaVision). A documentary counts if it is a stand alone feature length narrative, whereas a multi-episodic formula would not. So keep that in mind for days when I don't watch anything or just watch one movie. Just because it doesn't look like I wasn't watching anything doesn't mean that I wasn't, it just did not qualify for this list. 

Everything during the pandemic is all starting to gel together, but I know at some point I watched every episode of Lost, Seinfeld, Scrubs, Mike Tyson Mysteries, half of Cheers and anything Star Wars and Marvel put out like The Clone Wars cartoon, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If? and Mighty Ducks Game Changers. I'm sure there are some other TV series in there that occupied my time that at this point I cannot remember. Oh, and lest we forget daily viewings of Let's Make a Deal, The Price is Right, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. Can't live without my game shows. Once you also start to factor in 162+ (including playoff) baseball games once the Milwaukee Brewers season started, it's a wonder I'm able to watch any movies at all and then sometimes have enough time to watch multiple movies in a day. 

The last time that I checked, there are only 24 hours in a day and one third of that is spent getting ready for sleep, actually sleeping and then getting your shit together after sleep. Which comes to another rule - the movie really just needs to be on in order for me to consider it something I watched. If it is one I am seeing for the first time, I like to devote my full attention to it so I am usually actively paying attention and keep my eyes on the screen (with exceptions of course like checking my phone, looking up casts and trivia on IMDB or fucking around on the internet). But for the movies I have seen many times before, those are usually on in the background as I am working, doing chores and housework or whatever else I do around this joint. So not every movie has me on the couch for the entire run time paying attention to each and every detail. Sometimes it's just on and I'm really doing something else. But since I know the plot, the lines, the characters, etc., I can "watch" it without actually watching it. Does that make sense?

So now that you know the rules, let's get down to the movie watch list. But one last thing in how I am reporting these. I have broken it out by date and listed the movies that I watched. Once of the things I wanted to keep track of is when I watched a new (at least to me) movie, which I have indicated with a * symbol and highlighted in red text. When I feel like it, I'll provide a little commentary or some information about that day or the movies watched on that day. And at the end of the month, I will provide a tally of few noteworthy statistics such as number of movies watched, most watched movie, number of new movies, best new movie and worst movie watched. And I plan on doing this for both the month and the year, which will get pretty interesting as the months roll by. So I guess there is nothing left to do but get into it, so grab some snacks and beverages, settle into your seat, dim the lights and let's watch some movies!

1/01 - Friday
  • Back to the Future
  • Back to the Future Part II
  • Back to the Future Part III
Watching the Back to the Future Trilogy is one of my New Year's traditions. There's something about looking back on your past and trying to fix it so that you have a better future that goes hand in hand with making resolutions. But I don't make New Year's resolutions and instead I just watch my favorite all-time movie trilogy instead. Hell of a way to get the year started.

1/02 - Saturday
  • The Final Destination *
  • Final Destination 5 *
  • Batman Begins
  • How to Train Your Dragon 2 *
The Final Destination holds the distinct honor of being my first new movie of 2021. Aside from that, I can't say I remember much about it. 

1/03 - Sunday
  • The Dark Knight
  • The Dark Knight Returns
  • Finding Nemo
1/04 - Monday
  • The Avengers
  • The Avengers: Age of Ultron
  • Captain America: Civil War
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier
1/05 - Tuesday
  • Twister
  • Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
  • Flatliners (1990) *
I'm not sure how often this will come up, but every now and then I finally get around to watching a movie for the first time that I should have seen a long time ago. Flatliners isn't a great movie, but with the star power behind it (Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts and director Joel Schumacher) I am surprised it took me 31 years to finally see it.

1/06 - Wednesday
  • Speed
  • Avengers: Infinity War
  • Avengers: Endgame
1/07 - Thursday
  • Solo: A Star Wars Story
  • Speed 2: Cruise Control *
I love Speed. I love Keanu Reeves. Knowing that he didn't come back for the sequel is what probably (pun intended) steered me away from this movie for so long. But it really wasn't that bad. It just wasn't that good. And I can see why he passed on this movie. Maybe I should have too. Keanu 1, Scott 0. 

1/08 - Friday
  • Bad Boys
  • Bad Boys 2
  • Bad Boys for Life *
  • I Am Chris Farley
1/09 - Saturday
  • How to Train your Dragon: the Hidden World *
  • Poseidon (2006) *
  • Live Free or Die Hard (unrated)
1/10 - Sunday
  • A Good Day to Die Hard *
I was expecting to hate this movie. And I kind of do if you consider this to be a Die Hard movie. But this isn't a Die Hard movie, this is a Bruce Willis movie. Any connection to Die Hard is on name alone (John and Jack McClane) and some minor references to previous films. If I wasn't such a completionist with movie series, I would totally never watch this again. But if I start a series, I usually end the series. Gross.

1/11 - Monday

It's actually kind of difficult to watch a movie every day, and most days I was watching 3 or 4. I never thought about how many days it would take me to have one where I didn't watch a movie, but I guess today I got my answer.

1/12 - Tuesday
  • The Muppets (2011)
1/13 - Wednesday
  • Armageddon
  • The Rock
There aren't a lot of movies I could watch every day. But if they suddenly made it mandatory and I was forced to pick an action movie, Armageddon or The Rock would be my choice.

1/14 - Thursday
  • The Muppets Most Wanted
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  • Transformers
1/15 - Friday
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon
1/16 - Saturday
  • Transformers: Age of Extinction *
I watched the Transformers cartoon as a kid and absolutely loved the toys. I gave the live action movies a shot when they first came out and then kind of bailed after the 3rd one. I guess I used this as an excuse to finally catch up on the rest of the series. They aren't terrible. I've seen worse.

1/17 - Sunday
  • Life (1999) *
1/18 - Monday
  • Snowpiercer *
1/19 - Tuesday
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  • Krampus *
1/20 - Wednesday
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  • Transformers: The Last Knight *
1/21 - Thursday
  • Happy Death Day *
Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2 U were the first true surprise first watches of my movie year. I think these ended up on my radar from the boys at Binge Media (a movie podcast site I've been listening to for years) and I find that their tastes align with mine, so I usually check out anything they recommend. If you're a fan of time loop movies (think Groundhog Day) and time parallel movies (think Back to the Future II), then you might end up liking these ones.

1/22 - Friday
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
1/23 - Saturday
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
1/24 - Sunday
  • Happy Death Day 2 U *
If you are going to watch Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2 U, I would recommend doing so in the same day or as close to each other as possible. Without spoiling anything, the events of the movies tie into each other very well and best to view the 2nd one while the 1st one is freshly on your mind. 

1/25 - Monday
  • Josie and the Pussycats
I don't really believe in "guilty pleasures" as most people would describe it. You shouldn't feel bad for liking something. Who cares? I fucking love Josie and the Pussycats and especially my girl Rachael Leigh Cook. One thing about getting older is that I gives less and less fucks about what people think about me and the things I like. If someone is going to judge me based off of a silly movie with a good looking girls and killer soundtrack, then let them. That's not my problem. That's theirs.

1/26 - Tuesday
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  • Kingsman: The Secret Service
1/27 - Wednesday
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
1/28 - Thursday
  • First Kid
  • Freaky Friday (2003) *
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
When I talked about A Good Day to Die Hard, I mentioned being a completionist. You didn't see Die Hard, Die Hard 2 or Die Hard with a Vengeance on this list because I watched them in December 2020 (for Christmas), so they don't qualify for this list. I only mention that because on January 19 I started watching the Harry Potter series, which means that eventually I would watch the remaining movies. Pay attention to that fact because it will come back again throughout the year.

1/29 - Friday
  • Bumblebee *
1/30 - Saturday
  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
1/31 - Sunday
  • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Yesterday

Number of Movies Watched this Month: 62
Most Watched Movie this Month: N/A
Number of New Movies Watched this Month: 18
Best New Movie Watched this Month: Happy Death Day/Happy Death Day 2 U (Tie)
Worst Movie Watched this Month: Freaky Friday (2003)

Number of Movies Watched this Year: 62
Most Watched Movie this Year: N/A
Number of New Movies Watched this Year: 18
Best New Movie Watched this Year: Happy Death Day/Happy Death Day 2 U (Tie)
Worst Movie Watched this Year: Freaky Friday (2003)

 - Scott Reck -

Sunday, December 05, 2021

Pookon's Ill Cinema - 2021 Movies

I've been a movie fan for my entire life. I do reserve times for other sources of media like music, podcasts and TV, but my go to is to set aside a few hours and get lost in a story that I'm seeing for the first time or have seen a million times before. I have made an attempt to catalog and alphabetize how many movies that I "own", and between DVDs, Blu-rays and burned copies, my library easily exceeds 5,000 movies. With the emergence of streaming services in the past few years I've gotten some pushback from people for holding onto physical media, but my project for 2021 taught me that it was entirely necessary for what I was attempting to undertake - keep track of every single movie that I watched this year. This was a crazy idea but something that has been rumbling around in my skull for quite some time. 

The idea stemmed from a throw-away thought about how often I watch a particular film (like Jurassic Park) instead of watching something new (at least to me) because it seems like I always watch the same handful of movies. People speak in hyperbole all of the time. How often have you said, "Oh, that movie? I've seen it a hundred times." But even though I promise you that I have not seen any one movie a hundred times this year, there are a few of them on this list that I can say without a doubt that I have seen a hundred times or more in my life. And since you can't depend on streaming services for availability or picture and sound quality, my collection comes in handy. Because when I'm in the mood for a certain movie, I want to watch it, not try and figure out where to find it online without paying for it or signing up for every single streaming service. I've got my own god damn video store. I am the Last Blockbuster. 

While I did mention that this idea to track my movie watching has been around for a long time, it really didn't get serious until March of 2020 when the Covid-19 Pandemic pretty much just changed everything and shut down the World and our lives as we knew it. Because we were supposed to social distance and everything was canceled (like holiday gatherings, concert and music festivals, sporting events, bars, restaurants and movie theaters), I pretty much stayed home and watched movies by myself. While this was nothing new with my life, it just became more apparent how often it happened. And then in April 2020 I was furloughed from work for what turned out to be 6 months. To this day I still cannot tell you what I did with my time when I was off work and couldn't go anywhere or do anything. I should have done a better job of tracking my life back then. But it did give me the push I needed to finally catalog this ridiculous aspect of my life. And when I went back to work and then started working from home, it gave me the opportunity to put on movies in the background while I did my job, which really allowed the list to grow into the monstrosity that it has become.

By the time I decided to do this I settled on a start date of January 1, 2021 so that I would have an entire year's worth of data. In the end it doesn't really matter, but there's something about quantifying things in a time span that the majority of people recognize as significant just seemed like the right thing to do. So be on the lookout for a month by month breakdown of the movies that I watched this year and a little bit of commentary where I deem it appropriate. I'm curious to see the final results, especially the number of total movies I watched, how many new movies I watched and which movies I watched the most number of times. I'm planning on making this an annual thing, so check back often if you care to see how I wasted my precious life minutes in 2021 and beyond. 2022 is looking to be more of the same, so I do plan on keeping track of my movie watching again, but hopefully the conditions in the World won't suck as much and I'll be out living life instead of watching other people live fictional ones on the big and small screen.

- Scott Reck -


Friday, March 20, 2015

Who's A Rock Star?

I am. That's right. There's no other way to say it than by stating the obvious. And while I do that, I also need to reference Josie and The Pussycats. I've been watching this movie a lot lately and I'm not ashamed to admit that it's one of my guilty pleasures. I have an unhealthy obsession with pop music, women who sing and play guitar and Rachel Leigh Cook. All of these things come together in Josie and The Pussycats. And it is glorious. I love this movie more than any man should. But what does that have to do with anything right now? It's because I am a rock star. When I think about that statement I think about two things - this clip from the movie and something that writer/director Kevin Smith once said. This clip (at the bottom of the page) speaks for itself. You need to only watch this to know where I got this from. It's a very simple message but it is so true. If you say something and convince yourself that it is a reality, it becomes real. Just like "Do. Or do not. There is no try." or "Don't think you are - know you are." Yeah, they're movie quotes but they are so incredibly true. There's a reason people have been saying them long after the films were released and they have become legendary. But how much do you actually believe in them and practice them in your daily life?

Kevin Smith talks (a lot). I know that is pretty ironic from a guy who is known as Silent Bob. But the man is a genius. I could go on and on about how much I admire and subscribe to his philosophies, but he has said so many things that I have taken to heart. One of the things that he talks about is when he was thinking about going to film school to become a filmmaker. He told his sister that he wanted to be a filmmaker. She said be a filmmaker. He said that's why he was going to school, to be a filmmaker. She said no, don't want to be it, don't try to be it, don't work to be it; simply be it. It's very simple really. Don't set goals for the future that you are working towards. Tell yourself from Day 1 that you are that thing that you want to be, and you will become that thing because you have been it from the start. If this doesn't make sense, then you just don't get it. I'll try and make this crystal clear - If I don't say that I am currently a Rock Star, then I will never be one. That's just one of the many things that I have learned from him. That and chasing whimsies...

I played guitar last night. In a bar. With other people around. Now before you start thinking that I had an audience chanting my name, I will tell you to slow down. I'm not there yet. My friend Heather handed me her guitar as she was putting it away after her gig. So I started playing a few songs. And it may have been the wine going to my head (I got a free glass of wine from a gay guy. Don't ask) but I actually sounded good. Real good. Better than I have ever sounded before. I have been playing a lot more lately, but I still don't play as much as I would like to. I don't even practice as much as an amateur should. But I felt like a true musician. I felt like I belonged up on stage or in a circle of friends providing the entertainment. I was never this guy before. I was also the supporting member of a band getting by on my good looks and marginal talent. OK, so I didn't have the good looks part down, but one can dream right? But the whole point of this is that I took a giant step forward last night and another step towards my ultimate goal as a singer/guitar player - performing in front of people that I don't know (like an open mic night). I know that sounds like a very achievable goal to most people, but I have a real issue with confidence and being the center of attention. If I play anything like I did last night, I'm on my way.

I'll leave you with a clip from Josie and the Pussycats that inspired this article. This is a movie that is surprisingly making it's way into my top 10. I'm not ashamed to admit when I love a movie (because Lord knows that I love Keanu Reeves in The Replacements more than anyone should. In fact, I almost named my cat Shane Falco before deciding that he looked more like a Korben Dallas), but this goes beyond loving the movie - I love Josie. And I love Rachael Leigh Cook too. I can't decide which one I love more, but I can decide on one thing - I AM a Rockstar. Just like my girl Josie.



 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
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Sunday, October 19, 2014

It's in My Head - #16: Life Finds A Way

When I first started this series at the beginning of the month, I'd planned to do a new one every day for all 31 days of October. And so far I have... until a few days ago. It's not that I don't have anything in my head to talk about. Trust me - there's almost too much in there. It's just that well, life finds a way of interfering with your plans. There's nothing major going on or any reason why I can't continue this, it's just that I needed a couple of days off. When I first came up with the idea for a blog series called "It's in My Head" (which was actually in February of 2013), I meant it to be a random feature on my blog that would pop up whenever an idea did the same thing. I didn't mean to do it every day. That kind of takes the fun out of it because you start writing not because you want to, but because you have to. And just like any other hobby or leisure activity, sometimes you just don't feel like doing it. There's nothing wrong with that.

But Scott, you love to write! Surely you can't be serious. I am serious and don't call me Shirley. Ok. so I'm not serious. And I'm not Shirley either. I know in the wrong light I can look like a very unattractive woman, but I'm a dude. Although you never really know what might happen someday. I heard somewhere that some West African frogs have been known to spontaneously change sex from male to female in a single sex environment. I hang out with a lot of dudes, so you might just have to go around looking up skirts if you really want to know the truth.

There's a good reason why I don't really make plans and why I'm so good with spontaneously rolling with the changes. It's life man. Every time you think you have it all figured out, it knocks you on your ass and stiffs you with the bill. Then you're kind of screwed for a while until you recover from that nonsense. But then you figure shit out and life finds a way of being good again. Then you coast along for a while until someone shuts off the electric fences and the T-Rex is now free to wander in and out of any paddock that she likes. Things were alright at first. Sure, the kids had a scare that they'll probably never recover from and now they're lost in the park, but they're with Dr. Alan Grant. Who better to lead them through Jurassic Park than a dinosaur expert? Yeah I know Malcolm is seriously injured, but not bad enough that you couldn't chance moving him. Gennaro was T-Rex food, but no one really liked the blood sucking lawyer anyway. You felt a little better when Mr. Arnold said, "Hold on to your butts" and rebooted the system, but then the Raptor fences got shut off. Now that's when all hell broke loose. Even Nedry knew better than to mess with the Raptor fences. 

But that's... that's chaos. You can't control it. You can't avoid it. You don't get to choose when it happens or the severity of the mess it brings when it erupts. All you can hope to do is survive it. So yeah, I'm still kicking strong despite taking a couple of days off. And maybe I'll continue this adventure and maybe I won't. I'm not going to decide that right now. I think I'm just going to leave it up to life to decide that for me. If there is one thing that we've learned from Dr. Ian Malcolm, it's that he's always on the search for the future ex-Mrs. Malcolm. But if there were two things that we've learned from Dr. Malcom, it's that fact that life finds a way. That idea found a way into my head today. What ideas did life put into your head?

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom
https://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

It's in My Head - #14: How Can Han Solo Understand Chewbacca?

How does Han Solo understand what Chewbacca is saying? I'm not insinuating that Han is an idiot. It's just that he seems like he'd be all street smarts and no book smarts. Do you know how much studying and immersion that it takes in order to properly converse in and to comprehend a foreign language? Maybe some people get it better then others, but I took 5 years of French and I don't know a god damn thing about that language. Why do they keep calling me "les incompetents"? Did they ever make a Rosetta Stone series for Wookie? Because I sure as hell have never seen that one. 

I don't even get how that would start out. Welcome to Level One for Wookie. Here is your first lesson: "agggggggrrrrrrhjjj" means "hello". "Fjchhcxhknvsryjm" means "goodbye". "Hyresvhjbf vfhjcdk gdyh" means "thank you". "Hyjdryh bddfgfg ggggggrrrr hhiuuuuugggrr ssssrrrhghh" means "did you see that chick behind the counter at the last space port we stoppped at? What a slut. She wasn't even wearing a bra. I could see her nipples plain as day right through her shirt. What do you mean you got her number? Well I would have, but I had to take a wicked dump cause we've been flying around space for 16 hours and you never stop when I have to go. Then you said we didn't have time to linger because we had shipments to run and a bounty hunter on our ass. You always bag the slutty ones. When's it going to be Chewbacca's time? Ok ok. Sorry I got mad. Did you at least ask if she has a friend for me?" And that's only the first lesson! We have barely even gotten started and I'm already confused. Man, Wookie is tough.

I just think that would be a real challenge because every god damn thing Chewbacca says sounds the exact same. At least to my human ears. Maybe that's because we assume that Han Solo is human. Even though he looks like us, he lives in a galaxy far, far away. He could be anything. For all we know he was born with the ability to speak and understand Wookie and it just comes natural to him. As natural as you and I breathe without thinking about it. How convenient then that he became best friends with Chewie. If you're going to spend your entire life cruising around the galaxy it an old hunk of junk you might as well do it with your best pal. And since it's just the two of you for all of those lonely hours, you have to be able to talk about sports, food, women, farts and movies. It would certainly make for a very long trip if you couldn't tell the difference between "fheyrehnvgujj gghrrhhsh" (which means "if you put on Air Supply one more time I swear to God, I will break your spine in half") and "ghghgeyeyssgsgbbnndnd" (which means "I completely disagree. The Foo Fighters are not overrated. In fact, I think they are one of the most influential American Rock bands to emerge from the Grunge scene.") Because heaven forbid you make the Wookie angry. One false interpretation could lead to you being stuffed down the trash compacter or becoming permanent cargo smuggled underneath the hidden floor panels. 

I used to give Han Solo a lot of shit because he's a shoot first and ask questions later kind of guy. He's kind of selfish and seems like a guy who would turn you in for a couple of bucks. But over the course of time you realize that he does have a heart and a smile resides behind that tough exterior. And watching his interaction with Chewbacca shows how much he cares. He could have easily thrown down a deal breaker with Chewy - either you learn English or we aren't friends anymore. But he didn't do that. Instead he made the effort to learn Wookie so that Chewy would be more relaxed in a unfamiliar territory. I don't know if you noticed, but there are a hell of a lot more people in the Universe that speak English than those that speak Wookie. Of course there was C3PO, but who would want to have that nerd as their only friend? That's how it might have ended up had Han not taken it upon himself to learn Chewy's native tongue. Well, that's what's in my head today. So I have to ask you - "gggaaarrrgghghghvnvnffggthd?" That's Wookie for "what's in your head?"

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom
https://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman

Friday, October 10, 2014

It's in My Head - #10: Everybody Loves Monkeys

They say that everybody loves monkeys. Shit, I go to the zoo just to see the monkeys because they make me laugh. And why not? I mean they do acrobatics, swing from trees and throw their own poop. Monkeys always look like they're having a great time. Monkeys are like the goofballs of the animal kingdom. When monkeys start laughing and fall over I can't help but giggle and shake from my head down to my toes. And monkeys are cute too. Just look at Curious George, the curious little monkey. He was always getting into shenanigans and the Man with the Yellow Hat always had to bail him out. Oh George, you curious little monkey and the Man in the Yellow Hat would smile. Did that asshole have a name? How annoying is it to always call him the Man with the Yellow Hat instead of Bob or Steve or Dave. Seriously. Give him a god damn name. Wasn't his Mother supposed to do that? But I digress... Everybody loves monkeys. I thought I did and then I saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

F*** monkeys. Seriously. Riding on horses, shooting guns, swinging through the trees, lighting things on fire and wait... they can talk too? Time to pack up my things and go home. Those aren't the kind of monkeys I love. But if those are the kind of monkeys that are going to take over the World, then I'm out of here. I always thought it was going to be the "Hey Hey We're the Monkees" that were going to take over the World. I think I could live happily in a World controlled by Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith. But those scary ass monkeys in the Apes movie? F*** that. I totally would have pulled a Gary Oldman and blown up the goddamn building. Kill them all!!! Burn in hell you monkey bastards!! No monkey talks back to me. I don't care if he walks around and knows how to throw a spear. Dude, if I say like, "Oh, it's really a nice day to walk in these woods" and then all of a sudden a monkey pops out of nowhere and says to me "Human, get out of my woods! You're not welcome here!" then I might just have to punch that monkey in the face.

I don't care if I'm starting a war. Seriously, who's going to win in a war of dudes against monkeys? I know the movie like already said that monkeys are going to win since we already know the future of these Planet Apes movies. We know that Charlton Heston is going to stumble upon these guys sometime in the distant future. And of course we all know he's going to drop down to his knees and yell out, "YOU MANIACS!! DAMN YOU!! GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!" That's fine. That's where these monkeys can all go. I'm sure as hell not going to invite them over for my birthday party. "Hey mom - these are my friends. Walking, talking monkeys who want to eradicate the human species. Can they stay for cake?" And my Mom will be like, "I already have to deal with you and your sister acting like monkeys, now I gotta deal with real monkeys? And the kind of monkeys that want to take over the World and enslave the human population?" And then Mom will be like, "See you later bitches, I'm out." I doubt my Mom would actually say bitches, but you get the point.

The thing is, this is just a movie, but I'll be damned if I let this sort of thing happen on my watch. I'm not much into violence, but if an uprising of monkeys wants to start some shit, you damn well certain I'm going to finish it. No Monkey is above me on the food chain. I'll even prove it. I will kill a monkey, put a stick up his ass and roast him over the fire. Then I'm going to slather some barbecue sauce over his seared flesh, take a big ol' bite and yell out, "Who's eating who on the food chain now monkey? Planet of the Apes? More like Planet of the Grapes. Seedless!" And I don't even know what that means. All I know is that I got a mouthful of monkey meat. A mouthful of THAT MEAT! And I'm washing it down with the tears of your monkey wife and your monkey kids who are watching me eat you. Good God I'm a sick bastard. What happened here? I set out to talk about monkeys and now I'm eating them while their wives and children watch? I guess all it takes is some dystopian apocalyptic future in a movie to completely sway my opinion about one of the animal species that used to make me laugh. Who's laughing now monkey? That's just a small sample of the things that are going on inside of my head. As you can see, I'm not monkeying around. What kind of Monkey Madness is going on in your head?

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom
https://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman

Thursday, October 09, 2014

It's in My Head - #9: Raiders of the Lost Fridge

One of the first things I always do when I go over to someone's house is raid the fridge. If it's a stranger's house or if I'm there for the first time, I'm not just gotta plunder that treasure chest and have their moms thinking, "What kind of pirate did my son bring over?" I at least have a little respect for others and their possessions. But if I'm at my Mom's or a relative's house, it's finder's keepers, loser's weepers. Most times I'm not even hungry. But it's just such a normal behavior. It's like why Indiana Jones keeps going on all these adventures despite the fact that he probably gets a pretty good salary as a college professor (with a Doctorate at that). In the classroom you don't have to worry about snakes. For someone who is deathly afraid of them like Indy, you'd think he'd be choose anything but snakes and kick back and collect a paycheck. But being a college professor is not comfortable for Indy. I'm also not comfortable being a "college professor", so I venture into the fridge searching for idols and buried treasure. I have to admit that searching through the fridge is me going on an Indiana Jones adventure. And me not eating food is like Dr. Henry Jones Jr. teaching an archaeology class. I only feel normal don't feel quite so alone when I've got some food to keep me company. So I guess that's how I got to be where I am today. Couldn't stop raiding the fridge. Even Indiana Jones would take some time off in between fighting Nazis and false gods who rip your heart out. You can't always be out searching for priceless biblical artifacts. So I shouldn't always be eating.

But hey! Some of that stuff is beautiful and it's filled with richness beyond belief! But it also comes with a warning - "You must choose, but choose wisely, for as the real grail brings eternal life, the false grail brings death". So far I've chosen poorly. Something has got to be done about it. I'm not going to live to be Indiana Jones' age if I keep Raiding the Lost Fridge. How am I going to stop? How do you break a habit? How do you unlearn something that you have taught yourself and have practiced meticulously every day for your entire life. You stop because you have to, not because you want to. You stop because your body is fighting back because you are abusing it. You stop because your bank account can't handle any more medical bills. You stop because people secretly make fun of you behind your back for being overweight. You stop because women don't find you attractive and they never will. You stop because you're never comfortable - not sitting down, not standing up and definitely not while in motion. You stop because if you don't, you're going to die. Time for me to stop.

Refrigerators and Indiana Jones are in my head. Raiders of the Lost Fridge sounds like a goofy spoof title of a movie I'd like to see done with claymation. I didn't expect to take a dark turn. The refrigerator light is usually on to guide me. But the door has been closed and sometimes I go down that path. That's what happens in my head - the best intentions to be funny and to not take things seriously sometimes have to be realistic. Because death is not a laughing matter. We're all going to die. The World has already established that for us. There is no Holy Grail that will give eternal life. Life isn't a race, so why am I trying to cross the finish line before all of you do? I don't know. I never had an answer for that one. Why didn't that appear in my head? What impulses in your head do you have to resist?    

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom
https://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

It's in My Head - #7: Did You Ever See that Scene in Scanners?

To be quite honest with you, neither had I until not too long ago. I knew about it from Wayne's World, but I had never seen Scanners. I got the reference, but I wanted to see what it was all about. So I went to this beautiful thing called the Internet and I found the clip on YouTube. You can check it out below but I would exercise caution if I were you. It's pretty brutal (but actually pretty tame compared to the violence we see in movies and TV these days. I still don't understand why people are so obsessed with and OK with extreme violence and gore. But that's another thought for another day). Today this was in my head because it felt like my head was going to explode. I try not to take things too seriously and get all stressed out, but today I couldn't help it. 

Normally I like to leave my work at work. I do not want to think about that place after I've left there. But today it's kind of still in my head. And today what was inside my head made it feel like it was going to explode. We are short staffed at work and also hella busy. I was getting so frustrated at one point that my head started hurting from thinking too much. I had to lean back for second in my chair and just do nothing for a minute. And that's when I started laughing. Cuz right after the pain stopped, I said out loud to myself, did you ever see that scene in scanners when the dude's head blew up? And then I imagined my head exploding (insert explosion noises). The rest of the day was fine after that.

That's about it man. I was thinking too much to notice what was going on in my head and then my head exploded and there was nothing going on in my head. But then I got home and this was in my head. I watch too many movies...


Warning: this scene is definitely messed up. Don't watch it unless you have problems...



There's always something going on in my head, even after it has exploded. I can't stop it man. It's just a part of my life I guess. As long as my head only explodes inside my head instead of exploding for real. We can't have that. I's only October 7th. I have too many more of these to do and I kind of need my head to do it with. It's part of the title. This series of posts wouldn't work if they would be called, "It Would Have Been in My Head, But My Head Exploded and It's Actually Residing in Some Airspace Where My Head Used to Be." That's not as catchy and succinct. So I'm not going to let my head explode so that I can keep the things in my head... in my head. How about you? Is your head still in tact? It didn't explode, did it? If your head is not exploded, I must ask - what's in your head?

 - pookon -

Thursday, October 02, 2014

It's in My Head - #2: The John Woo Shooting Range

Today as I was walking down the hallway at work from the break room to the bathroom, I put my hands behind my back. Then, in slow motion, pulled out two imaginary guns and started shooting at Sean Archer (John Travolta) while explosions went off all around me. Yep, I was pretending to be Castor Troy  (Nicolas Cage) at the beginning of Face/Off. The real world is tough and work is a place I have to go to every day if I want to get paid. Gotta get that money! So while I'm there I try to escape from it for a little bit. If that means reenacting a scene from a movie in the hallway by myself, then so be it. But this just isn't any movie. Oh no no no. This is Nic Cage at his finest, first as the psychopath Castor Troy and then as the strung out desperate FBI Agent Sean Archer wearing Castor Troy's face and pretending to be a complete psycho. I'M CASTOR TROY!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I love (but I'm not in love with) Nicolas Cage and I could watch this movie at least once a week. I'll probably end up watching it tonight at some point. But what if I didn't just have to watch the movie? What if I could somehow be in the movie? That's what's in my head today. 

I'm not talking about poorly superimposing myself into the movie or asking a friend who is good at CGI to insert my performance in there somewhere. I'm not talking about waiting around for virtual reality to advance like it is on the Holodeck on Star Trek where you can be in the movie (although that would be outstanding). Maybe someday, but that's not what is in my head today. I'm talking about what I would do if I had a ton of money. Like an insane amount. Like I was one of those people who had so much money they don't know what to do with it. I know what I would do with it. I would create my own John Woo Shooting Range. If you've ever seen one of his movies (such as Face/Off, Broken Arrow, Hard Target, Mission Impossible II, Hard Boiled, The Killer and any of the movies he made in China) then you know exactly why this is one of the greatest ideas ever. If you don't know John Woo movies, here's a clip from Face/Off to catch you up to speed:
 

The John Woo Shooting Range would have it all - multiple handguns so you can always have one in each hand, crates, walls and random factory stuff to hide behind, fire and explosions, plenty of doves (and other species of bird) and of course - everything will be in slow motion and set to abnormally pleasant music that contradicts the violence unfolding. Beautiful mesmerizing slow motion. I can picture it in my head right now. I would be trying to corner a robot version of my arch enemy and he would be as crafty and cunning as I am. We would know each other strengths and weaknesses and be able to anticipate each other's moves. It would be something spectacular. And I would be right in the middle of it. 

I'm strongly opposed to guns and violence. I believe that guns are a part of the problem and never a part of the solution. I've only held a gun once and it was unloaded. The first time I went down to South Carolina I asked Officer Werner if I could check out her police gear. I didn't like the gun. Even without any bullets it felt too powerful, almost like it was a power not meant to be welded by mankind. We have no business playing God and choosing who lives and dies. But that's not what the John Woo Shooting Range would be like. In here I wouldn't be playing God, I would be playing Sean Archer. Or Ethan Hunt. Or Riley Hale. Or Chance Boudreaux. I would be the hero. It would be spectacular.

But why stop at The John Woo Shooting Range? Why not also build the Michael Bay Shooting Range? Handguns could still be used, the action would be quick and fast (with scenes lasting at most 3 seconds so that you had no freakin idea what was going on), explosions would be huge and unnecessary, stylish luxury cars would zoom around, there would be a shit-ton of product placements and the place would be littered with scantily clad Victoria's Secret models. Oh yeah - and don't forget the pop rock soundtrack featuring Aerosmith. I could be Martin Lawrence and Jenny Reck could be Will Smith. We'd be spouting catch phrases and trying to remain best friends at the same time.

I can't wait to get mega rich so that I can build this joint. I've got all the plans laid out, now I just have to figure out a way to get all that money to realize my dreams. Too bad that idea didn't creep up in my head instead of this one. But you have to come up with the plan so you aren't stuck swimming in a giant bin of money like Uncle Scrooge McDuck. He's got all that money just sitting there wasting space when it could be invested in The John Woo Shooting Gallery. I should probably give that old miser a call. What's his number again? And while I chase down Launchpad McQuack for Mr. McD's number, give me a call and let me know - what's in your head?

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom
https://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

It's in My Head - #1: Zombie

I get bored pretty often. Being ugly and mean to your friends often brings upon those results. So I have no one to blame but myself. Look, I'm not complaining here folks so don't start crying for me or throwing garbage in my general direction. I'm just stating the obvious. My Uncle Rick once said that there's a positive in every scenario. Here's this one - my boredom leads to creative outbursts. Last year I had two really good ones. In June of 2013 I did The Write Month, where I decided to write every day because I was sorely lacking in that department. Then later that year in October I decided to do another daily adventure in what I called Pickle the Day, where I took a picture every day and talked about it. Both of those adventures can be found in the "From the Archives" section on the right. But that's old news. Here's what I feel like doing this October - It's in Your Head.

When I say "your head" I don't really mean your head (author's note: I have since changed the title to It's in My Head). Although if you do want to tell me what's in your head, comment below or on Facebook when I share the daily post. It's what's in my head that I want to talk about. There's a lot of things moving around in there. I'm no different than any other human being. People have thoughts and ideas all the time. But mine are special. Mine are unique. You know why? Because they belong to me. I'm the only one who has them. Even if it sounds like something that already exists, chances are I'm going to put my own spin on it and offer up my opinion. After all - it is in my head.


I came up with the idea a while back. It's too simple to not use for a daily feature. Why? Because every day I can literally write about anything. Any stupid little idea that pops into my head. Like Zombies. Why Zombies you ask? And why capitalize it even though that is not grammatically correct? The answer to the first question is because of the song by The Cranberries. The answer to the second question is because I feel like it. If you've never heard the song Zombie, then I implore you to click on the play button above (if you haven't already done so). When the question of what's "in your head?" is asked, the logical answer is always Zombies. With their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns. Because in your head they are fighting. But what if they are not fighting? What if they are heading to the local retail store because Macy's was having a blowout sale? Who knows man. Zombies have changed thanks to their immersion into our everyday culture. Thanks to George A. Romero (who started it all), The Walking Dead, The Resident Evil Series (Movies + Video Games), Zombieland, World War Z, the game Plants vs. Zombies and countless others including my personal favorite - Shaun of the Dead. You know about Zombies. But are they in your head?

They are in my head thanks to my brother Timmy (who loved The Cranberries more than any young man should) and my sister Jenny (who would obnoxious belt out the song while I played it on guitar). Sometimes I think - were we wrong to cremate Timmy's body instead of burying it in the ground? He died too young and too suddenly to leave behind a list of wishes for his funeral and burial arrangements. Since he loved Zombies so much, shouldn't we have given him the possibility of being one? I know it's a weird thought, but that's what's in my head. I don't think we are supposed to talk about the deceased with what some might consider to be disrespect, but I feel like he would agree with me.

And finally - yes, I know that this song doesn't have anything to do with real Zombies. It's a protest song about the IRA bomb attacks in Warrington, England in 1993 and the violence that led another child being slowly taken away by death. Calling these soldiers Zombies was a slight on the people who carried out the atrocities by mindlessly following orders. Neither sides were willing to negotiate with each other and the silence led to the violence. Or at least that's what the internet told me. When you listen to the lyrics it's actually a pretty freakin' depressing song. Well, there goes my day. And while I cry about the people who were killed due to unnecessary acts of war, I must ask you - what's in your head?

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom
https://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman

Friday, October 04, 2013

Pickle the Day: October 4th - Gorillas in the Midst

When I woke up on the morning of October 3rd, it was unusually dark out for this time of day. Then I looked out the window and saw that the neighborhood was shrouded in a thick fog. Whenever I see fog I think of two things. The first one is a sense of fear of what is hiding there just out of sight thanks to the 2007 movie The Mist. If you haven't seen that movie do it now. It's so fucked up that it scares me. The second thing is nostalgia for the good old days thanks to a 1988 movie Gorillas in the Mist staring Sigourney Weaver, which is a movie that I have never seen. So why do I think about that movie when I see fog? That takes a little explaining. Thankfully we have some time here at the blog for things like this. 

Back in college I used to draw comics when I got bored in class. This is probably why it took me 7 years to graduate because I was too busy in the fantasy world inside my head to pay attention to the material in class that would have helped me get good grades on the exams. I was a pretty bad student but I don't regret it now because my creativity has gotten me further than my college degree has or ever will. But I digress. I drew comics but I'm no artist. I am a writer. A storyteller. I used stick figures and crude objects to enhance my dialogue to get my point across. One comic that I wrote was called Gorillas in the Midst, which was a reference to the movie that I've never seen but somehow know about. In this comic, the characters Pookon (me) and Zimbabwe (my best friend) have an argument where they discuss the differences between gorillas being in the mist or gorillas being in the midst.


According to Dictionary.com, mist is defined as "1. A cloudlike aggregation of minute globules of water suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface, reducing visibility to a lesser degree than fog. 2. A cloud of particles resembling this: She sprayed a mist of perfume onto her handkerchief. 3. Something that dims, obscures, or blurs: the mist of ignorance. 4. A haze before the eyes that dims the vision: a mist of tears. 5. A suspension of a liquid in a gas.


Midst is defined as "1. The position of anything surrounded by other things or parts, or occurring in the middle of a period of time, course of action, etc.(usually preceded by the): a familiar face in the midst of the crowd; in the midst of the performance. 2. The middle point, part, or stage (usually preceded by the): We arrived in the midst of a storm.

I know it sounds dumb but to me it was humorous because it was a play on words. You see, both characters were correct because gorillas could either be in the mist or in the midst, or they could even be both! They could be in the midst of the mist! They consulted the Webster Dictionary and he was able to put an end to their meaningless squabble and restore their friendship. So what did Pookon and Zimbabwe do? They proceeded to burn the Dictionary and roast marshmallows over his smoldering ashes. So it was a happy ending! I always make references to movies, music, places, inside jokes, etc. in my writing but rarely to I make a reference to something that I've never done or seen. How can I discuss a based on a true story movie if I've never seen it or don't know anything about the primatologist Dian Fossey that Weaver plays? I have no idea, but somehow it all made sense to me back in 2004 when I drew this comic. I'm probably never going to see Gorillas in the Mist. There are some movies that I just have no interest in seeing. But it still managed to have an impact on my life because I'm talking about it. Isn't that weird? But so is my life. I've given up trying to understand myself. I hope you have too. But I hope that doesn't stop you from coming back tomorrow for another pickle. I've got a full jar of them just waiting to be shared.

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
https://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom