Blessed are the geek for they shall inherit the Earth

It's a very exciting time to be a geek. Cinema continues to evolve in to such an amazing and eclectic art form. It still blows my mind how good everything looks. Yeah, I know, 'Avatar' was the film that "changed" cinema. But if you ask me, what's a great looking film if it has little to no depth or heart? The older I get, the less I care about if the shot was filmed correctly and the more I focus on how the film can alter and expand the viewer's consciousness. It's just more fun that way.

Okay, now as an avid superhero fan since 1986, there are few superhero movies that I haven't at least tried to watch. I did however skip on Halle Berry's 'Catwoman'. But hey, 'Cloud Atlas' was so awesome, I may watch it for shits and giggs just because Halle is a part of that cool ass flick.  The first superhero movie I consider to be the start of the modern age of superhero cinema would probably be 2000's 'X-Men'. The movie was a hit and really opened the flood gates for more superhero properties. It was of course followed by 2 sequels, a spin-off, and a prequel. After 'X-Men's success, geeks around the world got to finally see their favorite superheroes get a chance at shining on the silver screen. Films like 'Daredevil', 'Spider-Man', 'Ghost Rider', 'The Punisher', yes, 'Catwoman', 'Hulk', 'Hellboy', 'The Watchmen', 'The Fantastic Four' and many more. Some were duds and some will forever be remembered.  It's now 12 years later, and these genre pics are getting even bigger and better. Filmmakers and producers are learning from past mistakes and finally catering to the needs of their biggest fan base....The Geeks.

'The Avengers'. It almost sounded like a dream come true.  Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and The Incredible Hulk all on screen at the same time?? Yeah, that definitely sounds wayyy too good to be true, and ambitious to say the least. Oh wait, Joss Whedon is going to direct it? Yeah, okay, sure. I'll believe it when I see it. And you know what folks? Seeing is believing because that shit was awesome. Sure the first two acts may be a bit slow in comparison to the whole, but oh man is the wait worth it. The third act and finale made the film. Whedon delivered the goods so well that I was legitimately surprised by just how terrific the final product turned out to be. So much so, that I'm currently counting down the minutes until 'The Avengers 2'. 

So now I look to the future. What kind of tantalizing geeky properties do we get to feast our eyes on next.

Here's a few projects gestating that I can't wait to see.

Guillermo Del Toro. What a geek. For those who don't know, he's responsible for 'Blade 2' (my favorite 'Blade' installment), the two Hellboy films and 'Pan's Labyrinth'. And while the latter isn't considered geeky per se, it's still a very good movie.  His current project in the works is a little film called 'Pacific Rim'. While details are scarce and no truly revealing pictures have been released, the plot alone has me sold.

"When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace."

Two words: Fuck Yeah.

And if that's not enough, Del Toro recently expressed interest in making a DC film called "Heaven Sent" which would be an Avengers-style team up of the supernatural and magical entities of the DC universe. A superhero team film which would feature lesser known anti-heroes such as The Spectre, John Constantine, Swamp-Thing, Etrigan the Demon, Phantom Stranger, Deadman and Zatanna.

Yes Please. Why not spice up the genre and introduce a bombastic, grandiose horror-themed superhero movie? I guess 'Constantine' did that in 2005, but I remember how much better it could have been. The reason I think this will work is because these characters don't really need stand alone films. Use the best qualities of each character to make an amalgamation of otherworldly phantasmagoria.

Hey, did you happen to hear that story about some company called Disney buying Lucasfilm? Oh yeah Lucasfilm made 'Star Wars' by the way. That's right, there's going to be new Star Wars films. Now while that can go either way (we all saw 'The Phantom Menace') I stand optimistic. Just hoping for the best. At this point, that's all we can do.

A few more properties that are on my radar:

• The Robocop remake (I may be the only one seeing the set pics of Robo's new suit and actually liking it).
• Stan Lee recently announced that Black Panther and Dr Strange movies are on the way.
• The sequels to 'Captain America' and 'Thor' as well as the threequel to 'Iron Man'.
• 'The Twilight Zone' movie which has just announced, has a time travel theme (no surprise there).
• Zack Snyder's 'Man of Steel' (my fingers are crossed that it's nothing like 'Superman Returns' and that Kevin Costner doesn't stink up the joint).
• 'The Wolverine' (which is apparently set after 'X-Men: The Final Stand', and that makes me even more excited).

 

Yes indeed, it is an exciting time to be a geek. Now if Bill Murray would agree to at least make a cameo in a third Ghosbusters, my brain may explode from pure unadulterated ecstasy.

-Dom

Let me tell you Astoria

This car parked behind me yesterday.

You'll notice the 33 lines up with the pyramid, and the keyhole is centered perfectly to be the eye on the top.                                                                                                                                                                       

-Dom

Lloyd our Christ Bearer by Joe Alexander

If you want to look at Christopher Lloyd in a completely different light, view these films...

Lloyd our Christ Bearer

And the sequel:

Grey Aliens & the Lord of Time Travel Tunnels

-Dom

Hearts a blazin'

-Dom

FURTH3RANC3

Perhaps I'm looking for meaning where there is none.
Just the same, I can't ignore a coincidence involving my own life...

              I am the 3rd child of my parents.
My Mother is the 3rd daughter of her parents.
I was born on the 3rd of the month.
       I grew up on 3rd street.

-Dom

Life's what you make it

I know quite a few people who have all said similar things. And these are people separated by time and space.  These people I'm referring to are, in the nicest way I can think of...Naysayers. I love Urban Dictionary's definition of this unfortunate sect...

naysayer

One who frequently engages in excessive complaining, negative banter and/or a genuinely poor and downbeat attitude. Naysayers are distinguished by their tendency to consistently view the glass half empty, make frequent one-way trips to negative town, and constantly emphasize the worst of a situation. They have the capacity to rant and whine for hours on end about the most insignificant inconveniences. They tend to travel solo, but have the keen ability to spread their pessimistic attitude to a group of unsuspecting bystanders and encourage others to employ their mindset. Naysayers tend to blend in with those around them rather well, granted they have learned over the years to adapt to their surroundings. However, when the opportunity arises, their true nature will be exposed and they will stop at nothing to exclude others or bring a general sense of negativity to any situation. Not to be confused with non-naysayers who fight against the negativity brought forth by naysayers, make the best of a situation and are not afraid to call out a naysayer on the spot.

I'm not going to sit here and say that I've never had a negative view on the world. There was a period in my life, that my best friend John will attest to, that was a very dark time. It was like the period in the galaxy far, far away between Episodes 3 and 4.  I had become very depressed and cynical. I can say now, it was the saddest I've ever been in my life so far. It made me uncomfortable to be around. No one WANTS to be around an unhappy pessimist. Today, I feel fortunate that I snapped the fuck out of it. My glass isn't half full. It IS full. Because honestly, why the hell shouldn't it be?

Let's face facts right now. The truth of the matter is...YES. The world can suck. It can be discriminatory, disturbing, disgusting, discouraging, dejecting and dispiriting. I would hope that no one would actually disagree with that. But, at the same time, life is a many splendid thing. It lifts us up where we belong. Without life, there would be nothing. The truth is, the planet we all live on, is Earth and while it is argued to be run by a small sector of people who don't have everyone's best interests in mind, it's still our planet. We need to accept things. Acceptance to me, seems to be the key. Once you come to an understanding of the wickedness of it all, and just lay the cards on the table, then you can finally move forward. Yeah, shit sucks, there's child molesters, greedy fucks, murderers, dog punchers, war enthusiasts, and many more monsters scouring this big blue ball of life, but hey....THAT is life.

Since all that really matters is YOUR life, then it seems obvious that people should basically live the way THEY want to live. I do believe that everyone has the right to do what they think is best for them, just as long as they're not intentionally hurting others or the planet while doing it.

I've heard people say things like:
"Well, you know, really, we're born, we live, and we die. So really, what's the point of it all?"

While that is true. We are born, we do live, and we inevitably die, that doesn't mean we have to spend the 70-90 year period on this beautiful world in a constant state of negativity and unhappiness. What a waste of time. The following is a response from a person whose opinion I greatly respect, when I asked him, "What's the meaning of life?"....

"To have as much fun as possible."

So to those people who say, What's the point? I say this:

Fun, love, happiness, sex, drugs, movies, food, the outdoors, alcohol, music, friendships, family, knowledge, surprises.

Now those are just a few of the things that I personally love about life. How cool is it that we have the opportunity to watch 'The Avengers' or eat an ice cream sandwich? There's literally millions of trees that we can climb. And that shit is totally fun. Sometimes, it really is the little things that count. So you really should ask yourself...What are YOU living for?

The following are responses from some of my friends and family when I asked what the meaning of life was to them:


"Love, happiness, success and legacy"

"Life is about experiencing everything and anything that makes you happy. To be on your deathbed
and simply say "that was so much fun""

"To cooperate with the Universe's pattern and thrive"

"FBGM"


"-To experience a full range of human emotion.
-To question everything in search of truth.
-To understand that life is not about knowledge, power, and money - but mystery.
-To choose happiness.
-To love other humans and interact with them."


"The meaning of life is to answer to the one true gift we have. FREE WILL. To fight your free will, to go against your natural instinct is sin. We as humans have a gift, free will. Be free, stay free and think free."


"All in all, life is subjective, just like Aristotle said. Define your parameters and 
find your own damn meaning. Also, having fun is cool, too."


"In my opinion there is no meaning. It's the arrogance of man to assume a grand position in the scheme of the galaxy."

""You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. -Albert Camus""

"42"

"I don't know so much about the meaning of life, but I've always felt that the purpose of life is to learn and experience as much as possible. And don't be a cunt."



-Dom

The Baler of Destiny

Thursday. September 20th. 1:45 pm.
I was having a conversation with my brother about a recent dream I had.  I had work at 2, and left the house at 1:50.  While on the way to start my shift, I remembered another portion of the previous evening's dream. I dreamt of the baler at work. The big ol' green bastard that molds loose cardboard in to a neatly packed cube.  In the dream, a co worker had told me that the baler was broken. I didn't really react. I figured, I dreamt this scenario because Thursday is the day that I make a bale. I thought to myself, that would be neat if my subconscious was laying out bread crumbs. Maybe I would go to work and find a 20 dollar bill next to the baler.

So I get to work, I go to the baler and look for anything different or strange. Part of me thought I might find an owl or something equally significant. On the front of the machine, there are ridges.  Ridges big enough to hold random items. Usually these items are damaged products or just loose tools. Hammers, screwdrivers, etc. Today, I noticed an orange toy, a hairspray bottle, packaging to a toy car, some gloves, and a pair of scissors. Nothing too odd. I go about my business and make the bale. When I'm done, I close the door (hatch?). Something falls off the ridge and on to the ground. It's the orange toy.

Which by further inspection, seems to be a cement mixer? I examine it closely. On the bottom, it says Made in China. But there's something else on the vibrant orange plastic.


7333, with the 7 kind of hiding behind the wheel. This is where my heart started beating fast. My chest was pumping, I was so freaked out. That is just TOO fucking weird, right? What are the Gods (BSG anyone?) Damn odds?







Immediately, this situation reminded me of the choosing process from 'Seven Years in Tibet'. The scene where they are trying to find the new Dalai Lama by exposing children to certain objects to see if they "make the right choice". A similar scene occurs in the 4th season episode of 'LOST', "Cabin Fever". Too weird man....too fucking weird.

-Dom