First Things First

Welcome to the first of the month update.  This update brings four new pictures to the color section of Vista Drive.  Course there's a new Elsewhere too.  Some of resent updates have been on the small side because I've been busy.  However, I did get the chance to add two new features.  One is a new feature to 17 called Barber Shop, which is a panoramic look at some Los Angeles landmarks.  The second new feature is an online series added to the Composition section of Bliss, as well as some poetry.  I'm also working on adding some more features.  I'm hoping to bring them online in the next couple of months.  So do visit again, and watch for those new features.

Afterthoughts : Warmest Thigh

December 7th, 1984, and I had tickets for the Jackson's Victory tour.  Enough tickets to take along nearly everyone in my family.  My mother knew a girl a couple of years older than me, about 15 years old, that was a huge Michael Jackson fan.  We ended up having an extra ticket, and my mother (maybe playing matchmaker) invited this girl to the concert.

With my limited 13 year old girl skills I tried to convince my mother to seat us together.  My mother smiled at me and said no problem.  The VIP ticket you see on the left was our ticket to the backstage area.  The girl was quite impressed.  I keep saying the girl because I honestly can't remember her name.  It was 20 years ago!  Nevertheless, I do remember certain things about that concert.

I remember seeing Ray Parker Junior backstage.
I remember how excited the whole of Dodger stadium was.
I remember that one of my cousins nearly caught the hat Michael throws into the audience.
I remember how warm the girl's thigh felt next to mine, as we sat side by side on the bench seat of my father's car.
I remember how my 13 year old mind thought I was in love.
I remember I never saw her again.
I remember the drive home, and how her warm thigh was an even bigger thrill than the concert.
That's what I remember.

Editorial : Not that Great to me

In retrospect, the Lord of the Rings trilogy wasn't all that great.  Let me amend that by saying that the first movie was great.  But, like so many trilogies, the initial wonder peters out by the end of the third movie.  Something about the first movie moved me, and made me curse the way the new Star Wars trilogy was being told.  But, after seeing the second and third installments of the J. R. R. Tolkien epic I found myself a bit empty.  Watching the "The Return of the King" became more of a chore, than an actual enjoyable experience.  It's never a good sign when I start looking at my watch every five minutes.  While the movie was fair, I didn't feel the rush of emotion that everyone else seemed to be feeling.  To me it almost felt like a big nothing.  There were battles, and then more battles, followed by even more battles.  I wanted more character development in the Gollum character.  But, in over three hours all I got was a short flashback at the beginning of the movie.

What always gets me about these kind of stories is how there is always a surprise that give the characters in peril a way out.  They always happen to be close to a cave, or a forest, or some helpful elf, or whatever.  I guess I just couldn't suspend disbelief this time.  I simply found that battle after battle was not a way to spend three and a half hours.  Especially since I knew the outcome of each battle would be the same.  There was little tension to the story.  In short, while I think the movie's special effects, acting, and production was very good, I simply didn't find the movie to be all that good.  Certainly not best movie caliber.  But, then again, if movies like "Forest Gump" and "The English Patient" can win, then why not a movie as pointless as both of those.

Even a good movie like "Seabiscuit" didn't drive me to find the edge of my seat.  However, I do think it's better than "The Return of the King."  Course, now everyone that is into this whole Lord of the Rings thing will think I'm crazy.  But really, I'm right.  What amazes me is how a three and a half hour movie could leave me without a single emotion, except gladness that it was over.

Etcetera : Spoof Ad

In the tradition of the website Ad Busters dot-org I present my very own spoof advertisement.