An Early Resolution

Ok. This whole blogging thing hasn't exactly worked out as I anticipated. My originally intent was for this blog to be like a weekly journal, where I would write down things that I was thinking about over the course of a week. For some reason, its ended up as a place where I put up links for other websites. So I've taken some time away from blogging to figure out how often to post, and more importantly what to post. I've made a resolution to be more regular in my posting, and actually do some writing on here.
Also, feel free to add comments to anything I write. Or e-mail me and let me know you are reading this.

Fun Links

Just a few selections from my Favorites list.

I loves me some British humor. And there is an abundance of monkeys...
http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php

The Chin. The Man-God.
http://www.bruce-campbell.com/

For a daily dose of the strange and surreal.
http://www.forteantimes.com/

Little Shop of Horrors

One of my all time favorite musicals is Little Shop of Horrors. I played Seymour in High School and by a weird coincidence, I played the Dentist a few years ago. I adore the movie, but the thing that always bothered me was that the movie changed the ending. The stage version ends with the killer plant eating the hero and then taking over the world. When the movie was made, the unhappy ending didn't sit well with studio head honchos, so it was changed. The movie version ends with Seymour killing the plant and going off into the sunset with his love.

Now finally the original ending is available online. http://www.alanmenken.info/downloads/downloads1.html

Its only going to be there until the 15th, but it is so cool to see. :)

Sharks, and Other Beautiful Things

I recently returned from a trip to Omaha to visit my brother and his family. Any excuse to see my beautiful nieces. Omaha is a very nice city. I mean, I would never leave St. Louis. But its not a bad place to live, as long as you don't mind a few feet of snow every winter.

While I was there I had the opportunity to visit Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo (http://www.omahazoo.com). The highlight of my visit to the zoo (besides the fact that my brother paid my admission) was a visit to the Shark Tank. That's right. Omaha has sharks. In a tank. That you walk through.

I think my brother deliberately did not tell me what an experience at the zoo's aquarium would be like. I wasn't expecting to turn a corner and suddenly be just feet away from sharks, manta rays, and a very brave sea turtle. The thing that surprised me most, was that these creatures took my breath away with their beauty. I would never have used the words beautiful and great white in the same sentence before, but there is no other way to describe the experience. These perfect killing machines were swimming just feet away and they were beautiful. This is a creature so perfect that it hasn't needed to evolve in millions of years

So yeah, it was cool.

Ninjas

From http://www.fox2ktvi.com/

MEN DRESSED AS NINJAS ROB SOUTH ST. LOUIS STORE
A daring robbery by men dressed as ninja's early Thursday morning at a south St. Louis Walgreen's is caught on tape. It happened about 2:15am at the Walgreens at South Broadway and Gasconade. Police say four robbers wearing black hoods and gloves stormed the store. One was armed with a shotgun. One held the manager at gunpoint, while the others went from register to register stealing drawers full of money. About 15 minutes later, a 9-1-1 call sent police to an alleyway less than a mile away. Officers found the cash drawers inside a dumpster, but the money was gone and so were the crooks. No one was hurt and the entire crime was captured on the store's video security system. Police will use that to try and identify the suspects.

Finally, I say. Ninja assassins bring their reign on terror in our fair city. However, I'm a little concerned that we are dealing with pseudo-ninjas. I mean, if the store was covered with throwing stars, or there were katana slices in the registers, then I would would say 100% pure ninja. But I don't think real ninjas use shotguns.

Star Wars.

When I was a kid, probably not more than 5 or 6, I remember getting some Star Wars action figures in the mail that my mom had sent away for. This was remarkable for two reasons. I was a kid, I never got mail. I was shocked to discover the large brown envelope that had arrived was for me. I was even more shocked to discover that there were toys inside. This was my first introduction to Star Wars: Chewbacca and Obi Wan Kenobi action figures. Those action figures were like Kenner Brand herion and I was hooked. I had to have all the action figures. And the ships. And the monsters. And the Millennium Falcon playset. You get the picture.

When I went to school, I discovered that other kids liked Star Wars too. At recess, you would play Star Wars. Lost in a playground world of imagination where any sort of adventure could happen. My best friend was always Han Solo. He was cool, and he got the girl. I usually got stuck playing C-3po. Really, how could I not know I was gay?

To say that these movies are unimportant or silly is to dismiss an entire generation's youthful imaginings. They were the corner stones of my creativity. As a kid I would imagine going on adventures with Luke Skywalker, crash landing the Falcon, learning from Yoda.

So tonight is the openening night of the last Star Wars movie. I have this incredible feeling of anticipation. Yes, I'm a geek.

And so it begins...

Welcome to my blog. I've been wanting to get one of these things for a while. I have enough mental diarrhea to fill up this little space on the web, so why not. I hope to add different things as I have more time. Watch this space for some poetry soon, as well as some movie reviews.