Making It Up As I Go Along #667

Was at the movies this week and saw plenty of Star Wars stuff around the cinema.  One thing I’ve never understood with Star Wars.  Being a franchise that has capitalized on every type of money maker one could think of, why do they not re-release the old movies on big screen on a yearly basis?  I, for one, would go to see any of the Star Wars movies (with the possible exception of episode 2) any time they would be available at the cinema.  There is no better way to watch Star Wars than on big screen with surround sound.  So if, for example, episode 8 is being released a year from this coming May, then release each of the previous seven episodes… and even this Rogue 1 spinoff (so a total of eight movies) in March.  One per week for the eight weeks prior to episode 8.  Seems, to me, like easy money for Disney.

Shovelled the driveway for the first time of the year, today.  Fairly easy go of it but a sign I may have to have a word with the new neighbours.  The previous neighbours were good enough to not throw snow on my side of their driveway.  Seeing as I share my driveway with another, I only really have one side I can throw snow… and by winter’s end, that’s even getting to be too much and simply begins to slide down into the other driveway.  If those new neighbours decide to share my six foot strip of lawn as a landing spot for snow, I’m really going to run out of room fast.

Anyone who believes in that silly old “war on Christmas” has never stepped foot in my office building.  A government building at that.  Last week they used part of a day to decorate everything… and, in some cases, I literally mean everything.  There is one department that has even gift wrapped their filing cabinets.  I don’t know what normally goes in there… but it’s sealed until the New Year.  There was also a gingerbread house building competition and a Christmas party… a Christmas luncheon is this week and the social club will have draws for gifts on the last day before the majority of everyone goes home for the holidays.

All this… and yet somehow there is a group of Christians that feel their belief in Christmas is under attack.  They’ll get all bent out of shape because they’ll hear someone say “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas”.  Suddenly they’ll claim to be somehow persecuted… likely making said claim as they wander through a red and green decorated mall… with piped in Christmas music in the background… as they search for the best Christmas blowout deals.  

So let it be known, my office is doing a fine job in maintaining your Christmas cheer.  Christmas is not endangered.  So save your anger for something that’s much less imaginary than your War on Christmas.

How much more do I now like baseball compared to hockey?  Here we are in winter… with snow on the ground and ice forming on ponds.  With hockey games on TV virtually every night.  I can even put a game on my iPad if I want to.

Yet I’ve likely sat down to watch a grand total of three hockey games on TV… all season… since mid October.  And that isn’t saying on this day I watched this game, and on that day I watched this other one.  I mean I watched the third period of a game here… and the first ten minutes of the first period of a game there.

But right now, baseball is having its winter meetings and I find myself watching three or four hours of coverage of those meetings each day.  I’m checking twitter regularly to see what baseball rumours are coming up now.  And I’m going for walks mulling over how the Blue Jays should best spend their money.  What free agents to go after… how much money they should be willing to go for those free agents… what trades they could possibly make.

In short, I’m sad to see Edwin Encarnacion go… but it’s probably a good thing in order to let the team increase depth and diversity of players.  Signing Morales was a good financial move but I’m not thrilled with having a full time DH.  On a veteran team, I’d rather see the DH slot open for the fielders to slide in to in order to get half days off.  And I want them to get Dexter Fowler signed.  I’m only ok with no Edwin as long as Fowler is there to take his place.  The need the outfielder/switch hitting/lead off man more than the power hitting 1st baseman/DH type.  Plus I’m still quite open to Jose Bautista coming back… as a left fielder who also gets about forty games in at 1st base.  But for only one or two years on a contract… and for no more than $18 million per year.  And, that all said, I doubt Bautista would do that.  So both he and Edwin will be gone… and as long as Fowler comes in, the team may very well be all the better for it.

Man, there’s so much money in baseball.  When you talk about signing a player for less than $20 million per year as if that’s a good budget move.

Getting a few snow walks in lately.  It really helps you see what kind of wildlife is still around, despite all the construction that’s been going on.  I see rabbit tracks every day.  I see the trails and remnants of beaver handiwork.  And I’m still seeing occasional coyote tracks.  It’s a whole other world going on just outside my window.

Making It Up As I Go Along #666

Saturday night was a combo of movies and TV for me. And a few thoughts came through in the watching. 

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace really isn't very good. I've always said it's not as bad as people have said, but maybe Saturday was the watching that finally put it in my negative view. The kid is a horrible actor. Jar Jar is the tragic comical character that isn't funny. Several of the aliens just seem like people in Halloween suits. What still stands out as great, for me, is the pod race through the desert (minus the two headed alien commentator). The rest of the movie is rather annoying. 

After watching three episodes of the Discovery Network’s show, Frontier, I've come to the conclusion that it's a fairly unoriginal, average show. It's like someone stole the scripts for the pirate show, Black Sails, or the period spy show, Turn and decided to rework them into the fur trade. Half the cast really aren't all that good at acting and the writing is mediocre. I've enjoyed moments of the show. I like guessing which scenes were filmed in Newfoundland and, when there's action, it's a bit of fun. But as soon as people spend more than two minutes talking to each other, the writing just really brings it down. 

Besides tv, I'm of two minds of the reactions to Fidel Castro’s death. I see Trudeau got some backlash for his complimentary and kind words for Castro. And I saw plenty on Twitter speaking of the hardships he brought on the Cuban people. 

But at the same time, Cuba and Canada have always had a kind of unique relationship where things were always relatively friendly. Canadians are often going to Cuba for vacations and several of our political leaders had a fairly close rapport with Castro himself. 

Bottom line, I think the day a 90 year old sick man dies is not the time to go about lambasting him. In reality, Castro has been irrelevant to Cuba for quite a while now. His death doesn't suddenly bring great change to the nation. Sure, in the coming months, go ahead and be critical of him. Let history speak for itself. But immediately after his death, such criticism just seems cruel and in bad taste. And it's definitely not the right way to go if the western world really wants to bring Cuba into a more free political era. After all, it is still a Castro in power. Badmouthing his brother is likely not the best first step of that new era. 

Nostalgia

How much is too much?

I’ve found myself becoming more drawn to the old.  TV shows, old games… old memories.

A few weeks ago, I was delighted to watch a few episodes of Three’s Company.  

In the movie, A Christmas Story, Ralphie Parker’s greatest Christmas gift is a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and "this thing which tells time”.  Well my greatest childhood Christmas gift was a video game.  Tandy’s Cosmic 1000 Fire Away game. 

I still have my Fire Away. But it doesn’t work any longer.  But at about the same time as I was sitting in front of the tube, engrossed in my Three’s Company watching, I found that my greatest Christmas gift is now in App version.  Of course I paid the few bucks to own it again.  And I can return to my Red Rider BB gun days by simply picking up my iPad or phone.

And now, in my surfing around the internet, I’ve found that Atari has an all in one console… with 101 games built in… and I’m tempted to ask for this for Christmas! (Santa… that’s the Atari Flashback 7… available at Amazon but also at Urban Outfitters Canada for around $25 less!).

I mean I have a PlayStation 3 with several games… and I haven’t played any of them for the last five years.  But the thought of returning to the days of playing Jungle Hunt, Asteroids, Frogger and Yar’s Revenge… all in 8 pixel, 1980s glory… well it all makes me long for the days gone by, that’s for sure.

Perhaps this is something that comes naturally with age.  I mean my father can clearly tell me stories of some seventy years ago… where you can tell that every image, every texture, and every smell is crystal clear.  

And I’ve always been a nostalgic person.  There isn’t much from my past that’s been thrown away.  Every ball glove I’ve used.  Every action figure and teddy bear.  Cases and boxes of dinkies.  They’re all somewhere either in my Ottawa home or my parents St. John’s one.  And I do already own DVDs of WKRP in Cincinnati, Gilligan’s Island, and Monty Python’s Flying Circus.  And most of the music I buy is now in vinyl record form rather than download or CD (though the perfect is the vinyl with a digital download included, so the music can still get onto my phone).

But I wonder if I'm sliding deeper into the memories of decades past.  Has the cold and confrontational world we live in drawn me back to simpler times?  Could terrorists be the reason I was happy to sit with Three’s Company?  Could Donald Trump be the key to my Atari desires? Or is this all a natural form of aging?  

I suppose I’ll know it’s a real problem if I find myself on Amazon, searching for pacifiers… or begin to consider giving up my current bed for something more along the lines of 1970s bunk beds.  

Until then, I’ll return to Atari dreams, and clue this up for a session of iPad Fire Away.