ELEPHANTS…

Animals are cool.  Sometimes I think I like them more than people.  Going to the zoo I think are the animals on display or do they think we’re the ones on display?

Elephants are pretty cool creatures.  They were used for reference for filming the stop-motion AT-AT’s in The Empire Strikes Back. They also were used for the Banthas in Episode IV New Hope…Here’s some other cool facts…

The male African Bush Elephant stands over 10 feet tall & weights 6.6 tons

More than 100 elephants are killed each day by poachers

Their trunks contain somewhere between 40,000 to 50,000 muscles

Elephants have feelings…of course we can’t really know how these creatures think or feel, but studies have shown while viewing them in the wild that when they come across one of their family members or just another elephant dead they tend to grieve by vocalizing,  they even stay with the deceased for hours & have been known to try to bury them with

One special treat elephants get in zoos are un-sold Christmas trees

BECAUSE I NEED CHEERING UP…

VII…

While I write this it’s the 22 of January, but when I post it it will be the 23 of January since the place that does this is before us in days. Either way, it will be seven years on the 23 that my buddy, Rich, Samwise, Smeagol, The Thousandth Man, passed.

Seven years. Can you imagine. Seven years & I still laugh at things we did 30 years ago. Seven years & I still wish he was here when I need help. Seven years when I think of him betting me that I couldn’t fill this empty quart of wonton soup container with pee (I won the bet). Seven years of playing atari, or nintendo, cards, chess, watching movies.

The fact is seven years hurts the same as the first year or day or whatever you wish to compare it to. I miss the stupid bastard, I call him this with affection, something only he & I could understand that when we gave each other the finger, or called each other douche bag, we were really saying I love you. Who says guys don’t show their feelings to each other?

Each year it seems there’s more things that I wish he was here for. In 2020, man, I would love to have shared the end of The Mandalorian with him. I know we’d still be talking Tolkien, man he got into that, so proud of him.

Seven years goes by like par secs in the kessel run. So does life. You never know when some kind of Death Star is going to come by & destroy your life. So, tell your family & best friend, call them a douche bag, just like Rich & I did.

THE MANDALORIAN…

I’ve had many theories for the series which were all wrong…lol…which is fine…it keeps me entertained…however I don’t think I’ll try to figure out where the series is going…I can never out think them…I never see the surprises they set for us & I love how they pull off things I never thought of then think how cool it is…so…far as I’m concerned…I can’t wait for the new season…

EX LIBRIS…2021

I’m hoping to read more this year than I did in 2020…I still read a lot…it just takes longer sometimes…but I do have stuff to read…much as I love the real book I think I should get a tablet for the books I want to read but would only read once…the prices for ebooks are cheaper, I can read them, then not feel guilty bout it taking space up…best of all…that could leave the money for the books I definitely want to own…

2021…

I’m looking forward to some new shows this year & hopefully Ghostbusters will be released…it’s still scheduled for the theatre, hopefully it will make the money back, it’s sort of like gambling waiting this long, theatres aren’t doing well so it might be best to release it both in theatres & at home…

WandaVision has proved to be good so far…lots of hidden Easter Eggs in there…looking forward how this will play into Doctor Strange sequel…

Looking forward to a year of new books to read, still got ones to read from last year plus new ones for this year, but that’s good, reading is food for your brain…

Besides that I got a new idea for a book, something else I’ll need to work on & research…I think I enjoy the research part of writing more than writing…writing is tough…I mean…I’m not Stephen King so I don’t get the work done like he does…writing plays mind games with you, you’re always doubting yourself, it’s tough to get there in your “pit” & start writing…the blank screen is pretty much daring you to fill it…

I do like this new idea…I will say it’s a zombie idea, which is weird for me since I’m not really a zombie fan, though this one is different than normal ones, not because it’s my idea, but because of something historical, so first I had this one idea, then the zombie idea came up & I was like, I should combine these, which makes perfect sense…so…yeah…new book idea…I’m thinking of honestly self publishing through amazon…I’m not writing it for the money…I don’t even know if this or the other one would ever get published let alone sold in a store, so I think self publishing is the way to go…if people buy it they buy it…it’s more bout the idea…the point of getting it from mind to paper…I might sound sophisticated here like I found the meaning to life as a writer (42) but honestly I don’t know the meaning anymore than any other writer…basically I get the idea then put it to paper…simple as that…write what you like…

So…2021 should be busy with research…writing…podcasts…getting back onto this place to write things more…hopefully I’ll even get a vacation this year…

THIS IS LITERALLY THE ONLY THING KEEPING ME HAPPY SINCE 2020…

So 2020 ended & I guess I’m stupid enough to think life would somehow get better once it turned 2021. 2021 so far has been terrible. The month brought the Corona Virus close to home…so close my mother wound up in the hospital with it & double pnuomonia ( still can’t spell that damn word, too late & tired to look how to though)…she was in the hospital for a week & is home now, she beat the Covid & is resting, her lungs a bit diminished from being sick but getting physical therapy to improve them, so for now, she’s on oxygen.

Other shit has sucked as well, like, pretty much everything. But when I saw this edit someone did, this literally made my day, every time I watch it I just love it more & more.

IT’S THE END OF 2O2O AS WE KNOW IT…

& I’m friggin glad….

Jesus, aren’t we all. What a year this has been. It seems Covid knows no bounds & just when you think you’re getting the hang of living with this stupid thing, wearing the masks, washing constantly, sanitizer, more masks, masks for your masks, it hits you personally when you brother, sister and mother get it. Like I didn’t have enough shit to worry bout with this excuse of a year which dealt one shit show after another. Still, we’re lucky, symptoms are light compared to what others have gone through, so I’m grateful for that, so long as they get plenty of rest I think they’ll be OK.

They better bet.

Lots of stuff going on, been missing from here lately because I’ve been working on the podcast with my buddy who goes to Toy Fair every year. You can check it out at http://www.toy-lines.com, it’s a toy podcast. Also started a solo one, Rocketeer Radio, bout the Rocketeer. That’s on podbean right now if interested. MY buddy is doing his own podcast on his subject though we’re not announcing it yet.

So, to finish off this dumpster fire of dog shit of a year I figured why not watch some Tom Hanks. No, not the good stuff like Big or The Burbs or Dragnet, something terrible, Mazes & Monsters…

PUNK ROCK LOVE SONGS…

EX LIBRIS 2020…

1 – The Way I Heard It – Mike Rowe

2 – The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters & the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick – Mallory O’Meara

3 – The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney & Made Cinematic History – Nathlia Holt

4 – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

5 – Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

6 – Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

7 – Map of Days: The Fourth Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

8 – The Conference of the Birds: The Fifth Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children

9 – Tales of the Peculiar – Ransom Riggs

10 – Chance Beginning: Shadow’s Fire – Book 1 – Christopher Patterson

11 – Dark Winds: Shadow’s Fire – Book 2 – Christopher Patterson

12 – Breaking the Flames – Book 3 – Shadow’s Fire – Book 3 – Christopher Patterson

13 – About Your Father & Other Celebrities I have known – Ruminations & Reflections from a Desperate Mother to Her Dirty Son – Peggy Rowe

14 – Anything You Can Imagine – Peter Jackson & the making of Middle-Earth – Ian Nathan

15 – Ghostbusters – The Inside Story – Stories from the Cast & Crew of the Beloved Films – Matt McAllister

16 – Loki’s Wolves – The Blackwell Pages – Book 1 – K.L. Armstrong & Melissa Marr

17 – Odin’s Ravens – The Blackwell Pages – Book 2 – K.L. Armstrong & Melissa Marr

18 – Thor’s Serpents – The Blackwell Pages – Book 3 – K.L. Armstrong & Melissa Marr

19 – The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint Exupery

20 – Norse Mythology – A Captivating Guide to Norse Folklore Including Fairy Tales, Legends, Sagas & Myths of the Norse gods & Heroes – Matt Clayton

21 – Norse Mythology – to the Gates of Valhalla – a Journey through the Twisted Mythology of the Norse People – Nichola Wil

22 – Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson

23 – 40 Stories Celebrating 40 Years of Star Wars – From a Certain Point of View

VERY RAMONES CHRISTMAS…

Well, it’s Christmas…it’s the Ramones…what more can one want…