Blog

This Blog was established Sept. 28, 2006.  One year ago today, I started documenting my thoughts on the web for anyone to read.  Any comments?

 JJRC

The Last Winter

Monday afternoon I got an email from my friend, and she said that she had free tickets to a scary movie called The Last Winter.  I don’t really enjoy movies, but I hadn’t seen one in a long time.  Also, this movie was free and random.  So, I opted to go.  The following may ruin the movie for you – so please – if you plan on watching this crap – the buck should stop here.

The Last Winter is set in Alaska. the final frontier.  There is a company seeking to drill in the Alaskan wilderness.  They are finally tapping into the oil reserves locked under the pristine nature of the tundra.  The cast is stereotypical.  There’s the pretty woman, the two native Americans (male and female), the hippies opposed to the mission, the crazy drunk, the young buck who you know won’t make through to the end credits and the alpha male.  This guy is a metaphor for George W. Bush if I’ve EVER seen one – we’ll call him George because I’ve already forgotten his name.

The movie begins with George landing in Alaska.  He meets the hippies and makes it obvious he hates them.  The parallels with Bush begins here.  The hippie tells him – “The American People want security and safety for the environment (Iraq).”  George responds. “No, what the American People want is Oil Independence (Oil from Iraq).”  They then play snow football where young buck hits a hippie in the face by accident causing him to bleed from his nose - it never heals and this hippie ultimately bleeds to death once everyone is going ape-shit nuts.  Young Buck then sees a herd of ghost animals run by…. ooooooOOOoooo things are getting weird.  At some point Young Buck disappears and returns all fucked up.  We don’t know why – nor do we ever know why.  Young Buck then walks out naked and the animal spirit out there eats him alive. 

Why was he naked?  Beats me.  I’m sure they paid him tons more to be running around in the buff.  It was indeed gratuitous male nudity.  The next day they find nose-bleed dead from a nose bleed.  “Umm, we should probably call for a plane and completely leave the site and never return.  It doesn’t want us here (the people of Iraq are tired of our presence).”  George responds, “No, we’re leaving our stuff here and then finishing the job.  The American people are depending on us (right…?).”As the plane descends as a quick exit strategy (I don’t really know the analogy for that one) – It crashes and blows up ruining their living quarters and a couple of the crew members.  They have to split up. hippie says, “we should go to the town 18 miles south.” George replies, “no, we’re doing this my way – we’re going to the road builders 25 miles SE.”  hippie answers, “But, the town’s closer and they have a plane.” George says, “no, we’re doing this my way.”

To make a long story short Pretty woman and her two native American friends stay behind and hippie and George wander off.  Indian man gets killed by the animal ghost things but it leaves his shoes behind for some reason (not explained).  Indian woman begins to kill crash survivors for some reason and laughs maniacally, and Pretty woman then kills her by accident (she’s not really dead because they pan back to the spot where Indian woman had been left dead – and she was gone – inexplicably.)  Both Hippie and George get lost… George continuously puts the pair in danger ultimately killing them both. 

Pretty woman makes it out alive and is taken to the hospital – at this point weather patterns are so bad that the world has turned to shit – and what was the cause of this?  We are lead to believe that due to the fact that oil is basically decomposed animals – Mother Earth was summoning them to ruin Mankind’s shit.  Sadly – it looks like we lose that war… ultimately – I didn’t think the movie was well resolved, but the director was in the theater – so we clapped when the movie ended and darted out of there.  The only consolation?  Energy drink girls awaited in the lobby – wearing tank-tops and handing out red bull (or something) – what more does a man need?

 JJRC

9/11

It’s hard to comment on the event that occurred more than six years ago.  I was in high school and a teenager. I was a senior and had only been in classes for three days.  We had orientation the Wednesday previous.  For some reason, I was especially pensive that morning.  I walked out of the 14th Street stop and wandered toward 6th Avenue.  I was running a bit late, but it was alright.  I would still make it to homeroom on time.  I stop at that crosswalk and let cabs and buses speed Uptown.  I turn south and look at the World Trade Center.  “I’ve never been there… maybe I can get Joey and Dave to go with me one of these weekends.” I thought to myself. The sun was so warm and nice.  I was in a good mood.

Father began the homeroom and the first period went by without incident.  About 50 blocks south planes were colliding with the buildings, and people were fleeing the scene.  I was running a physics experiment that involved some kind of water pool.  First Period finished at 9:10.  It was time for a short recess.

“Everyone, please return to your classrooms.  If you did not have a class – report to the cafeteria.  No student should be in the halls at this moment. (2 minutes lapsed) Gentlemen, there has been an accident today in the City of New York (really – there was no doubt this was an attack at this point).  Two planes have struck the World Trade Center towers this morning.  Please remain calm.  We well provide updates as they come.  Senior lunch is suspended – all students must remain indoors.  If you have family who works in the World Trade Center, please come to the library (at this point – a red-headed Irish kid runs out of the lab).  Thank you.”

The rest of the day, we were kept in school.  I even had a pop quiz, but no one felt normal.  We wandered the halls.  Since the administration told us nothing, we made our own sensationalized reports.  According the student body, there had been bombs at the Empire State Building, NYSE, the Sears Tower and the Pentagon (only the last being somewhat true).  My sister was an NYU freshman, and she managed to get to my high school to get me out with her two friends.  As I left that day, I looked south again crossing 6th Avenue.  The towers were replaced by grey matter.  It was an amorphous blob.  It was no longer beautiful.  In movies, NYC is a city constantly plagued by disaster (King Kong, Armageddon, the Day After Tomorrow), but Hollywood could never have produced an image as grotesque as the fallen towers and the chaos it caused.

We took a train – that stopped terminated early around 5oth street, and we fought for a cab to go home.  Meanwhile – payphones had crowds of people around them, and cellphone service was spotty.  We managed to find a livery cab and the cabbie overcharged us all.  As we drove up the Westside Highway, we could see the smoke climbing the island. The smell that night was unforgettable.  It was the smell of the destroyed iconic Twin Towers.  I haven’t smelled anything like it since and luckily.  That smell could probably take me to a place I would rather not be.

It has been more than 6 years, and I still remember that day vividly.  But, I’ve moved on, and I’ve become less sensitive to the idea of the attacks.  Though, I did not lose anyone in the attacks, I knew people who had great losses and I feel for them.  I only watched the memorial services once.  Now, they appear as if not to honor the dead, but to remind me of a day that changed the landscape and the lives of thousands (though that is obviously not the case).

The memorial services should become a quieter affair.  It should no longer grab the attention of every NYC television station.  It should not create controversy.  As a nation, we should now focus on those who are alive and who must deal with the pain, those who have suffered health problems because of the attacks, and those who were brave enough to save lives and risk their owns.  September 11th was not only about those who lost their lives, but also those who are still alive and suffering.  Our attention should shift to them as a form of remembering those who died.

JJRC