Just 'Cause...

This movie is pure joy. And amid all the hijinks and great tunes, the message is pretty clear. We all do need someone to love. I am fortunate to have several people in my life that I care about, especially my wife Shawna. Hope you like the tune hon. I love you!

I would also like to send this one out to all who have played a part in this journey that is my life. Whatever the part is or was, I appreciate it all, and remember it all (even though some of it is now almost 30 years ago!) Guess the old "If you remember the[insert decade], you weren't really there" adage has moved up at least a couple decades...yikes!

I love you all. Have a great night!

And on the off chance that Mr. Dan Aykroyd reads this, thank you sir. For this and for everything.

MTMG

Soul-Swapping Superman

As far as Man Of Steel goes, it is a marked improvement over 2006's Superman Returns, which amid the 70's Richard Donner styling got mired in the muck of TV plotting and acting more suited to the long-running TV show Smallville.

So any other films under the Bryan Singer Returns template were wisely scrapped, and everyone at Warner Brothers went back to the drawing board for seven years.

And after all that time, these were the three main things I noticed about Man of Steel:

1) Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon, playing Supe's father Jor-El and General Zod respectively, do a great job of fleshing out a story arc hinted at in the 1978 film. We understand now how they moved from being comrades on Krypton to bitter enemies. We can even understand Zod's path from patriotism to megalomania, even if we don't agree or sympathize. There is enough plot in the first half-hour for a Netflix Original series called Jor-El And Zod.

2) Kevin Costner anchors every scene that he's in as Jonathan Kent, the future Superman's adoptive father, who offers Clark life-shaping advice on determining exactly what kind of man his son is going to be.

3) As Lois Lane, Amy Adams is just warming up for her absolutely dominant, confident performance in American Hustle. In Man Of Steel, she does her best to liven up the obligatory love-interest role. She does this by alternately bucking Clark up and saving his butt. Holy cow, could the mighty Superman be just another henpecked male like the rest of us?

You may wonder why I haven't mentioned Henry Cavill as Clark/Superman yet. The reason is simple. Both Superman and Clark - and consequently Cavill - are overwhelmed by everyone and everything going on in the film. Cavill certainly has the right Superman physique, and projects a certain aura. But the sad fact is...

...in Man Of Steel Superman has no soul.

Plain and simple.

The truth and justice motif is there, but it has been sucked out of Superman and transferred to fathers Kent and Jor-El by screenwriter David S. Goyer. Superman is a mere cipher, just waiting to be lectured to, loved and saved, only reaching his true potential in the last fifteen minutes or so.

And the success of the Dark Knight trilogy notwithstanding, does every superhero movie have to be so dark? Or can we at least have a dark/light mix, as Marvel has?


MTMG

Poem Inspired by Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

S   O   U   N   D
      F   U   R   Y
nothingness
Enough said.

MTMG

Kenny Rogers: One Of The Greats

Though I'm not really a country music guy, Kenny Rogers is a timeless artist whose music appeals to many different tastes. I've had the opportunity to see Kenny twice, in 1992 at Edmonton's Northlands Coliseum and the next year at Red Deer's Centrium (about an hour and a half bus ride away)

And if those shows were a little more Vegas-inspired than I might have liked after hearing stories of the legendary 1985 Kenny/Dolly/Lee Greenwood tour (which I didn't get to see), the man still knows how to perform, and satisfy a crowd.

Note on Darius Rucker: I kept saying back in Hootie And The Blowfish's mid-90s heyday that Let Her Cry
was a country song in disguise. People laughed. Now I feel vindicated.

In closing, a bit of traveller's wisdom:

Any Humpty's restaurant anywhere, even those normally open 24 hours, will be cleaned at 11:00 Sunday night.

After which it will probably close for the night, as the one in Red Deer did.

So don't arrive at 10:45 to wait for your ride back to the city.

Have a good night!

MTMG

November 1, 1990

I hope the Dixie Chicks and their fans had a blast tonight at Rexall Place. But I couldn't help remembering that I was at the then Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton on November 1, 1990, watching the New Kids On The Block perform a sold out (17 000 +) show.

I have two words for you: Sonic. Boom.

And it wasn't that the New Kids themselves made ears bleed, but rather the deafening screams of the 16, 991 preteen girls and young women present (yes, I do think I was one of only ten men in the building that night)

But here's the thing:

1) I dug a couple NKOTB tunes back in the day.
2) It was the closest thing (atmosphere-wise) to Beatlemania I'd ever experienced up to that point. Of course, I've since learned that 400 in a casino can sure sound like 17,000 when the Bay City Rollers or Herman's Hermits are onstage. Am I also Mikey The Retro Guy? Yes. Get over it.

3) I have in storage, unopened and in the wrap, a copy of the NKOTB Christmas album.

A big thank you to Penelope's Mom, my sister Jacquie, for standing in line for a day and a half so I got a ticket. And also to the friend I had with me that night, who made sure I was able to navigate my way through the throngs after the show.

Happy weekend everyone!

MTMG

Say What?

Can you imagine Dwayne Johnson singing this in the big screen version of The Fall Guy that he's negotiating to star in? To be honest with you, I just can't see it. But the best that we can hope for is that 45-year-old director McG was a BIG fan when the show aired from 1981-1986, and that Jessica Simpson does NOT land the role of Jody (originally played by Heather Thomas).

Was I a big fan of the show, you ask? The totally honest answer is that from 1981 to 1986 I was consumed with things like school and homework, including our new Apple IIc computer around Christmas 1985. But the cool thing is that I can now enjoy it like new, and now say that I am a big fan.

MTMG

Passing The Torch

As Miley gleefully torches her career (now off to Daddy's farm to rehearse for that Cyrus Family Christmas casino tour)...




...the torch meanwhile passes from living legend James Taylor - a man who has stirred and soothed many souls over the course of his four-decade career - to Taylor Swift, named after James and a pretty decent musician herself. What a wonderful way to introduce younger generations to his timeless music!




Have a great day!

MTMG