The World's End Is Nigh

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Saturday, Dizzy & I went to help her aunts set up a going away party for their son Jeff as he’s heading out to join the Air Force Special Ops team next week after their wedding. They rented out part of Kennedy Grove and the four of us set up a nice picnic area, barbecue, beverages, tables, etc for about 50-60 people since there were a hundred or so invited… and about 20 showed up… but that just meant that there were plenty of leftovers. The weather was perfect & we had a wonderful time hanging with friends & family in a wonderful setting. Later that night, we met up briefly with Jeff & some of his friends at Melodee’s for some quick karaoke… but they wanted to head out to other bars too, so we let the kids in their early twenties have time with their buddy. Don’t worry, we put the fear in them about having a designated driver… who drove a Lexus… so we knew that Jeff was getting home safe… because that car was getting home safe.

 

Sunday, we basically relaxed & started up our home brewing empire by researching and ordering the kits & books to get started. By the end of next weekend, we should be well on our way to crafting our first beers. Obviously we’re starting out with some of the simpler, pre-packaged recipes until we get our feet wet & get the process in play… but we’re REALLY excited about it. We kind of surprised each other the other day with “I bought a book!” “Me too! Which one did you get?” “This one!” “Me too! I’ll cancel the order for that one… but I got these other two, so don’t get those.” Yeah, I figure that by the time we finish our first batches (Irish Red Ale & Pumpkin Ale) that we’ll at least have read through the beginner book… and hopefully know that much more about home brewing… and then after a few batches, we can get all kinds of experi-mental up in this piece. Stay tuned!

 

Speaking of beer, Thursday we watched “The World’s End” starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost & Martin Freeman… and directed by Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead” & “Hot Fuzz”). This is the finale of The Cornetto Trilogy… and the story is about five high school friends who have gone their separate ways… but one of them named Gary King (Pegg) wants to reunite them on a mission to finish a 12-pub crawl in their hometown of Newtown Haven… culminating at the final stop, The World’s End. After a few stops, the old demons start to come out & the former friends remember why they kinda separated… until one of them gets into a scrum in the bathroom… and tears a kid apart to find out that he’s actually a robot. Then the previously-hilarious movie turns into an even more hilarious “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” homage with surprisingly great fight scenes paired with plenty of laughs & story direction. While we were watching it… we were pretty convinced that this may be one of the greatest action-comedies ever created. Think “Zombieland” with more drinking & English accents… if you like that idea… then you’ll LOVE this movie. I highly recommend it!!! Go watch it!!!

 

Also this weekend, we watched “The Cove” which is a documentary about conservationist Ric O’Barry & the Japanese city of Taijii… where there’s a major industry involving dolphins… but it’s not Sea World Japan. Back in the 60’s, Ric helped to introduce the world to dolphins when he was the chief animal trainer for the TV series “Flipper” and that led to an amazing BOOM in dolphinariums & sea parks… but obviously with serious side effects to the dolphins themselves and the environmental impact. Basically, since then he’s been on a mission to free as many dolphins as possible… and at the pinnacle of his mission is to expose the secretive area of Taijii known as “The Cove” where it’s suspected that thousands of dolphins are being slaughtered every year & sold for meat. So he & a group of fellow environmentalists set out to get evidence of this heavily guarded secret & bring it to the forefront of the IWC (Int’l Whaling Council) meetings to attempt to bring about change. It’s actually a very intriguing documentary (which is why I think it won an Academy Award a few years back) but another main thing that I pulled from it… is that apparently all of our seafood like sushi grade tuna… may have about 5000 times the legal amount of mercury at any given time… and given how mercury effects brain cells… I may not be eating high-level fish or seafood for quite some time now. I kinda like my brain. Regardless, I recommend that you see this documentary… but I warn you… it’s not going to be pretty… you’re going to see dolphins brutally murdered & it’s a Sarah McLachlan song away from being some of the saddest sh*t you’ll ever see… but it’s something that everybody probably should see if just to get word out & make some changes before it’s too late.

 

Speaking of Sarah McLachlan… we also watched some episodes of “Due South” while relaxing… and she sang a song on an episode that I thought a few lyrics that I caught were particularly creepy… and of course Dizzy loves the show & had the soundtrack… so she told me the story of how the lyrics of this song “Possession” were allegedly taken from some letters from stalkers… sorry, that’s harsh… let’s say, extremely devout fan letters… and turned into this love song. Here are the lyrics… and you can listen to it on YouTube or something:

 

 

 

Verse:   Listen as the wind blows from across the great divide
Voices trapped in yearning, memories trapped in time
The night is my companion, and solitude my guide
Would I spend forever here and not be satisfied?

 

Chorus: And I would be the one
to hold you down
kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
and after, I'd wipe away the tears
just close your eyes dear

Verse:   Through this world I've stumbled so many times betrayed
trying to find an honest word to find the truth enslaved
oh you speak to me in riddles and you speak to me in rhymes
my body aches to breathe your breath
your words keep me alive

            (Chorus)

 

Verse:   Into this night I wander it's morning that I dread
another day of knowing of the path I fear to tread
oh into the sea of waking dreams I follow without pride
nothing stands between us here and I won't be denied

 

One last chorus for full creepiness… nice, right? Well, if the desired effect is a moistness in the loins then it may have the desired effect but I think it’s a different kind that was expected. Then again… there are a lot of love songs out there that when you really break down the lyrics… can be easily misconstrued as the ravings of a lovesick lunatic.

 

Anyway, that should do it for today. Have a great day everybody!!!