Looking to God

Mary Jane Watson

Posted on November 20, 2013November 25, 2013 by Jack Flacco

Did Spider-Man really come out in 2002? I can’t believe how fast time has passed since I saw this in the theater. I remember one of my kids toddling their way to the 32-inch Sony Wega and plopping their hands on the screen in hopes of catching the man in red. But to no avail, the webslinger got away.

Women Who Wow Wednesday is about women of valor, women of strength, women filled with hope. That’s why today I want to talk a bit about Mary Jane Watson—Peter Parker’s girl.

Mary Jane’s the redhead who sets Peter’s heart aflutter. She’s known him forever. As next-door neighbors, they’ve share stories while finishing their chores. She comes from a broken home with little hope of ever making it in the real world if she had to rely on her parents to survive. Luckily, she has Peter’s friendship to pull her through the rough patches.

Every hero has an Achilles’ heel. In Spider-Man’s case, it’s Mary Jane Watson or MJ for short. One of the first things we learn about Peter Parker, besides his growing powers as a mutant human spider, is his love for MJ. He’ll do anything for her. He’ll even get in a cage match with an oversized beast of a man in order to earn enough money to buy a car so he can take MJ out on a date. Have I said MJ makes Peter do all sorts of weird and wonderful things with his powers? She does. She drives him crazy.

What does this redhead got that other girls don’t have? In the movie version with Kirsten Dunst, after a near-fall in the school cafeteria and Peter (Tobey Maguire) quickly jumping to save her, she notices his eyes for the first time. He’d taken his glasses off that day since the spider bite gave him perfect vision. She notices. Her stare lingers a bit too long causing him to smile with one of the biggest, goofiest smiles he could muster.

But the thing with MJ is her heart belongs to Spider-Man and not Peter Parker.

How does it all play out? Let’s eavesdrop on MJ and Peter’s conversation after she asks if he’s ever talked to Spider-Man about her:

Oh, boy. Poor Peter. If only MJ knew who he really was. If only MJ would give him a chance to explain. He’d tell her why he had to keep his identity a secret. If only MJ would love him back.

Yet MJ is complicated. She loves Spider-Man. She also loves Peter, but she doesn’t know it.

Peter doesn’t know either. How could he? He has yet to hear how she feels about him.

I won’t give away the ending, nor will I talk about Green Goblin’s fascination with Mary Jane. No. Suffice it to know Mary Jane Watson has a little something extra that makes Peter’s day complete. Dare I use the clichéd words that she is the sunshine of his life? I dare say so.

What do you think of Mary Jane’s relationship with Peter Parker? Had MJ known of Peter’s identity would she have fallen for him anyway?

Monday Mayhem

Zombie

Posted on November 18, 2013November 22, 2013 by Jack Flacco

How horrifying would it be if your brother became your worst nightmare? You’d fall asleep with images of his biting face in front of your eyes, his lifeless stare giving you chills, and his painful gurgles echoing in your ears. Yet, you know you did everything you could to save him from his empty life of despair. How would you rest knowing he’d be out there taking the lives of others in the same way he had tried to take yours?

It’s not every day your brother becomes a zombie. Maybe today is one of those good Monday Mayhem mornings where everything goes right in spite of knowing that whatever you did to help your brother, you couldn’t have stopped what would have happened anyway.

After all, your brother was there for you through some of the happiest times in your life. He was there those summer nights spent chatting on the porch about everything from the cost of gas to how beautiful the rain is when it trickles down a windowpane. He was there when you celebrated one of the most memorable birthdays and he gave you that baseball cap—that same baseball cap you no long possess because it reminds you too much of how it used to be and what you had lost.

And who can forget that fateful day at the game when he told you about wanting to marry his girlfriend of three years making you feel privileged, since he also asked you to become his best man.

But you noticed the changes before he even knew what was happening. The disease began drawing his life away months before his happiness disappeared. It started in the heart and grew slowly over the course of time. You couldn’t put your finger on it. He was different. His eyes began to grow icy, his skin limpid and pasty. His hair had lost its shine. Whatever it was he suffered, he didn’t look good. Most of all, his personality had changed.

What once was a strong, healthy, outgoing man became a shell of a human. Empty. Without form and void.

That’s when you noticed the snapping. You heard of this occurring to others, but you wouldn’t have believed it occurring to your own brother. Never. How could it? You’ve been through so much together. There’s no way he’d turn on you. What about the times you were there for each other? What about those moments of brilliance you thought he could repel anything, should an external force wreak havoc on his brain?

When the snapping took over it was too late. Just like the others you saw turn on their loved ones, your brother did so as well. You tried to save him. You tried to get him help. You tried to show him through example that what he was becoming was something unrecognizable. Something that if not fixed, would destroy his life forever.

Every so often, he’d snap his jowls. You didn’t know what it meant. Yet it came about because his life was deteriorating before your eyes and the disease that once took hold of his heart slowly seeped into the rest of his body making his skin cold to the touch and his soul filled with unbridled rage. All he wanted was to hurt you. All you wanted was for things to go back to a time when joy coursed through his veins.

The disease had no mercy on your brother’s soul. It ravaged it, sucking all the goodness and replacing it with a bitter spirit that shook the ground where he walked and numbed his bones.

You couldn’t bare watching anymore. One day you drove him away and released him in the wilderness. You said sorry for anything you may have ever done to have caused him pain, and left him lost to his own hate—dead.

But you hold on to hope that one day he will find his way through the wild and come home to you cured of his malady. You hold on to that very little chance his mind hadn’t completely turned to stone. And you hold on to the hope his heart sparks with life again to restore who he once was.

Not what he is now—zombie.

What would you do if one of your friends turned into a zombie? Would you try to save or kill them?

More than Friends

Posted on November 15, 2013May 10, 2017 by Jack Flacco

By the time you read this, it will have been a full two weeks since I wrote it. Yes, this is how far in advance I plan these things. Tonight, or rather two weeks ago, my wife read me a journal entry she’d written about our courtship almost a year before our marriage. I had to cross-reference it with my own journal entry for that same period to find what I thought of our friendship.

Can you believe we wrote journal entries of our experiences together before we got married, and we didn’t know we did until a few years ago? Enjoy this Freedom Friday post, it’s about my wife and I, and how we became more than friends.

As I’d mentioned, my wife and I kept journals. We didn’t know we did, and we certainly didn’t know we’d write about our experiences from two different points of views. For instance, a few months prior to making my intentions known that I’d wanted our friendship to move to a new level, she was dating other guys. Nothing came of those relationships, but she did learn what she didn’t want in a guy.

In the meantime, I’d written how I had dated widely—not the girl Widely—widely in the sense of extensively or broadly. I know, corny joke. Anyway, at the time, I’d dated almost every girl in our church. It was a goal I had, and I’d almost completed it had I not chased after my wife.

When we first met, we had zero attraction to one another. Yep. Zilch. Nada. Squat. Don’t get me wrong, we got along. We dated a few times, you know, because we liked each other’s company and all, but we didn’t have that “love at first sight” lightning bolt strike us like you hear other couples had happen to them. We just became good friends, which meant hanging with the same crowd, doing stuff together, and simply having fun. We didn’t feel any pressure to become anything more either. Our families and our church let us do our thing while they went on their merry way.

And thank goodness we weren’t part of one of those cults that grooms kids to get married as soon as they hit legal age, and then the couple pops out a bazillion kids, and then one or both feels empty, lonely, depressed ‘cause one or both had to give up their dream on account of thinking they were doing what they were supposed to do but now they’re scratching their head wondering what went wrong since, after all, they fell in love with each other as soon as their eyes met in second period Chem. class and those awesome feelings were there and, and, and…

Whew! Where am I? Oh, now I remember—us.

By contrast, our relationship grew slowly. We dated other people while we stayed friends. Our Saturday nights consisted of practicing our singing routine with our outreach group that toured retirement homes on Sundays. As well, throughout the week, we’d stay in touch by phone, talking about the mundane things in life, like the way the fabric softener hides in the clothes when sorting them in baskets.

But it wasn’t until one sunny afternoon when we’d gone to the library together that we had realized something else brewed beneath the simple conversations, the spur of the moment dinners, and the long walks. I’d noticed it months prior, yet she hadn’t come around.

I can never forget where we were. We stood between bookshelves with the Italian section looking straight at us. And it happened. A giddy moment between friends. We exchanged the words, “I love you.”

From that moment forward, the awesomeness kicked in. Whatever we thought we hadn’t felt for each had suddenly appeared in gushing waves of affection that remains to this day. Not a day goes by that we don’t hug or hold hands. Like the other day, when she picked me up in the pouring rain from my walk, and she didn’t immediately put the car in drive but just stared at me.

I said, “What?”

She said, “Well?” then smiled.

Oh, of course. I kissed her.

We drove home to where I wrote another journal entry for that day.

How would you describe your relationship with the love of your life?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Jane Foster

Posted on November 13, 2013November 15, 2013 by Jack Flacco

Her idea of fun is sitting in a truck waiting for a storm to erupt. For six college credits, she’ll to do anything. But then, anything showed up knocking at her door. In this edition of Women Who Wow Wednesday, let’s get to know Jane Foster, Thor Odinson’s match.

*** Be warned: Spoilers lie therein ***

A long time ago, when the Frost Giants came to conquer our world, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) the King of Asgard appeared with his formidable armies, and vanquished the evil beings from the face of the earth, stripping them of their power.

In time, Odin had a son whose name he blessed as Thor (Chris Hemsworth). The king bestowed upon him the mighty hammer Mjölnir—a weapon imparted with the strength to destroy or a tool to build. During Thor’s coronation as Odin’s successor, The Frost Giants attempt to repossess the Tesseract, the source of their power, from Asgard’s vault. The plan fails and Thor journeys to Jotunheim to seek revenge. But to this end, Thor’s arrogance lands him at a precipice surrounded by the evil Jotuns, only to have Odin himself save him from an untimely demise.

Back at Asgard, after a heated argument with his father, Odin banishes Thor to earth, throwing the hammer along with him with specific instructions to the Mjölnir that only he who is worthy can possess it.

This is where Jane (Natalie Portman) comes in. She finds the mighty son of Odin and takes him to the hospital in modern day New Mexico. Of course she believes he’s delusional. Who wouldn’t be, getting hit by a truck? Twice. Yet, she trusts him. He has answers and she wants them. She wants to know where he came from. She wants to know how he traveled to earth in a beam of violent light. And she wants to know why no one can rip the hammer from its resting place fifty miles west from where he landed.

Taking a leap of faith, Jane trusts Thor to reveal his identity by transporting him to the site where his hammer lays. The mission to reclaim the Mjölnir fails. Odin’s instructions to the hammer remain intact, and Thor walks away at a loss as to why he wasn’t able to reacquire his trusty companion.

Jane’s confidence in Thor draws them closer making her his true counsel. She lends him credence where others have turned away. Her steadfast conviction that he’s more than what he appears guides her to convince the others he is the only one who can save mankind from the treacherous clutches of the Frozen Giants.

Whoever Thor is, Jane supports him one-hundred percent. That intimate faith in him is what makes Jane who she is—a believer—an advocate for that which is unseen.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to have someone like Jane in our corner when we go about our daily lives?

Have you watched Thor? Did you watch the sequel? What do you think of the son of Odin?

Monday Mayhem

Zombie What Ifs II

Posted on November 11, 2013November 13, 2013 by Jack Flacco

A couple of months ago for my Monday Mayhem segment, I played a game of what-ifs. I thought it would be fun to do that again today. The rules are simple: I present a number of zombie scenarios and you come up with the answers. Don’t worry I’ll also give my own solutions to the problems. This way you won’t feel so lonely answering.

Are you ready to have fun? All right, let’s do it!

Scenario #1: A zombie appears at the top of the basement stairs. You thought taking your family to the subterranean dwelling was a good idea at the time—until it showed up. Now trapped with nothing to defend your family except your bare hands, you have to choose between either taking a chance with getting bit by attacking the monster or locking yourselves in the bathroom, starving to death.

My Answer: I’d lock us in the bathroom, but once hunger makes its appearance, I’m sure I’d attack the undead by attempting to poke the beast’s eyes with my thumbs.

Scenario #2: You run out of gas on the highway while attempting to flee the city of the zombie infestation. Unbeknownst to you, a horde of the undead is roaming ahead, marching to your position. Once you realize this, what do you do? Do you stay in the car and take a chance they will get bored and leave you alone? Or do you run as fast as you can, even though a few of the back ranks of the crowd are those fast zombies?

My Answer: I always run.

Scenario #3: You’re in a barn shooting at the zombie pack from an open window as it approaches. With a few shotgun shells remaining, you’ll have to decide what to do next once the crowd overtakes the barn. A ladder sits waiting to bring you to the loft. But you can’t stay there forever—you’ll die without food or water. A window holds the answer, yet the drop alone will kill you. What do you do?

My Answer: If I can find something to land on, like a bale of hay, I’d jump but not before setting the whole place ablaze.

Scenario #4: Target is having a sale on mouthwash (it’s the best I could come up with in the time available). When you arrive in the store, the crowd has changed. You parked your car at the back of the lot and you know if you make a run for it, sooner rather than later, the undead will catch up and tear you apart. Which department is your destination (sporting goods, the food court, electronics, etc.)? Why?

My Answer: I’d head to the food court and see if I can grab a butcher knife from somewhere. With a knife, I don’t ever have to worry about running out of bullets.

Scenario #5: This is an easy one. A resilient maggot bag chases you into the garage and soon breaches the door to head straight for you. Sitting on the workbench next to you is a gas powered chainsaw, hedge scissors, an old baseball bat, and a hoe. This is more of a philosophical question. Which item do you use to kill the predator? Why?

My Answer: The hedge scissors—I don’t like messes.

Do you have any scenarios you’d like to add?

Freedom Friday

Milk and Cookies

Posted on November 8, 2013November 11, 2013 by Jack Flacco

Everyone has a routine before heading to bed. Mine? Mine is milk and cookies. I know how silly that sounds given I write about some of the most famished flesh eaters in Horror—zombies—but my sweet vice is none other than those tempting delicacies some of us have to avoid. Not me, if I’m shopping, it’s one of the first things on my list. And this is why I like Freedom Friday, because I can get away with telling y’all about my culinary temptations without worrying of judgment by the masses.

I don’t know how this addiction started. The earliest memory I have is sitting at the table one bright summer morning eating breakfast only remembering my breakfast was milk and cookies. I love my mom for those happy memories. There’s more to the memory than simply devouring those sugary delights and washing them down with a tall glass of milk. I used to play a game.

How many remember Gilligan’s Island? Oh, you kids will now think I’m an ancient dude with a penchant for nostalgia. Well, yeah, but that’s beside the point. Gilligan’s Island kept me entertained in the early Seventies when coming home from school and I needed some time to wind down. Who am I kidding? I couldn’t wait to dump my books at the door, toss my shoes in the corner, and plant my butt in front of the TV for a good portion of the afternoon before dinner. The show belonged to a long roster of reruns I’d watched almost incessantly including The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, and Hogan’s Heroes. I remember those ones off the top of my head.

Anyway, getting back to Gilligan’s Island—in one episode the castaways had to face the prospect of the island sinking. Of course, being the kid I was, such a scenario fired my imagination to wonder what it’d be like to live on an island that was about to sink. Well, that imagination brought me right back to that early morning memory of my eating cookies for breakfast.

Gilligan's Island Cast — Gilligan’s Island Cast

Can you guess what I remembered? If you guessed I learned how to drive, which in turn inspired my Ranger Martin series, you are utterly wrong. I’m just checking to see if you’re keeping up with my story.

I’d have a big glass of milk in front of me, with a tall stack of chocolate chip cookies to the side. I’d grab a cookie and place it gently lying flat on the top of the milk. Then I’d imagine what it’d be like living on that island as the rushing waters penetrated every crevice and crag to engulf everyone on it, reminiscent of Gilligan’s Island.

I was a weird kid.

My sinking island scenario didn’t work very well with Oreo cookies, but I still had fun sucking the contents of the glass down my throat.

Here I am decades later, still eating milk and cookies before going to bed. I haven’t seen that island sink in a while, yet I’m sure one of these evenings I’ll grab a bag of Chips Ahoy! and go nuts.

Who knows, in the meantime, maybe I’ll even save a few lives from the voracious tidal waves swallowing the populace.

Have you done that with cookies? C’mon, admit it. I won’t tell.

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Letty

Posted on November 6, 2013November 8, 2013 by Jack Flacco

Super charged, super fast, amped up on speed—Letty Ortiz—the babe with the attitude runs wild this week on Women Who Wow Wednesday.

Let’s face it, The Fast and the Furious movie franchise does not win awards, but what it lacks in praises by the academy it more than makes up in heart-pounding, adrenalin-soaked, action-packed racing sequences. The photography is a blur, the editing is jarring, and the shear thrill of its biting score burns tread marks around the competition of wannabe imposters.

Inspired by an article focusing on street racing in the 2000s, The Fast and the Furious torched the box office, raking in $207 Million on a production budget of $38 Million. It shot to #1 throughout North America in 2,628 theaters on opening weekend. Even then, the film had the markings of a juggernaut series few would reminisce in disputing.

Among the players stands Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), a bulk of a man tearing like thunder on four wheels. A highjacker. A family man. He’s the guy who the cops have been looking for a long time. Next, Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), the cop. He’s the guy sent in to bring Dominic to justice. Then, there’s Letty (Michelle Rodriquez), the strong one.

How can I describe Letty without giving up the whole story? She loves speed. And she loves the thrill of the chase. Give her a choice between staying at home watching the kids and cranking the juice on her NOS (Nitrous Oxcide Systems) tank—she has no trouble playing with the big boys and their cars. Homemaker status is so not her.

Playing Dominic’s love interest, she compliments his brazen risk taking with her own brand of gambling. Her street racing status flourished in her teens, carrying her to a god-like status with her admiring peers. Nothing Dominic can do that Letty can’t match. They are equals on every level. The perfect pair of crazed drivers no one should mess with on the road.

Is she tough? Yeah, you can say that. Let her tell you in her own words:

Is she lighthearted? You can say that too:

What does Dominic’s sister think of her?

A guru mechanic. A bona fide tough girl who takes no flack from anyone. Letty would make an excellent warrior, fighting alongside in a zombie apocalypse.

Nice to dream, isn’t it?

Have you seen any of The Fast and the Furious movies? What did you think of Letty?

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