Looking to God

The Survivors

Posted on November 23, 2015November 22, 2015 by Jack Flacco

I’ve talked a lot about zombies in the past, lending credence to an apocalypse of unfathomable proportions. The thing that sticks out in my mind as the number one reason I wouldn’t want the apocalypse happening, is not because of the roaming undead seeking of whom they may devour, but because of the survivors who are in it for themselves. The thought is nothing short of a Monday Mayhem post.

Zombies don’t scare me. The undead are rather benign when separated from the crowd. A quick spike to the head and they are no more. As part of the horde, they are a fearsome bunch consuming everyone in their path. Nothing alive can stand in their way. However, take them out of their element and place them in water, they’re useless.

On the other hand, people, those who have survived the end of days, are the ones who I fear the most. They are the ones who, if for nothing else, will hunt their victims down and put an end to their lives all for the benefit of themselves.

Is that an exaggeration?

Let’s have a look at what humanity has done in times of peace.

The U.S. Navy has taken flack lately for its missile testing it has conducted a few weeks ago near San Diego, on a Saturday night no less. Witnesses stated they thought they saw UFO’s hovering in the skies.

The lights didn’t reveal the military’s intention.

That’s for starters. How about this? In a little while, Black Friday will be upon us. In the past, crowds have gone from restless to stampeding, taking human lives along the way. All for what? a toy that will end up in a junk heap a year from now? Have we lost our minds?

Okay, that may seem trivial to some, but can you imagine what humanity is capable of in times of a future societal breakdown? It won’t be pretty. The first to go will be the weak. If the zombies don’t take them, the strong among us will. They will dictate our future and run our lives. Then there are the ones who society has discarded. The dregs of society who ended up in our jails and prisons. What will happen with them? You can be sure, the jails and prisons won’t hold them. The first thing on their mind will be getting out of their cage so they can roam free among us.

What do you think?

As wonderful and as great humanity thinks it is, nothing can stand in the way of human nature. Human nature dictates an attitude of one-for-one, all-for-one. It drives humans to do the most deplorable things to each other, all in the name of survival. And the worst part about it? I just don’t understand the human compulsion to self-terminate. When things get hard, too difficult, a gun is there, not for protection, but to make a quick exit.

I know it sounds pessimistic, yet if history has anything to do with it, I don’t want to survive an apocalypse. I’d rather be one of its first victims.

Although, I still hold hope that one day, if the roof does cave in on society, humanity will do the right thing and think of the weak and unfortunate among us, giving them the aid they need to survive with dignity.

That, at least, is my hope.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

What scares you most about surviving a zombie apocalypse? The question is, would you like to survive a zombie apocalypse?

Freedom Friday

Christmas Talk Already?

Posted on November 20, 2015November 19, 2015 by Jack Flacco

I wrote an entirely different post for today that I eventually scrapped because I felt the tone was not conducive to a positive atmosphere. My original post poked fun at the phrase “pay it forward” and it’d implied a message of performing good deeds with the expectation of getting something in return. Some folks call it reciprocation, but I have a better word for it.

In my world, I call it a transaction.

Anyway, after thinking about it, for today’s Freedom Friday I decided to talk about something else.

With winter right around the corner, it’s that time of year when I start thinking about putting the lawn furniture away, raking the leaves, and sealing all doors and windows to our house in preparation for those cold days when all I can see is my breath floating in the air. For some, autumn is over the day after Halloween. The Christmas lights go up. The carols play in the department stores. And the first snowflakes hit the ground.

It’s also the same time of year that many use to finish old or plan new projects. In my case, I look forward to this time as a way to draw closer to the family. Given I have such a stringent writing schedule, it’s nice to settle indoors and spend time with the people I love.

However, in the hustle and bustle of yearend, I’m eagerly anticipating one thing—Christmas shopping season. It may be a strange thing to think about, considering Christmas is a month away, but I actually love the buzz in the stores. As we get closer to that fateful period. Many of the game manufacturers wait until now to deliver their most prized treasures to consumers.

I know the film industry is on top of it. Who can deny Jurassic World hasn’t already prep’d the audience last summer with the subliminal suggestion that folks ought to offer the DVD or Blu-Ray as a gift under the tree? The whole opening sequence to the movie has Christmas in mind.

Then LEGO announced recently the company has a brick shortage and won’t be able to fill all its orders on time, in spite of opening new manufacturing plants throughout the world. I don’t know about you but Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without at least one LEGO set making an appearance. Isn’t there some unwritten rule about that? I don’t know.

Let’s not forget the crowds. Oh, how much the crowds make up the best part of the season. Elbow to elbow, everyone gunning for the last toy on the shelf. Is there anything else that can be so perfect?

Of course, I’m being facetious. The idea of driving around senseless to grab the last parking spot in the mall so that I can drag my butt into a store I never will visit again to buy a toy that in a year’s time will end up as part of a junk heap really appeals to me. Do you see me jumping for joy?

Okay, so maybe I’m not really looking forward to Christmas as much as I thought, but you can’t tell me it isn’t fun watching the season unfold into chaos. That’s the best part.

Nothing quite replaces the spirit of giving when everyone’s thinking about materialism.

After all, greed and fear is what makes the economy go around, especially during this time of year.

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

Are you looking forward to the holiday season? What are your plans?

Wednesday Warriors

Raymond Barone

Posted on November 18, 2015November 17, 2015 by Jack Flacco

A lot of folks will disagree with me for choosing this lovable television character as a Wednesday Warrior. After all, he doesn’t strap on a shotgun to kill zombies, nor does he sport a muscular physique that would deter criminals from robbing banks, nor is he some kind of superhero ready to save the planet from alien invaders. He’s simply Ray Barone (Ray Romano), the father of three growing kids and the husband to Debra (Patricia Heaton), the woman who does it all.

Everybody Loves Raymond's Cast — Everybody Loves Raymond’s Cast

If you haven’t watched Everybody Loves Raymond before, then let me summarize the show with one word–family. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s all about family.

When I first began watching the show back in the early 2000’s, I thought Raymond was nothing more than a wuss. He complains a lot. He fixates on insignificant things an ordinary person would dismiss as minor. And, in some miserable but lovable way, he’s annoying. In other words, he’s the typical dad with all the bad habits intact, including watching TV when he should be out doing the lawn.

Which reminds me, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ray cut the lawn, despite the perfectly shaped hedges and manicured plants. Then again, he could have a service do the job for him. He is a sportswriter, therefore he can splurge on the nice things in life while everyone else slogs away at holding the line on the family budget.

Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton as Ray and Debra

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the show is about family. What family wouldn’t be complete with the parents living across the street? They appear when Ray and Debra are eating, sleeping, taking showers, taking the kids to school, cleaning, working, painting and in between all the other little errands that make up The Barone’s ordinary lives. Without Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), Ray and his family would be normal, but then there wouldn’t be a show.

Ray’s brother Robert (Brad Garrett) also plays a part in driving Ray crazy. He shows up at the most inopportune time always asking the question “Is this about me?” If you thought Ray has a problem with a mind for detail, Robert has him beat. If he’s eating, he touches his chin with his food. The habit stacks up next to all the other bad habits he has, like overthinking things, moping around the house without a girlfriend, and having a hidden crush for Debra, Ray’s wife. Of course, he’ll never admit it, but that’s another element to Robert’s character that makes him endearing to the audience.

As for Debra, I’ve always said this to my friends–she reminds me so much of my wife. She’s strong-willed, tough and incredibly intelligent. The other thing about Debra is that no matter what happens with Ray, the screaming matches, the fights, the slapstick humor, Debra loves Ray with all his flaws and all his little quirks intact.

But then there’s Ray. I can’t say much more about Ray except he’s your typical father trying to make it in today’s world with an above average income and a family who he loves very much. Is he a wuss? Sometimes. But as annoying as he can get, Ray’s heart is with his family. That’s what’s important above all else.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

Have you seen Everybody Loves Raymond? What do you think of Ray?

Monday Mayhem

Zombie Theories

Posted on November 16, 2015November 15, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Sometimes I wonder where these zombie theories come from in this age of scientific advancement. Humanity is not an idiot, but some of the lesser-known theories deserve to die a quiet death with little to no fanfare whatsoever. These Monday Mayhem posts have been a staple around here at JackFlacco.com, so why not talk about them, giving them the proper respect they ought to have? Perhaps there is something to learn for everyone involved.

Witch Doctor [Photo Credit: Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.]

The very first theory is that voodoo will bring back the dead. For that to happen, there would have to be a witch doctor willing to bring back the dead. Unbelievably, such a case in Haiti existed where a man had died and a voodoo doctor had brought the corpse back to life. What is now known is the good doctor had poisoned the victim to deceive the family into believing the man had perished of an aliment of some sort. When the family had buried the victim, the voodoo doctor had exhumed the body, fed it another cocktail of hallucinogens and made the man a servant keeping him drugged for decades until the doctor’s death. The case was nothing more than a charlatan taking advantage of the poor in order to gain free labor from its intended victim.

Going further with the case, should zombies truly rise from voodoo, civilization would be in a quandary. Who would administer the drugs? What will be the effect of these victims on the economy? Should it really happen, where would it take place? Certainly, it couldn’t happen in the developed countries of North America.

The other theory, which far surpasses reality, has to do with aliens. This theory is so farfetched that it isn’t even worth documenting. However, an element of fun exists in this theory that no one can really resist not documenting it.

Consider an alien race that has come to Earth as a means of populating it with its kind. The aliens utilize ray beams to change the masses into obedient servants, thereby rendering the population vulnerable to conquest. Sounds ridiculous, yet George A. Romero‘s Night of the Living Dead has a variation of the theme where an accident from space changes a quiet town into a zombie feeding ground. Gone is the audience’s sense of intellect, replaced only by the acceptance of sheer fiction in a situation that is as likely to happen as the earth standing still for forty-eight hours.

Lastly, no zombie apocalypse would be complete without the dreaded virus that turns humanity into bags of roaming nut jobs. Who can dispute that above all the outlandish theories, this is the one that has remained in the forefront as the one-and-only that makes the most sense. However, the reality is far from perfect. For this theory to work, the virus’ victims would have to succumb to yielding their inhibitions to consuming human meat, not only from an individual standpoint but also from a community perspective. Unless plied with a crate of dopamine, it would appear that such an event would fall in the realm of “hardly unlikely”.

With that, the forum is open for discussion. What do you think of zombie apocalypse theories?

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

What other theories are so outrageous that they aren’t worth the time reading?

Freedom Friday

Superstitions

Posted on November 13, 2015November 12, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Are you superstitious? Does a black cat crossing your path frighten you? What about stepping under a ladder, does that make your insides tremble? Have you ever broken a mirror and thought, “Great, that’s seven years of my life down the drain?”

Of all the Freedom Fridays that could cause someone to think twice about leaving the house, today being Friday the 13th doesn’t help. Do you know that in Italy, the number thirteen is actually good luck? If you were born on a thirteenth, you’re extremely lucky.

Seriously, though, where did all this belief in good and bad luck come from?

I have a theory. When don’t you have a theory, Jack? All right, all right. You’re right. I have much too many theories. Hear me out on this one. I think by the end of it you will agree I’m not far from being wrong. At least, that’s what I think.

Can you find all the superstitions? [Photo: Jeanne Carmen]

Let’s start with the black cat. Now, I don’t know where the belief of a black cat crossing someone’s path being bad luck came from, and I’m too lazy to look it up. I’m sure it has to do with a coven of witches, a boiling cauldron, and too much time on someone’s hands. I don’t know. But you know what I think? I think some unfortunate soul way back in the later part of the last millennium was taking a walk at night—sorry, an evening constitutional—and met with a black cat. Without warning, a piano fell on him and he died on impact. A witness saw the whole thing and told two friends. It quickly spread throughout town that because of the black cat crossing the man’s path, he died from his injuries. Poor guy, eventually, as the story made its way through the ages, it changed to only include the black cat and bad luck.

Yes, I really believe that. Maybe.

Okay, Jack, what about stepping under a ladder? Good question. Again, many centuries ago, a witness saw a woman having her evening constitutional, blah, blah, blah, she walked under a ladder and as she stepped into the clear a piano fell on her. Coincidence? I think not. The witness told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on. Throughout the centuries, the story became leaner until someone decided it sounded better to simply say that walking under a ladder is bad luck.

Ha, and I’m sure you’re thinking about a broken mirror bringing bad luck for seven years as unexplainable. Well, I have an explanation for that, too. I believe there was a family in some turn-of-the-century town somewhere in the world that just was in the wrong place at the wrong time. One day, the father of six children broke a mirror in his bathroom. As soon as he stepped from his home, a piano fell on him and his wife, leaving the children orphaned. A cousin took note of the tragedy and spread the news about the broken mirror, the piano and the dead couple. Soon after, seven years in total, each of the children had pianos drop on their heads. Strangest thing. One of the victims was on a boat to America when the piano fell on him, sinking the boat and everyone else aboard. Another was sitting quietly in a park when out of nowhere a piano fell on his head. It was awful, just awful. The story eventually made the rounds but somehow all anyone could remember was not to break a mirror in order to avoid seven years of bad luck.

My theory? I think there’s a conspiracy to hide the origin of the celestial pianos. Honestly. That’s why we have so many superstitions. It’s a ploy for the populace to focus on the meaningless as a way to avoid looking up. After all, if we’re not looking up, we can’t see the pianos coming.

You don’t believe me? Walk under a ladder.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

What do you think? Do you believe in pianos falling from the heavens?

Wednesday Warriors

Owen

Posted on November 11, 2015November 10, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Hunter. Trainer. Soldier. Owen fulfills the roll of the every-man. He leads by instinct and deals with problems in a way that is reminiscent of Indiana Jones. His only flaw is he cares too much, which leads him into situations that may cost him his life. That is a good thing.

Today’s Wednesday Warriors highlight is Owen (Chris Pratt) of Colin Trevorrow‘s movie Jurassic World. Spoiler free.

Years ago, when the idea took hold that science could spawn a dinosaur from DNA preserved in amber, it seemed like the most extraordinary Peter Pan fantasy anyone could ever devise. However, when John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), a rich investor, took the notion a step further and built an island off the coast of Costa Rica, giving birth to the lofty creatures, a dream evolved into reality.

That dream soon became a nightmare once life, in all its primal form, turned against its creator and transformed the island into a feeding ground. The Tyrannosaurus Rex reigned as the dominate beast and the food chain that sat dormant for millions of years awakened. Humanity was no longer at the top of the mountain.

Jurassic World's Owen — Jurassic World’s Owen

In 2015, John Hammond’s dream of a park that would spark the imagination of children everywhere comes to full realization. No longer should anyone fear the dinosaurs running amok among the people. Fences are up. Controls are in place. And millions of dollars pour into the pockets of the park owners. Only this time, there will be no mistakes to jeopardize human life.

This is where Owen makes his appearance. He lives alone, away from any form of civilization, preferring the comfort of jungle life. Rugged. Strong. He’d rather fight with the terrors of a Jurassic jungle than to get into a spat with a woman. At least, he knows he can win a few against prehistoric beasts.

Owen is also the voice of reason. Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), the park’s delegated leader, may have a problem no one else can fix, but Owen knows level-headed decisions are the only way to go when things don’t make sense. In spite of resistance by others, and an overwhelming sense of duty, he doesn’t allow those in positions of authority to influence his natural inclination to get involved. He sees ten steps ahead before it’s too late.

Owen’s only flaw is his inability to step aside. It has nothing to do with courage or being a hero. He simply sees an opportunity to lend aid and can’t prevent himself from jumping in. It’s within his nature to do so, much like it is for carnivores to hunt and kill for food. They can’t help themselves.

And this is how Jurassic World begins—as a place fit for the whole family that soon looks to Owen for help.

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

Have you seen Jurassic World? What do you think about the main character Owen?

Monday Mayhem

We Are Here

Posted on November 9, 2015November 8, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Our waterways are a mess. Our infrastructure is crumbling. The idea of a society connected through a common medium has rendered us isolated. What’s more? We’re on the brink of total environmental collapse. How do I know? Let’s find out and file this Monday Mayhem post under pending doom. No fear mongering here. Just fiction. Or is it?

The Blob [Photo Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]

The other day I came upon an article in the news describing of place in the ocean where no life exists. Apparently, science has labeled the phenomenon a “blob” If you’re familiar with the 1950’s movie that goes by the same name, the condition is relatively dissimilar in concept but still scary. The blob has taken over a good chunk of ocean and is growing. No one knows where it came from, and no one knows when it will stop consuming vital marine life. Science can’t even say if it’s even evolving into anything.

Then there’s this thing that’s happening off the coast of Japan where jellyfish are depleting marine life and spawning an infestation. Fishermen can’t seem to get rid of the animals. When caught in the nets, the fishermen kill what they can and throw the remains back in the ocean. The problem? The jellyfish harbor millions of eggs that pour into the deep and continue the cycle of infestation. Science hasn’t figured out how to stop them. In the meantime, Japanese fishing has taken a hit, rendering the industry helpless to the unwanted beasts. How soon will it be before nothing in the ocean survives?

Antarctica's Melting Ice Caps — Antarctica’s Melting Ice Caps

And the hits just keep on comin’ with the melting of the ice caps. It was inevitable that one day it would happen. No one believed it could have happened so quickly, though. One of the news agencies has taken a time-lapse video of what is actually going on in the Arctic. The entire shelf is crumbling as I write this. Russia, the United States and Canada are in the midst of claiming ownership rights to the new waterways formed by the phenomenon. The entire planet could soon find itself in one of the most contentions international disputes this side of World War II. That is in addition to the coastal water levels rising around the globe.

Can it get any worse? It sure can. The population of the world is accelerating at a rapid pace. What was once a breadbasket, United States is having trouble keeping up with demand. To aid with the sudden surge in the food supply, prices have skyrocketed while packaging has shrunk. The droughts in the west haven’t helped either. Last summer’s devastating water shortage has placed a strain on everything from cooking to showering. Lawns have gone dry. Imagine what has taken place in farm country. The drought coupled with the population growth not only has left the economy in the lurch but also has purged the supply chain dry.

It will only take a miracle now to reverse what has happened with the earth. Do you believe in miracles?

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

What do you think of what’s been happening to our environment? Is there something we can do to help?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: