Looking to God

All Things Celtic

Posted on November 6, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

I’m a big fan of Celtic music. When the film Titanic came out in 1997, I was in my element. My wife’s background is Nova Scotian. So imagine if you will what it must have been like for me when the Irish influence hit North America back in the mid to late 90’s. I realized I couldn’t turn a channel without a Celtic-themed program playing on one station or another. The media knew how to take a good thing and make it better.

Today, I’d like to dedicate my Freedom Friday post to all that is Celtic.

As I was saying, since my wife is from Nova Scotia, whenever we visit there, we’d always have an invitation extended to us to attend a cèilidh–a social gathering featuring song and dance. Sometimes we’d host it as well. Our typical cèilidh consists of lots of snacks and music performed by family members. Back in the day, my wife’s parents were a famous singing duo, touring and appearing on the CBC. They eventually ended up inducted into Nova Scotia’s Country Music Hall of Fame. That would account for the musical talent running through her side of the family. From my side, I had a relative in South America who was a classical conductor and maestro. And I studied baroque composition for a while at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music.

Music runs through our blood.

There was a time my wife and I were also performing for the crowds. I played the guitar and my wife sang. We’d perform such tunes as Song for the Mira and other Celtic favorites. Members of the audience who knew my in-laws would come up to us after the show and tell us how we reminded them of the Hall of Famers. I took it as one of the biggest compliments anyone could have received.

Anyway, how did we get on to that? Right, I was talking about our family cèilidh. Yes, we still have them whenever we visit Nova Scotia.

Going back to the mid to late 90’s, that era was a highpoint for all that was Celtic. Riverdance was one of our favorite shows to go see. Although we didn’t get the opportunity to watch Jean Butler or Michael Flatley perform, their understudies’ interpretation was more than what we had hoped for in a show. I’m a wild fanatic of the spectacle, having purchased all the soundtracks and videos. It really was the thing to watch live in those days.

Then there was Titanic. Gosh, when that hit the screen, no one could get enough of the film. It was the first movie I can classify as an event. It came out December 19, 1997, and except for a few of my friends, everyone had gone to see it. We talked about Jack and Rose as if the characters were part of the family. At one point, I knew everything there was to know about the making of the film. I had become obsessed with the era, and I wanted to understand how such a tragedy could have happened to the unsinkable ship.

Finally, no talk about all things Celtic would be complete without a special mention regarding The Lord of the Rings.

I’ll have to admit this—when the trilogy came out, I wasn’t a fan. I thought the films were overly long, drawn-out vehicles for stoking the egos of the filmmakers.

I was terribly wrong.

It wasn’t until years later, when my kids got into the series, that I’d become fascinated with the features. I recognized how incredibly detailed the filming process must have been for director Peter Jackson. Not only that, but more importantly, the emotion behind the performances of Elijah Wood as Frodo and Sean Astin as Sam rattles me to this day. The films also represent a brilliant setting for life in simpler times.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could live in a time when we didn’t have to check our phones every two minutes to see who liked or commented on our content?

To me, The Lord or the Rings world, with all its Celtic flavor, is that time.

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

What do you think of Celtic music? Have you seen Riverdance? What do you like about The Lord of the Rings trilogy?

Wednesday Warriors

Godzilla

Posted on November 4, 2015November 6, 2015 by Jack Flacco

I think this is the first time I’ve ever chosen a monster to be part of my Wednesday Warriors series. Of course, there is always a first time for everything. After all, in the past I’ve featured cartoons, therefore monsters weren’t too far behind.

Yet, some may not consider Godzilla a monster at all. He, and I use the term “he” loosely here, is more like a superhero lumbering ashore when a city falls prey to the destruction of a malevolent creature. A rescuer. Check. He’s more than a monster; he’s a force of vengeance against foes threatening humanity’s very existence.

How did Godzilla become a cultural icon for good versus evil? Had he always been this cuddly?

There was a time Godzilla was an evil monster the army wanted to kill. As a spawn of nuclear testing, he trampled all over Japan in his first sighting in 1954. After that, he became a film sensation. Kids loved him and the Japanese audience couldn’t get enough of the semi-dino biped.

Years later, in the 1960’s, other monsters came to challenge the towering beast. Names like Rodan, Ghidorah and Mothra became mainstays for viewers. The secret was out, a Godzilla movie wasn’t all about saving the planet, but it was about the fights between the creatures that gave the films its appeal. What could have been a hokey series, turned into a glorified franchise with all the accolades that went with it.

Godzilla became a movie favorite.

Somewhere along the line however, things changed. In an effort to cash in on the popularity of the Godzilla phenomenon, the studios, with their ever-watchful eye on the bottom dollar, pushed to the theaters sequel after sequel of absolute nonsense. Godzilla soon transformed from the hero every kid wanted to play with to a watered-down image with little substance to carry the franchise forward.

It wasn’t until the failure of 1998’s Godzilla at the box office that the studios decided to hold off on producing any more monster movies for a while. Oh, sure, there was Godzilla 2000, but we won’t talk about that.

Then 2014 happens. Godzilla is back and he is pissed. Gone are the funky Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do moves earlier versions of the brute possessed. This time, he is here to settle old scores and purge the world of not only the monsters that threaten the U.S. west coast, but also to shatter his previous image as a weak follow-up to an impoverished genre.

This time, Godzilla brings it, yet not without controversy. Folks complained for the little screen time the hero actually had. To those detractors I say, all good things are worth the wait. In a time when everyone wants to see superheroes from the first frame of film, Godzilla was a welcome change away from today’s convention. Reminiscent of the old movies where the big reveal takes place in the final act of the film, Godzilla rocks in a classic monster movie with all the fixings.

And the best part about the whole thing? He is bigger and better than ever.

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

Have you seen any Godzilla movies? What do you think of him?

Monday Mayhem

Fire Sale

Posted on November 2, 2015November 6, 2015 by Jack Flacco

For my Monday Mayhem post, I’ve written a lot in the past about zombies, aliens and anything else, really, that could cause the downfall of humanity. In some respect, I’ve documented how the world left to its own devices could collapse.

For instance, an antibiotic-resistant virus could either appear from an accidental release from a lab, or spawn from a myriad of other origins. The last known incident took place a number of years ago when swine flu (H1N1) originated in a rural area in Mexico to make its way to the Americas. The other notable event happened in 2014 when the Ebola virus, a malady that causes the internal organs to liquefy, surged in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia to affect thousands of people. Surprisingly, an experimental drug just happened to be waiting in the wings to help Americans affected by the brutal condition.

Then there is the notion we are not alone. For years, scientists have sent all sorts of messages into space in the hope that another sentient civilization might respond to the greeting. Yet, should a alien presence exist, and should it be of higher intelligence than humans, can you blame it for not revealing itself, given the mess we humans have made of this world we call home?

In all this, a movie captures my greatest concern. How can a motion picture do this? The film has nothing to do with the environment, such as The Day After Tomorrow where the earth plunges into another ice age due to global warming. It also has nothing to do with a piece of entertainment where the earth becomes a launching pad for an escape due to a predicted destruction of the earth, such as depicted in the film 2012.

That stuff doesn’t frighten me.

What really scares me is the premise to the film Live Free or Die Hard where the idea of a fire sale comes to play. In financial circles, a fire sale is a liquidation of assets performed by creditors in order to pay off debt accumulated by a now-bankrupt company. In the film, hackers gain control of the stock market, public utilities and transportation system as a means to erase all of America’s wealth with one single click of a button. The same idea comes to play in the movie Sneakers where a little black box could in essence decrypt websites throughout the world yielding control to malevolent organizations wanting to usher the destruction of America.

Of course, the whole idea of “everything must go” is fiction, but it would be reasonable to say the opportunity exists that such a fictional scenario is possible. Look at what happened with the blackout of 2003. In August of that year, the entire eastern seaboard went dark for three days all due to a power surge that tripped relays designed to prevent such a thing from happening.

That was an accident.

Imagine if such a thing were to take place, but not because of it being an accident. As horrifying as it sounds, and given the fragility of an aging infrastructure holding our systems together, again I ask, what’s to say it’s not possible?

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

What do you think about an entire North American blackout? Do you think we can survive without power for a week?

Freedom Friday, Other Things

Marriage and Stuff

Posted on October 30, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

Last week, my wife and I had the opportunity to take some time away to enjoy each other’s company. Every once in a while, we’ll leave the kids behind to visit either a place we’re familiar with or a place we’ve always wanted to go. This year, we chose to do the latter and decided to explore The Blue Mountains.

Located a couple of hours north of Toronto, The Blue Mountains is a resort/cottage community that hosts a large following during ski season. Along with a few friends, we managed to secure one of those fancy chalets overlooking the mountains. The view was great, but, having grown up in Italy where I would wake up to the sight of the Italian Alps every morning, it didn’t impress me as much as, say, it did with some of my friends. I can take or leave mountain views. Nonetheless, it didn’t diminish the enjoyment I had with my wife.

The vacation was a wonderful cap to my newest book release. I had been running around many weeks prior that I hadn’t realized just how much I needed the downtime to regain focus.

Rather than give you a summary of what happened every day, as I’ve done in the past with my other vacation posts, I thought I would give you the highlights of what I enjoyed most about the getaway instead, and about the lessons learned.

First off, because we were sharing the chalet with friends, we each had separate rooms and shared common areas. Kitchen, living room, hot tub and balcony were all common areas. Some couples also shared bathrooms. As troublesome as it could have been, it worked out quite well. No more than two families had to share a bathroom, so mornings were fun.

Other than breakfast, the organizer cooked everything. Kudos to her! The food was simply delicious. The meal I liked the most was also the meal served the last night we were there. It was roasted chicken with rice and veggies. I’m not sure how she made it, but the flavor led me to go for seconds without a problem.

My wife and I spent most of our time together with the exception of breakfast, lunch and dinner, which we spent with our friends. Our main entertainment was each other, and because of this, I’ve learned something interesting. I knew about this little truth but didn’t know until recently how to put it into words.

Before getting married, we did everything together because we enjoyed each another’s company. What that means is we did what we could to spend as much time with each other, not because we had to, but because we wanted to. It wasn’t duty. It was because we really enjoyed being together.

After getting married however, somewhere along the way things changed. Jobs, kids, finances, new homes, deaths, health issues–you name it, resulted in the creation of a quiet mission statement that stated we were bound to please the other person. Not to sound preachy, but the idea that we wouldn’t be happy unless the other person was happy crept into our lives. It’s not a bad thing to want to please our mates. It is, though, a bad thing doing it out of duty.

With that realization, this past year our marriage has gone through a transformation of sorts. We’re no longer doing things to please each other, but we’re doing things because we enjoy doing them together. For us, it has become a matter of perspective. The idea being, we now share acts of kindness with each other, not because we have to but because we want to. All of a sudden, the enjoyment we once felt before marriage has returned and we can’t get enough of each other.

Okay, so maybe that was an overshare.

But I don’t care. If it helps others find what they once had, then I’ll shout it from space!

Anyway, that was our weekend. What are your plans this weekend?

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

What do you like about traveling?

Wednesday Warriors

David Dunn

Posted on October 28, 2015November 6, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Of all the Wednesday Warriors I’ve written about, David Dunn, the mild-mannered hero of the movie Unbreakable, and today’s highlight, is one of my favorites. If you haven’t seen the film directed by The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan, then I don’t want to spoil it for you. You can skip to the last paragraph to get the general gist of the film. For everyone else, keep reading.

A train wreck leaves everyone onboard dead except for David Dunn (Bruce Willis). In fact, he doesn’t only survive, but he walks away from the tragedy without a scratch. Returning home, his wife Audrey (Robin Wright), with whom before the accident he wasn’t getting along, takes her husband’s survival as a sign that their troubled marriage is worth saving.

In another part of Philadelphia, Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) finds himself reading about the accident and about David’s miraculous event. No one should have survived that crash. No one should have just walked away without a scratch. As with David, there is more to Elijah than anyone knows.

One day, David’s son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) retreats in the shadows as his father lifts weights. It’s one of those scenes where the audience is slowly discovering something about David that Joseph is realizing himself. What exactly does Joseph see?

Joseph sees that his dad is not ordinary. Joseph sees his dad is capable of lifting more than anyone could possibly lift. Joseph sees his father as extraordinary.

In another scene, David asks Audrey if she remembers the last time he was sick. He comes to the realization that he’s never been sick–not even a sniffle.

On the other hand, at one point or another, Elijah has broken every bone in his body. Sickness follows him wherever he goes. Confined to a wheelchair is something he’d rather not admit to but can’t avoid.

From there, David dons a poncho and wanders the city. In a busy metropolis train station he extends his arms and allows the people to brush his hands. It is then a superhero rises from the devastation his life could have been. No longer does he wander to discover his abilities. He knows who he is. With a poncho acting as his cape, he can rescue those in need. He can give aid. And his life has turned from a helpless victim to that of a strong father figure boys could emulate.

Lastly, every superhero has an arch villain with whom to contend. If David were unbreakable, with neither train wreck nor bomb unable to harm him, then logically, someone who is on the opposite side of the spectrum, breakable, will have to be his archenemy. There is only one person who could fit that description.

As with all superhero origin movies, the character has weaknesses to overcome, strengths to discover and dark demons to fight. In David’s case, there is more to his life than what others may see. He possesses a disturbing curiosity as to how far he can go with his abilities. The critical question, however, is much more personal. How far would we go should we discover we are not who we think we are?

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

Have you seen Unbreakable? What do you think of the David and Elijah relationship?

Monday Mayhem

Hell

Posted on October 26, 2015April 15, 2019 by Jack Flacco

Dante Alighieri had an idea that hell was a place where the devil frolicked in flames and tormented the souls of those who had lived as the worst of the worst in the world. In some ways, Alighieri’s vision of hell seeped into modern thought to become the standard belief of many religions.

The trouble with Alighieri’s truth is that there is no truth to his vision. Dante Alighieri wrote The Devine Comedy, a poem not based on anything true or factual.

In other words, hell does not exist, at least, not the way everyone might imagine.

Today’s Monday Mayhem post is all about hell. What is it? Where is it?

Hell has different meanings to different people.

To Catholics, much like Dante’s poem, it is a place of eternal damnation where demons, under the rulership of Satan the devil, torture those who were the absolute wretched of the earth. According to their beliefs, Satan, the fallen angel of light formerly known as Lucifer, roams back and forth through fire and brimstone, delivering pain to the unjust.

To Buddhists, hell is more of a practical concept. Karma, the essence of balance in the universe, repays evil for evil and good for good. If something bad happens to a person, Karma has exacted vengeance for a past act of wrong. Karma sets things straight by restoring balance to where there once was unbalance.

To many, hell is a lake of fire, which will one day consume the unrepentant.

Then, to others, however, hell is more real than anyone could know. To these people, hell has become substance addiction, pornography, the psychological prison of mental illness, such as depression. To these people, their minds have become their jail cells where light does not penetrate the darkness surrounding them.

Hell follows them wherever they go.

The point being, whether your belief is that of a devil tormenting the wicked in a place reserved especially for them, or your belief is that of universal balance where Karma deals with the unjust with the same brush they use to judge, or your belief is that of a lake of fire waiting for the fulfillment of days to consume the evil ones among the righteous, or you suffer from the psychological prison of mental disease, everyone has a concept of hell and what it encompasses.

It is the view of this writer that hell, however defined, is the worst thing that could happen to a person either before or after death.

That is why this writer asks: what is your idea of hell?

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

What is your concept of hell?

Freedom Friday, Photo Opportunities

Let’s Take a Walk

Posted on October 23, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

Autumn is my favorite time of year. The foliage changing colors brings me closer to nature. I want to sit in the woods, listen to the rustling leaves swirl, and smell the musty scent of moss floating from the log behind me.

A two-minute walk to the park next to my house.

For today’s Freedom Friday, would you take a walk with me? It won’t be long. I just would like to show you my neighborhood. Maybe even make you feel what I feel when I look at nature the way I do.

Living in farm country affords me time away from the big city. Not only do I take frequent walks in and around our neighborhood, but I also slip into the woods every so often to enjoy the silence away from it all.

Our first stop is the park next to my home. Every year at this time, it bursts with color. The mornings are as if someone had taken several buckets of paint and splashed them on all the trees. Yellows are like pots of gold. Reds are deep and rich. Why not? Maple trees line the perimeter of the park and invite the stranger to visit the inner sanctuary.

The woods begin at the park and continue for a mile in all directions, cutting across a street until it reaches the farms. I’ve strolled the distance many times, getting lost in its winding trails. The crunch under my feet stops me from going further. I look around and see trees surrounding me. They are tall and strong. The squirrels are gathering food for the winter. The birds have long left the area, searching for warmer climes, escaping the coming winter.

I turn east and head for the stream, which resides at the other side of the street. Other than the gentle breeze caressing my skin, the rushing water breaks the peace and makes my mind wander.

I wonder what it was like a hundred years ago, during the times when the colonialists settled the area. Was there ever a person who sat in the exact spot I am sitting, thinking about the coming winter, dreaming about a hot drink by the open fire? Had anyone lived there who came fishing here in the summer, craving for a good catch to bring home to the family for the evening’s meal? I’m sure there was. How could there not?

Then I see more leaves float from the branches, creating a bed for the chipmunks scampering about below. It’s nice here. The tree limbs overhead provide a comfortable roof. Thankfully, it doesn’t feel like it will rain. I can tell when that happens. The animals disappear, the air tightens and a certain smell hovers over everything until the first drop hits the ground.

It’s getting late. I head back wondering what I will have to eat. The other night my wife made fresh baked bread. Oh, how I would love that again. The sweet aroma is hard to resist. After a long walk, it also makes my house feel like home.

Home. What a beautiful word. Calming. Peaceful. Happy. Home.

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

What is your neighborhood like? Do you live where you can stroll in the open country?

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