The Relevancy of The Oscars this year was over-shadowed by moments not captured on Film...



 

“These Are The Moments...,”

By Eric 'Renderking' Fisk - February 25th, 2008

Ren's RantsDoug "Webhead73" Palumbo, Jonathan "Bazooka Goof" Pokay and I had a conversation last week about how many of the forums we used to frequent often are now becoming bloated with their own sense of self-importance. Before we started The Electric Speakeasy, there were very few places for Retrocentrics and Vintage Aficionados to discuss matters that are really important such as current events, anniversary's of historical events and our own travels. Now? It seems that even with The Electric Speakeasy well into it's third year, those numbers seem to be dwindling. It's all "Crystal Skulls," all the time.

Too many other forums are too wrapped up and consumed with a motion picture that should have been made 15 years ago with a few others to follow. Rather then celebrating the fourth in the whole series, this should be the fourth since 1989. But there's nothing more to say other then I'll take what I get. And it's not a huge loss that there haven't been more since I've enjoyed other movies such as "The Untouchables," "Bugsy," "Miller's Crossing," "The Road To Perdition," and "Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow."

Better yet, life outside of the Living Room - or the Living Room with the TV turned off -  just keeps getting better. Indulge me for a minute as I try to explain...

 

ImageTake A Moment...

Both Saturday and Sunday was filled with precious moments that are too few and far in between when the television dominates the room. It would have been so easy to just let those moments go but for reasons I don't understand yet, I felt compelled to just take a second and take it all in and appreciate it for what it was.

We had a major snow-fall Friday Night so Saturday Morning my wife and boys went out with me and the dogs and worked on clearing the driveway. The snow was still light and fluffy and could be pushed around with a broom.

After our work and a small lunch, My wife and I joined each other here in my office and made some products for St. Patrick's Day, after I came up with a funny slogan. She loved the idea so much that the two of us took turns sitting here at my desk tweaking the final design.

ImageImageImageImage

I'm very sentimental and attached to this work because she and I worked on them together.

Saturday night was spent just watching some of our favorite TV shows such as Torchwood on BBC America. My wife and I didn't go out, didn't call for a sitter. There was something about just watching our kids building things together with Lego's to duplicate things that were in the World War II Aviation Calendar that I had up during 2007.

Sunday was more of the same, except my wife and I were wakened by the sound of our youngest peeing into the toilet by himself. Not a big deal, unless it's the first time doing it himself! The morning was spent moving snow around as our new ducks discovered the small stretch of marsh-land in the middle of our property.

Time came around for lunch and we headed in. The computer was turned off and my wife and I had lunch together with our children - nothing too extravagant besides Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

There was this one special moment that I hope that I'll never forget, it was watching my oldest eat soup with enthusiasm. There was just something about it that made me wish it was filmed, but the memory of seeing it for the first time with my own eyes and not a view finder or a lens made it so perfect.

He looked at my bowl and said: "Daddy, are you going to eat that?"

"Are you still hungry?" I asked?

"I sure am, that's why I'm asking, silly man!" I gave it to him and watched him finish off his second bowl with such continued gusto. I went with-out for a while and didn't care. I just sat there and talked to him about what we did so far this morning and how he wanted to spend the rest of the day.

Sunday Afternoon was spent driving to the big town north of us, doing a few errands and just talking. Coppertop and H-Bomb (The Nick-Names I use for my sons on line) joked about how the car was tickled by the car wash...

Sunday night my wife made a Beef Stew and a Pumpkin Pie that was just incredible, the house was filled with the types of smells that remind me of the holiday's passed. The two of us shared a bottle of wine and had a conversation about how The Oscars just crept up on us and we know nothing about the movies other then "Atonement" that was nominated for Best Picture.

Just talking to her, holding her hand as we drank and ate... it was almost like our first Valentines Day Weekend she and I spent together - but with the background noise of boys making airplane noises and The Red Carpet nonsense coming out of the TV.

 

There Will Be No Special Edition Release On DVD...

It was an ordinary weekend, nothing extraordinary or Earth-Shattering. It was no Block-buster adventure, the only smashing and crashing that was done  was the ice being broken apart by the large crow-bar. The only fall from grace the hero suffered was when I fell on a frozen patch covered by snow. But I did my own stunts and kept my fedora on.

I have no memory of  who won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Costume Design, or Actress or Actors... in the weeks to come I highly doubt there will be much mention of who won what except for what's written on the Award Winner's DVD's and used as selling points.

The real winners weren't wearing expensive gowns or tuxedos* - the real winners weren't introduced to the audience by John Stewart and his lame jokes that caused a genuine laughter vacuum so intense that scientists could have used it to try and achieve Absolute Zero in the Kodak Auditorium. None of the real special moments were highlighted by a montage, a music melody or dance interpretation.

Nothing was caught on High-Def, Dolby Surround Sound or will be found on DVD or Blu-Ray any time soon. Real life needs to be felt, not experienced vicariously through a multi-media sensory over-load.

 

Real life is so precious, so important. The world needs a 11 page forum topic about a three minute trailer the way tuna needs traces of Mercury, and pages about our real-word adventures are anemic and visit-poor forum topics need a serious boost with our encouraging posts.

I'm a huge movie fan, some have changed my life by making me want to be a better man while others changed the way I see the world and try to fix the problems that cause conflicts. Other movies are obviously just for entertainment and should be enjoyed once in a while or forgotten right after viewing.

While watching The Oscars last night, as Harrison Ford took the stage to present an award, I thought about how I'm the age now that he was when he made "Raiders Of The Lost Ark." I thought about how my view of heroes had changed since I first saw that movie and how it was my time to step up to the plate and be a hero for another generation. Then I told my oldest son that "when I was your age, I wanted to be more like him."

Coppertop yelled: "NO!!! I want him to be him, and you to be my dad. You two dress alike, he can dress like you but there can only be one dad!" (I tried to capture his broken English and I'm putting the pieces back together badly.) It was another special moment I hope never to forget.

At some point, we have to stop looking up to heroes and become one for someone else. Rather then watching action movies, we have to become men of action to some extent. For me, the time of living vicariously though movies has long past and I have to continue to put the focus on where I'm going and what I'm doing.

The only ones who should obsess about every detail that goes into a movie should be the people making them.

 

 
 

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