Monthly Archives: May 2015

In This World, There’s One Park

One name: Steven Spielberg.

And just like that, I have your attention.

As June 12th creeps closer, and as every man shaves his beard with help from the Limited Edition Jurassic World-themed Barbasol shaving cream cans (yes sir!), the pure adrenaline for the follow-up to Jurassic Park that every fan has been waiting for builds to, well, a Tyrannosaurus Indominus sized-level. There are multiple trailers, TV spots and increased product cross-promotions. Awesome! Although, to maintain the highest sense of surprise coupled with an impossible intrigue to know more about this summer blockbuster to be, I have been careful to only watch the minimum (but still satisfying) amount of press for Jurassic World.

Fortunately, this behind-the-scenes photo shoot recently released doesn’t reveal any plot points…except it’s value is significant for the fact that it’s the first public appearance by the legendary director of Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg) and the young man given the reins by Spielberg to create Jurassic World (Colin Trevorrow, 38).

The pressure on the latter is nearly unfathomable, considering this is not a traditional sequel, but a revival tied directly to the original 1993 dinosaur epic. Fans (including myself) are impossibly protective of the original. And unlike the past two sequels, Jurassic World is making sure to highlight that Spielberg served as the lead executive producer. After all these years, he’s boldly returning to this mega franchise that he and his team built with cinematic genius from the brilliant words of the late Michael Crichton.

It’s an amazing thrill to see you back in the Jurassic Park director’s chair for any reason, Mr. Spielberg!

The stakes are high and this movie should spare no expense.

Happy Monday!

Do you own an Apple product?

Sorry, foolish question.

The surreal impact that Steve Jobs and Steve “The Woz” Wozniak have had on our realities will always be remembered and cherished. This is true for the multiple generations of people who have come together to join this astonishing, once-in-a-lifetime movement…especially the employees at the Apple Store.

And for good reason.

These two visionaries (for different reasons) mastered the complexities of technology and business while they added cool, groundbreaking innovations that forever altered personal communication and information gathering in our modern society. Aside from the alpha roll-out of their Apple Watch, what’s the next big headline for this tech company?

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the first teaser trailer for the long-awaited Steve Jobs movie with an adapted screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.

Change the World This Week!

Juggling a Ball Has a Cool Side

It’s the middle of May, which means the weather is nice and is warming up into the 70s and 80s in most areas. What to do outside? Well, if you have a few minutes this weekend, I suggest taking up juggling. However, forget about those boring yellow tennis balls and pick up a soccer ball for a more exciting and entertaining challenge.

Don’t believe me that juggling a soccer ball can be entertaining?

Now that’s German efficiency at its best.

I Love The Goldbergs!

Spoiler Alert: Content in this blog post is from the May 13, 2015 episode of The Goldbergs

(The Goldbergs Twitter)

(The Goldbergs Twitter)

The theme of last night’s season two finale was the only four-letter word that doesn’t need to be bleeped out: love.

Telling someone “I love you” is a paradox that knows no bounds. Adam, Dana, Barry, Lainey, Erica and Murray all strugglde in how to say and react to such a daring declaration. In life, there are only a few sentiments that can register earthquake-level emotions and saying and hearing the “L-word” is one of them. Regardless of age or method, the instant after that word is said feels like you are either saved from walking the plank or like you are pushed off into the deepest ocean imaginable.

Either way, it changes everything…

Adam (inspired to do what all us guys did to some extent in our lives) penned a letter that was signed with his love for his girlfriend Dana. And, like a man, he dropped the folded letter in her locker for her to find and open with unyielding happiness! That was surely going to be the reality until he panicked and convinced his sympathetic and over-the-top gym teacher to perform a random drug search in Dana’s locker as she was pulling it open to discreetly retrieve said letter with the “L-word” included.

Boom, crisis averted! Or so Adam thought.

When it came to expressing his feelings, Barry was, well, Barry. As his girlfriend Lainey was at cheer leading practice for their big rivalry game with Central High, he inadvertently blurted out his love for his understandably shell-shocked lady. This all-too-familiar awkwardness pulled Barry and Lainey in two opposite directions: he proceeded forward at 100 MPH with his love and she backtracked in embarrassment. Let’s just say this led to a dancing, giant-faced Fighting Quaker and a school bus being rocked by a rival school’s vengeful fans.

Back at the Goldberg household, Murray was struggling to vocally express his love for his daughter (isn’t a roof over her head enough?). Beverly, who literally never shies away from publicly proclaiming her undying love for her children whilst wearing her pink bath robe with curlers in her hair, as well as a personalized message over the school’s PA system for her snuggle monkey Barry, was forced to rage-juice in front of Erica for not replying to her father’s mumblings of, “I love you.” Like so many of us in a child-parent relationship, that sentiment is strangely taken as a given. It’s a tall wall to climb. However, Beverly knew the impact of hearing it and saying it.

And she discovered the secret passageway past this particular wall and it only cost $57, plus tax.

A leather jacket and leather boots later, Murray saw right through the obvious charade in his daughter’s now vocal love for him. Despite being cast as a distant father figure, Murray occasionally reminds us just how smart and savvy he is. This includes pushing his pushy wife into Erica’s room and tricking her into genuinely saying she loves her dad with Murray standing right outside the door. Even though love may seem like a given with family, this scene proved how nice it is to hear it, regardless of the circumstance.

And there stood Barry in the rocking school bus with his fellow cheerleaders, preparing to face a mascot beat down as equal payback for an earlier incident between the two rival schools. Seeing his bravery, Lainey confessed she was skeptical to say the “L-word” because of her mom leaving her and her dad. But, blown away by her boyfriend’s courage, said she loved Barry. This gave the Fighting Quaker the right stuff for his battle with an angry mob. Unfortunately, it didn’t help, as he was whaled on by the kids at Central High. But he was loved and that’s all that mattered!

Seeing his brother do anything for love, Adam raced his bike over to Dana’s house. He knocked on the door, she opened it, he said, “I love you” and she knocked his socks off with an “I love you” back! Then, she really knocked him over with news she may be moving to Seattle after summer break. It was the most emotional scene of the series thus far as Dana handed Adam his Green Lantern ring back. We’ll have to wait and see if she’ll get the ring back by no moving…But this moment has given the show it’s first Wonder Years/Boy Meets World dynamic of heartbreak and unknown love. It was a vital plot twist for the series.

We’ve all been where the Goldbergs were last night, telling someone we love them with a letter, by accident or by trickery. I’ve certainly written a note (a postcard, actually) along with a giant bear to a girlfriend saying, “I love you” (Let’s not get into her non-response response). The point is that we need to be brave enough to say, “I love you” when we mean it because when it’s said back, it’s the greatest feeling in the world and absolutely everything seems possible, even in the worst of times.

What do I love, in this very moment? That The Goldbergs is coming back in the fall for Season 3.

That’s a cobra strike of awesomeness!