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He Said, They Said

Blink and they’re gone?

The forever youthful members of the pop-punk rock band Blink-182 have defined their musical legacy of making it culturally permissible to write punk rock songs and play punk rock songs with catchy tunes, fun lyrics, outrageous music videos and a rebellious attitude, while also hitting the right chords of deeply personal and emotionally powerful songs. This combining of genuine pop and genuine punk rock is undeniably impressive. In other words, their street cred on-stage has always been strong.

Sadly, the bond off-stage between Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker and Tom DeLonge reportedly has not.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that Blink-182 would be reuniting for another record. Yes! In the past couple of days though, it seems that Mark and Travis are finally publicly revealing their long-held frustrations with their band mate and friend Tom. No! It appears Tom’s quit the band/is out indefinitely (depending on who you ask). And, if we’re to interpret recent statements, it appears that their relationship as both band mates and friends are on rocky terms at the moment. Rolling Stone got the exclusive interview, which reveals the three punk rockers have not been communicating in-person, the issue of having a label and whether this is just one big miscommunication…

“It’s hard to cover for someone who’s disrespectful and ungrateful…To say, ‘I didn’t quit the band’ is just not true. It’s disingenuous.”

Good news for the band’s fans is that it’s been reported Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio will replace Tom for their future show at the Musink Festival.

“Beyond that, we’ll see what happens. Last time this happened, Travis and I didn’t say anything and we did +44, which wasn’t Blink-182 because we weren’t playing Blink songs. But Travis and I are intent on protecting the legacy of Blink-182 and continue to do what we’ve been doing for the past two decades: continue playing the songs.”

The war of words will surely continue. Judging by the interviews and continuous responses by each party during the past couple days (and past several years), it seems like this separation has been building for quite some time. It’s really sad because of what the band and its songs have meant for so many. The band’s time hasn’t passed. Their staying power has more in the engine. But, this stuff happens. Only Blink-182 knows what will happen long-term, in terms of playing their hits, recording new music and touring.

For now, here’s the song all too appropriate for this situation:

All we can say about the original trio is that we’ll miss you.

Welcome…to Jurassic World!

Just like John Hammond, the makers of the theme park Jurassic World couldn’t wait to show off what they’ve created. Having recently watched the first official trailer for Jurassic World (featured below), it seems like my long-standing predictions about Jurassic Park’s fourth cinematic installment are as acutely accurate as a dinosaur’s DNA.

Good vibrations indeed!

I could describe the trailer, but we all just want to see what the world’s first dinosaur-theme park open to the public looks like.

For fans of the original (and the franchise), this is the movie we’ve all secretly been wishing for since Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur blockbuster rocked Hollywood and the world back on June 11, 1993:

Chaos Theory may have to be rewritten come June 12, 2015…

Happy Monday!

Yesterday, the most revealing teaser yet for Jurassic World was released.

It’s really happening:

Have a Great Week!

P.S. Is it Thursday yet?

Good Vibrations

Something big is coming…

When it was announced that the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise was written and would be made into a major motion picture, I was excited. But cautiously optimistic because of what transpired in Jurassic Park III (great individual scenes, but some of the casting…). Then, it was revealed that Steven Spielberg co-wrote this new script and would be executive producing once again. This news should have been treated as massively substantial, considering that Jurassic Park III debuted in the summer of 2001. Thirteen years have passed (along with the franchise’s author Michael Crichton in 2008) and it would have been completely understandable if this dinosaur franchise had ended as a trilogy.

It won’t, and it’s likely because the script/story this time is really, really good…like, possibly 1990s good. Ever since learning the title would be Jurassic World a year or so ago, I’ve had a theory about the tightly-guarded plot.

Here it is:

Cognizant that it is not called Jurassic Park 4 or Jurassic Park IV: _____, this hinted at a return to the original 1993 blockbuster masterpiece. This new movie was not going to be just another sequel or be sequential to the third movie. More than a decade had passed and those involved in the franchise are acutely aware of the amazing reaction to the original and the following two movies (a slow tumble from one to the next). If a fourth film would be made, it had to have a spectacularly epic script that reconnected fans with why they loved Jurassic Park from the start (plus, remember the title). Fans have wanted a fourth film, but only if it did justice to the original with its perfect story, cast of characters, larger than life consequences and dinosaur-size surprises. The year it’s been presented for release has been ~ 20 years since the original (21 to be exact). Last year (year 20) was dedicated to its amazing 3-D re-release, which was a magnificent triumph. Then, a picture was posted on Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow’s twitter account that showed a picture of dirt and leaves covering the “East Dock” arrow sign that Dennis Nedry famously crashed into with his Jurassic Park jeep in the torrential downpour with the caption, “Autumn.” This was back in late September of this year.

All of this, plus the previous and obvious reluctance to quickly make a fourth film after reaction from the third one, has, for a long time led me to believe that Jurassic World would be a direct throwback to the original Jurassic Park that is intended to play on the incredible and loving nostalgia of the 1993 cinematic wonder and the fact that fans like myself went crazy over the movie and the official Jurassic Park merchandise.

So I thought, “How do you play on 1993 nostalgia from the original along with the insane popularity of the toys, t-shirts, backpacks, stuffed animals, etc.?”

It meant that someone/some group had finally built a Jurassic Park for real! And when the poster was released with the tagline that read “The Park is Open” above the date of June 12th (FYI – the original was released June 11, 1993), that seemed like a serious confirmation of my long-hypothesized theory.

Then, today, the first teaser trailer of sorts hit the web. Does anything look familiar?

While the first “official” trailer is expected for Thanksgiving (November 27th), everything seems to be lining up for a genuine Jurassic World theme park based on/closely with the inspiration of genetics dreamer John Hammond!

If the rumored trailer next week solidifies my theory, then it will make millions of cinematic dreams come true and literally give new meaning to the appropriately altered phrase, “Welcome to Jurassic World!”

A trembling cup of water has never looked this epic.