Nago Words - The Dork Awakens

The dork runs strong in my family. At least 4 of my kin went to "Star Wars, The Force Awakens" on pre-opening night (Thursday, December 17th). Personally, I was in a strange (to me) place and I talked myself into going, alone, during a Summerville, SC sales trip. 

The week had been stressful. Work pressure and the usual mixed bag of other demands on me had me unable to get as excited as I wanted to be. 

Still, I was driven to go. I didn't want the world to spoil the movie for me. I was gravitating toward potential spoiler info on the web weeks before the release. If I didn't go, I would have had the displeasure of reading spoiler information, messing up the whole experience for me. I checked online and saw seats available very close to the hotel I was staying in. I bought one not sure if I would actually go.

I worked till 8:45 PM. I made a game time decision to turn off my laptop and make the half mile trek to the cinema hoping I could maybe turn off work for a minute. I got there at 9:00 (for the 9:50 viewing). 

Lines of fans were already wrapped around the lobby (as best as management could pile them in with rope barricades). It was a bit of crowd control for the theater workers and local law enforcement. Excitement was at a fever pitch for fans of all ages. Overall the vibe was very good.

They had us all corralled into our seats by 10:10. The movie started around 10:20. I was impressed by the organized chaos. The young attendants were on point and even double checked to make sure all in the theater had 3D glasses. 

The movie starts, and we get a gimps of the First Order. I admit, for the first 10 minutes or so, I watched half hearted. I wasn't able to let go of the weight on my mind right away. By the entrance of Rey (and the impressive backdrop of her desert planet), I became all consumed by the story on the screen. I easily set aside my worries for the remainder of the film.

2 hours later, when the credits ran, I was in a much better place. I felt good, my mind was at ease and I was able to sleep that night without interruption. For these reasons I believe the movie is good. All the hype, marketing and pre-sales aside, it's a good story.

Any intelligent person who knows the saga of Star Wars can see the direct correlation between the 1977 original and this new chapter. The formula is so similar it felt familiar in more than just old faces. It steps forward by slowing down. We are dropped into a moment where a perfect storm of players all intersect by coincidence, yet one wonders if destiny is at play?

JJ Abrams, and his entire team, did a fantastic job of figuring out how to bring Star Wars back to basics. I imagine a conference room filled with Star Wars staffers. The entirety of that room grew up on Star Wars in some form or another. If I were in the lead chair, I'd ask a question of my staff: "What about the original Star Wars movies made them great?"

The answers would be aplenty. The ones that I think are addressed include:

"Characters"

"Keep it simple stupid"

"Moral Conflict"

The characters? New and old, this generation nails it. Rey is a strong powerful lead, beautiful in her independence, shrouded in mystery. Fin and Rey have a chemistry needed for the continuation. And Poe Dameron? Finally a character with a bloody sense of humor! I almost forgot how funny the originals were. Kylo Ren is the classic evil lord of this film, and he has tantrums! It's great to see the Skeletor sort of evil in a Star Wars flick. BB8 makes the classic droids seem antique, and children will naturally flock to it's innocent appeal.

Keeping the story simple was difficult, I'm sure. It did follow the basic format of the original film, and introduced us to the much needed rebirth of the storyline. Lucas attempted to wrap the whole thing up with the "bringing balance to the force" plot, but there was always room for much more. In a way, the 30 years between Jedi and Force is the balance. Good and evil always exist, and cannot thrive without one another. Waiting for an awakening, making the Jedi and Empire legend in memory versus recent history works on many levels for this reason. Our new heroes have the ability exist in a time all their own. A good story develops with respect to the past, not completely owned by the baggage of it. We don't have to know how we got here, only that we are here. The story stands alone, making it palatable to anyone not hugely familiar with Star Wars.

Conflicted much? Every major character in this movie is conflicted. It's brilliant and brings them down to a human level. We connect through their struggles. Family issues, mysterious backstories, reunions and epiphanies galore. 

Taking on the Star Wars franchise could not be taken lightly. I'm guessing it wasn't a horrible conflict itself as Lucas set the bar pretty low with his confusing and contradicting prequels (even lower still with his cartoony CGI "permanent" additions to the original classics we love). A turd of a movie would still do well at the box office. The hype machine and fan foaming would take care of it regardless of the actual films content.

But it rocked... A gift for every Star Wars fan past, present and future.

I'm not going to be the guy who bashes Lucas for following his heart on the prequels. He created the franchise, and it was his vision that made Star Wars in the first place. 

I re-watched the original films last weekend. It's easy to get drawn in. It's driven by strength of story. The concept of Space people battling for power in a fictional universe is pretty stupid overall. It's the simplicity, the conflict, and the basic good versus evil story-line that sets it apart from other dumb space movies. 

If you can detach the last 40 years of hype from the original Star Wars, you realize how silly some of the movie looks. The special effects are great, there's no denying it, but the aliens are puppets, Chewbacca looks like a large dog, the droids are nervously not robotic, and the dialog... It's not exactly a literary triumph (albeit very fully developed in its ridiculousness).

Lucas believed in his story, and despite all odds, he made a classic which still fascinates children of all ages. We often neglect this detail when criticizing the prequels (it is assumed).

Many a critic have written things like "The Force Awakens erases the mistakes of the prequels."  I don't buy that. The prequels, for all of the flaws, introduced a generation of fans to the series. Once step further, millions of kids identify with "The Clone Wars" cartoon series as their gateway drug. The series couldn't exist without the prequels, so it's not all bad.

The dense storyline of the Prequel movies are their downfall. I think most fans agree that the contractions are very hard to get over as well. Some accuse them of being racist, some say the acting is awful, others think they are sexist. Personally, on first viewing, I was most offended by the CGI. Upon seeing "The Phantom Menace" I thought, "this is more cartoon than live action." I knew they would regret it. 16 years later, I can safely say it doesn't hold up at all.

At some point maybe I'll write all of the contradictions that I hate about the prequels. The contradiction trumps the racism, sexism and bad CG for me today. I can wrap my head around the Senate, I like the Emperor. I even dig a badass little Yoda. Qui Con Gin is a good character and I'm not but-hurt about Hayden's portrayal of Anakin.

The biggest fault of the prequels is the complexity. It's not simple enough drama. The complexity trumps Star Trek, which dove deeper into waters left alone by Star Wars. Unfortunately, when you play to the crowd obsessing over nerdy detail, you better get it right. Star Trek always understood that. There are moments of Star Trek even Trekkies dislike, but never universally. 

JJ understood this as well. I also re-watched the 2009 Abram produced Star Trek relaunch over the weekend. He got it right too. Star Trek is allowed to be complex, yet a little simplified from the expanded universe, giving it legs in the uber nerd realm. It's tasteful. I haven't followed any backlash about the Star Trek movie(s), yet I can imagine some criticism. Making Spock a bigger player works for me just fine.

Same conference room, same questions? Probably similar. Trek definitely worked as training ground for Wars. As much as people want to be weird about JJ having control over both, it makes perfect sense and adds to each saga. There will be a time when fans refer to this day as the "Abrams era," debating the pros and cons of the man running the ships (behind the scenes) from a historical point of view.

Is "The Force Awakens" a perfect movie? No, but it's better than the hugely forgettable "Avatar" previously holding the box office record. It is good though, worthy of succeeding "Return of the Jedi." History will judge it well, and it is destined to be a front runner for fan favorite. I need to see it at least 6 more times before I can say if it's even close to my favorite. I view Star Wars as a collective sum. It works for me there, for sure.

Nago.

Throw me that Good News, Playa!

In 1988, for my 14th birthday, my stepfather bought me 2 tickets to see Stryper at the Erie Civic Center. I was excited. My young concert going life was just getting started. The next few years saw cheering for Whitesnake, Great White, Bon Jovi, Anthrax, Aerosmith, Skid Row and many other metal acts of the day, but Stryper was a band that I could argue about. To this day I still know I was right about them all along.

In the beginning, Stryper created European style metal. I listened to it and saw that it was good. Their first two releases were heavy. Dual guitar licks, wood shedding rhythm, sky high vocals, big catchy choruses and a yellow and black gimmic. The title track of their second release, "Soldiers Under Command" is an underrated testament to the best of 80's metal. It shreds. Albeit dated, the whole LP is great.

From there, Stryper got caught up in the dreaded "Dial MTV" version of popularity. The strength of the sappy single "Honestly" sent them into platinum status, and overall the lighter stroke of their 3rd LP "To Hell with the Devil" was as palatable as any release in the Hair Metal world. It was also a very good LP.

The tour of the "To Hell with the Devil" LP is where I caught him up with them. It was December in the PA snow belt and a cold night. My excitement kept me from feeling the icy wind blowing off of Lake Erie.

The whole day was full of excitement. I was taking a very rudimentary computer class in Middle School, and this day I was able to print out a "Stryper Rules" banner in black and white on a continuos ream of paper thanks to the Apple IIc in the lab. The banner went up as soon as I walked in the door of my bedroom. The irony of pinning up a false idol from a band that preached the word of God is not lost on me today. 

The house my family rented at the time was around the corner from a old school building converted into music store/studio. Artists visiting Erie occasionally recorded spots for local radio at this studio. My mother briefly worked at a talent agency in the same building. She came home that afternoon and told me she met a few of the guys from the band in the hallway, but had no clue who they were.

I was mad at her for not leaving work, coming to my school, pulling me out of class and rushing me back to meet the guys. Somehow it my young mind it made complete sense. Why wouldn't she do that?

The rest of the afternoon consisted of picking the right black concert shirt to wear, listing to my Stryper tapes and making sure my long feathered hair was on point.

The show itself was just about underway when I got there. Most everyone had already gone in. I got to my seat just In time for the opening band, "Hurricane" to   prep the crowd for the God Rock to come. Hurricane played a solid set, which was familiar as I had their (then) current tape featuring the minor hit "I'm on to you." 

Stryper came out and played a very loud set of hair metal glory with all the "yellow and black" bells and whistles. Toward the end of the set, same as every night on this tour, the house lights came on. The band then proceeded to throw striped bibles to lucky fans in the crowd.

I was close to the stage and positive Oz Fox (who was 15 feet away from me) would bless me with the keepsake. We definitely made eye contact. Oz pulled his arm back like he would pitch me the book, and looked away to throw it elsewhere. This dude, who talked up my mom earlier that day, dissed me.

Today, I feel like I may bump into him sitting in the coach section of some random flight to Birmingham, and tell him to eat shit (unless he gives me a bible).

As I matured, I grew out of bands like Stryper. Tastes across the world advanced past the cock metal heyday right along side of me. It's almost like putting away the comic books for novels. However, somewhere in my mind, that period of time holds a fondness for several bands, and Stryper is definitely there.

For those who care, Stryper is set to release a new LP. It's supposed to be heavy, but for me they always were. I'm considering spotify for reasons like this. I don't want to commit, but I do want to hear. That's feels sacrilege, I support artists by buying music, but my ADHD tells me to get a streaming service because the responsible adult in me thinks it's a better investment. I digress.

Nago

Dead and Bloated.

Horrible title, right? Seriously, lighten up. I didn't write the song, Scott Weiland did, and the irony of the lyrics today... Well, nuff said.

Stone Temple Pilots is one of those bands that have mass appeal to several music classes. I have a Slayer/Overkill loving friend that played creep on his acoustic back in the 90's. I personally had a vocal obsession with Interstate Love Song for many years. People love their material whether they admit it or not. It's the best Dad Rock out there.  

STP was lumped in with the grudge movement originally, yet had no roots in Seattle. They outlasted the trend and propelled to greater heights than their peers of the early '90's music scene. Their heavy rock, guitar driven, palatable songs (so damn catchy) kept them relevant longer than so many other bands of the era. 

STP has a special place in my heart. I had kids early, and stopped going to live shows for a period of about 4 years. STP playing at the Erie Civic Center in 1998 broke the dry streak in a big way.

It wasnt the first concert I would have chosen to see. I'm glad I did. They reignited my love for live music. It was a great show, and a very fond memory. Cheap Trick was the opening band, which today I realize was an awesome move for STP. To take them out after Cheap Tricks' prime showed respect for  influences.

I saw STP again in 2010 at Cleveland's Tower City amphitheater. Cage the Elephant was the opener, and arguably blew STP off the stage. A few days later the Internet was abuzz with footage of Scott Weiland lip syncing at a show the following night. Scott had been publicly struggling with child custody, wife separation, drug addiction and various other battles. This was post Velvelt Revolver.

It was definitely the mighty falling. Scott Weiland was the definition of "Rock Star." 

I remember hearing one of the guys from the Doors say that Scott Weiland was the right person to fill Jim Morrison's leather pants. A statement ringing very true this week. Scott couldn't beat his demons. I believe that the age of 48 is probably too long to be hanging around as a drug addict. 30 years of on and off abuse is a long time to grace this earth. Addiction is a killing time bomb. Death eluded this man for many years.

To be fair, I don't know for sure that drugs killed Scott. I'm assuming (just like everyone today). 

Scott left a legacy that really stops and starts with STP. Velvet Revolver is a footnote (maybe just an "eh"?). Scott was a vocalist that adapted to the song. STP was something special.

Rest in peace Scott.

Nago

Dreaming of what????

This morning I woke up with a crazy dream still fresh in my head. I knew immediately I would write this blog tonight and share the strangeness with my readers.

I was playing bass for Rush. I'm not sure why, or how I landed the gig, but Geddy needed me to play. He was there singing, but I was playing bass in front of a crowd of thousands at an outdoor daytime concert.

Sounds cool, right? Well, unfortunately in this dream, I was about as good at playing bass as I really am, which is rudimentary at best. I sucked, was underprepared and just blew it. The volume on my rig was eventually turned down and I was left feeling ashamed facing the ridicule of a rabid nerd crowd. 

The guys in the band told me after the gig that I was ok, and I was welcome to return. I knew that I didn't work hard enough to be on stage but realized that this nightmare of being outclassed wouldn't end until I got busy and actually learned the songs. Right before I woke up I was arranging lessons from my son, Mocha, to try to get up to speed.

I awoke in bed wondering what the hell caused me to dream of playing for Rush. I dig Rush, but no one could accuse me of being a superfan. They're not even in my top 10 favorite bands. My son loves them. I have friends and peers that love them. I've seen Rush live 5 times, but I'm not a Rush nerd.

The takeaway I took from the dream was to snap out of an obvious work rut. I burn out like anyone, and coming off of a vacation week was making me drag ass hardcore. I have things that shouldn't be sitting needing to get done, and I was procrastinating.

To be fair, a family week can be pretty exhausting in its own right. First off, it's 400 miles one way. My family consists of my 2 sons, my 4 sisters, 1 brother, 11 nieces and nephews, 2 grand nephews, 3 brother in laws, my parents and various other players. Not all were present, but even in partial form it's a lot to take in. On top of that, on my return home Saturday, I immediately got to decorating the VA crib alongside Lisa, which is big business for the neighborhood we live in. Following that, we cooked a delayed Thanksgiving dinner with the peeps here on Sunday. By Monday morning I was spent...

Even though time off is supposed to be refreshing, the next 3 days were less than productive. I was not working up to the standard that was absolutely required given the years end and pressure upon me. 

The Rush dream snapped me out of the funk. I am grateful for it. It gave me back a little focus. My job is a stage I can stand on with confidence and I shouldn't take it for granted. Geddy Lee wouldn't exactly be great at what I do. We are both salesmen in our own right. We both have talents. I have no doubt that Geddy could sell the same products I do, just not without practice and some knowledge.

Still, the dream has me scratching my head in amusement. In what alternate universe would Rush hire me to even carry a Bass, let alone play one? 

Maybe Geddy dreamt of selling conveyor products and services last night?

Geddy, let's make a deal. You stay away from my job, and I'll stay off of your stage. We will both be better for it.

Nago