What It’s Not and What It Is

It’s not a hoverboard.

It’s a gyro-steadied person truck.

It’s not energy.

Though it is a drink.

It’s not a strangely-shaped cactus.

It’s a yoga pose.

Also not a hoverboard.

It’s a gyro-steadied unicycle.

It’s not only a tool.

It’s a pocketful of possibilities.

It’s not fun to watch.

It is fun to play.

It’s not a way to catch up with your high school friends.

It’s a way to catch up with Elon Musk.

It’s not a chain.

But it is a collection of Links.

It’s not a gummy horse.

It’s a horse of the sea.

It’s not an eye.

It’s a stairwell.

It’s not the running of the salmon.

It’s a triathlon.

It’s not your next Uber ride.

It’s your last Uber ride.

Superior Technic

J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson

Sam Raimi’s Spiderman movies were more in tune with the Cinematic Universe of Marvel than Jon Watts’ Spiderman movies. Here’s why:

  1. Casting. Aunt May as portrayed by Rosemary Harris was not only visually more like the comic books, but her acting is the high bar, the standard for everyone, who might ever play the character, to try to reach. Her acting is superior. J. Jonah Jameson will forever be etched in my mind by the performance of J. K. Simmons. His acting was masterful. His character was as lovable as he was tyrranical. Green Goblin likewise will never be anyone else but Willem Dafoe. His acting was that amazing. As far as villains go, Thomas Haden Church (Sandman) and Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus) are both captivating in their roles. They were cast perfectly. Maybe you could trade Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire in any of the films, they both did equally well with the role of Peter Parker, but there are others whose performances could not be substituted. Bonesaw for instance, could not be played by anyone but Randy Savage. Sadly, he will not reprise the role anytime soon, since he passed away in 2011. It was also fun to see Bruce Campbell in a variety of parts.
  2. Camera-work. Sam Raimi employs a snap-to technic mastered by few. This is only one reason his movies are so entertaining. He also does well with camera angles, close-ups, zoom technics, and more, to get the story told with cinematic proficiency and artistic integrity.
  3. Stan Lee cameos. Though there will be many Marvel movies now without Stan Lee cameos, it can be argued that the Sam Raimi Spiderman films started the tradition.
  4. Tension-relieving humor. I’m not even saying Jon Watts did a terrible job on the newer films. He just didn’t reach the level of Sam Raimi. The area of humor is one in which the difference is in-your-face obvious. Sam Raimi is able to produce the correct timing for jokes made during tense moments. Also, the appropriate levels of humor are sprinkled throughout Raimi’s films. Some of the humor in Jon Watts’ films was trite and predictable, though this may be attributable to the writers more than the director.
  5. Venom made Peter Parker dance. In another “non-MCU” movie called Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse they poke fun at this moment in the Sam Raimi Spiderman movie, yet there are just as strange scenes in the Jon Watts-directed films which can’t be blamed on an alien life form. Take the scene where Tom Holland as Spiderman is slowly changing in an alley. Awkward!

All of these points are made even more concrete by the fact that in No Way Home, many of the superior actors mentioned were employed to raise the artistic level of the movie.

EARTH DAY

Rendering by SIMON LEE

The reality is: everything recycles. The only hang-up is when we get these things that aren’t readily reusable, so your local recycling centers will say, ‘no that’s not recyclable,’ when what they really mean is the item you might want to recycle is not within the capacity of their operation. They’re only protecting their own interests. You would too. It costs a lot to remove the less-recyclable from the currently-recyclable.

So what is and what isn’t recyclable? Here are some things usually considered recyclable:

Paper—one of the most common things people send to the three arrows bin, paper can be repurposed several times before the fibers are too fine to be reused.

Aluminium—otherwise known as aluminum, this too is one of the most often considered substances to send for recycling.

Lead/acid batteries—because of tracking and reimbursement programs, these actually have a respectable percentage of being recycled. Nearly 100% of all lead/acid batteries produced get recycled!

Glass—highly recyclable, and yes, green, red, whatever-colored glass can be recycled like the rest.

Plastics—when these don’t get recycled, people often claim they don’t understand the labeling system. It’s not too difficult. Like materials can be recycled together. HDPE stands for High Density Polyethylene. LDPE stands for Low Density Polyethylene. PETE stands for Polyethylene Terephthalate. PVC means Polyvinyl Chloride. PP means Polypropylene. PS means Polystyrene.

Food scraps—one of the least recycled materials, food scraps often get sent off to the landfill. Food scraps make excellent compost. Everything from egg shells to orange peels can be composted and used for gardening, creating new earth, in a manner of speaking.

Calming the Salmon

Deserts exert influence on the riverbed, distressing the fauna. Salmon born early, their birthplace a sauna. Reluctant fishermen catch and release. Release and catch and release again. The whole time the cast was their only plan.

For bombshells and clamshells, honeycombs and honeybells, we take it easy and take it well.

A lifetime in solitude is a day in hell.

You have to keep your mouth closed to tell this tale.

Any man can have a vision, only the honorable will act. It’s all the rage to hesitate, and that’s why I react.

A million years to call your own, with never a space to label home.

The time we spend to keep our place won’t mean a thing if the sun goes nova. Sun worshippers convert now to Jehovah.

Berate the boys for making noise. Hate the noise, not the boys.

A lot has happened since we last met. Our psychic connection relates all which hasn’t…yet.