Today Is Unofficial Godzilla Day

I don't know what it is about today, but I just can't stop thinking about Godzilla. What is just a big goofy man in a giant lizard suit to some is a childhood icon, hero and tradition to me. Sure, I grew up when Goji was not at the height of his popularity, but watching the Godzilla marathon on WWOR (Channel 9 in NJ/NY) every Thanksgiving was a tradition even more sacred than the damn turkey. Playing with my giant Godzilla toy (with plastic fire tongue and shooting hand) while watching him beat the shit out of King Ghidorah, Megalon, and even the mighty King Kong was something special. Okay, so he didn't really win against Kong, but there was always that false urban legend that somewhere existed an alternate ending with Godzilla as the victor. Oh, if only it were true.

As time went on, Channel 9 forgot about but I didn't and neither did Mystery Science Theater 3000. Thankfully they only made fun of the ones I probably didn't care that much about, but they sure ripped Gamera a new one. Japanese Laser-discs dubbed to VHS started hitting Chinatown and soon I was able to watch the films the way they were intended, all complete with English subtitles instead of dubbing. Too bad that wasn't legal. Still, that was it. I was now officially a lifelong member of the "Someday giant monsters are going to stomp all over this damn planet and blow shit up" fan club.

I'd Be More Thankful If You Disappeared

Just about everyone is doing their Thanksgiving list or post today, but I wanted to do something a little bit different. There are people and things that exist on this planet which I think I would be a lot more thankful if they all just disappeared. I'm not saying I wish all of these some violent death, though some I might. I'm just saying life would be a little better without this crap in it.

1. Kanye West: I don't want to seem like this is just cause of what he did this year. Let it be known that I couldn't stand the moron since the first time I heard his corny crap. I didn't like his music, and then his personality came and got in the way. Erase him and I don't have to hear any of his poor excuse for hip-hop, see pictures of him wearing mini-Venetian blinds over his eyes, or have him make any more public-speaking blunders. Yeah, I agreed with him on the whole G. W. Bush fiasco, but even that came off as just stone dumb.