You remind me of home,
of all the simple things in life,
of light and love and the reasons I am not alone.
You remind me of hope,
of the sea and the sky,
every hug and every kiss from your lips to your thighs.
I have flown around the world and met no one like you
because you are all the things I keep coming back to.
Tag Archives: Eric Robert Nolan
(Hopefully not too soon.)
I think I am going to have “Oh Shit, Was That Today?” inscribed on my tombstone.
Throwback Thursday: “Gymkata” (1985)!!!
“Gymkata!!!” This 1985 movie is widely regarded as one of the worst of all time, Olympic gymnast Kurt Thomas received a Razzie Award for it as “Worst New Star,” and the movie’s name was a running joke on “Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-1999). (I am linking here, by the way, to the Super Fan Trailers Youtube channel.)
The funny thing is, I remember being pretty impressed with this movie when I saw it on VHS back in the day at my buddy Peter Hughes’ house. (I’m not sure what that says about me as a young high school student.)
Oh, well. Peter and I got a fun summer afternoon out of this.
I might have to hunt down a copy. Although MST3K never actually devoted an episode to “Gymkata,” its successor “Rifftrax” (2007) did. Hmm. I’m not sure if I want to see the movie without any commentary at first — so I can get an undiluted hit of 80’s nostalgia. I’ll share here either way.
Some pretty surprising MWC news …
… though it’s old news, really; it was announced on the college website last year. (We absent-minded alumni are sometimes way out of touch.) The college is evidently going to tear down the Marshall and Russell Hall dormitories so it can erect a new theater building. And there is a fan page, of sorts, for people who fondly remember the soon-to-be-razed dorms.
There have been so many major construction projects at Mary Wash since I graduated nearly 30 years ago. I’ll go ahead here and echo the sentiments of one of my alums on Facebook — the next time I see campus, I’m going to feel like I hardly recognize it.
The Piker Press publishes “Blue Wolves Move in an Indigo Wood.”
I am so honored to see The Piker Press publish another poem of mine — this time it is “Blue Wolves Move in an Indigo Wood.” You can read it online right here.
Thanks yet again to Managing Editor Sand Pilarski for allowing my work to appear in such a terrific online magazine! (I also happen to love the graphic that she selected!) 🙂
A very short review of “The Big Short” (2015)
“The Big Short” (2015) is a superb, stylish docudrama about the housing market bubble that led to the 2008 financial crisis. It’s smart, funny, informative, and boasts stellar performances from an ensemble cast — including the movie’s supporting actors.
For me, the two standout performances were Christian Bale as an oddball hedge fund manager and Steve Carrell, his counterpart at a different firm. (I’ve known Carell only from his clownish comedic roles; seeing him shine here as the smartest man in the room was a treat.) Hamish Linklater, by the way, is one of Carell’ staff — if he looks familiar to you as a horror fan, he was also the troubled priest in Mike Flanagan’s outstanding “Midnight Mass” (2021). (And he is absolutely an excellent actor.)
This movie goes to great lengths to translate finance jargon into terms that the average viewer can understand. (Think of what might happen if your favorite high school teacher teamed up with a group of excellent screenwriters to create a “Cliff’s Notes”-style Youtube video about the housing bubble.)
It’s great stuff. I recommend it.
GYMKATA!!
Why did I buy white sweatpants? Was I pretending to be a gymnast?
They are also way too big — like maybe MC Hammer joined the KKK for some reason.
Toucan play at that game.
Mystery blue-green gunk on my windowsill. Like two unhealthy toucans stopped by there to gather their strength.
Yes, I do realize that “two unhealthy toucans” are my go-to suspects for all sorts of things, because my mind is weird like that. But this time it actually kinda fits.
Product placement totally works.
I’ve been jonesing for Chef Boyardee Ravioli ever since the now famous exchange between Joel and Ellie on HBO’s “The Last of Us” (2023).
Look at what I brought home from the store.
It actually is tasty stuff, though.
Throwback Thursday: “Ca-Ca-Catch the Wave!”
Here they are — all the Max Headroom ads for Coca-Cola. (I am linking here to the awesome Zona C Youtube channel.) When I mentioned the iconic corporate spokesman here on Monday, I had no idea he’d appeared in so many Coke commercials.
Matt Frewer’s stuttering alter-ego really was everywhere in the 1980’s. (There’s a terrific rundown of his digital reign right here over at Pop History Dig.) And, for my money, the infamous pirate broadcast incident in Chicago is actually a little creepy when viewed in its entirety, in an accidental, V/H/S kind of way. (I actually remember seeing coverage of it on the nightly news back in the day — someone hacking into a television broadcast was a big deal.)
Frewer himself remains a sublimely talented guy. He’s now 65, and his filmography is truly gigantic. He’s an always enjoyable “that-guy” actor who pops up in all sorts of horror and sci-fi properties. (You can probably tell a lot about your personality and viewing habits by where you’ve seen him last.) My favorite role of his might his turn as a doomed nice-guy in the 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” simply because I love that movie so much.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 