Imaginary Friends and Movie Remakes – Your Thoughts?
I never had an imaginary friend when I was younger. I’m not really sure how I feel about the whole thing, either. I mean I’m all for creativity and imagination in a kid, but there’s something about it that I think is a little bit creepy. Who’s to say they really don’t see someone there? They’re usually pretty convinced themselves.
I think if my son ever tells me about his imaginary friend, I might ask him to go play in the other room with him/her. I don’t know if I could handle wondering if the imaginary companion was looking at me or not.
Anyways, the reason I bring this up is some random thought popped in my head the other day and it inspired me to head over to Google and do a search for one of my favorite movies ever. I don’t remember exactly what I wanted to find out, but the movie I was looking up was ‘Drop Dead Fred’
In my search I found out a few things about that movie. First, it wasn’t well-received at the time – it only made about $14 milliion, and the critics didn’t like it much at all. However, since then it has developed a sort of cult following, albeit on a much smaller scale than the weirdos devoted fans who set up conventions for Star Wars
Still, these fans of the movie might have a problem with the second bit of info I found. There’s going to be a remake of Drop Dead Fred. Coming out in 2011 and starring Russell Brand. Cult followers hate imitators.
I don’t have much of an opinion either way when it comes to remakes, other than I think it’s a cop-out by the “creative” people who work in the entertainment industry. You mean to tell me after only about 70 years of making movies we’ve run out of all possible ideas? So much so that even spinoffs are too much work and the only way to come up with something is to completely recycle what someone else did?
That’s the only complaint I have. Remakes don’t ruin the original. They are a different interpretation – nothing more, nothing less. If you loved the original – whatever movie it may be – look at a remake as a chance to either put the original on an even higher pedestal (when the remake sucks) or enjoy a slightly different take on an old favorite (when the remake is good or *gasp* great, even). Even if the remake sucks, it won’t change a single scene in the original. The first version will always be the same movie you loved, no matter what.
I’m actually pretty excited to see how this one turns out. If you’ve seen the original and know who Russell Brand is (a hilariously unpredictable Brit), then you’ll probably agree that this remake has some serious potential. If you’ve never seen the original, pick up your rock, take a peek out at the world and have a look at this awesome scene:
Where Are All the Sandlot Games?
I know I’m not the first person to bring this up, nor will I be the last, but as someone who has a tendency to jump up on my soapbox I can’t help but vent here today. My complaint? I want to know what happened to all the neighborhood sandlot games.
Back when I was a kid we didn’t have to walk to school uphill both ways, barefoot and in the snow. We didn’t have it nearly as rough as some of the generations before us. But we didn’t have it any easier than kids do now, either.
Yet, our activity of choice was playing rather than watching – exercising our legs and arms and lungs rather than our thumbs and our mouths. Actually, even our video games required us to have enough cardio capacity to blow in our Nintendo cartridges to get them to work. These 21st century brats have no idea.
Unfortunately, their ignorance of the true meaning of play is so lost on them that they don’t know what they’re missing. And, to be honest, it’s not their fault. I’m not going to totally blame it on video games, because I think within reason they are excellent for stimulating creativity and imagination and for encouraging youthfulness in general.
Some of the blame belongs with their parents. First, for not showing kids how to play. Just like anything else, this is something they need to be taught. For all the effort that’s spent on coddling, protecting, defending and showcasing their children, why can’t some be spent showing them how to have a healthy, good time outside?
As a new father I should probably include myself in this group, but because my son is only six months old, I’m not prepared to take a full share of the blame just yet. When he gets older I will make sure he knows what a pickup game is and I’ll show him how to round up his buddies to participate.
From the time I was eight or nine, up until I was about 15, I was a master at organizing neighborhood games. I don’t say this to toot my own horn.
Well, I guess that’s partly why.
But the real reason I bring this up is to make a point. As I look back now, I’m amazed at all the things I learned by taking on this task. Think about the different hats I wore just trying to get a game of football organized. It’s pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.
Much of our summers and weekends were spent pretty much how Bo described in his article on childhood nostalgia. There was a lot of carefree time-wasting, but when it was time to get down to business, we knew what we needed to do.
Setting Up a Sandlot Game
Just for fun let’s take a look at the procedures we had to go through to get a sandlot game off the ground. The stuff in parentheses is how these “skills” parlay into real-world tasks. I’m a dork, I know.
Step 1. Determine the Game (Event Planner)
Usually with help from Bo, and whoever else I happened to be with when the idea to play came up, we’d determine what sport or game we were going to play. Our arsenal was pretty vast, but we usually chose from the sports common to sandlots across the country – football, basketball, baseball, whiffle ball, kickball – or some variation of them.
Once, we decided on a game, we’d figure out when we wanted to start (usually immediately) and try to find the best place to do it (usually one of a handful of parks or fields in our neighborhood).
After we set the details it was time for step 2.
Step 2. Gather the Players (Promoter)
There’s no sense moving on any further until you knew you had the participants. We’d go through our Rolodex of friends, acquaintances and rivals until we had enough players to field a decent game. Often this meant sweet-talking our friends, and sometimes even their parents, to get enough warm bodies.
I swear, nobody could sugar-coat a pickup game better than me. In my day, I was like the Don King of the sandlot leagues.
“You have to be home in an hour for dinner? No problem, we’ll keep the clock running.”
“You’re supposed to be studying? I’ll read you your flashcards between innings.”
“You’re tired of your son coming home with grass stains on his pants? Mrs. Otis, I promise I won’t let him get dirty.”
Of course, most of my promises weren’t kept, but that’s why I compare myself to Don King and not your local wedding planner. You come to me wanting a sandlot game, you’re gonna get a sandlot game.
Step 3. Set up the Field/Court (Field Maintenance Technician)
Just because we refer to them as “sandlot” games doesn’t mean they necessarily had to be played on a sandlot. We played on all surfaces. Pretty much whatever was available at the time. In the street, in someone’s backyard, at the park – wherever there was enough open room for our game. Now, it seems like parents have taken the “let’s get our kids off the streets” mantra a little too literally.
Many times when we got to the location of our upcoming game there’d be some sort of an issue we’d have to handle. If there was snow, we’d shovel it. If the grass was too long, we’d borrow a mower. If something needed moving, we’d move it. There wasn’t much that could keep us from playing once we got to this point.
Once the surface was acceptable we’d quickly determine boundaries, ground rules and anything else that needed to be decided based on fields/courts and their obstructions. This was all done in a matter of moments. Again, we were very good at what we did.
Step 4. Choosing Teams (General Manager)
We picked them. Using captains. And yes, someone got picked last. If you didn’t like it, you did one of two things, played your ass off so you didn’t get picked last next time, or you didn’t come back again.
Getting picked last builds character – if you let it. Plus, it was the fool-proof way to prevent complaints that teams were uneven.
Every once in a while we’d pair up match-ups and break the teams up that way, but for the most part we’d use the old-fashioned, time-tested method and pick ‘em.
Step 5. Playing the Game (Coach)
Play-caller, motivator, strategist. We all got to be all of the above and it was great. I learned as much, if not more, about the ins and outs of sports strategy by playing them, either organized or pickup, as I did watching them on TV.
Speaking of TV, there was no greater cause for wanting to go out and play yourself, than watching a game on TV. When I was younger I could barely get through a full game before I was itching to gather up some friends for our own game. Now kids just dial up their buddy via XBox Live and “throw” the old pigskin around with them virtually.
It doesn’t even make me angry anymore. Now it’s just sad.
Step 6. Settling Disputes (Commissioner)
It’s a given that there will be disputed calls, arguments, maybe even fights. The great thing about a sandlot game is they matter. Winning is extremely important, so a call for or against you can make all the difference.
We normally didn’t have referees, so it usually came down to a consensus in the event of a close call. If all else failed, I usually volunteered my team to give in to the other team. Being diplomatic was the easiest way to get the game going again, and I saw it as a challenge to overcome.
These disagreements were settled in the heat of the battle, in person, and lasted seconds at the most. Today’s twelve year old barely speaks to his peers unless it’s done through a headset or a text message.
Step 7. Keeping Score (Statistician)
We always kept score. Always. But sometimes that wasn’t enough for us. On numerous occasions we started our own “leagues”, which required us to keep our own stats, naturally.
Suddenly bragging rights didn’t solely rest on winning and losing. If your team won, but you hit half as many home runs as someone else, they’d make sure you knew.
When you’re playing with your friends, the numbers are all that matter. Of course, looking back years later, they don’t matter at all.
What matters is that you learn how to interact with others. That you stay physically active, and enjoy the outdoors. It’s important that you pick up a skill and decide whether it’s something you want to develop even further.
It matters that you come to understand how to compromise, how to disagree constructively, and how to resolve conflict efficiently and with each side having felt they won.
It’s important that you form friendships and create memories that will last you the rest of your life. It’s important that you do this, so that one day you can show your children how to enjoy their own sandlot games. And I can get off my soapbox.
Awesome People: Dr. Seuss
The “Awesome People” series is a collection of posts in which we highlight an individual who has accomplished something notable, especially in regard to encouraging youthful behavior, a strong desire to follow dreams, or anything else that we think makes them an awesome person. If you would like to see a particular person (living or dead, famous or not) featured here, please let us know.
Personal
Name: Theodor Seuss Geisel (also known as “Dr. Seuss”, “Theo. LeSieg”)
Born: March 2, 1904
Died: September 24, 1991
Profession
Dr. Seuss is the definitive children’s author of the twentieth century. If you haven’t read one of his books or seen a movie based on one of them, you’ve been living an extremely deprived life.
Products/Websites
He’s the author of more than 44 children’s books which have combined to sell more than 200 million copies around the world. Just some food for thought, if his cut (Dr. Seuss Enterprises) was just one dollar for every book sold, his estate is worth about a cool quarter of a billion dollars, and that’s before any merchandising or licensing rights kick in. Bottom line: the dude generated serious moola.
Some of his most noteworthy books include:
- The Cat in the Hat (1957)
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957)
- Horton Hears A Who! (1954)
- One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (1960)
- Green Eggs and Ham (1960)
- Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (1990)
Movies based on his books:
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000, starring Jim Carrey)
- The Cat in the Hat (2003, starring Mike Myers)
- Horton Hears a Who! (2008, starring Jim Carrey, Steve Carrell)
- The Lorax (coming in 2012)
The official (and very cool) Dr. Seuss website can be found at:
www.seussville.com
Here is a summary of what the website is all about:
“Dr. Seuss believed that books and learning to read should be fun and exciting for children. The site maintains this spirit of fun and honors the tenets of his work: discovery, imagination, and creativity.” – from www.seussville.com
Claim to Fame
As we’ve already discussed, Dr. Seuss is probably the most popular and certainly the most successful children’s book author of all time. His books have lasted through multiple generations and show no signs of slowing down. If anything, recent feature film productions based on his books have increased his popularity.
Not only have his books provided entertainment for children for more than seven decades, they have also served to help teach them to read. That and he was spitting rhymes since before Eminem’s parents were born.
What the PPFC Thinks
The guy’s an American icon. He’s got an entire island named after him at Universal Studios’ Adventure Island theme park. He wrote some of the simplest yet most poignant stories your children will ever read. He’s got movies based on his books, gazillions of dollars, and was a master of the English language.
Despite all those pieces of awesomeness, what makes me think he was really an awesome person was his persistence in reaching that level of success. As the story goes, Geisel knocked on the door of 27 publishers in an attempt to have his first book published before one finally said yes. How many of us can say that we’d get up that many times?
Imagine if he’d quit after publisher number 25 or 26 said no. We’d never know about Horton hearing that Who, or about how the Grinch had a heart three sizes too small. More important than that is the proof that perseverance does pay off, and that believing in yourself, even when others may doubt you, is still the most important thing.
They Said It
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.” from Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Contact
Dr. Seuss himself passed away in 1991, but his legacy lives on at his official website, www.seussville.com.
For direct communication send an email to drseuss@drseuss.com or SeussPress@randomhouse.com.
Exploring the Anatomy of a Nickname
William H. Bonney: “Buckshot George”, that’s your name. You wanted a name, that’s it. “Buckshot George”. It’s a good name.
Hendry French: My name is Hendry William French.
William H. Bonney: That’s a good name too.
If you grew up in my circle of friends, there’s a good chance you had a nickname. In fact, if you didn’t have a nickname, and we realized it, we did our best to make sure you got one. Depending on who you were, or what you looked like, that could be a good thing or a bad thing.
Although they were flattering most of the time, some of them were harsh enough to get us damned to hell by the Politically Correct Association – which doesn’t exist by the way, so we’re safe.
The point is, as young, immature kids, we handed out nicknames that we felt fit, whether they were polite or not.
While thinking about it recently, it occurred to me that although we did all have nicknames, it was never a situation where we all sat down and said “‘So-and-so’ needs a nickname.” Actually, it was quite the opposite. All the nicknames came about naturally, so much so that if you asked me to I couldn’t actually pin down the moment of origin for more than one or two.
This leads to the question of what exactly goes into the evolution of a nickname. The success a nickname has is dependant on many factors, each no less important than the others.
For instance, it has to be relevant. A random nickname with no connection to the person it’s given to will have no chance. There must be a connection between the person and the name.
It has to be original. An unoriginal nickname can be successful, but to be noteworthy it should be something you don’t see everyday.
And it has to stick. There is a critical point every successful nickname goes through which determines whether it will survive. In order to last as a nickname, it must stick to the person it’s given – meaning people have to naturally start calling them by it more often than not.
Join me as I explore these criteria and the rest of the factors that make up the anatomy of a nickname…
Where Nicknames Originate
There is no magic nickname wishing well – no store you can buy them from. In fact, it’s bad form to ask for or suggest your own nickname in any way whatsoever.
Bo added the “Delicious” part to his nickname on his own, but we all chose to allow this to happen, mostly because Bo has an ego the size of Alaska and it was just easier that way.
In one way, shape or form you have to earn a nickname. Our buddy Hendry William French (from the quote above) learned this the hard way when he asked Billy the Kid for a nickname in Young Guns 2. Billy told him he’d have to earn it, and by the time he did, Hendry realized his own name was good enough.
The unfortunate part of a nickname is you don’t normally get a say in keeping it if enough people decide to give you one. If it is less than flattering, but it catches on, you’re stuck.
So the question that needs answering is “Where do nicknames come from?”
The easy answer is: from your buddies.
But, how, exactly, do they come up with them?
I did some brainstorming, mostly from my own experiences, and came up with the following ways I’ve seen nicknames originate. They aren’t exactly scientific, so don’t hail them as the be all, end all for nicknames.
Variation of Your Real Name
We call him ‘Bo’ because is is a shortened version of his last name, Bovenzi. His dad is Bo, and so is his brother. Maybe that’s why he “needed” to add ‘Delicious’ to the end of his, just so we all could tell the difference.
We have another buddy whose last name is Smith. We call him ‘Smit’. ‘Smitty’ is played out and is so your dad’s generation.
Some of my brother’s friends call him ‘Mel’, because his initials are M.E.L. It has nothing to do with comparing him to this guy. Though some may argue.
A shortening or abbreviation of someone’s real name is a safe and adequate source for a nickname. It’s also a pretty good way to have the name stick.
Sometimes using a variation of the real name takes on a life of its own. Take my friend ‘Feez’ for instance.
His last name is Field, which naturally spawned Fieldsy as his nickname. When someone who didn’t know his real last name heard us calling him it, they thought we said Feezly, and started calling him that.
Naturally, we thought it was hilarious, so started doing it too. Not long after that his nickname was given a nickname, and you have ‘Feez’.
Descriptive Nicknames
These types of nicknames are when cruelty could enter the picture. For example, ‘Fat Pat’ for a guy (or girl) named Pat. This example also uses the rhyming names technique, which from a nicknamee standpoint is never a good thing.
Sometimes descriptive nicknames are used in a reverse fashion, like calling the largest person in your crew ‘Tiny’.
Then, of course, you have the traditional descriptive-type nicknames that are adequate but lack originality. Some examples of those: ‘Red’, ‘Lefty’, ‘Curly’, etc. These are useful as one-hitters, in an effort to mock or tease a buddy, but using them as their “regular” nickname just shows a lack of creativity. Don’t be that guy.
Holy Crap, That’s Hilarious
Every so often a nickname that might not seem like anything special finally reveals its origins. This usually happens when someone already has a nickname when you meet them, and then after getting to know them better, you hear the story behind the name.
We have a buddy named Otis, and we’ve always called him that. His real name is something different of course, but for about as long as I’ve known him he’s been Otis.
After years of calling him by his nickname, we finally sought out the story behind it. And I’m so glad we did.
Otis has a scar on his upper lip that he claims he’s had since he was just a couple years old. Apparently he got it when his lip got caught in an escalator at the mall. How exactly that happens I have no idea, but after I told this story at his wedding (I was best man, but won’t be anymore once he reads this), his father confirmed it was true.
So where does ‘Otis’ come from in all this?
Have you ever noticed the name of the company that makes most elevators and escalators? Next time you step off one, check out the name plate on the floor. That’s right, they’re ‘Otis’ brand.
The One-Timer
Sometimes something that you do one time becomes so infamous that it earns you a nickname. On a rare occasion the name just works so well that it sticks forever. That’s what happened to our contributing author Mike Bovenzi.
One random day years ago, Mike left his house wearing a t-shirt that had a big (almost life-sized) graphic of Cletus, the hick farmer from the Simpsons. That was all it took. From that day on, he was known as ‘Cletus’. In fact, the name stuck so well, that a few have even called his brother Bo ‘Big Cletus’.
You know your nickname has truly made it when it starts affecting the rest of your family, too.
Getting a Nickname to Stick
So how exactly do you get a nickname to stick? There are two critical factors to getting a nickname to stick. The first is it must be used a majority of the time by a majority of the people.
For instance, if you have five people in your group of friends, at least three of them need to call the person by their nickname. And they need to do it more often than they use the real name. After a couple weeks of doing this, the nickname will become just as natural as the birth name.
The second factor is it must be relevant. What I mean is the nickname must be a good one. If it’s lousy, it won’t hold up to the first factor anyway. Good nicknames (names that stick) usually carry some sort of meaning or have relevance to the person they’re given to. I’ve seen good nicknames fail to catch on, so one that’s irrelevant has no chance.
Then again, there are always exceptions to the rule…
Taking Pride in Your Nickname
I’ll admit, some nicknames aren’t the most flattering. Still, there’s a certain element of pride that you should take in even the most repulsive name, especially if it’s given to you by your buddies, or for the ladies who might be reading this, your girlfriends.
See, a nickname is a reflection of love. If they didn’t love you, your friends wouldn’t bother to make fun of you.
It just wouldn’t be worth their time.
But when they put forth the effort to give you a nickname that is successful enough to stick, it becomes a part of you. It’s who you are just as much as your real name, especially in that group of friends. If you don’t embrace it, it will only encourage them to call you by it all the more.
However, if you do embrace it, they will still refer to you by that name, but at least this time it will be done affectionately.
Once it sticks, your nickname becomes an extension of who you are. It is a part of you and when your name comes up when you’re not around, that name will represent you.
Be proud.
Oh and one last thing.
As awesome as it is to have a nickname, remember that they can’t be forced. You should never, ever do something intentionally and without purpose, just in hopes that a nickname will come from it. It only works once in a blue moon, and can be very, very dangerous.
If you don’t believe me, just ask Otis.
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