The Consequences of ‘Stranger Things 2’

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Why let reality get in the way of your enjoyment of good entertainment? If you don’t want to read anything about what ‘Stranger Things 3’ should be like, move on to another article. Otherwise, here are some things that probably resulted from ‘Stranger Things 2’ that will need to be explored in the threequel.

Economics – Hawkins has to be a dried-up ghost town or the ruins of a small town when the lab closes up. The small shops and restaurants could survive while the shutdown was in progress because of the influx of military and moving people. After that though, there’s no way to replace all of the revenue lost from government workers who rented or bought homes, went grocery shopping or stopped at the local diner. An economist will trace the downfall of the economy to the failure of several crops in the area, most notably the pumpkins in every pumpkin patch. But the closure of the lab will be the true economic downfall. Some people might point out that all those dead government workers would’ve had the same effect. However, had the U.S. government kept the lab open, it would have brought in more workers. The poverty rate is going to climb unless…

This is the middle of Reagan’s presidency. Maybe he deregulates and sells off the property, which is bought by a weapons manufacturer. Employees flood into the area again, but is this a good business and will they find 11?

Ninja Kids – Steve’s been beat up twice now. He really needs to learn how to fight. He is supposed to be the number one jock in the school when we first meet him. He shows his athleticism swinging a bat. He’s got the physical talents, he just needs to develop them. The “Karate Kid” was released in the summer of 1984 before the events of “Stranger Things 2.”

Steve’s not the only one that needs to develop fighting skills. The nerds need to develop their real-life fighting skills. After the first incident, everyone leaves thinking, “Well, that’s over. Thank God,” and they go back to their relatively normal lives as was evidenced in one of the first scenes with Nancy and Mike. Mike steals Nancy’s quarters and doesn’t tell her why. They promised no more secrets after the first season; they were back to fighting and leaving each other in the dark in the second. It’s human nature to ignore one bad thing. However, when after a second incident occurs, it’s time to find someone who can teach you how to fight. The best fighters know when they’re overmatched; the best teams learn to fight as a team. They also play to each other’s strengths. “The A-Team” came on the air in 1983; “The Stranger Things” kids have a group to pattern themselves after. They can’t just go back to playing D&D; it’s just a game.

Science Kids and Preppers – Maybe the nerds can’t become the best fighters. They can learn to shoot more effective weapons than the wrist rocket. Bows and arrows would be in their wheelhouse as something they could get excited about because they play D&D. Nancy already knows how to shoot a gun; she could teach the rest of them.

If those aren’t their thing, they could work on their science skills. Knowing which chemicals create toxic reactions and which could be explosive would be useful. Survival skills like setting traps would also be good to know. Again, they have role models in “the A-Team.” And they’re already pretty good with Morse code. (Does anyone know that anymore?)

Relationships – Let’s leave out the whole relationship thing. They’re kids. It wouldn’t last longer than 6 months for any of them. Maybe the teens have a shot. The way these relationships work or don’t work is going to come down to the writing and who the show appeals, too. Eleven and Mike are 12 when they meet. They’re 13 when they go to the Snow Ball. We don’t live in the age of Romeo and Juliet, so their romance really isn’t okay. The same holds true for any of the pre-teens. Dating might be a part of growing up, but it doesn’t have to define the show. Yet, with the interracial dating of Max and Lucas and the clear hatred of her brother for Lucas’ “kind” of people, it could wind up playing a big and important part.

Emotional Connection – Is anger the strongest emotion? That’s how El moves a train car. It’s how she closes the gate, but it feels empty and hollow. If anger is really the strongest emotion, then Billy should be the star of the show. There are a lot of angry characters. Max and Hopper both admit to their anger issues. Still, if this is the message of the series, then maybe we all just need to be a little angrier to attain our true power. I don’t happen to believe that, but I’m not sure what other message is currently being sent by “Stranger Things 2.” There’s a work together theme. There’s a take action theme. There’s a friendship theme… It just seems that anger has won out in the finale of the show, even with the love of the Snow Ball playing a small role in the denouement and teaser.

All of these thoughts were ones that occurred immediately after watching the last episode of “Stranger Things 2.” I enjoyed the series while watching it, but there are far too many questions if you try to throw a little reality at it. Yes, I know it’s sci-fi. However, it uses the real world as its basis for reality. No one will believe in the monsters. Atari’s the big gift. He-Man loves Barbie. Science fiction and fantasy set up there rules and have to play by them; otherwise Superhero Bob could come back to life with superpowers from the radioactive bite of a Demodog or really anything else could happen and the viewer (or reader) would have no way of being able to suspend disbelief. I guess the other question is whether or not they will explore 8’s character more. That whole sequence really seemed like a toss off, but it did develop El’s character, gave her a choice, and allowed her to come back to the real story.

Feel free to leave your comments about “Stranger Things 2.” Try to keep them nice. Check out my other blog posts on penguinate.com. If you want to meet a member of the Stranger Things cast, get your tickets for Lilac City Comicon 2019. The science teacher/AV advisor Mr. Clarke, Randy Havens is scheduled to be in Spokane. You can read more about Lilac City Comicon here.

Moose Safety in Alaska: Don’t Pet the Moose.

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I stepped out of my apartment door on the ground level and my breath misted as I bent down to pick up the Sunday paper. I stood up and about ten feet away from me was a moose. “Good morning, Mr. Moose,” I said and backed slowly into the apartment closing the door and practicing what I knew about moose safety habits.

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Speakers’ Club Jan. 19, 2019: An American Sounding

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Word Crimes:

The Minister’s Cat “B”

What is the first priority of language?

Disney Villains:

Catch Phrases:

It’s better with butter

Accents:

Contractions: Use them.

AWESOME! How’s it going?

Why do American commercials look better than Russian movies?

Development and compensation. Hollywood. Fame and fortune. 1918-1922 in Russia; 1923 in America; What are you doing with your free time? Magic

Resources. Zashchitniki (380 million rubles or $6.3 million) Box Office: $15 million, Enjoy Movies declares bankruptcy, Avengers ($220 million) Box Office: $1.5 billion.

Value of entertainment: News, magazines, credits

English is everywhere. Russian foreign box offices include China and Brazil.

‘Napoleon Dynamite’s’ Jon Heder Cancels Appearance at Lilac City Comicon 2019

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The good news is: Jon Heder found more acting work. The bad news is: it interferes with his scheduled appearance at Lilac City Comicon 2019, so he will not be in Spokane for the convention.

In 2014, I got to see Jon Heder as part of Salt Lake Comic Con’s (now called FanX) “Napoleon Dynamite” reunion. Heder and co-star Efrin Ramirez took the stage to talk about the movie, its effects on their lives, and what it meant to them. Heder was convinced to try to recreate the infamous dance routine, which he said he couldn’t really remember because it was improvised.

While Heder is generally recognized for his first feature film role, he has done several other comedies of note, including “Benchwarmers,” and “Blades of Glory.” Heder has also voice acted in “Star vs. the Forces of Evil” and “Pickle and Peanut.”

For those who are interested in Walt Disney’s story, Heder played Roy Disney in “Walt before Mickey.” [Author’s note: As the author of “Disneyland is Creativity” and with “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity” scheduled for release at Lilac City Comicon 2019, this role seems like it may be the most important.] He also did vocal work for “Epic Mickey 2.”

While Heder is no longer scheduled to be in Spokane for Lilac City Comicon 2019, these guests are still on the docket: Chris Kattan, WWE wrestler Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and “Stranger Things” star Randy Havens. Get your tickets for Lilac City Comicon 2019. Remember that guests may change for any comic convention as actors book acting gigs or other obligations may pop up.

Be sure to preorder your penguinate.com penguins, books and other merchandise and have it available for you at the convention. Same convention pricing, just pick it up at our table.

You can read more about the Salt Lake Comic Con 2014’s “Napoleon Dynamite” Reunion at our archive at http://www.penguinate.weebly.com. Or watch videos from the Salt Lake Comic Con 2014 on YouTube.

Get a printed proof of ‘There Are No Penguins in Alaska’

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You want a super exclusive version of “There Are No Penguins In Alaska”? Order in the next eight hours from my website, and I will send you a signed and numbered, limited edition printed proof. The number will be limited to however many people can get their order in within the next eight hours on Jan 17, 2019. That’s when I put my order in to the printer.

How Exclusive?

I already have 10 set aside. These coloring books feature all of the animals and drawings from Transcend Studio along with my words. There are black bears, grizzly bears and polar bears… But there are no penguins in Alaska. There are lots of animals, but there are no penguins in Alaska.

Before the Official Release

With 24 inside pages to color on A3 paper so that the book is roughly 8.5 by 11. There’s no better time to get this coloring book before its official release date. Once you have it, you can review at my website or on Amazon where it’s awaiting its release an eBook. Put your order in now because it expires soon.

‘Avengers: Endgame’ faces impossible challenge after ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

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The problem with “Avengers: Infinity War” is the way it ended and what we knew about the next Marvel movies. Basically, Thanos’ snap eliminated the newest half of the Marvel Universe, including most of Ant-Man’s allies, leaving the old heroes to find a way to avenge the snap, which would fit in perfectly with what Tony Stark told Loki in the first Avengers film and serve as a way to tie the franchise together.

However, the upcoming movie slate after Infinity War includes “Spider-Man: Far from Home” (eliminating the emotional impact of his demise in Infinity War), “Black Panther” (which could possibly give rise to a female Black Panther because T’challa was dusted), “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” (though James Gunn departure after a controversy left this in doubt, Kevin Feige says it’s still on; it could team Rocket with the Reavers and/or Nebula) and “Doctor Strange 2” (which at this point I don’t have an observations on, except its Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mysterio looks like he uses magic).

With all of these movies, and the stars whose contracts are expiring – Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) – as well as the apparent good byes and statements that some won’t be returning to the roles, there is no way for the Marvel Universe to continue without a complete reversal of an entire movie. This seems like it has all kinds of potential to go lame though that type of action has happened before – most notably in the last episode of “Twin Peaks” season 3.

One twist for Endgame could turn the Marvel Universe on its head. What if all the characters that died were the ones to survive, and the audience saw the dusting from the characters’ who actually died point of view? This would mean Rocket died, which would make sense because it has already been stated that he doesn’t have a long lifespan as a raccoon. It would also mean that Bruce Banner is dead, but the hulk isn’t necessarily dead. This type of reveal would make it easier to accept the Nick Fury/Spider-Man alliance. It could be interesting to see how the old characters deal with the reality of their demise while the mirror splits back to the new characters who did actually survive.

At this point though, “Avengers: Endgame,” which releases on April 26, 2019, lacks the stakes that Infinity War had during its run. The new characters are going to come back, and no one will be surprised when the old characters die. Marvel has more creative people than me working for it, and just because the general outcome of the movie is known doesn’t mean it won’t be good. But because we already know so much about it beyond the movie itself, it may not be engaging, especially if Peter Parker comes back and is threatened with death again. He’s already got a movie coming out, and it has a trailer. (Check out other movie related posts.)

The Non-Kickstarter for ‘There Are No Penguins in Alaska’

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There is a lot of misinformation about Alaska that Alaskans hear from tourists and see in movies and TV. Some people think the money is different. Some people think everyone lives in an igloo. Some people think that there’s gold lying on the beaches waiting to be picked up. And some people ask where they can see the penguins in Alaska. There are no penguins in Alaska.

When I left Alaska in 2012 and traveled through the Lower 48, I got asked a lot of questions about my time in Alaska. Does it really stay light for 24 hours a day in summer? How cold does it get really? What do you do for fun in the winter? What’s the best part of living in Alaska? Why did you leave? Did you see any penguins while you were there? I would answer each of the questions as well as I could. For the last question, I would point out that Polar Bears would eat the penguins and that there are no penguins in Alaska.

That trip gave me an idea for a book: “There Are No Penguins in Alaska.” The idea would remain just that until 2018 when I published my first book, “My Life in the Projects: A kid’s-eye view of HUD housing in the 1980s.” Once I realized I could publish books, I also realized I could publish my penguin book. The problem was I let my art skills degrade for a long time and was no longer up to the task of drawing what I needed to make “There Are No Penguins in Alaska.”

Well, my art skills haven’t improved much over the last year, but fortunately, I was able to find a couple of artists to do the work. Antonisa Scot and Oscar Feliz of Transcend Studio put together “There Are No Penguins in Alaska” and now it’s ready to be published. In fact, you can preorder it on Kindle and as a hard copy coloring book at penguinate.com. However, there is a catch.

In order to publish “There Are No Penguins in Alaska” as a coloring book at a reasonable price ($2 per book my cost to retail at $4), I need to order 750 or more copies. That’s $1500 for anyone playing along. I could get fewer copies, but the price goes up pretty drastically, capping out at $5 a copy for 50 copies. That’s only (Haha! Only!) $250 but then I would have to charge $10 per book to make any money. Who’s going to buy a coloring book for $10? Maybe you, since you’re reading this, but not most people. Most people won’t even spend that on a regular kid’s book or any eBook.

Other writers or artists, at this point, would probably launch a Kickstarter, or maybe they would’ve launched it sooner. I, on the other hand, realize that I will publish this book in one form or another, and a Kickstarter would take away from my opportunity to write more books before I start touring the inland states in June where I will sell my books at Lilac City Comicon in Spokane, City Cakes and Cafe in Salt Lake City, Ogden UnCon in Ogden and Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con in Las Vegas, as well as any other bookstores, coffee shops or venues on the way that will have me.

In lieu of running a Kickstarter, which would definitely kill one or both of the books I plan on finishing before June, I am offering a presale. The price for the preorder is set at $8 in case I have to settle for the higher printing costs and to account for shipping and handling, which is more expensive than people would believe. If I can get 80 preorders of the hard copy and/or the Kindle version of the book, I will find the other money I need to print the rest of them. Even if only two people preorder, I am still going to print them, just not in the massive quantity of 750 or for the cheaper price.

This is a challenge. I haven’t sold 80 of any single book, so this preorder, if it works, would make “There Are No Penguins in Alaska” my most popular book. If you’ve read this far, thank you for your interest and support. Please share this page to your social media network, tag me and add “#penguinate.”

‘Spider-Man: Far from Home’; just not as far as you might think

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In spite of its implications for “Avengers: Endgame,” Sony has released a “Spider-Man: Far from Home” trailer, which clearly shows that Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, is alive and well and on Earth, and so is Nick Fury. The “Far from Home” title doesn’t indicate Spider-Man is still in space. Instead, he’s in Europe. Seriously, Europe? That’s far from home after traveling to the planet Titan? Oh, I have so many questions.

The first question is: How does this school have so much money? When I was in school, we had to have permission slips, our parents had to pay, and we barely got to go on a field trip to the park across the strip in elementary school. Flash forward to high school, and I had zero field trips. Nowadays, it seems like it would be even more difficult. With schools cutting budgets for the arts and fun while focusing on the core of reading and arithmetic, how does Spider-Man’s school have enough money to take the kids to Washington, D.C. much less Europe? The cost of insurance alone would be staggering. What school district does Parker go to?

Peter Parker is supposed to be poor, right? Even if his aunt can afford to put him in an upscale school, can she afford all these trips and their associated costs? Is Stark footing the bill? Was the fundraiser at the beginning really for Spider-Man?

How do his classmates not figure out he’s Spider-Man? Kids aren’t that dumb. Spider-Man shows up in Europe at the same time as the class? He was also in D.C. and saved MJ and disappeared from a bus while there was a super fight going on outside. Maybe it’s a case of Clark Kent’s glasses.

“Peter Parker here to pick up a passport, please” tongue twister? How many times did Tom Holland have to say that before he got it right?

Are we going to get a Doctor Strange/Spider-Man crossover? Mysterio seems to be using the same kind of magic as Strange does, and we all know Doctor Strange is coming back from Thanos’ snap, just like Spider-Man and Nick Fury.

Spider-Man is facing off against the elements. All of the monsters have the same form but are made from one of the four elements – fire, earth and water. Only wind is left out. I’m not sure how to phrase that as a question, just more of an observation.

If you have answers or more questions, leave them in the comments below. Check out more of my movie-related commentary. Watch for my “Avengers: Endgame” commentary coming soon!

Curiosity, being childlike and Questlove’s experience getting older

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Being childlike is important to creativity. Children are curious; they ask questions about everyone and everything. They don’t care who is better. They don’t care about their egos. They don’t care if someone is stepping on their own creativity. They play with abandon and talk to famous people with the same irreverence as the talk to their parents and friends.

“When I was ten, I was curious with reckless abandon. There wasn’t any fear about consuming things: if they interested me, I took them in. I ranged far and wide because I wanted to see what was out there,” says Questlove. “Now that I’m older, I’m more cautious. I’ve whittled my influences down to my pantheon of drummers and singers and guitarists, and it’s hard for new people to crack the shell.”

In “Creative Quest,” Questlove calls this a “hardening.” He says that there are some artists about whom he “feels a certain way,” which he explains is “nuanced form of snark.” It allows him to slow roll “whatever envy you admit by not admitting.”

This not-quite jealousy keeps Questlove from listen to a few artists “at all.” It may be that he doesn’t want to be influenced by or learn more about the artist or he feels a certain way, and “it gets worse with age.” Questlove recognizes this as a problem, this “brittleness,” and he says that as a person ages, he or she is going to have to deal with it.

There are a million reasons why its hard to be curious as you get older. Even with the Internet, it’s harder to satisfy that curiosity. Who has time to find out and understand why solar panels work? Who wants to learn new information that could challenge old, long held beliefs? Who wants to find someone younger doing something better in the same field wherein they both work?

It’s easier to keep on living with the information that one has accrued and not to challenge that status quo in one’s own life, even when one specifically self-describes as a creative. It’s much harder for people who think they’re only a little creative or they’re not creative. However, adopting a childlike acceptance of your own limitations and taking wonder in what other people are doing in your field (like children at play) will help you become more creative and have better ideas. It’s in the challenge and the questioning of the status quo that creativity thrives. Find the space that allows you to play, to be curious and to create.

For more on creativity and Questlove, check out: “‘The Pirate Union’ and collaboration” and the links at our Creativity page.

If you liked this essay, you can get more in ‘Penguinate! Essays and Short Stories.’ To improve your creativity, get ‘Disneyland Is Creativity.’