It's Been a Minute...

Life has been doing it's thing... and full transparency, I started this post a month ago and never got past the first line...

This was a good summer even with you know <gestures around wildly> everything going on. I was able to visit family in Chicago and visit my friends in Las Vegas (even though Vegas left me with bronchitis and covid but there will be a separate post because I have a lot to say about Vegas) and take myself to the beach which I was unable to do last summer. The summer also brought some challenges but we will not be airing that out here. Summer 2025 was fun and while it is not officially over (you know my stance, I don't watch to hear about your Fall nonsense until September 22) and I will be enjoying it until the bitter end, I hope Fall 2025 continues with the good vibes. Hoping to get back to Chicago by the end of the year and fingers crossed I can get there before it gets real cold (I have a lot of race weekends on the Fall schedule and lots of these are elusive towns and I have to get them done so yes, I am planning my trips around them!).

While I have not been writing anything (clearly this newsletter has been dormant for some time), I have been thinking about what I do want to write about besides my normal gripes and fighting with entire towns in the great state of Connecticut (Darien, I have not forgotten about you and Shelton, count your days until I finally do my write up about you), I also have been doom scrolling the shit out of the internet. Which has been awful, I have not been productive and I realize how much I miss writing down the shit and ideas that come to my head. I need to stop being on my phone and chronically online. I think I need to have a set time of when my phone needs to go away instead of me dreading the news of the hour. (Literally just picked up my phone, send help!)

Anyway, if you know me and if you haven't figured out from my newsletter, I absolutely love movies, and in particular, classic Hollywood films (my favorite films are film noir but another story for another day). I bought awhile back the 1001 Movies to See Before You Die (and if you are wondering, I am trying to work my way through the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die which woof because there are four years and it's more like 1300 books and I digress...) and I decided that I wanted to choose a random film, watch it, and give my two cents on it. Now, the first film that is selected is a 1902 silent French film, A Trip to the Moon, directed by Georges Méliès. I did not mean to watch this film first because really, how predictable to pick the first damn film on the list? HOWEVER, the reason why I chose this film is because the poster (seen below) that made me do a double take. The moon was almost a replica of the moon seen in the Smashing Pumpkins video for their song "Tonight, Tonight" (which happens to be my favorite song of theirs)

Also, the film is available for streaming on HBO Max (lol to the loser David Zaslav, may he never know peace and I need Warner Brothers to stop giving that man money and fire his ass already but again, I'll whack him again later) and it is 22 minutes long. It's a pretty trippy sci-fi film and I already felt like I knew the movie because of the "Tonight, Tonight" video (it's almost a shot for shot with some minor changes). The movie is based on the Jules Verne novel From the Earth to the Moon and the sequel Around the Moon (I have read neither so I cannot comment on how closely this 22 minute film follows the plot of two novels). There is definitely some backstory on this film you could do (like how the film disappeared after the director retired from the film industry, resurfaced again in 1930, a hand-colored version was discovered in 1993 and restored in 2011) but I am not going to get into that because I am not a film historian and while I am interested in it, I am not writing about it! Anyway, this movie was so weird and honestly, if I did drugs, I feel like I would have understood it more. The costuming is insane, and I am not exactly sure what year this film is supposed to take place because the scientists are dressed in some Renaissance ass garb and yet they have built a space ship. I wish there was a good still to show you but I guess you will need to watch it. I also think the music that is used for the film is strange but I am unsure if it is the original score conducted but I really need you guys to watch it. The way these men get to the moon, the aliens they encounter and then how they get back to earth is truly bizarre. I guess if you do drugs then do them for this film? There are also random children doing child labor and weird dances. I cannot be the only person I know who watched this so please do.

Now, once you finish watching this video, please go watch the Smashing Pumpkins video. I did look into it and yes, it's in the whole write up. It is all based on this film. Also, the song is a banger and yes I watched the video on repeat. Maybe loop the song to the film to make it less weird. Maybe not. This entire film is a trip.

Smash play on the video. You won't regret it. Also, if you can see them in concert (I've seen them twice), you should. Maybe Billy will do his version of Landslide, which I very much enjoy! (Yes, I am listening to it now).

Okay, with that, welcome BACK! Thank you for reading and wait for the next one. I will be posting more regularly because I really need to stop doomscrolling and honestly this is fun and I need to write about my Shelton experience this summer.

Also, I have not forgot about my half marathon dreams and my scheming. Some of us are sick and have delayed training. I am doing my best! I'm only human!