The Dharma Bum

"The only people for me are the mad ones. Those who are mad to talk, mad to breathe, and mad to be heard." - Jack Kerouac, On The Road

What would I do if gravity reversed itself?

If the Earth spun off its axis, would I know it?

What was Captain Hook's name before he lost his hand?

What would the world be like if it was made of Nerf?

See, these are the kinds of questions that pop into my head, often at the more inopportune times, all the time. Perhaps it makes me a mad one like Uncle Jack was referring to, I don't know. What I do know is a lot of people out there are taking things way too seriously - things so trite and trivial, if the world ever did spin off its axis, you certainly wouldn't entertain the thought of them. Perhaps I just don't take some of the little things serious enough anymore, but hey, being in love will do that to you, because the other little things - those that we just take for granted - become plenipotentiary in worth.

For example: A couple of weeks ago my girlfriend and I went and saw High Fidelity. I was rather anxious to see it because no self-respecting child of the 80's escaped without a penchant for John Cusack movies. Who can forget those classic lines such as, "Gee Ricky, we're real sorry your mom blew up," or "I don't really want to sell anything that's bought or processed, I don't want to buy anything that's sold or processed, and I don't really want to process anything that's sold, bought, or processed." For those of you who haven't seen High Fidelity yet, what the heck are you waiting for? Cusack's existentially self-deprecating rhetoric and audience addressing street side soliloquies are nothing short of the humour that almost everyone in my generation can relate to - particularly those who have compiled "Top 5" lists of all time-stop the world and get off break-ups, but hey, that's a diatribe for another column.

Back to my explication of the little things that amaze me so, another reason I was anticipating this movie was the theatre it was at - Town Plaza - for I couldn't think of a better theatre to see a John Cusack movie in, except for perhaps the Tivoli in St. Louis. Now being a dharma bum in Cape Girardeau, it seems to me that people have an absolutist view of Town Plaza - they either really like it, or they really don't. Personally, I love that theatre. For some reason it possesses an air of nostalgic reverie for me. It just feels like the old theatres that I saw so many great movies in - both George Lucas Holy Trilogies, John Cusack movies, John Hughes movies (God bless Shermer, IL), and all the Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm St., and Halloween series. Hmmmm...maybe that could explain a few things....

Now some of you may be wondering why I would harbour such a penchant for Town Plaza when we have the pinnacle of theatric technology on the other side of town. Well... because it's the pinnacle of theatric technology on the other side of town. I don't really want luxurious high-back seats with all digital surround sound and fancy-schmancy cup holders while being audience to a super deluxe curved screen. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not knocking any of these things, they just don't do a thing for me. I want "the somewhat cushioned, been there since 1982, make your bum fall asleep or sore after sitting in them for too long, you're hatin' it if a big, tall person sits in front of you" chair. I want the sound system whose technological munificence is to be able to come out of speakers on both sides of the theatre - and even then you have to sit a bit closer when the big behemoth air vents cumbersomely kick on. I want the big, "flat as Christopher "Hello Mr. Indian, please get off my discovery" Columbus' globe" screen. I want the not-so aesthetically pleasing orange and brown pleated walls, and the closest thing you have to a cup holder is either your lap, or setting your munchies on the floor next to you in the hopes that you don't kick them over and send a tsunami of Coke or a stampede of Raisinets careening down to the front (popcorn doesn't careen too well).

Mentioning my predilection for Town Plaza to my girlfriend, the theatre manager, (as the kids say, "Big Ups" to you Clint) invited us up to the projection booth to see where the magic happens, and even let me push the button that started the film we were watching. See, the little things. For those of you still shaking your heads, if for no other reason, as fellow students of SEMO academentia will attest to, you can't beat the economic frugalities of a $4 movie ticket.

So there it is superfriends, my retro-romantic inclination for cinematic indulgence. I got to see an amazing movie in a great theatre with a rather special person - one of those evenings that you meticulously remember every detail of - so you can play it again later in the movie theatre in your head. Little things like this are my adventures. Little things like this are my sanity soul salvation. Things like those two in the morning trips to Wal-Mart, where you end up buying 8 million things you don't need and forgetting the one thing you went there for. Things like the caffeinated salvation of an all-night Steak-n-Shake conversation with a friend. These are the things I really take pleasure in, that I take seriously. Matters such as politics - I could really care less about. It's like Ethan Hawke bellowed out, "Ain't no republicrat, no demmican, they ain't nuthin' in between." But enough of a digression...

Anyway boys and girls, that's enough of a dip in the stream of consciousness of my mind, if you stay in too long you'll get all wrinkly. So dry yourselves off and remember that Random Acts of Line Dance week is coming up. Join in the festivities of...ummm...whatever it is that line dancers do I suppose. So as the sun sets slowly in the West, I bid you a fond farewell from my almost comfy chair, with my soda/ popcorn/Raisinets all balanced precariously in my lap, in that slightly older movie theatre inside all of us as John Cusack 'do that voodoo that he do so well'.