TV
Episode #21: “Lucifer” (TV series” – Season 6, a review
Episode #17: “Happy Star Trek Day!”
Episode #13: “Parks and Recreation” (TV series) – Season 1, review
Episode #10: “Field of Dreams” TV adaptation? *TV News*
Episode #9: “What if…?” – Ep. 1: “What if… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger”
The Mark Hastings Experience – Episode #8: “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” (TV series) – Episodes 14-16: a review
My Poem “Star Wars ’77”
I will never forget the epic music and the iconic yellow text of the opening crawl that first introduced me to the story of these out of this world characters who lived a long time in a galaxy far, far away… I will never forget seeing the sight of that Imperial Star-Destroyer chasing down and firing at that Rebel Alliance ship carrying Princess Leia… I will never forget the fear that I felt when I first saw the imposing Darth Vader… I will never forget seeing the droids R2-D2 and C3PO being jettisoned into space and finding themselves on the desert planet of Tatooine with the blueprints of the "Death Star" super-weapon, as well as a message for the "only hope" of the Rebel Alliance - someone called "Obi-wan Kenobi"… I will never forget seeing the iconic image of Luke Skywalker looking to the horizon as the twin suns of his planet began to set… I will never forget Luke Skywalker and C3PO following R2-D2 into the desert and being attacked by "Sand People" and Obi-wan Kenobi having to come to their rescue… I will never forget Luke Skywalker first igniting his father's blue Lightsaber - however unaware that his father, Anakin Skywalker, who he thought was now dead was still alive and was now none other than the evil Darth Vader… I will never forget Obi-wan Kenobi explaining the nature of The Force to Luke Skywalker… I will never forget seeing Obi-wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker arrive at the city of Mos Eisley and be introduced to Han Solo and Chewbacca - and then watch Han Solo shoot first in a stand-off against a green alien named Greedo… I will never forget the first time I saw the Millennium Falcon freighter take off and then be taken aboard the Death Star not long after the super-weapon had destroyed Princess Leia's homeworld of Alderaan… I will never forget seeing Luke, Han, and Chewbacca break Leia free of her cell and then dive head-first into the Death Star's trash-compactor… I will never forget seeing the former master and the apprentice, Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi and Sith Dark Lord Darth Vader, reunite and face-off against one another... I will never forget being entranced by Obi-wan and Darth Vader dueling one another with their blue and red lightsabers… I will never forget Luke Skywalker watching Darth Vader strike down Obi-wan Kenobi - not knowing that Obi-wan had learned how to live on after death and become a "Force ghost"… I will never forget seeing the Millennium Falcon surrounded by Imperial Tie Fighters and then jump into hyperspace and eventually deliver the stolen plans for the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance… I will never forget Luke Skywalker participating in the attack on the Death Star and being assured by the voice of Obi-wan that "The Force will be with you, always" - just before Luke Skywalker delivers the one in a million shot into the exhaust port of the Death Star leading to its destruction... I will never forget the ceremony when Luke Skywalker, Han Solo - but unfortunately not Chewbacca - were given a medal by Princess Leia for all that they did to destroy the Death Star… Oh yes, I will never forget the first time that I ever saw every moment of George Lucas' revolutionary space-opera film that changed cinema and the world forever: I will never forget the first time I saw the 1977 film that simply used to be called "Star Wars".
My Poem “Escapism”
Reality is tangible, and yet there are times
when reality can feel absolutely unbelievable…
the real world is sometimes managible,
the real world is sometimes even palatable –
but occasionally the “real world” can
at times feel too much to handle.
Reality is physical and undoubtedly
it can at times feel painful…
the real world, the outside world,
is where things get done,
where progress is made,
where we get to look people in the eye,
where we get to share a smile,
where we get to experience things
that are grounded in nature –
but the real world is also where
the weight of certain things
upon our emotions and upon
our thoughts and upon our dreams
can sometimes make us all feel fragile.
Reality is life – but every so often
everybody needs a dose of something
that they have never seen before,
or perhaps something that they
may have seen over and over again…
everybody needs a vision of a life
and of a world unlike the one
that they are daily familiar with…
everybody needs to have this place,
this time, those moments,
those out of body experiences
when they get let their imagination
run wild so that it can play along with all
of the fantastic possibilities of creativity
that they see – which may not be
a true reflection of the everyday world,
but which are always considered to be
a source of hope to help people cope
and to get some much needed escapism.
My Poem “Getting Ahead of Myself”
As a child, I always looked to the future…
as a child, when I imagined what would be,
I was always sure that things would turn out
like they were predicted to
in films and in television shows
that I watched which depicted
a world to come when anything
and everything was possible:
including vacations on the Moon,
underwater cities, and, of course, time-travel.
As a child, I was always hopeful
of a bright and inspirational tomorrow –
because looking immediately
for the positive of any situation
for me has always been in my nature…
as a child, I was like Luke Skywalker,
in the Star Wars movies:
always looking to the horizon
and always believing that anybody –
even someone as seemingly
bad as Darth Vader could be
redeemed and returned
from the dark side to the light.
As a child, fantasy worlds
drew me to them, because
what I saw and who I saw
had this magic to them
that had aspects to them
that were incredibly enthralling –
including: quests, adventures,
and other realities that seemed
wonderfully exciting.
As a child, real life was somewhere
where I interacted with my family,
where I hung out with my friends,
where I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner,
and where there wasn’t such things
as flying cars, teleporters,
jet-packs, and robots who
looked as human as anybody I knew –
but I knew that one day all those
things that the television showed me
would come true one day.
As an adult, when I look around
at the world of the present –
while simultaneously reflecting
back upon the past and at what I used
to believe would be a reality
when I was all grown-up –
there are times when I genuinely
have to ask myself,
in the words of Freddie Mercury:
“Is this the real life? Or is this just fantasy?”
As I have grown older
and as I have seen and experienced
even more of the world,
my instant impulse to imagine
possibilities before they happen
is still my immediate instinct –
and though there have indeed
been times in my life when my belief
that the world is innately hopeful
and optimistic has been tested,
I will never be convinced by
anything or by anybody
to stop reaching for that which
seemingly lies upon a higher shelf of life,
and I will never stop being someone
who naturally and occasionally
gets ahead of himself.
markthepoet.me 