Friday, June 13, 2008

J: A Jrop of Golden Jun?

Hey, it's Friday! I'm happy to say that my Summer class is finally over and that I can actually get some sleep done. Also, I'm announcing that I had a summer class that went on until now.

Fun fact about this letter: J is the only letter that does not appear on the Periodic Table.

I remember first being taught about the letter J. It makes the same sound as the "G" in "Giraffe." Jiraffe sounds kind of silly on text, but I fear that it'll become acceptable in the future and the current typing will be the one that will have the red squiggle under it.

Here are some other things that start with J.

Jim Carrey: Say what you will about this guy, but I love him. In fact, he was my main inspiration into being skewed towards comedy. I remember the exact moment when it happened: It was when I saw "Dumb & Dumber" in the movie theater and there was that scene where Jim's character had that dream where he's fighting people in a restaurant. It was where I realized "I now know what I was put on this planet to do: make people laugh." Sure, he's done a few clunkers recently, but I believe that he can do no wrong. The Mask is one of my favorite movies and is one of only two flicks that I saw twice in the theater. It may not come as a surprise to you folks that the other one is the Simpsons Movie.

Jessica: There is something about this name that I love. I know it might seem sexist, awkward and weird, but every woman that I have ever met that had the name "Jessica" was attractive. I absolutely don't know why, it seems that beauty is attached to the name. Case in point: Jessica's Biel, Tandy, Simpson, Alba, Rabbit. There have also been a few local Jessica's in my life that I've had crushes on, but I'll get into that another time. Maybe.

I actually looked up the meaning of the name and found this: "The name Jessica comes from the Hebrew origin. In Hebrew The meaning of the name Jessica is: Rich. God beholds. The daughter of Shylock in Shakespeare's play 'The Merchant of Venice'." It's also one of the most popular names for girls, it was the #1 name from the 1980s to the early 2000s. I'm not a fan of the new generation of names. I'd hate to go to a Kindergarten class in 5 years and find at least 6 versions of the name "Unique" or "Miley."

Jetfire: My favorite Autobot Transformer of all time. (On the other side of the coin, my favorite Decepticon is Soundwave). The original Generation 1 toy/character is the most memorable version and is the version one that everyone remembers and loves about him. He was, well, an awesome-looking jet that was made from a mold from a standard Macross/Robotech transforming jet. His backstory is nothing short of amazing: Back on Cybertron, he was a scientist that was best friends with Starscream. When the Great War occurred, Jetfire (called Skyfire in the cartoon for some reason) stayed behind while Starscream left to wage his destruction. When Jetfire arrived on Earth, he discovered Starscream as a member of the Decepticons. Not aware that the Decpticons are the evil transformers, Jetfire had trusted his best friend that the Autobots were the baddies and joins up. When he finally learns the truth, he actually tears off the Decpticon logo on his chest and slaps on an Autobot one that came from nowhere. I never got that detail, do all Transformers just have stickers of both logos on them at all times in the event that they ever defect to the other side?

Since the figure was mostly white with several smaller red attachments that could easily get lost along with the facts that large die cast figures like him could easily break, Jetfire is among the most sought-after of all transformers. It's not unusual to find it on eBay in excess of $50-$100, even higher if it has all of its accessories and/or in mint condition in its box. The highest one I've seen on eBay was around $500 for an extremely rare Decepticon variant. So rare, in fact, that I had no idea that it existed until I found it being auctioned off.

One of my most prized possessions is indeed a G1 Jetfire figure without its accessories in decent condition that I found at a flea market a few years ago. The cost? Three dollars. I kid you not, the guy selling it had no idea what it was. The figure in the condition that I bought him in could probably fetch around $25 or so.

I was like "Quit playin'," but he was honest and told me that it was something his kids played with that he didn't know what it was. I should mention that it was in its Jet mode, which is probably what caused the man's confusion. Finding the opportunity of a lifetime, it was quickly snatched and cleaned up to be put on display for all to see.

Johnny: My favorite character from the classic disaster spoof movie "Airplane!" Played by the late Steven Stucker, he was just this background character who'd pop into a scene with a hilarious interjection.

McCroskey: "Bad news: The fog is getting thicker."
Johnny: *jumps into scene* "And Leon's getting Laaaaaaaaarrrrgerrrr!" *jumps out of scene*

Nevermind Leslie Nielson all counting on us and asking us to not call him "Shirley," Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Peter Graves asking Joey if he's ever been in a Turkish Prison, Barbara Billingsly talking Jive, even Robert Stack picking the wrong week to quit sniffing glue, Johnny is the best character in the whole damn movie.

Don't believe me? Watch this video chronicling his two total minutes of screen time:







"He's a Jukebox Hero. He's got stars in his eyes."






"Jammin' on The One, Jammin' on The One. Jam, Jam, Jam, Jammin' on The One."

3 comments:

DC said...

I love Dumb and Dumber! It's definitely one of my all time faves.
"We got no food, no jobs... our PET'S HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!"

Nice Theo Huxtable quote at the end!

Anonymous said...

I miss my Jetfire. I had one of the original's when it first came out but so did most of my other friends so I ended up trading it for some G.I. Joe figures, I'm still kicking myself for that.
And I have to give you kudos, writing one of these a day and still keeping them entertaining as Hell? You sir are a rock star.

Kitty MacDowell said...

Johnny! I love airplane and I loved watching him. I love when he gets the map and dood's all like "whay's this?"
and Johnny's like "It's a hat! NO! It's a corsage! No! It's a bird!"

I think Johnny cemented me in desiring to come up with the most random shit at the oddest times.