They Call Me Galvez

Movies aren’t as scary as they used to be. It has been a LONG time since a movie really freaked me out or scared me. Sure, the “jump scares” still get me, but I haven’t been freaked out after seeing a movie in a long time. I saw IT: Chapter 2 this weekend, but the ending of the movie didn’t haunt me as much as the original TV Series did. Scary movies that are open ended and seem realistic used to scare me a lot. I’ve never been able to sit through the entire run time of classic horror movies like the original Nightmare on Elm Street, the Exorcist, and the Ring. Actually, the movie Scream freaked me out the most because it had the jump scares and was very “meta”.

Maybe the reason why movies don’t scare me is because they aren’t geared towards me. The scary movie formula typically involves a kid and something Supernatural. I’m not impressionable like I was as a kid. I am becoming cynical and question everything. I never understood willingly watching something that scares you and gives you nightmares. Movies are supposed to be an escape from reality. Why would I want to escape to something that freaks me out. That is why I’ve always preferred geeking out to a good sci-fi movie, cheering for the hero in an action movie, laughing at a silly comedy, or learning something new in an interesting documentary.

Well, I’ll try to blog more frequently. We’ll see what happens next. I have more exciting things in the works. Stay tuned.

Movies have always been my preferred mode of entertainment and an “escape” to another reality. Reading books also fulfilled this need for entertainment, but it is very time consuming because I’m a slow reader. For a little while, watching TV was great, but has become depressing with an abundance of commercialism and so much negative news. Yes, people need to be informed about what is going on and informed about what products/services are available, but sometimes you just need a break. Movies on Netflix got me through the first few years of brain tumor survivorship since my mobility was limited and I had a hard time physically leaving my apartment. Going to the movies has been the only constant. When I was younger, my dad used to take my brother and I to movie matinees all the time on the summer breaks. He also used to take us on weekly trips to video stores/ Meijer to rent movies. Watching the original Star Wars Trilogy, Rocky III, Rocky IV, the Back To The Future Trilogy, and the original Karate Kid were huge influences on me! My addiction to movies continued throughout high school and college because most of my dates involved going to movie theaters or watching movies on VHS/DVD. Now I go to movies by myself because: 1) it’s too hard to coordinate times to get people together and 2) I have MoviePass so I get to go to one movie/day.

For the year, I have already broken even on my $90 yearly MoviePass membership.  I have seen 14  movies in 3 months! That on top of a Netflix subscription means I watch A LOT of movies. I enjoy going to matinees because the theaters are less crowded and therefore easier to find a good seat.  I tend to gravitate toward comedies and action movies.   Since I am a HUGE comic book geek, my favorite movie so far this year has been Avengers: Infinity War.  Although I’m an adult. I’m also fascinated by a good animation movie.  The amount of time and skill it takes to piece together each individual frame/shot of a cartoon character’s speech and movements is AMAZING!  The last great animated film I watched in the theater was Moana.  It was so cool to see cartoon characters who actually reminded me of my family.

The summer blockbuster season is starting, so I’ll probably be ramping up my trips to the movie theater.  Wanna join me?  Maybe I’ll start reviewing them…

I went to the International Comic Con in San Diego this weekend for the third time.  In 2009 and 2010, I actually got tickets to go to the event at the San Diego Convention Center!  This year, I learned about the FREE off site events open to the public.  The last few years, I’ve been out of town, but this year there was no way I was going to miss it.  On day 1, I went to the Petco Park Interactive Zone. It was packed!  I got free Pizza Hut pizza at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles booth and picked up some cool swag from the discovery channel, the BoxTrolls movie, the Amazon Geek Boutique, Alienware, Sin City, and other vendors! Check out the Day 1 pictures. On Day 2, I stopped by the interactive zone again to get a poster signed by Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Josh Grodin, and the director of Sin City, Robert Rodriguez – I was hoping to go to the Game of Thrones interactive experience, but the line wrapped around a city block!  I’m a big fan of the show, but I was not going to wait 4 hours in a line by myself!  Instead, I decided to do some people watching down town.  I was not disappointed.  Check out Day 2 pictures. All the “characters” come out at Comic Con!  Comic-Con weekend is like Halloween, where people get dressed up and parade around as their favorite pop culture character but over a span 3 days.  There are a lot of really impressive costumes there! Some people go all out with elaborate costumes.  In downtown, San Diego bars and clubs would throw pop culture themed parties.  Pretty cool, but I’ve out grown the party scene.

As a latch-key kid from the 80s, I was really into watching movies on the VCR every day over summer vacation.  The original Star Wars trilogy, Rocky movies, Indiana Jones series, Star Trek movies, Schwarzenegger movies (Conan the Barbarian/Commando/Predator), etc were always on the TV.  Our dad used to bring home movie rentals from Meijer for my brother and I every week over the summer.  We watched A TON of movies every summer but going to the theater was always the funnest!  I always loved going to the movies.  It was so funny watching my dad cheer in the theater at the end of Karate Kid and at the end of Return of the Jedi when the Millennium Falcon escapes the exploding Death Star.  HAHAHA!  Pop culture has always been an interest of mine so Comic Con was an added bonus of moving to San Diego!  Comic Con is essentially a “pop culture” convention which evolved from a comic book convention.   I remember going to my first comic book convention in Michigan in the mid 90s.  I loaded up on classic Transformers and The Amazing Spiderman comics.  As a kid, I remember my parents let me get a comic book mail subscription I’ve always been drawn to stories where the outcasts were the heroes.  Hey, it got me interested in reading!  In Spideman, Peter Parker was a social out-cast/nerd, the Autobots were never fully accepted by humans because they were aliens.  I really related to both stories because  I’ve always felt like an outsider.  I realize now that EVERYONE feels like an outsider at some point!

Growing up in Midwest there were few people similar to me so I always felt like I stuck out.  I was always one of the smallest kids at school (so I got picked on a lot), one of the few Filipino/APIA (Asian Pacific Islander Americans) kids in my school, and I was the shy/quiet one because I always felt different.  I was good at sports so I never felt lonely and I always had friends with similar interests.  I was constantly trying to fit in.  I am still close with many of my friends from elementary school and high school.  It was through sports that I made most of my friends. Athletics defined me growing up and continued through college, grad school, and the early portion of my professional years.  In college I finally discovered people ethnically similar to me.  It helped me to come out of my shell and feel comfortable in my own skin.  Sticking out was always “social suicide” as an adolescent!  After college, I learned that how you react to standing out/being different can determine success.  I learned that essentially, “Everyone is unique.”  You can try to hide it or learn to embrace it.  I’m proud to be different.  The tough part is figuring out how to use your “geekiness/uniqueness” to your advantage.  Geekiness is engrained in me.  I have become comfortable with it!  Most of my insecurities were removed along with my brain tumor!

This week, I’m heading to Michigan for our Annual Paintball Benefit!  Always a fun time!  Looking forward to reconnecting with old friends!  Stay tuned!

Earlier this week, a good friend from PT school called me out!  It was exactly what I needed to hear. The past few months I have been extremely busy doing MKF stuff that I’ve been neglecting my own personal rehab.  It totally put my priorities in perspective.  Somehow, he talked me into catching a movie after dinner.  I did not anticipate this because I used only my crutches going to the restaurant.  This would mean having to use the crutches to go to the theater in the mall!  I hadn’t tried this before because after prolonged sitting my legs stiffen up and walking becomes difficult.  After a few taunts, I decided to give it a shot.  This was going to be interesting because there were time constraints with walking to the theater (we had 20 minutes to catch the beginning of the movie.)  What I didn’t realize was that there were ~20 minutes of movie previews before the movie started.  I had plenty of time to use the crutches to walk to the theater in the mall, walk to the bathroom in the theater, and walk back to our seats before the movie started!  I was pleasantly surprised!

I had to test this out again.  Last night I went to a Challenged Athletes Foundation fundraiser in Ocean Beach sponsored by students in the San Diego State University Doctor of Physical Therapy Program.  I really wanted to go because:

1. I worked with many of these students in a neuro lab last semester so I wanted to congratulate them and wish them luck entering their clinical affiliations
2. I got to know a few of them at the Charity Kickball Tournament
3. I wanted to meet some people from the Challenged Athletes Foundation

I decided to try attending the event with only the crutches because I was surprised at how well I maneuvered after prolonged sitting at the movies.  I took an uber car down to Ocean Beach.  I hadn’t been there in years by myself.  I do recall going to a couple bars out there when I first moved to San Diego as a young single healthcare professional.  It was a strange feeling going back there knowing that the last time I was out there the circumstances were completely different!  This event was for the students to celebrate, so I didn’t want to intrude on their celebration for too long. My old friend Rosalia is now a professor at SDSU so luckily she was able to give me a ride home early.  Hee hee hee… wow, how things change.

I’ve def got a new FIRE to push myself, but instead of just randomly trying things that I want to do, planning and preparation will be the key to success!  The 2014 Paintball Event is coming up and Comic Con is next week so some exciting stuff is coming up!  Stay tuned!

Movies are a great escape from everyday life.  It is easier for me to get lost in a good movie vs a good TV series because I don’t have the patience to wait every week for each cliff hanger.  I like reading books, but it takes me awhile to feel engaged in a good book.  Movies are convenient little vacations for my imagination.  I only have to invest a couple of hours into a good movie story vs days or weeks with a good television show or book. I’m a slow reader because I like to absorb every detail in every word/sentence a writer creates.  I really started watching movies with my brother over the summer breaks on VHS.  Before we really got involved with sports, we used to watch a lot of movies… The Rocky movies, the original Star Wars Trilogy, Top Gun, the original Karate Kid, and corny comedies like Top Secret were played everyday.  Movies tend to hold my attention because the good ones always have awesome soundtracks that enhance the story.  That lead to the creation of the Reversal Blook Soundtrack and the Awakening Blook Soundtrack.  I’ve found that early on movies were a great means of entertainment!  Luckily, I currently live really close to three movie theaters!  This week I went to the Ultra Star theaters twice on work nights to see The LEGO movie and a Kung-Fu movie through the Pacific Arts Movement, Journey to the West.

The LEGO movie appears on the surface to be a kid movie, but there were plenty of witty jokes and references that adults would actually appreciate.  There were many references to common everyday items given diabolical names with the emphasis on the wrong syllable to make them sound like elaborate evil villain weapons.  Pretty creative.  I met up with a San Diego movie club for the first time.  They go pretty much every week to catch the latest shows at “cheap movie night”.  Luckily it is only 2 trolley stations away, so I think I will be going there more frequently.

2 days later, I went back to Ultra Star Theater and saw Journey to The West, which was a featured movie of the Pacific Arts Movement.  The theater was packed!  There is definitely a community of Asian Film fans in San Diego.  I’m definitely going to be exploring the San Diego movie scene more frequently!   I’ll admit that I’ve always been a big fan of animation, science fiction, and fantasy.  If I wasn’t into sports growing up, I probably would have been considered a nerd. As a kid, my family really encouraged me to like science so I never really got to explore my creative side.  Sports was a huge part of my adolescence.  Naturally, physical therapy, a profession that combined “the science of healing and the art of caring”, was the perfect profession for me. I always liked creating stuff, so when my career was impeded by my physical disabilities, my creative side came to the forefront.  In hindsight, I was drawn to the profession of physical therapy because I could be creative in how we addressed the impairments in patients.  After assessing each patient’s impairments the physical therapists help patients create plans of care/goals to address those impairments. That was always the fun part of physical therapy for me… co-creating the plan of care with patients and working together to meet those goals!

Anyways, I watched the Academy Awards tonight so I’ll def have to catch 12 Years A Slave and Dallas Buyer’s Club.  Movies are becoming a new hobby.  I wonder how you get involved in the production of them…