Why did I name this site ‘Get To the Chopper?’

Because I was sitting with the ‘Bleacher Creatures’ at Yankee Stadium.

Not the old one – I’d said goodbye to that holy place at one of the final games of the Stadium’s last season (the game where Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig’s record for most hits by any Yankee at Yankee Stadium).

No, this was the brand-spanking new Stadium standing in the shadow of it’s former self – an epic example of ‘before’ and ‘after.’  I’d flown home from Los Angeles specifically for this.

They were playing the Red Sox today. And it was already raining.

Lots of things get said at a New York / Boston match-up. There were some lady Sox fans behind us, screaming out ‘LET’S go RED Sox!” A JJ Abrams lookalike yelled back “BUY more MAKE up!” They threw a beer at him. They got kicked out. They kept cheering on the Sox. JJ Part Deux’s girlfriend yelled back “CLOSE YOUR LEGS! CLOSE YOUR LEGS!” Then JJ and his paramour got ejected.

Hell, at one point, even WE almost go ejected for yukking it up with other fans about a New Yorker’s canyon-like ass-crack six rows in front. But that wasn’t for saying things like ‘hey man, crack kills,’ but because this other guy got into our faces to impress his girlfriend.

But my favorite thing that was said wasn’t even rivalry related. It was about love for Schwarzenegger. (If you’re nodding your head right now, then I speak to the converted).

It was the seventh or eighth inning, and Nick Swisher just his seventh or eighth foul ball in a row with two men on. The rain was drenching us again for the seventh or eighth time, and making threats to extend an already much-delayed game.

The crowd was loud – cheering, groaning, anxious – cheer, then groan – over each foul ball. I was about to lose my voice, so I cheered out in my best Ah-nold:

“DO IT! DO IT NOW!”

And then, behind me, without missing a beat, one of the other Bleacher Creatures yelled out in his best Ah-nold:

“RUNNNN! GET TO DA CHOPPER!!!”

And my night was complete.

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So there we have it. The origin behind the name of this humble collection of forthcoming words patterned into thoughts and organized sentences.

Of course, I could go on and on about the everlasting and unique impact this Austrian Oak has had on the movies (and for those who disagree – how dare you?) but that’s a whole other blog.

I’m not here to be a cynic or a promoter of negative attitudes. The internet has enough opinions about why things rock or suck – like Quint said, “there’s too many captains on this island.”

Good, bad, or ugly, that’s not the point of this site. Taste or critical evaluation is not the point – and I’m sure my taste will be called into question on many occasions..

This is about the human connection we have towards stories. It’s about the attachments and connections we form to certain things that make us who we are.

Mainly, this is about movies – but any story is fair game. Whether it’s cinema or television or internet or books or comic books or video games or flip-books or Etch-A-Sketch… It’s about whatever random connection you have to a story at any given time.

It’s more about mood and impulse and that cinematic shorthand many of us already share without knowing it. Anyone who’s quoted Lloyd Dobbler know what I mean.

It’s about allowing a tangent to play itself out, and, if you stick with it, find that it winds its’ way back to the point of the whole thing, like a drunken snake spinning on a merry-go-round.

It’s about why some stories illogically stick in your head more than others.

…it’s why when I’m channel-surfing, I click on CASINO for the fifteenth time instead of something new.

…why I can watch BEOWULF and TAKEN and TONY ROME all in one day and have it all thematically make sense.

…why I get excited that THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN hit HBO’s rotation again.

…why Stallone rules, and the rest of you all can go to hell.

…why sometimes I’d rather pop in HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS instead of getting sucked into THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

…why RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK is my favorite film of all time, but I can’t stop watching NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS.

…why nerds who watched BOOGIE NIGHTS geeked out when Dirk Diggler sang ‘You Got The Touch’ and said “That’s from TRANSFORMERS: THE ANIMATED MOVIE!”

…why I bond with people who got freaked out by the octopus in POPEYE..

…why I bond with people who got freaked out by the green slimly slug scorpion in the tree trunk in FLASH GORDON.

…why MacGyver is awesome, and how those are the four most excellent words ever written.

…why a crack-addled puppy-killer and a Missouri man who adopted twelve mentally-challenged children can bond when they hear Bill Paxton say “Game over, man – game OVER!” (Not a true story)

…why two men with two different backgrounds who’ve never met can instantly connect at a Yankee game because of their love for PREDATOR and all things Schwarzenegger. (See true story above)

It’s about whatever floats my boat at any given time – that’s the point.

And maybe… just maybe… I’ll do a little writing about it…

Here’s hoping somebody out there will get the point as well.

Until then… have a good day all day long.

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