Pages

15 March, 2011

Where is Godzilla Now That The Japanese Really, Really Need Him?

My heart goes out to the Japanese people. What we've been watching on TV the past week is just phenomenal. Each day, the broadcasts just seem to become more bizarre and outlandish.

Just this morning, there was news of a fire at fourth reactor. Granted, I've heard it was just a fire in the reactor cooling pond (where spent fuel rods are stored), but that indicates more low water levels. What else can go wrong?

As a life-long fan of B-movies (and some worse grades of flicks), I've always enjoyed the twenty-four or so Godzilla flicks. Since he breathes radioactive fire (some kind of hot sauce beyond my comprehension), and may or may not have been created as a result of the Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombings, but in any case, due to some sort of vague nuclear process, it seems that real life may just be imitating art.

Don't be surprised if you turn on the tube tomorrow morning and see a new disturbance coming from out of the sea.

I mean, we have all the requirements for a major Godzilla blockbuster (far beyond Godzilla 2000)... We have lots of great special effects of huge tsunami coming ashore, cars and buildings being overturned, people running, helicopters flying around, Japanese Defense Forces being deployed, reporters on the scene describing outlandish events and scenarios, great frickin' huge explosions involving not only one, not only two, but three and possibly a fourth nuclear reactor. There's even an active, erupting volcano, snow falling now and then, uniformed search teams combing through rubble, recovery of a man 10-miles out at sea - standing on the roof of his house. Wow! The special effects department of this movie studio apparently has an unlimited budget and not only that, but an unlimited imagination as well.

Let's see, what else do we need? Ummm, Raymond Burr as a visiting nuclear engineer or something? Well, the BBC has a professor, expert in some area of nuclear stuff, talking in a decided Scottish brogue, speaking to us over satellite from the University of Edinburgh, explaining what could be involved with a fuel rod meltdown. That's pretty cool. What I haven't seen yet is some sexy chica waiting to be rescued. I haven't even seen Christiane Amanpour - oh, that's right. She's with ABC news now and probably doesn't go into the field anymore.

I remember when China Syndrome with Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas and Jack Lemmon, almost seemed too far-fetched to be taken seriously. Oh, sure. It was hypothetically possible, but come on - how likely was it to ever happen? And now, here come the Japanese, ancestral home of Mothra, Rodan, Megalon and many others, with not just your run-of-the-mill, super-sized earthquake, but a world-class tsunami (a Japanese word by the way), and not one but four flaming, exploding, radiation-spewing, glow-in-the-dark nuclear reactors. Isn't this just a little over the top?

I'd probably pay to go see it.

Speaking of paying, if you gave it a chance, there's a little scroller bar at the top of the page with a link to World Giving. Please consider clicking it and donating something to help with the response to this very real mega disaster. You don't have to give to World Giving. Go to the American Red Cross site (http://redcross.org) if you like, or any of the many other worthwhile charitable sites and give what you are comfortable with to help with the response to this disaster.

And when the movie does finally come out (you know it will, don't you?), you can say, "Aaah, I've already seen the original. It was much better." Go ahead, buy the movie, fire up the microwave popcorn, and settle back for a good time as Godzilla saves the Japanese homeland once again.

4 comments:

JRinSC said...

Glad the rumors of your demise were just that... rumors. lol

I agree, what we are seeing in Japan is straight from a B Movie. I am wondering how it can get much worse and I'm afraid it really will. Isn't going to help the US right now either.

Any final pics of the guest house available?

Julian

Dave Rider said...

Hi Julian,

Sometimes you just gotta unplug and recharge, y'know?

I can probably scare up a few photos of the 'pool house' (we call it that instead of the 'guest house').

I'll have some photos of the current 'awning' project to post too.

Cheers,
Dave

JRinSC said...

I really don't blame you one bit. I am doing pretty much the same up here. One difference is that up here our pool is still closed... At least the signs of spring are finally bursting out all over up here -- even though the frost proof date is April 15th!!
Thanks for the link for making contributions to help Japan.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back - you've been missed.