Monkeys and Monoliths

Yesterday, for teatime, Jen, Oni and I watched the 1995 Terry Gilliam movie, 12 Monkeys.

Traveling back in time isn't simple, as James Cole (Bruce Willis) learns the hard way. Imprisoned in the 2030s, James is recruited for a mission that will send him back to the 1990s. Once there, he's supposed to gather information about a nascent plague that's about to exterminate the vast majority of the world's population. But, aside from the manic Jeffrey (Brad Pitt), he gets little in the way of cooperation…(source)

Yes, Bruce Willis was the star AND actually acted instead of just replaying his pyrotechnic action movie hero, yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker shtick or his rakish Moonlighting character.

Brad Pitt was impressive in his batshit insane entitled and rebellious rich boy role. I never think of either Brad or Bruce as actual, real actors. They’re celebrities, known more as brands than as players, who disappear into roles, strut their hour on the stage, and are then heard no more.

Surprisingly decent performances all around and the story was fab. There were wonderful, creepy-as-fuck twists. The whole plague premise. given the world’s actual state of affairs, was intriguing but painful – of course it was.

Here in Plague Idiocy Central (AKA yhe US of A)  there were 225,818 new cases and 1,645 fresh deaths just YESTERDAY. If, like in the flick, we could time travel back to late 2019 and change things, could we? No, not with the extant Trump/McConnell reality-is-for-suckers-and-peasants crew. Unlike the movie, COVID wasn’t created and spread by one evil genius.

The only time-travely way out of our current insane life would be to go back and give every Republican politician’s father a vasectomy. I'd donate to that cause.

Back to 12 Monkeys, there was also, later, a teevee series based on the movie. It ran four seasons on the Syfy channel. Might need to check that out but FIRST I gotta dive into lighter, mindlessly fun escapism.

On a lighter, happier note, we now have our very own neighborhood monolith! Ten discovered it early this morning while taking his walk – it’s a mile or so away. I wish I could make the trek up and over the hill to see it live and in person but, nonetheless, I AM thrilled to see pics.

I just realized this morning that the most probable reason for my recent, vastly escalated tippyness is the BIG increase in my anti-seizure meds. There’s a long-ass list of side effects here of which I’ve definitely had:

• Dizziness
• Loss Of Muscle Coordination
• Blurred Vision
• Irritability
• Low Energy
• Stuffy/Runny Nose

Joy. The good news is that, after the next procedure (surgery or chemo) I’ll, most likely, get to decrease the med OR stop taking it entirely. Getting around will be less challenging at that point.

In the right here and now, I’ve got to teach my body/brain how to better stabilize – how to walk and not fall over – in spite of the pro-plotz meds.

I CAN do this.