“Wise Men Say… …Only Fools Rush In…” ((“CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE” by ELVIS PRESLEY (1961)))

…

“…But, I Can’t Help…

…Falling In Love With You…”

…

“…Shall I Stay?…

…Would It Be A Sin?…

…If I Can’t Help…

…Falling In Love With You?…”

…

“…Like A River Flows…

…Surely To The Sea…

…Darling, So It Goes…

…Some Things Are Meant To Be…”

…

“…Take My Hand…

…Take My Whole Life, Too…

…For I Can’t Help…

…Falling In Love With You. …”

…

… … … … … … …

So, Yeah, I’ve Been On A Bit Of An ELVIS Kick, Recently.

I Mean, Can You Really Blame Me?

The Man Was A Master Of His Craft, Fo SHO.

His Music Never Fails To Make Me Smile…

…And, Sometimes, That’s Really All I’m Looking For In Some Quality Tunage.

This Particular Song…

“CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE“

…Is A Prime-Cut-Example Of Said Quality Tunage.

This Was Actually One Of The Very First ELVIS Songs I’d Ever Heard, And It Has Continued To Be A Personal Favorite Since Early Childhood.

To My Friends, I Was Always A Bit Weird In This Regard.

While They Were Busy Listening To The Jams Of The Day…

…The Current Top 40, And So On…

…I Was Busy Listening To The Songs Of My Parent’s Youth.

While Most Rebelled And Shied Away From Their Parents Music…

…I Embraced It.

This Song Has Been Stuck In My Head For A Little While Now…

…And Y’all Know How I Operate.

When Something Is Locked Into My Brain, I Have But One True Outlet:

I Blog About It.

I Honestly Don’t Have A Ton To Say About This Little Number…

…Aside From How Brilliantly Beautiful It Truly Is.

It’s A Song That Sincerely Will Stick With You, As It Has With Me My Entire Life.

It Is, By Far, One Of The Most Wonderfully Simple Songs Ever To Spring Forth From The World That Is ELVIS PRESLEY…

…And It Is A Song I’m Very Happy To Share With Y’all, This Morning.

I Hope You Do Enjoy It, My Peeps.

Perhaps You Won’t Love It As Much As I Do…

…But, It’s Very Hard To Scoff At.

A True-Blue-Classic If Ever There Was One.

Take Care, And Be Good, My Peeps.

Much Love To You All.

I’m Sure We’ll Have Much More To Discuss As The Year Rolls On…

…But, I Just Had To Share This One With You.

ENJOY, My Peeps, ENJOY!!!

😀

Of All The Songs To Get Stuck In My Head: “YOU’RE ONLY HUMAN (SECOND WIND)” (1985) By BILLY JOEL

***

*** ***

“…Just Like A Boxer In A Title-Fight…

…You’ve Got To Walk In That Ring Alone…

…You’re Not The Only One Who’s Made Mistakes…

…But They’re The Only Things That You Can Truly Call Your Own…”

…

“…Don’t Forget Your Second Wind…

…Wait In The Corner…

…Until Our Breeze Blows In…”

…

“…You’ve Been Keeping To Yourself These Days…

…‘Cause You’re Thinking Everything’s Gone Wrong…

…Sometimes You Just Want To Lay Down And Die…

…That Emotion Can Be So Strong…

…But Hold On…

…‘Til That Ole Second Wind Comes Along. …”

*** ***

***

Alright…

…Sheesh…

…What A Way To Begin The Day, Eh?!

Agreed.

I Don’t Know Why I Awoke In The Mood For The Musical Stylings Of…

BILLY JOEL

…But Sure Enough, I Did.

I Couldn’t Help It.

I Needed Something Upbeat…

…But With Lyrics That Were Meaningful.

When In Doubt, My Peeps…

“JOEL-IT!“

😉

He’s Always Got That Loving Combination Of Quality Beats/Rhythms AND Lyrics That Hold Special Meaning For Those Listening To Him.

BILLY JOEL

…Always Manages To Leave Me In A Better Mood Than When He Found Me, That’s A BIG FO SHO.

Sometimes, I Know Exactly Why…

…While At Other Times, I Honestly Have No Clue As To Why I’m In A Better Mood Following A Couple Of His Jammin’ Tunes, Such As…

“YOU’RE ONLY HUMAN (SECOND WIND)”

😀

I Suppose It’s All Just Linked To My Childhood.

BILLY JOEL

…Was A Constant Fixture Around My Home.

My Mother LOVED Him.

And That May Be An Understatement.

We Had His Music-Video Collection On The Ole VHS.

We Had The Bulk Of His Albums On The Ole CASSETTES.

He Was With Us At Home.

He Was With Us In The Car.

He Was With Us When We Went To Someone Else’s Home.

You Name It…

BILLY JOEL

…Was There.

Period.

Now…

…At 30’ish’ish Years Of Age…

…I Still Can’t Get Away From The Guy.

I Have His Greatest Hits Both On The CD And On My MP3Player.

Whenever I Need A Fix…

…There He Is.

Ready.

Willing.

Able.

Just Kickin’-It-Back…

…Waiting For The Time When His Services Are Called To Attention.

And This Morning…

…I Needed Him.

I Awoke Kinda Pissy.

I Went To Bed Super Early, As I Did Not Feel Good.

I Missed A Few Texts And Phone-Calls.

Things I’d Been Waiting On Most Of The Day.

That’s Always Kinda Upsetting.

Nothing I Can Do About It…

…But Still Upsetting.

SO…

…I Sincerely Needed A Pick-Me-Up.

BILLY JOEL

…In All His Wisdom…

…Swooped-In And Rescued Me!

Kudos, Man.

Kudos, Indeed.

😀

It’s Now FRIDAY, My Peeps!

The Weekend Is Upon Us!

So Let’s Get This Day Out Of The Way So We Can Kick-It-Back And Enjoy It, Hey Hey!

😉

Y’all Please Take Care Of Yourselves.

If Not For You…

…Do It For Me.

Someone’s Gotta Have A Damned Decent Day…

…And It Might As Well Be YOU!!!

I’ll Be Right Here The Bulk Of The Day…

…And I’ll Try To Keep Y’all Occupied As Best As I Can.

UNTIL THEN… 😀

What’s On Now!?: “SPACE RAIDERS” (1983)

Have You Ever Watched A Flick Where More Than Half Of It Was Pieced Together From The Shots, Used And Unused, Of Another Flick?!?

Well Then, My Peeps…

…You’re In For A Treat!!!

😀

The Flick I’m Eluding To Is…

“SPACE RAIDERS“

(1983)

…Starring…

VINCE EDWARDS

…And…

DAVID MENDENHALL

…And Produced By The King Of Schlock, Himself…

ROGER CORMAN

!!! !!!! !!!

😀

“SPACE RAIDERS“

…Is One Of The Few Flicks On V.H.S. I Still Have AND Enjoy.

Most Of The Others Were Either Sold, Or Scrapped, Or Simply Given Away.

I Really Just Couldn’t Part With This One.

It’s A Personal Fave-Fave…

…And In Cherry Condition!

So Why Part With It, Ya Know?!

EXACTLY!!

I Knew You’d Agree With Me!!

😉

“SPACE RAIDERS“

…Is The Story Of A 10-Year-Old Boy Named PETER (Played By DAVID MENDENHALL) Who…

…During An Intense Battle On His Home Planet…

…Stows Away Aboard The Ship Of The Raiding Party.

He’s Then Considered Their Captive…

…Though, As It Turns Out, All The Raiders Really Want To Do Is Get The Boy Back Home Again

VINCE EDWARDS Is “HAWK”…

…The Leader Of The Raiders!

He’s A Hard-Boiled, Old-School Military Officer Whom Has Taken To Raiding Corporation Sites All Over The Galaxy.

He Knows That Having A Corporation Child On-Board Is Going To Bring Nothing But Trouble, Or Worse…

…So He Decides The Best Thing To Do Is To Just Get PETER Home Again.

However…

…That Ain’t Gonna Be Easy!

Que SCI-FI ACTION And ADVENTURE!!!

😀

“SPACE RAIDERS“

…Is Honestly A Better Flick Than Anyone Ever Wanted To Admit.

Nearly ALL Of The Secondary Film Shots Were Taken Directly From Those Secondary Shots Of Another ROGER CORMAN Flick…

“BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS“

…No Foolies!!!

Every Scene Showing Spaceships…

…Battles Between The Good Guy And Bad Guy Ships…

…Alien Landscapes…

…Etc Etc…

…Were All Scenes Shot For…

“BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS“

!!! !!!

The Only Scenes That Were Original Were Those Shot With The Cast Of…

“SPACE RAIDERS“

…And That’s It.

Everything Else Is Recycled Material.

😀

Yeah.

So You Can Easily Understand Why So Many People Disliked This Flick.

Right?!

RIGHT!!

😉

HOWEVER…

…Regardless Of That Minorly-Major’ish Fact…

“SPACE RAIDERS“

…Is Still Fun Flick!

Always Remember, Kids…

…When BRADLEY ALAN Watches A Flick…

…He Always Tries To Watch It As Though He’s NEVER SEEN ANOTHER FLICK.

Period.

I Feel That’s The Only Way To Truly Judge AND Enjoy Something.

You Can’t Go Into Any Movie, TV Show, Documentary, Etc, Thinking About All That Has Come Before.

You Just Can’t.

You Have To Take Each One…

…And Then Quietly Observe.

If You Can Manage To Do That, You’ll Find It’s Much Easier To Decided Whether You Do Like Something, Or Do Not.

Most People Hate…

“SPACE RAIDERS“

…And Refer To It As “RECYCLED JUNK” That Sincerely Should Have Never Been Made.

BUT…

…For ME…

“SPACE RAIDERS“

…Is A Nifty Little Number That Always Reminds Me Of Being A Kid.

As A Kid, It Was One Of My All-Time Faves.

These Days…

…Yeah…

…Some Of That Wonder And Excitement Brought About From Childhood Has Worn Off.

I Can’t Deny That.

BUT…

…It’s Still Important To Me.

That’s Why I Kept This V.H.S. Edition.

To Remind Me Of What Things Were Like Back In The Day.

Those Memories Are Priceless.

So Even Just Looking At The Tape Itself Is Enough, Sometimes.

Do You Have Anything Like That, My Peeps?!

Something From Your Past That’s Out-Dated And Mainly-Useless…

…Yet Makes You Happy When You See It…

…Or Hold It…

…Or Touch It…

…Or…

…In This Instance…

…Watch It?!

I’ll Bet You Do!!!

PRICELESS, My Peeps.

PRICELESS, Indeed!

😀

My 10-Hour Psych-Eval or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Accept I’m A Mental Headcase

Good Morning, My Peeps.

What’s New In The Clean World, As They Say?!

Yeah.

Sounds About Right To Me.

So…

…As The Title Of This Piece Suggests…

…Or States…

…Or Whatever…

…I Spent 10-HOURS Of My Monday Sitting In An Office…

…Answering Question After Question…

…With Each Answer Spawning More Questions…

…And More Questions…

…And More Answers…

…And Yet More Questions…

…And On And On And On.

😐

We Talked About The Hot, Horrid Mess That Was My Childhood…

…Focusing Mainly On Traumatic Experiences That Have (likely) Shaped The Man I Am Today.

We Talked About My Inability To Conform.

My Struggles To “Fit-In” Anywhere.

The Friends I’ve Made.

Why I Made Those Few Friends In The First Place.

The Friends I’ve Lost.

Why I Lost Said Friends.

We Talked About My Plans For The Future…

…Or If I Honestly Had Any Real Plans For Any Type Of Future…

…And On…

…And On…

…And On And On And On.

😐

We Talked About My Time In The Navy.

The Good Things About It.

The Horrid Things About It.

Why I Was Discharged Early.

How I Felt About That.

How That (likely) Did Shape The Man I Am.

My Sleep/Insomnia Issues.

The Eval, Honestly, Seemed To Drag On…

…And On…

…And On And On…

…More Questions…

…More Answers…

…Begat More Questions…

…Begat More Answers.

😦

Honestly, My Peeps…

…I’ve Never Felt More Internally Exposed.

My Life History…

…Broken Down Before Me…

…Into 10-HOURS Of Q&A.

It Was, By FAR, The Most Comprehensive Mental Evaluation Of My 30’ish-Year Existence.

When It Was Finally Over…

…I Was So Drained I Could Hardly Stand-Up.

Lucky For Me…

…The Eval Took Place About 10-Blocks Away From My Home.

I Felt Sick.

I Was Nauseated.

I Had A Headache Direct From Hell’s Half-Acre.

I Felt Torn-Open…

…All Of My Guarded Skeletons Now Released Out Into The World…

…And Now A Part Of Record.

You Can’t Sincerely Know How It Felt Until You’ve Done It.

You Simply Can’t, My Peeps.

😦

It Was Grueling.

It Was Embarrassing.

It Was Humiliating.

It Was Irritating.

It Was Exhausting.

It Was Enraging.

It Was Draining.

It Was Helpful.

It Was (HOPEFULLY) Worth It.

😐

It Really Was The Most Difficult Q&A Session Of My Life.

Half-Way Into It…

…You Can Easily Imagine…

…I Was Ready To Get-Up And Leave And Just Go Home.

She Pulled Things Out Of Me…

(Mentally And Emotionally Speaking)

…I’d Been Repressing Most Of My Life.

She Got Me To Admit I’d Been Molested By A Former Neighbor.

She Got Me To Admit I’d Suffered Multiple Concussions From Major Head-Traumas.

She Got Me To Admit My Lack Of True Emotions In Some Cases…

…And Truly Overt Emotions In Others.

She Got Me To Talk About How I Used To Get Into Fights With My Peers In School…

…And How People Started Leaving Me Alone Because I Was Too Unpredictable.

She Got Me To, As I’ve Said,  Talk About Why I Was Discharged Early From The Navy…

…And How I Was Hazed/Bullied/Pressured Into Signing My Name To The Confession I Was Prompted To Draft At The Time.

She Got Me To Admit How I Felt When I Was Sent To The Brig…

…Placed In Solitary Confinement…

…And Put On Rations Of Bread And Water For THREE (3) Days.

She Got Me To Actually Talk About My Auditory-Hallucinations.

My Extreme Paranoia.

My Lack Of Sympathy And Empathy Toward Others.

The Woman Was Very Good At Her Job.

In The End…

…However…

…In Handing Down Her Diagnosis…

…She Told Me Nothing I Didn’t Really Already Know.

A.D.H.D.

Depression.

Schizophrenia.

Personality Disorder.

Underlying, Unresolved Trauma.

Sociopathic Tendencies.

 All Things I Could Have Just Told Her When I Walked Into Her Office.

BUT…

…Her Job Was To Confirm The Diagnosis Of Other Doctors…

…AND To Make Her Own Diagnosis.

And Boy OH Boy Was She Thorough.

😐

Needless To Say…

…I’m Just Glad It’s Over.

I Was Honestly Hoping Beyond Hope I’d Sleep Better Tonight.

As You Can Easily See…

…That Didn’t Happen.

Another Night Of Around 3’ish Hours Of Actual Sleep.

BUT…

…That’s Why I’m Writing To Y’all Right Now.

I Figured MAYBE If I Got All Of This Out Into The Open, My Mind Would Calm-Down…

…Relax…

…And Possibly Allow Me To Get Back To Sleep.

Is This Helping Me Relax?

Yes.

Some.

Do I Feel As Though I Could Get Back To Sleep?

No.

Not Really.

Am I Glad I’m Sharing This With You?

Yes.

Somewhat.

😐

Why Just “Somewhat”???

Because One Never Knows How Others Will React To Hearing Certain Things…

…And I Don’t Want Y’all, My Peeps, To Be Uncomfortable With What I’m Saying.

This Really Was Something I Sincerely Wanted To Get Off Of My Chest…

…So Perhaps I’m A Touch More Than “Somewhat” Glad I’m Sharing This With Y’all.

You Cats And Kittens Are Okay By Me…

…And I Wanted To Try (potentially) Connecting With Y’all A Bit More.

🙂

Am I A Mental Headcase?

Yes.

Is That Now A “Fact” Of Record?

Yes.

Am I Going To Let It Affect What I Do Here?

Hopefully Not.

Do I Love Being Able To Talk With Y’all?

More Than You’d Believe.

Are My Eyes A Touch Weepy, And Do I Need To Shut-Up For The Moment?

Yes AND Yes.

Am I Willing To Answer Some Questions From Y’all?

Sure…

…Some.

Will I Be As Open And Honest With Y’all As I Was With Her?

I Don’t Know.

Is This A Good Place To End This?

Yeah…

…I Think So.

L8r L8r, My Peeps.

And Thank You Again For Listening Reading.

🙂