Sunday, March 11, 2007

Snakes on a blog

This past Wednesday, March 7 was a monumental day. I finally witnessed one of the most talked about films of this decade. If you haven't guessed already, that film is non-other than the brilliant, incomprable Snakes on a Plane. I mean, how many other movies have you seen where the title is also the plot? Someone was thinking like a champion. And talk about a diabolical scheme; surely Hitler and Mussolini would hang their heads in shame. The writers did a phenominal job in creating a realistic scenario, especially in casting an Asian villian. Obviously only an Asian would have the intellectual prowess to organize an air-borne, reptilian assult. Oh, but Samuel L. Jackson makes the film as the FBI agent (of course, angry), who holds everyone together as venemous snakes rain down from the overhead compartments. His awesomeness just fills the entire plane. He captivates the audience in what I felt was the pinnacle of the film, as he declares "I have had it with these motherf*ing snakes on this motherf*ng plane!" In fact, even the laws of physics must yield to S.L.J. during this scene as he blows a hole in the side of the airplane which sucks out the snakes and spares every passenger (even the woman holding on to a baby). SLJ goes on to show that he is a true leader who knows when to step aside as he defers to Kenan Thompson from SNL to land the plane (both pilots lost the battle with the snakes), since his character had played a lot of airplane video games. After seeing this film, I was informed by my roommate's boyfriend that there is another film involving a snake-related transportation debacle aptly titled Snakes on a Train. I now feel strongly inclined to go to a store in which videos are rented or sold and buy it and/or rent it. Now that snakes are on planes AND trains, why stop there? They could be anywhere, such as these screenplays that are currently in the works:

Snakes gone insane: In this film, poisonous snakes infiltrate a mental institution. Samuel L. Jackson plays a Vietnam war vet with PTSD, and no one believes him about the snakes until it is too late. Or is it......
Snakes in your Hanes: This film involves a mad scientist who uses a shrinking machine to shrink venemous snakes and have them packaged in underwear. Once again starring S.L.J., he goes out on a limb as he plays both the villianous mad scientist and the FBI agent who must solve this case and confront a disturbing secret...the he himself is a venemous snake!
Snakes go to Maine: S.L.J. stars as a poor fisherman whose boat becomes ridden with venemous snakes while he is stranded on his fishing boat at sea. It turns out that when he was in Snakes gone insane he traveled back in time to have the snakes shipped to Maine instead, thus saving the day in that film but unknowingly putting himself in harm's way in this one. Oh, you bet he's kicking himself now.
Snakes vs. Wayne: In this flick Wayne Gretzky, played by none other than Samuel L. Jackson, must singlehandedly stave off a whole fleet of snakes who have interrupted the NHL championship game. In an interesting twist, Wayne agrees to face off the snakes in hockey all alone. This film has an intriguing scene in which Wayne, the ref, and the snakes' team captain, a pit viper, discuss the rules of this fateful match. Given the inability of a snake to check someone, injecting a person with poisonous venum is deemed an acceptable substitiute. Also, the cobra plays a phenomenal goalie.
Snakes and John McCain: This film takes snakes to a place they have never been before...Washington. A very smooth-talking puff adder goes head to head against John McCain, unsurprisingly played by S.L.J., in a race to become commander-in-chief. The snakes have very strong opinions on issues such as health care and education, so many important discussions are had during the course of this production. Who will be the victor in this presidential pursuit? I haven't seen this movie but I would bet on the snakes, since they are poisonous and they bite.

And the list could go on...

7 Comments:

Blogger renee said...

:-)

it's too bad you were called to be a vet. i think you're funnier than the whole cast of snl put together!

7:54 AM

 
Blogger Laura Ibsen said...

Sammy,

It's times like this that I am honored beyond words to be your friend. With this blog entry, I'm sure I will never be the same (nor indeed will the world, nor history, nor anything the human eye has ever conceived).

9:05 AM

 
Blogger Katie Hill said...

This is Chris (cause blogger sucks). This was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

2:06 PM

 
Blogger Chris Hill said...

Hey Sam, sorry to do this on your blog, but we were curious about our dog. The vet didn't seem to help much (I guess that's expected, cause he was free - they do free services on base).

Anyway, he has lots of gas. Since he's probably part rottweiler, I know this is common, but is there anything we should do or should we be worried at all? Katie has been feeding him "Nutro Natural Choice" dry dog food. It's a little more expensive, I think, and it's supposed to be better. Any thoughts?

Also, he has a problem with biting. He keeps doing it. He's just playing for the most part, but he tends to bite hard. We grab his muzzle and he submits very quickly (we put him on his back too, often), but as soon as we let go, he's back at it. I've been sticking my fingers down his throat to gag him when he bites, which works better... but only for a short time. I think he gets it, because he'll sometimes do this "almost bite" kind of thing, where he bites at me, but doesn't actually bite down at all or get my hand in his mouth. He does that for a bit, then goes on to full on play bites. I'm wondering if he just needs to chew more on something. We have this raw hide stuff, but Katie heard that it's hard to digest. Anyway, do you have any recommendations?

Thanks. I hope all is well with you and your cats.

12:27 PM

 
Blogger Sam said...

Hey Chris,

I'm sorry it has taken me awhile to respond. As for the dog gas, did you make an abrupt switch to a different kind of food recently? That can do it sometimes. Another potential trigger is high carbohydrates in his food. You could maybe try a diet that is more easily digestible, like Science Diet's Sensitive Stomach or Eukanuba Low Residue. These brands are a little more pricey so you may be able to find a comparable food by a different manufacturer for cheaper. If you do change his food, you need to do it gradually over a week by mixing in the new food with the old in gradually increasing increments. For his biting behavior, what you are doing in response sounds like a dominance hold. This type of correction is really more effective for young puppies; it might just rile your dog up more and make him think you're playing. The best thing you can do when he bites is completely turn away and ignore him, even walk away. He will probably put his ears up and cock his head to the side, wondering what's up :). If you, Katie, and anyone else who is is contact with him are consistent with this, he should stop. By completely turning away, it will stop the situation before your dog gets more and more excited and starts biting harder. How old is he? Male dogs that are about 1-2 years old often get rowdy when playing (this is the prototype of most dogs surrendered to shelters).
For something to chew on, kongs are great toys. They are supposed to be indestructible (although some dogs can wreck them) and you can put treats or peanut butter in them. They give dogs something to chew on and makes them figure out how to get to the food. I've heard good and bad things about rawhide, but I would say that if you give them to take them away once the bone starts splitting and little pieces are coming off. I hope that helps! Let me know how he's doing and if you need other advice. I hope you and Katie are doing well!

6:09 PM

 
Blogger Chris Hill said...

Thanks, Sam! We should hire you as our dog trainer. He's about 1 year old, so I guess he fits the bill. We'll try out that technique.

The rawhide is in the flat form... maybe 6 x 3 inches and a couple millimeters thick (you like my use of multiple measuring scales? I do). I'll tell Katie about getting a kong thing. She was thinking about it.

Thanks, again! Hope all is well.

8:40 PM

 
Blogger burnshead said...

sam, your most recent blog was both touching and inspirational. thank you for sharing your heart.

12:51 PM

 

Post a Comment

<< Home