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Farewell Old Friend

Good evening Blogosphere. It's been an exciting week, and I know that we're all abuzz with election news and what will soon become an election hangover. But in all the chaos, a dear friend was lost today. Michael Crichton, or as I call him, the man who got me out of my assigned 5th grade reading, died Tuesday at the age of 66.

This loss, of course, makes me feel: sad.

I clearly remember when Jurassic Park came to theaters, and how I declared it the best movie ever made. Ever. I do not regret that statement. That movie made me feel: Happy!!

I loved the film so much that I decided to read the novel as my elected 5th grade reading. We had to read several extra books each semester and write so many reports, but because I chose Jurassic Park, and it was so long that my 5th grade teacher agreed to let it count as my entire semesters' elective reading. what i missed that semester I'll never know. I even read The Lost World, but all I remember from either book are the dinosaurs, and how cool it would be if i could have one for a pet, and why didn't they just make vegetarian dinosaurs, then none of this mess would have happened....

I think I missed the point of the book(s). I suppose I was really just: Confused.

Whether or not I "got the point" or "understood what philosophical statement Crichton was trying to make," I will always love Jurassic Park. The years may have changed me, but they have not dampened my love of this great film. Not a stormy night goes by that I don't feel like popping it into my DVD player and settling in for a fantastic journey. And I am not alone in my adoration; this iconic film will forever be a part of our pop-culture past and helped to pave the way for our pop-culture present and future.

While we remember and old friend, taken too soon, I'll leave you with this:
In 1994, Michael Crichton had the number one movie (Jurassic Park), the number one television series (ER) and the number one novel (Disclosure). In 1994, Kurt Cobain's life was tragically cut short. Now, Michael Crichton's life has been cut short.

Coincidence?

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  1. Blogger chris | 1:10 PM |  

    I also read Jurassic Park way too many times, and listened The Lost World book on tape. I also considered reading Sphere, then I saw the movie and decided against it.

  2. Blogger Unknown | 1:16 PM |  

    Man alive, Michael Crichton did write some good'uns. I think I was first on the reservation list at the LaCrescent Library for The Lost World and totally saw the movie in my mind before Spielberg ruined it by bringing dinos into some neighborhood (um, obvi Crichton wrote the book with the movie already in place, Spielberg!!!!! Way to ruin everything!!!!!!!!) Chris, Sphere the book is (from what my 15-year-old self recalls) WAAAAAAAAAY better than the craptastic movie. A lot more psychological than the movie (although that might just be because it used a lot of italicizing to show inner thoughts.) One boring book that he did write, though, was Airframe. Turns out, *SPOLIER ALERT* the reason the plane crashed was because of shoddy engineering! *SNOOZE ALERT* But yeah, also Season One of ER, which he def laid the seeds for, before it got totally melodramatic, was pretty good.

  3. Anonymous Anonymous | 3:09 PM |  

    I was very sad to see he died too. He was my favorite author when I was younger, and I read most of his weird books. Even Rising Sun, which was awkward for a little kid to read. Once again, I appreciate your smiley and frowny hearts.

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