What's in a Name?

Tonight I was hosting a shindig to watch a few episodes of Firefly in preparation for Serenity this weekend. Unfortunately, only one of the Freestate Browncoats was able to show up and I couldn't convince any of my friends to show up. We watched Out of Gas and Ariel. Out of Gas is definitely one of the best episodes. I learned about these things called the viral marketing campaign. Basically there are these clips of a River Tam unterview at school. Evidently, these clips started showing up on message boards like viruses. Anyhow, the clips can be found at http://www.session416.com.

As for the title of the blog entry, I decided I was going to start gigving a title to each post. This post is about the name of the blog and the name of the poster. No, Brock Garthok is not my true name. I am a gaming geek and Brock Garthok was a DND character I played several years ago. The character was a Dwarven Sorcerer (3.o) who had a sense of humor which was unusual in a dwarf. Brock comes from Boogie Nights. Mark Wahlberg's character used the stage name Brock Landers for his movie appearances. For some reason it seemed comical in the context, so I used it. Garthok comes from Coneheads.

Dave Thomas as the Highmaster of the Coneheads makes everyone he is unpleased with "narfle the Garthok". The Garthok turns out to be a huge snarling beast that those so condemned must face. When Beldar finally faces the Garthok he starts singing Tainted Love by Soft Cell. It is somewhat comical, but also in a way quite moving. As he sings "Sometimes I feel I've got to (UHN UHN) get away... I've got to (UHN UHN) run away", you can see his courage building as he fashions a makeshift golf club and hits a golfball size rock into the mouth of the Garthok and chokes it. It is that life defining moment that some people face. Beldar realizes at this momnet the importance of his family and makes the decision to return to Earth to make his daughter happy.

There are some that believe everyone has at least one moment like this in their life. I am not so sure.


Serenity opens Sept 30 in the US at a theater near you!