PREFACE-CHAPTER 1: FAMILY HERITIAGE (ORIGINS)
Photos/Images:
Dedications (Page v): "To My Fellow..."
Videos/Clips
Baby Photoshoot (Courting the Ojo)
Ch1 (Page 2): “Preying on my weakness for flattery, the photographer had me swept up in a frenzy of Zoolander meets Austin Powers meets Bruno.”
Ch 1 (Page 7): My Favorite Cartoon Characters
Popeye
"I loved how Popeye was all lovable and gullible—until you messed with his hyna (his girlfriend), then it was time to open a can of spinach/whoop ass
and take the culprits to task!"
Snoopy
"With respect to my other favs, I loved how Snoopy didn't take s*** from anyone, nor did he ever need anyone's approval or permission to do anything."
Woody Woodpecker
"As for Mr. Woodpecker, he was just a troublemaking tweaker who was unpredictable and fun to watch, proving I’d landed on a strange new world, indeed."
Memories and Messages in Memes:
Rescued from the Deep
Ch 1 (Page 11): "I must have looked like SpongeBob getting saved by the Hoff (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, 2004) because the next thing I remember was being revived near the edge of the pool, where the ordeal began."
Degrees vs. Skills
Ch 1 (Page 30): "Against the backdrop of today’s evolving “first world,” [this clip] satirically juxtaposes people with “ruling class” degrees against those with practical skills. Then check out jobcorps.gov!)"
When Heroes Go Haywire
Ch 1 (Page 66): "There’s a scene in the animated movie Big Hero 6 (2014) in which the lovable robot, Baymax, gets a modification made to his programming to go from friendly to destroy mode."
Movies as Mirrors (Sibling Rivalry)
Ch 1 (Page 67): "I even started crying in the movie theater at TMNT (2007) when Leonardo and Raphael, crime-fighting ninja turtle brothers, started arguing and fighting on a rooftop, nearly to the death, as one brother’s blade narrowly missed the other’s throat (we’ll peel that back in the next chapter)."
Sucker (Gut) Punches
Ch 1 (Page 67): "I still cry every time at the scene in The Incredibles (2004) when Elastigirl begs the bad guys to call off the cruise missiles fired at the plane she is piloting because 'There are children aboard. I say again, there are children aboard this aircraft.'"
Plant and Grow Your Own Family Tree
Ch 1 (Page 68): "Not all my responses to kids’ movies are sad, thankfully: Watching Meet the Robinsons in 2007, when my kids were only 10, 7,and 4, reinforced for me the truism that even if you weren’t born into a perfect family situation, you could always do your best to create one when you grow up."
I (?) Want to Be an Airborne Ranger!
Ch 1 (Page 95): "First time I ever heard “I want to be an Airborne Ranger,” having no clue how true that was, or how much pain and drama that dream would cost me throughout my life (we’ll explore that in Vol. 2)."
Songs
Ch 1 (Page 6): He [my dad] was strolling along to iconic favorites like “Lollipop” [1950] and “Mr. Sandman” [1954] by The Chordettes, around the same age I...
was moonwalking to “Thriller” and “Beat It” [1982] by Michael Jackson (trying to, anyway)."
Ch 1 (Page 40): '“Born in the U.S.A.” (1984) by the Boss, for example, was one of our favorite songs, which I always thought was just about loving me some “Merica!” Never did he spoil it by telling me it’s actually an antiwar song."
Ch 1 (Page 40): "All the men were packed tightly in the truck bed with the tarp up and their rucksacks to their fronts. It’s easy to imagine Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower” (1968) playing on someone’s one-way radio."
Ch 1 (Page 44): "Thus, the country was divided over both a cold war abroad and a civil rights war at home. That same year (1970), “War” (“what is it good for”) by black Army veteran Edwin Starr was the number one song in America."
Ch 1 (Page 45): "Coincidentally, my dad would take a similar photo of Mia and me at LAX thirty years later when I came home from Basic in uniform. (Perfect song for this photo: “California Dreamin’” by The Mamas & the Papas, 1965.)"
Ch 1 (Page 46): "But like I said, “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (Bob Dylan, 1964): the US Department of Health and Human Services recently reported that teen motherhood is at an all-time low going into the 2020s."
Ch 1 (Page 49): "It was love at first sight,” apparently, and my maternal great-grandparents rode north on horseback to start their family (talk about “Cowboys to Girls”—The Intruders, 1968)."
Ch 1 (Page 53): "The DJ’s playlist likely included music by Dick Dale, aka “The King of Surf Guitar” and the genius behind Quentin Tarantino’s delightfully deranged signature sound from his magnum opus (Pulp Fiction, 1994)."
Ch 1 (Page 54): "Since it was a Halloween dance, I like to imagine my mom winning my dad over through some kind of ceremonial dance battle in which she led her synchronized squad to Dale’s “Spanish Kiss” (1963), looking like Jenna Ortega’s brilliant interpretation of “Wednesday Addams.”"
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams (how I imagine my mom and dad at the Sawtelle Halloween dance).
Ch 1 (Page 61): "Often and without notice, my dad started disappearing
on multi-day benders of psychedelic drugs that were washed down
with alcohol and Creedence Clearwater (Revival that is: 'Born
on the Bayou,' 1969...
Probably chased it with a little Cream too: Sunshine of Your Love, 1967!)."
Ch 1 (Page 70): "The song “Thin Line Between Love and Hate” (1971) by the Persuaders paints this picture perfectly with its lyrics, melody, and melancholy—with its message and warning to all men."