Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/378199
6 SEPTEMBER 10-16, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Who Ya Gonna Call? by PITT DICKEY There's something strange in the neighborhood. Russians in the Ukraine. Ebola outbreaks in Africa. Naked pictures of movie stars snatched from the cloud. ISIS psychopaths bringing back the 7th century. Chicken plants invading Cumberland County. Corporations getting religion and moving to Canada. "If it's somethin' weird and it don't look good/Who ya gonna call?/Ghostbusters!" Thank you Ray Parker Jr. for penning those immortal lyrics to help us out of these troubled times. If ever we needed Ghostbusters, now is the time. Remember how shocked we all were when we first learned that hackers could get into the cloud, copy and post nekkid pictures of Hollywood's not so bright stars? People who took racy pictures of themselves had once thought they were only sharing their naughty bits with significant others, former lovers, nameless hook-ups, FaceBook friends, future employers, Apple technicians and the National Security Agency. Imagine their surprise to learn that the cloud is not secure. It was like the scene in Casablanca when Captain Renault is presented with his winnings right after the Captain closes down Rick's place because he is "Shocked, shocked, to find that gambling is going on here." Who knew naked pictures could turn out to be a problem? It's no accident that the Ghostbusters movie has just been released on its 30th anniversary this week in the midst of all the toil and troubles facing the world at this particular time. As we all know, there are no coincidences. We got trouble right here, right now, in River City. Unfortunately, all we have to fix our rapidly increasing geopolitical problems are Obama and the dysfunctional Congress. They aren't going to be able to do anything but chunk mud at each other. We need to call Ghostbusters to get us out of this pickle. Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd need to fire up their proton packs now. Zuul is back and has taken over the evening news. We recently went to see Ghostbusters at a theater. I am pleased to report that it has aged well. It holds out hope things will get better. Ghostbusters was released into the strange world of 1984. Let us ponder current events from 1984 to see if we can learn from our past to help us deal with our brave new world of 2014. Despite George Orwell's predictions, not everything was rosy back in 1984. Ronald Reagan clobbered Walter Mondale and was re-elected President that year. Union Carbine had an industrial accident at its pesticide plant that released poison gas at Bhopal, India, killing more than 3,500 people. The United Kingdom agreed to give Hong Kong back to China in 1997. Hong Kong is not so happy now. 1984 was a good year for movies. Gracing the silver screen, we escaped into Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, Beverly Hills Cop and The Terminator. If we were too cheap to go to the movies we could watch Magnum PI, Hill Street Blues, Cheers and the A-Team on the tube. Colorful things happened in TV commercial land. Clara Peller, the earth's most famous octogenarian first uttered the words, "Where's the beef?" in a Wendy's ad. Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire while taping a Pepsi ad. Things were priced differently back in 1984. The Dow Jones average closed at the lofty level of 1211. The Federal Reserve's interest rate was 10.75 percent. A movie ticket cost $2.50 and the gas to get you there was $1.10 a gallon. Not everyone who started out 1984 alive lasted until the end of the year. Ray Kroc of McDonald's fame checked out. Jackie Coogan who played Uncle Fester on The Addams Family crossed into the Land of Reruns Eternal. Andy Kaufman who played Latka on Taxi, may or may not have died. He did stop making personal appearances in any event. Ed Gein, the gentleman farmer and taxidermist who inspired the movie Psycho died in prison. So how to handle the ectoplasmic residue of 2014's current problems? "If it's something weird an' it don't look good/If you're seeing things runnin' through your head?/An invisible man sleeping in your bed?/Who you gonna call?/ Ghostbusters!?" Let Ghostbusters pack up all your problems in their ectoplasmic kit bag and smile, brother, smile. PITT DICKEY, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Rooted in our communities – working together for all of North Carolina! Saluting our dedicated State Employees www.ncsecu.org From your co-workers, neighbors and iends, all members of State Employees' Credit Union.