Here Lies Poor Old Jack

What have I done?

What have I done?How could I be so blind?
All is lost, where was I?
Spoiled all, spoiled all
Everything's gone all wrong

What have I done?
What have I done?
Find a deep cave to hide in
In a million years they'll find me
Only dust and a plaque
That reads, "Here Lies Poor Old Jack"
But I never intended all this madness, never
And nobody really understood, how could they?
That all I ever wanted was to bring them something great
Why does nothing ever turn out like it should?

Well, what the heck! I went and did my best!
And, by God, I really tasted something swell!
And for a moment, why, I even touched the sky!
And at least I left some stories they can tell, I did!

And for the first time since I don't remember when
I felt just like my old bony self again...
And I, Jack, the Pumpkin King...
That's right, I am the Pumpkin King! 

And I just can't wait until next Halloween,
'Cause I've got some new ideas 
that will really make them scream!
And, by God, I'm really gonna give it all my might!
Uh oh, I hope there's still time to set things right!
Sandy Claws!

Writing this October 30th, Halloween is tomorrow so I of course have had Nightmare Before Christmas playing nonstop since the 1st. I personally love the entire soundtrack, but Poor Jack never fails to make me happy... Not even happy, it gives off a more powerful feeling more along the lines of 'I can'

I'll elaborate, Jack begins the song feeling rather empty and just as a failure, of course because he wrecked Christmas so bad he was shot down. Once he begins to think, 

But I never intended all this madness, never...That all I ever wanted was to bring them something great

He does recognize that he really did mess up but he knows that he really didn't intend to. He doesn't run away from it either, a quality many people in our modern society lack. 

Then he really gets it going, 

Well, what the heck! I went and did my best!

And, by God, I really tasted something swell!

And for a moment, why, I even touched the sky!

And at least I left some stories they can tell, I did!

What I personally enjoy about this song is this specific verse. He analyzed the situation and really took all he could from it, his own personal enjoyment as high as he could take it. He follows to go into a more optimistic view to say the people could take from it as well. He continues to discover that he indeed feels himself again and really just get over his little rather extravagant identity crisis. He returns to him normal self with a new found passion, but still remembers to fix his own mess.

His sense of pride at the end of the song is portrayed extremely well, in my opinion, by the lyrics and the singer. Jack tears his way out of an emotional gutter to the peak of his mood in less than three minutes. I of course think that it would be good to learn from 'poor old' Jack, and not only his optimism, but his sense of responsibility. Well trying to pin the act of wrecking Christmas on someone else would be rather difficult he did have the option of literally just disappearing. Instead he goes to confront his problem, and I that is an excellent way go about life.

Feel free to comment any opinions, or your favorite soundtrack from the movie, or just your favorite Halloween movie, thanks for reading!  

A Black House To Support Your Child

While scrolling through my tumblr dashboard, I came across a post with short clips of a German ad. (linked below)

The ad is 45 second longs long with sound effects and music, though no speaking. As the Huffington Post says " German Ad Doesn't Need Words To Speak Volumes About Supporting Your Kids" and after watching the ad I would say I full heartily agree.

To summarize what happens in the  45 seconds- 

• There is a teenage girl who stereotypically would be described as goth in her appearance 
• (She is wearing all black)
•  We see her dad driving her to school- the school that she obviously stands out in from her more pastel looking classmates. 
• They whisper when she walks by 
• They even put a frog on her desk and make fun of her
• She walks home and adults stare at her with judging looks
• (Someone even locks their car door)
•  She gets home which is being painted black by her dad
•  They look but don't say anything to each other, but for the first time in the ad the girl looks content.

While the ad is for a German home improvement chain, the message is great. I think its important for parents to support their kids, and let them know while it seems like the world is against them they'll be on their side no matter what.

 Painting the house of course is a bit extreme but of course it is an ad for home improvement, but the message still stands. 

Being in her teenage years, people may assume she is simply ' going through a phase ' (which is slightly ridiculous in my opinion, phase or not it's still happening and they're trying to find themselves) but her dad supports her 100% anyway. I think this is an important lesson as through personal experience I have heard of to many home situations where its a war between parent and children rather than working as a team. 

In a personal evaluation, I thought it was a nice ad and worth a watch.

Hornbach "Sag es mit deinem Projekt" - Hornbach "Say it with your project "