Jack of the Month: Jack of the Lantern

Once upon a time in Ireland, there lived a man named Jack—because he’s always named Jack now isn’t he?  And this Jack was known as “Stingy Jack” or “Drunk Jack” or any other lowly and degrading nickname because he was a very bad guy!  He was deceitful, malicious, conniving and always left the toilet seat up.  He was flat-out evil!

So evil, in fact, that the Devil was jealous.  How could a human be so silver-tongued and despicable?  The Devil set out one night to discover if Jack was really as bad as his reputation, and before too long Jack came stumbling drunkenly into the Devil’s path.  Jack thought for sure the Devil had come to collect his soul and he had just one request before being dragged to the fiery pits of Hell:  a last drink of ale (as if he really needed another one).

The Devil thought this seemed perfectly reasonable, so the two went down to a local pub and boozed the night away, playing drinking games and taking jello shots off of saucy Irish wenches.  When their night of debauchery was done, Jack asked the Devil to kindly pay his tab.  That also seemed perfectly reasonable to the Devil, so he said, “Why the heck not?”  Jack made a suggestion though:  “Why don’t you just turn yourself into a coin.  You can do that can’t you?”

Well, everyone knows the Devil can metamorphose into a coin.  Common knowledge.  And for matters of devilish pride, the Devil proved his powers and transformed into a coin.  Jack then snatched up the Devil—in coin form—and stuffed him into his pocket.  His pocket also happened to house a small crucifix, and when the Devil came into contact with it he lost all ability to transform back!

Holding the Devil hostage in his pocket, Jack negotiated his own terms for his inevitable damnation, giving himself ten more years on earth.  I would have asked for more than a decade, but that’s just me.  The Devil agreed so Jack let him go.

Ten years later, the Devil came to collect Jack’s soul.  Jack was all packed up and ready to go to Hell, but he just wanted a quick snack on their way to the airport.  The Devil—nicer than you might think—agreed to climb up a tree to get Jack an apple.  While the Devil was apple-picking in the high branches, Jack surrounded the base of the tree with many crucifixes.  They must have been in his suitcase or something…

The Devil was once again trapped by the ingenious Jack, and this time Jack made him agree to never take his soul to Hell.  The Devil agreed.

Pretty cool huh?  The only problem is that Jack’s way of life didn’t merit him an eternity in Heaven.  So when he died many years later of alcoholism, God wouldn’t let him in through the Pearly Gates.  And since the Devil had promised not to drag him to Hell, Jack couldn’t go there either!  So where does a soul go when it’s not allowed in Heaven or Hell?

It wanders.  As a way of warning others not to follow in his doomed footsteps, Jack roams the world with a small burning ember inside a turnip, forever trapped between good and evil.  For years the Irish have told Jack of the Lantern’s story and carved turnips or potatoes to ward away the evil spirits.  Today we carve them out of pumpkins and call them Jack-o-lanterns.

Moral of the story?  Don’t make deals with the Devil, unless you really really love pumpkins.

Jack of the Month: Jack and Jill

Since I recently posted my own little snippet of writing based on the nursery rhyme of "Jack and Jill", I thought it would be fun to feature the story as September's Jack of the Month.

For those unfamiliar, the verse goes like this:

Jack and Jill went up a hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after


Up Jack got, and home did trot
As fast as he could caper
To old Dame Dob, who patched his nob
With vinegar and brown paper

Illustration of "Jack and Jill"

I have heard the first verse many a time, but have never in my life heard the second verse until today.  Although I hardly feel that I can incorporate Jack just getting up and running off (because it seems highly unrealistic after such a horrendous fall), I do think I could easily involve a female doctor by the last name of Dob.

Anyway, second verse aside, there are many different theories as to the meaning of Jack and Jill.  It was first published in the 1760s as part of Mother Goose's Melody, but the rhyme probably dates back even further than that.  Some scholars believe that it could be related to the brother and sister Hjuki and Bill of Norse mythology of the 13th century.  Their story also involves a well, but instead of falling down they were taken up to the moon.

Another theory is that Jack and Jill are really King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, and "broke his crown" signifies their beheading.  Or perhaps it has to do with England's King Charles I who led a tax reformation on liquid measures.  "Jack" was a term for a half-pint and "Gill" was a quarter pint.  This "Gill" might seem a stretch to you, but there are some old versions of the poem entitled Jack and Gill.  Many pint glasses in the UK even have a crown above the half-pint mark.

Or the poem could even be about money!  "Jack" and "Jill" once meant "dollar" and "cent", meaning that their climb up the hill was an economic boon, followed by a horrible recession when they came tumbling down.  This recession could even be blamed on a drought, giving meaning to "fetch a pail of water."

But whatever the rhyme may truly mean, it is definitely a large part of popular culture.  Shakespeare references Jack and Jill in Love Labour's Lost and A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Countless bands have sung of Jack and Jill, including The Dave Matthews Band in their song "What Would You Say."  Even hip hop artist Eminem mentions Jack and Jill in the last two lines of his song "313".  In fact, just looking up "Jack and Jill" on Wikipedia brings up a magazine, a novel by James Patterson, an adult film, a comic book, a television series, an organization, a song by Raydio and even an upcoming movie starring Adam Sandler and Katie Holmes.

Not to mention an upcoming book by me!

Source:  Wikipedia

Jack of the Month: Jack John Garcia III

Well it’s my birthday this month so it should be no surprise that the "Jack of the Month" is ME!

I was born August 20, 1986 to Jack John Garcia II and Kathi Holman Richardson.  I was the firstborn child on both sides of the family, and enjoyed plenty of attention from grandparents, aunts and uncles.  Soon cousins followed but I remained an only child until I was five years old.  My brother Daniel was born in 1991 and just after our family moved from California to Colorado, my sister Renee was born in 1993.

From age seven on, I grew up in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado in the southeast corner of the state.  In small towns such as Rocky Ford, Cheraw, La Junta and Ordway, I performed well in school and by the time I graduated from Crowley County High School I was Salutatorian with a 3.9 GPA.  I had a job at Arkansas Valley AccuMed and was attending Otero Junior College before I went on a two-year mission to Chile for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 2005 to 2007.

I returned and finished my Associate’s Degree with OJC, graduating in the spring of 2008.  I worked at CBR Youth Connect for a summer, which was a facility for troubled teen boys.  That fall I moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University which was the beginning of a whole slew of failed school attempts.  I went there for a semester only then did an online semester through the Academy of Art University based in San Francisco, California.  I was accepted to both the Art Institute of California – Hollywood and the Art Institute of Salt Lake City but never actually attended either one.  I am currently enrolled at Utah Valley University as an English Major, with my first day being August 29^th.

Although my schooling has been out of control as of late, my love life has been much more stable.  I met Brian on November 2, 2008 and the two of us have been together ever since—almost three years now.  We have lived together in two different apartments in Salt Lake City with various roommates, but we now find ourselves living with his parents in Orem, Utah.  Luckily his mother, father and sisters all love me very much, and it’s been a very enjoyable living arrangement.

I work at a movie theater, which doesn’t pay much but gives me lots of hours and is very flexible whenever I need time off.  It also gives me free movies, which I love!  Since meeting Brian I have become a very big movie buff and I love to watch movies and review them here on my blog.  I also enjoy art, musical theater, reading and writing.  Besides this blog, I’m writing a novel and hope to be a published author someday.  Teaching English would also be fun I think.

Brian and I have a crazy dream of opening a small bookstore/café in the future where we can work together surrounded by things that we love… food and literature!  We have no desires to be rich, only comfortable and happy and hopefully with a family of our own someday.

That’s my life in a blog post!  I hope you enjoyed it!

Jack of the Month: Jack in the Box

My mom’s birthday is this month, and in honor of her, I decided that the Jack of the Month for July would be the fast-food chain Jack in the Box.  Why?  Because my mom is obsessed with it!  She goes there all the time for their super cheap tacos.  Maybe it’s her California roots…

The chain began in San Diego, California in 1941 and was known as Topsy’s Drive-In.  The owner, Robert O. Peterson, changed the name to Oscar’s and by the end of the 40’s he had several locations in California.  In 1951 he built a restaurant in Long Beach with the name Jack in the Box.  The restaurant featured a giant clown on top and boasted the first ever two-way intercom system.  Eliminating carhops, the location was able to serve people in a much faster way leading to its immense popularity.  Soon all of the Oscar’s restaurants were equipped with the new drive-thru system and renamed Jack in the Box.  Pretty cool, huh?

Jack from the
Jack in the Box
commercials.

Over the years Jack in the Box has had some struggles as far as business is concerned.  In the 80s they were failing to compete with big chains like McDonald’s, so they tried to mature their image.  They changed up their menu, restaurant décor, and for a year they even changed the name to Monterey Jack’s.  Then there was a horrible discovery that a lot of their beef was actually horse or kangaroo meat, and then there was a huge E-coli outbreak in the 90s resulting in the death of four children.  Jack in the Box lost a lot of money from these incidents, but through the use of a revamped marketing campaign they were able to distance themselves from the scandals and find success in the western U.S. 

The marketing involved a character named Jack who is the CEO of Jack in the Box.  In the commercials, he came back to take over the company and do things the right way.  The character still remains prominent today, with his big ping-pong ball head and pointy black nose.  Today Jack in the Box has 2,200 locations in 19 states and employs over 40,000 people.

Source:  Wikipedia

Jack of the Month: Jack Black

With Dreamworks’ Kung Fu Panda 2 out in theaters, I thought Jack Black—who voices Po in the movie—would be the perfect “Jack of the Month” for June.  While researching him online, however, I found out that his name isn’t even Jack!  IMPOSTER!  His real name is Thomas Jacob Black!  But I guess he chose to be known as Jack (probably because it rhymes with Black), which means he clearly has an appreciation for the name.  I mean, I gotta respect a man who changes his lesser name to the far superior, noble and dignified name of Jack.

So “Jack” Black was born in August (just like me) and grew up most of his life in Culver City, California (where I was born) after his parents divorced (oh my goodness, mine divorced too!).  He grew up to be a famous actor (and here our similarities unfortunately end), with his big break being in the movie High Fidelity.  It wasn’t a big role, but bigger roles soon followed in movies such as Shallow Hal, Orange County, School of Rock, King Kong, Nacho Libre, The Holiday, Tropic Thunder, Year One and Gulliver’s Travels.  He’s even done voice work in animated movies such as Ice Age and Shark Tale, his biggest animated role of course being 2008’s Kung Fu Panda and this year’s sequel Kung Fu Panda 2.

As showcased in several of his movies, Jack Black is indeed a musician who sings and plays guitar.  He is the lead singer of a rock parody band called Tenacious D, composed of himself and Kyle Gass.  They have released two albums and the movie Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny.  Jack Black has done a duet on Meatloaf’s newest album and has been featured in music videos by Beck, Foo Fighters, Sum 41 and others.

“Jack” Black is married to cellist Tanya Haden and they have two children, Samuel and Thomas.  Of all his personal and professional achievements, playing Jesus in the internet video Prop 8: The Musical is surely his greatest accomplishment!  Okay, maybe not.  But it sure was funny!

Sources:  IMDb and Wikipedia.

Jack of the Month: Jack Sparrow

With Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides coming out on May 20^th, I thought it would be fitting to feature none other than the character Captain Jack Sparrow for May’s “Jack of the Month.”  The star of the swashbuckling film franchise, Jack Sparrow is eccentric, self-preserving, and very fun to watch.  The screen writers, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio describe him as “a trickster who uses wit and deceit to attain his goals, preferring to end disputes verbally instead of by force.  He walks with a slightly drunken swagger and has slurred speech and flailing hand gestures…”  He’s played by actor Johnny Depp who has given the character his own unique stamp.

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow.

In fact, his approach to the character was so out-of-the-box that Disney originally hated his performance.  Michael Eisner is quoted to have said, “He’s ruining the film!”  He questioned whether the character was supposed to be drunk or gay… neither of which he approved of.  Other Disney executives felt the same way.  But director Gore Verbinski had faith in Johnny Depp’s instincts.  Of the character, Depp has always felt that a pirate was very akin to a rock star so he based the character off of Keith Richards (who the filmmakers later cast as Jack Sparrow’s father in the third film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End as sort of an inside joke).

The first one, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, came out in 2003 and I loved it!  And I don’t think I was the only one… it made over $650,000,000 worldwide.  That’s a lot of pirate booty!  Critics praised Johnny Depp’s characterization of Jack Sparrow.  Roger Ebert said Depp’s performance was "original in its every atom. There has never been a pirate, or for that matter a human being, like this in any other movie ... his behavior shows a lifetime of rehearsal."  People love these movies, as do I, and I’m sure many would agree that Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow makes them what they are.  He’s stolen the show, which is probably why this fourth movie coming out in a couple weeks is all about him.  There’s no Will Turner.  There’s no Elizabeth Swann.  It’s just Jack!

Sources:  Wikipedia and IMDb.

Jack of the Month: Jack Dawkins aka "Artful Dodger"

Brian and I like to read books out loud to each other, and we are currently reading Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.  Of course we are already familiar with the tale—who isn’t?—but we’ve never actually read the book.  So far it has been a ton of fun to hear Brian read with all of the characters’ British or Cockney accents.  My attempt at doing accents is really pathetic, so I’ve been letting Brian do all of the reading this time.  Normally we alternate chapters, but he’s just so good!!

So Brian was reading while we were sitting in our bed at the hotel in Los Angeles, and when the character of the Artful Dodger was introduced, it mentioned that his real name was Jack Dawkins.  I don’t think I ever knew that before, and I was very excited that his name was Jack.  I thought immediately, “He can be the next Jack of the Month!” 

Jack Dawkins, better known for his nickname the Artful Dodger, is sort of the leader of Fagin’s gang of young pickpockets.  His nickname comes from his ability to dodge from trouble in creative ways.  When he meets the innocent orphan boy Oliver on the streets of London, he takes him under his wing and helps him learn the tricks of his trade.  Dodger’s sort of like Oliver’s best friend, except for he quickly abandons him when Oliver is mistakenly accused of stealing.  That bad karma comes back to Dodger, however, because he is eventually convicted of stealing a snuffbox and is sent away!

This is how Dickens describes the character.

He was a snub-nosed, flat-browed, common-faced boy enough; and as dirty a juvenile as one would wish to see; but he had about him all the airs and manners of a man.  He was short of his age: with rather bow-legs, and little, sharp, ugly eyes.  His hat was stuck on the top of his head so lightly, that it threatened to fall off every moment…  He was, altogether, as roystering and swaggering a young gentleman as ever stood four feet six, or something less…

Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger in the movie Oliver!

Notice Dickens never specifies that he wears a top hat, although he’s almost always depicted with one.  Some say that it has to do with George Cruikshank’s illustrations for the original edition, and everyone else has followed suit.  Just a little tidbit I uncovered while researching this.  Thought you might like to know!

The character of the Artful Dodger has appeared in several movie adaptations of the novel, and has been played by many actors.  The character was even turned into an animated dog in Disney’s Oliver and Company and voiced by singer Billy Joel.  But the most popular Dodger—and my favorite—would probably have to be actor Jack Wild’s portrayal in the 1968 Oliver! which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.  The film, which is based on the musical, won Best Picture that year and is one of my favorite movies.  It’s better than the stage version in my opinion, and far better than the newer 2005 Oliver Twist by director Roman Polanski.

The Artful Dodger was once a British television show, there are two bands—one from the U.S. and one from the U.K.—both named Artful Dodger, Escape of the Artful Dodger was once a children’s show in Australia, and people often use the name to refer to someone who avoids responsibility or even when talking about the Dodgers baseball team.   Clearly, Charles Dickens’ character of Jack Dawkins/Artful Dodger has made quite an impact on the world, even today over 170 years after the novel was written.  You just can’t help but love that little scoundrel!

Source for this article:  Wikipedia

Jack of the Month: Jack McFarland

This month’s “Jack” was actually a suggestion from my ex-roommates Mesun and Ryan, and very fitting since we spent a lot of time together watching old episodes of the sitcom Will & Grace when we lived together.  So, drum roll please, I now present to you Jack McFarland!

Jack McFarland was a gay character played by actor Sean Hayes on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace.  The show ran for eight seasons from September 1998 to May 2006 and is one of the most successful sitcoms featuring gay main characters.  So funny!  And the winner of 16 Emmy Awards!

Jack and his Cher doll.

The character of Jack McFarland is a very flamboyant and often self-centered one.  He is the best friend of Will Truman (also gay) and is constantly dropping by, insulting him, and asking for money.  In fact, for quite some time he lives across the hall in Will’s friend Grace Adler’s old apartment, paid for by Will (and his mother and their friend Karen).  Unlike Will and Grace who have steady careers, Jack hops from job to job while pursuing a dream of being an actor.  He does a one-man show called “Just Jack”—which is terrible—and at one point even manages to teach an acting class after the regular teacher quits.  At various times throughout the series he’s been a waiter, a student nurse, a salesman at both Banana Republic and Barney’s New York, a producer at OutTV, and even a back-up dancer to Jennifer Lopez and Janet Jackson.

As flaky as he is with jobs, he’s even worse with men.  His relationships never last very long, although he claims to be “in love” almost always.  He’s far too shallow to truly invest, and usually runs after the next hottie he sees.  The closest thing to love in his life is probably his friendship with socialite Karen Walker.  They are both selfish, harsh, and wildly outlandish so they get along great!  She’s filthy rich, so that’s also a benefit since he’s always in need of money.  In fact, in the series finale we discover that Karen and Jack end up living together in Karen’s mansion for the rest of their lives.

Other important relationships would include his brief marriage to Karen’s maid Rosario (for a green card) and his biological son Elliot (the result of donated sperm), and a pet bird named Guapo.  He’s also obsessed with Cher—even has a doll of her—and has even met her once (although mistaking her for a drag queen).

So that’s Jack McFarland.  If you’ve never seen the show, I’m sure you could find it on television… it reruns on almost every station.  Or get in touch with Ryan who has every season on DVD.  I'm sure she'll let you borrow them.

Jack:   I took an oath in front of God and my mother. I'm here, I'm queer. Get used to it!

 Source for this post:  Wikipedia and IMDb

Jack of the Month: "Jack & Diane"

A little ditty ‘bout Jack and Diane

Two American kids growing up in the heartland

Jack—he’s gonna’ be a football star

Diane—debutante in the backseat of Jacky’s car

Right after returning from my LDS mission to Chile, I began to produce a monthly newsletter about my life called Jack Mormon Monthly.  I would either email or snail mail it to relatives and friends.  It ran from January through November of 2008, a whopping 11 issues!  The reason I bring up Jack Mormon Monthly is because one of the monthly features of that newsletter was an article called “Jack of the Month” which would talk a little bit about a famous Jack.  I’ve decided that I should resurrect “Jack of the Month” here at Joaquin the Chihuahua.  So from now on, the first Thursday of every month will spotlight a new Jack.

This month, since it’s the month of love, I decided to focus on the song “Jack & Diane” by John Mellencamp (recording as John Cougar at the time).  It’s a song about young love in a nostalgic Americana, and it has such a great feel to it.  It’s one of my favorite songs ever.  My favorite part of that song would have to be the bridge (you know, “let it rock, let it roll…”) and Mellencamp attributes that part of it to producer and guitarist Mick Ronson. 

Apparently Ronson said, “Johnny, you should put baby rattles on there.”  Mellencamp had no idea what he meant by that, “So he put the percussion on there and then he sang the part 'let it rock, let it roll' as a choir-ish-type thing, which had never occurred to me. And that is the part everybody remembers on the song.”  Mellencamp also revealed that the clapping was only meant to help them stay on tempo and was supposed to be deleted off of the final track, but later he realized the song didn’t work without it.

The song was number one for four weeks on the 1982 Billboard Hot 100, and is considered one of his greatest hits.

Oh, let it rock, let it roll

Let the Bible belt come and save my soul

Holdin’ on to sixteen as long as you can

Change is comin’ ‘round real soon

Make us woman and man

Source for this post:  Wikipedia