Revisiting The Gremlins Franchise & Mogwais In Chinese Folklores

How's it going lurkers? How did you enjoy your Thanksgiving? My Thanksgiving wasn't horrible. However, my mother and I DID manage to dodge a really nasty car accident, last Wednesday.

Hopefully, everyone's Thanksgiving Day went well with family and friends. 

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we must prepare for Krampus Day, Saint Nicholas Day, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, and Christmas Day.

I am sure that some of you will be celebrating this "festive" season with Christmas films whether they are the stereotypical Lonely Romance Comedies, or something creepy like Christmas Slashers. You may even want to go the Horror Comedy route with Gremlins, for example.

After all, Gremlins is technically a Christmas Horror Comedy film. The original movie is set during the time of Christmas. I published a blog years ago about the Gremlins audiobooks. In addition to my blog about the Gremlins audiobooks, I published another blog last June about the disturbing dream I had about killing Gremlins. Then, I briefly explained about mogwai in Chinese folklores.

So, to delve into more detail about these FUGLY monsters, the term "mo" derives from the Sanskrit "Mara," meaning "evil beings," which shares a cognate with the Persian "Magi" from which the English word "magic" derives. This is according to tribe.net.

Mara in BOTH Buddhism and Hinduism determines the fates of death and desire, that tether people to an unending cycle of reincarnation and suffering. He is the source of wickedness and purposely leads people to sin, misdeeds, and self-destruction. 

"Gui," on the other hand, does not necessarily mean "evil" or "demonic spirits." Gui simply means "deceased spirits" or "souls of the dead." 

In modern Chinese, gui has evolved into normally referring to the spirits/ghosts of unrelated family members seeking their revenge on mortals, who have caused them anguish, when they were still alive. 

It is common for mortals to rectify their sins by sacrificing money to gui by burning (usually fake) paper banknotes so that gui can have funds to use in their afterlife.

Also, Tribe.net states that the modern popular use of mogui as "demonic" and gui as "devils" are somewhat outcomes of Western influences.

Satan in The Book of Job is translated as "diabolos" in Greek and "mogui" in the Chinese Biblical texts. Therefore, Satan is "Mogui" in Chinese. 

Whenever you have the chance to re-watch Gremlins, you will have a slightly better understanding about mogwai in Chinese folklores.

As I briefly explained in my Killing Gremlins blog (which you can click on and read below), the water or rain to be more exact, is for reproduction during the mating seasons.

Mogwai in Gremlins are depicted as asexual creatures with the ability to morph into dangerous monsters. 

The scientists in Gremlins 2: The New Batch believed, that Gremlins are either mischievous and mean-spirited reptiles, or simply viruses.

You learn something new everyday!

Because Gremlins is a Christmas Horror Comedy movie and because today's blog is about mogwai in Chinese folklores, let's revisit the Gremlins audiobooks and my dream about killing them for another Throwback Thursday.

Who Remembers The Gremlins Audiobooks From Hardee's? (2013)

Have You Ever Killed Gremlins In Your Dreams? (2015)

Have You Ever Killed Gremlins In Your Dreams?

How's it going lurkers? The other day, I had this really odd dream. Considering the timing, it was a bit strange. 

Those, who have been subscribed to me for the last 2 years already know, that I published a blog about Gremlins and its audiobooks.

As I was saying, I had descended our basement stairs (I haven't visited our basement, since the last days of The Bush Administration). 

A shadow of strange-looking ears flopped around with highly pitched cackling. I peeped around the corner of our basement and noticed there were Gremlins. They turned our basement into a recreational lounge!

Staring with both eyes, I did a double-take, while asking myself, "What the hell? Am I hallucinating or something?!" 

This led to yours truly grabbing 1 of our many brooms. My family will tell you, that I am always killing bugs (mostly spiders) with a broom. 

LOTS of damage can be done with a thick piece of wood and twigs, when you put enough force into it.

After putting on my gym shoes and grabbing a broom, I ran downstairs yelling, "GET UP! GET YOUR UGLY ASS UP, RIGHT NOW!!!" There was 1 Gremlin lounging on his bean bag, while giving me a cocky look.

"Don't give me that look. You know what I said just now. Get up or I'll make you."  Because he wanted to be a defiant demon, I whacked him upside the head with my broom.

Out of nowhere, another Gremlin threw a knife at me from the side. He didn't stab me. However, he did graze the side of my face. 

"This is the part where you start running. That knife just costed you your life."  That smug, piece of shit Gremlin, that was lounging on his bean bag finally got up and wanted to fight me.

"Oh, now you wanna do somethin', huh?" I took the end of the broomstick and jabbed him in the eyes with it, as he squealed.

Next thing I knew, the knife throwing Gremlin jumped on my back. I bit his slimy hand so hard, that he bled profusely. 

Then, I crushed it and began using him as a shield for the other Gremlin, that wanted to fight me.

The pompous lounger ended up killing his jumping friend. When he killed the jumper by accident, I chased that lounger around the house, until I was finally able to break my broom in 1/2, stake him, and force the broom through his throat.

Finally, I woke up that afternoon (The daytime's my Vampire Sleeping Hours) and asked myself, "What the fuck was that all about?"  I soon remembered that it is June.

June 8, 2015, will officially be 31 years, since the release of the movie, Gremlins. 6 days later, I will be turning 33.

Talk about strange! I'll leave you with these interesting facts:

Mogwai is an ambiguous word. In Cantonese, it can mean "monster," "evil spirit," "devil," or "demon." 

According to what I recently learned on Wikipedia, Mogwais [魔怪] exist in Chinese folklores. 

Supposedly, they are harm-inflicting demons, that reproduce during the mating seasons.

A Mogwai's reproduction is normally triggered by rain. The rain is suppose to denote "rich and full times ahead." 

Mogwais can also personify ghosts of unrelated family members, that swear vengeance on mortals, who caused them anguish when they were still alive. 

Learning can sometimes be so very interesting. It's amazing what we learn.

So, have you ever killed Gremlins in your dreams? What are your thoughts about this?

Song Saturday: Kurt Cobain Tribute

How's it going lurkers? Today is not only Song Saturday, but also the day of 2 tragic deaths from Grunge Rock vocalists. 

On April 5, 1994, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain supposedly committed suicide and in 2002 on this same day, Alice In Chains' Layne Staley died from a Heroin/Cocaine overdose. So tragic yet bizarre all at once.

Both of these '90s Grunge vocalists from Seattle, WA happened to die 8 years apart from each other on April 5th. If memory serves me right, I believe Kurt and Layne were both friends. Cobain has been dead for 20 years whereas Staley has been dead for ONLY  12 years. It is quite fascinating, that BOTH of their deaths were estimated to have been on April 5th and 8 years apart from each other. 

Kurt Cobain's death wasn't announced, until 3 days later in 1994. Compared to Cobain's, Staley's death was not announced until April 19, 2002.

As I already said a couple of Song Saturdays ago, the mainstream media LOVES to publicize Nirvana and Kurt Cobain's death more than Layne Staley's because Kurt was "The Hype Guy," who acted as a so-called "political activist."

Even though the man was a total junkie and kook with phenomenal artistic abilities, he knew how to arouse his fans on stage. Kurt Cobain had a lot of sycophants and zealots as well as average fans.

Looking back as a woman in her early 30's and not as a preteen from the early to mid-90's, Nirvana sycophants and zealots put this particular Grunge vocalist on a gigantic pedestal. Nirvana supposedly "paved the way" for so many Grunge bands, especially for other Grunge bands like Alice In Chains, for example.

Today I won't focus too much on Layne's death because I intend to discuss his death, next week.

Returning to Kurt Cobain, I remember the exact date 20 years ago, when his suicide hit the airwaves. The news announced Kurt's suicide on a Good Friday, which was on April 8, 1994. I was only 2 months away from turning 12 years old. 

At the time, a local Hard Rock/Metal radio station of ours in Milwaukee, WI did a Nirvana tribute. That tragic news report about Kurt Cobain's suicide left me feeling completely shell-shocked. 

The radio station broadcasted Dave Grohl's voice with him discussing Kurt's suicide and about Nirvana wanting to disband. 

Even though I was only in my preteens, it was a very surreal and intense moment. MTV News anchor, Kurt Loder most definitely announced that Kurt Cobain committed suicide. 

In addition, MTV News premiered news specials specifically about Cobain's suicide and shared suicide hotlines.

MTV News: The Day Kurt Loder Announced Kurt Cobain's Suicide (1994)

20 years ago, I never really heard about musicians committing suicide, until I reached puberty. 

Had I been a little older, would Kurt Cobain's suicide had a bigger impact on me as a fan? 

I was a Nirvana fan but I wasn't an sycophant or zealot.

Shortly after his death, there were some Nirvana fans committing suicide because they viewed Kurt Cobain as their "God." This was something he never wanted. Kurt Cobain really hated the fact, that he and Nirvana became famous.

Throughout these last 2 decades, I watched some Nirvana documentaries. Over the most recent years, I read and heard, that Cobain hated the way Nirvana fans and the media misinterpreted their music. That's not including music critics over analyzing Nirvana's songs.

Honestly, it wasn't until I had my own TV with closed captioning on it, that I was able to understand what Kurt Cobain said in Nirvana's lyrics. That was 2 years after his suicide.

My mother restricted me from buying any Nirvana albums yet I could buy a Megadeth or Metallica album. Gotta love it.

Kurt Cobain was NOT  the most articulate vocalist. Before his suicide and after Nirvana became famous, I saw parodies about the Grunge Rock band. 

Weird Al, for example, did a parody of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." He joked about Kurt not knowing what he was saying in his lyrics.

Yesterday, I went onto good ol' Wikipedia to learn more about Cobain's background. Supposedly, mental illness, substance abuse, and suicide ran in his family line.

This was besides Kurt having a rough time coping with his parents divorcing, being bullied by his peers over it, and witnessing his mom's boyfriend inflicting domestic abuse upon her.

To make matters worse, Kurt Cobain became withdrawn, defiant, transported from house to house, having foster parents converting him into being a devout Christian, and renouncing Christianity to follow Buddhist and Jainist philosophies.

Kurt also felt persecuted for his Liberalistic views, since he received death threats, began resenting so-called Nirvana "fans," who refused to acknowledge their political views, etc, etc.

Cobain started abusing drugs, when he was 13 years old and had stopped for a while. 

Then, he really started abusing drugs as an adult. This was epecially when Nirvana reached its pinnacle. What I find the most interesting is the Butthole Surfers connection.

I'm not necessarily bringing this particular band up to purposely blame them for Kurt Cobain's addiction. 

However, this is the 2nd time, I have read about a vocalist from a famous Alternative/Grunge Rock band having connections with this specific band.

About a few months ago, I read about Stone Temple Pilots' Scott Weiland touring with Butthole Surfers. Years ago, they introduced Scott to Heroin. When I read more about Kurt Cobain, he and Courtney Love met at an L7 and Butthole Surfers tour.

The early stages of Kurt and Courtney's relationship consisted of drug abuse. I cannot help noticing a common connection among Kurt, Courtney, Scott, Butthole Surfers, and Heroin Addiction.

Granted, Kurt Cobain was already exposed to Heroin in 1986 by a local drug dealer in Tacoma, WA. 

Supposedly, Kurt used Heroin to self-medicate his stomach pain and by the end of 1990, he developed a hardcore addiction to it.

Overall, Kurt Cobain's Heroin Addiction seriously destroyed him, his performances, relationships, AND Nirvana when we look back at some of Nirvana's interviews, concert performances, and music videos from the '90s. 

Whenever I watched Kurt's interviews 2 decades ago, he usually seemed somewhat sober, while smoking his cigarettes. 

Then, there were times when he physically looked, sounded, and acted really high. 

Learning more about Kurt Cobain's background yesterday, really makes me believe, that he committed suicide.

Most had speculated that Courtney Love either killed Kurt Cobain, or set him up to be killed, 20 years ago. Her band, Hole became famous shortly after his death. 

Love is known for dating other famous musicians and actors, having a violent temper towards men (not that Kurt didn't himself), constantly being in and out of drug rehab, etc.

That reminds me, when I originally heard the news about Kurt Cobain's death on the radio, DJ's claimed an electrician found him with a suicide note, his clothes placed in the bathroom, and was lying naked with a gun to his head.

New York Daily News released pictures of Kurt and Courtney's previous apartment, drug paraphernalia, and his corpse 2 weeks ago. 

New York Daily News: New photos of Kurt Cobain's Los Angeles apartment surface (2014)

Kurt Cobain's Corpse (April 1994)

  

 

 

The preceding picture of Kurt Cobain's corpse doesn't match the news reports I heard on the radio about his death multiple times, 20 years ago.

Yesterday, I just stumbled upon his notorious suicide letter on Wikipedia. I remember MTV airing Courtney Love partially reading it to Nirvana fans, during his funeral.

Kurt Cobain's Suicide Letter (April 1994) 

Last month, the Seattle Police Department re-opened Kurt Cobain's case. According to the police, they received at least 1 weekly request, mostly via Twitter to re-open his suicide case.

After re-investigating Cobain's report, the Seattle Police Department reclosed it. There wasn't much to their discovery. It's rather convenient, that they chose to reopen this investigation.

This Thursday, April 10th, Nirvana will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"Breed" and "Drain You" are 2 of my favorite Nirvana songs. 

Several years ago, Otep did a cover of Nirvana's song "Breed." 

After all that I have said for today's Song Saturday, here are 2 of my favorite Nirvana songs, which can be heard on their Nevermind album.

1) Nirvana "Breed" Live At Reading (1992)

2) Nirvana "Drain You" Live On Nulle Part Ailleurs In Paris, France (1994)

RIP KURT COBAIN!!!