Day 113 – Marvel



Day 113 – Marvel
By Jiddoe S'Phatt



Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to Day 113 of “Blog 365”.
A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I’m a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, indeed. I’m also inspired by it. I admire it. They’ve been telling one long story for 10 years. It’s a tale that’s garnered unwavering investment from audiences around the world for an entire decade.

Back in 2008 when ‘Iron Man’ wrapped, I remember lingering in the theater having a conversation as the credits rolled. I and the few other people still in there were caught completely off guard when the post-credits scene started.

Every one of was stunned to see Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury. Then he mentioned “The Avengers Initiative”. From that moment on I salivated for an Avengers movie, a film I still drool over even though I’ve watched it, oh, 45 times? 50?

I’ve watched it an insane amount of times.

Seeing it for the first in the theater was the best, though. I can still hear the packed house explode with excitement when Thanos was revealed at the end. A story I thought was just building to where we were in 2012 was actually just getting started.

In a couple days I’ll finally see the culmination of 10 years of storytelling. It’s impressive, inspiring, and darn admirable.

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Day 112 - Joseph



Day 112 - Joseph
By Jiddoe S'Phatt



Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to Day 112 of “Blog 365”.
A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I used to be better about remembering birthdays. I stayed on top of dates and was prepared to send my blessing and best wishes ahead of time.

These days they slip by me, regrettably, unless I’m scheduling something. Looking at the calendar triggers a reminder. It happened today.

The birthday it prompted was my grandfather’s. Joseph. The man I was named after.

I lost him 5 years ago to cancer just a couple weeks after losing my grandmother, his wife, to a stroke. I think about them all the time. What’s funny is just 4 days ago I was sharing with neighbors the stories my grandfather shared with me about Pearl Harbor during his time in the Navy.

Yet 4 days later and, had I not looked at the calendar for something un-grandparent related, I would have likely missed acknowledging his birthday.

I remember him being busy and forgetful. He’d forgive me.
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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!


Day 111 – Cheese



Day 111 – Cheese
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to Day 111 of “Blog 365”.
A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I’ve waited 10 years for these. Now I have them.

I stood in line at the Regal Cinema box office patiently waiting. Once it was my turn I approached the window with a smile on my face. A big one. Full cheese.

“I need 3 tickets for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, Thursday at 7PM!”

The person at the counter started smiling too. “I’ve had my tickets for 4 weeks,” she remarked, excitedly. The feeling is apparently as universal as I’ve imaged.

I’ve never been this hype for a movie. I’ve never anticipated the theatrical release of a film as much as I have this one. I’ve read numerous articles and watched cast interviews from just about every major news outlet available. Each one gets me more pumped! The only other movie that comes close is ‘Avengers’ in 2012.

And soon I’ll finally get to learn if Marvel’s 10 years of cinematic storytelling is worth the tremendous buildup.

If it is I assure you I’ll be buying more tickets to see it again. With a smile on my face. A big one. Full cheese.
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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

Day 110 – Yes, I Am Joe



Day 110 – Yes, I Am Joe
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to Day 110 of “Blog 365”.
A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I was lucky enough to attend “To Ray with Love”, music legend Maceo Parker’s tribute concert to his Idol Ray Charles at Wharton Center in East Lansing, MI last night. Great show.

As I was strolling through the lobby once it ended I was startled by someone inquisitively shouting my name.

“Joe?!”

I responded by turning suddenly to see an excited lady I didn’t recognize and about 9 other strangers grouped together by a bench. She asked, “Aren’t you Joe the singer?”

No, ma’am, I’m not.

“You look just like him!”

Just like him, though? I don’t think so. My name is Joe, by the way. Only my last name is Walker. His is Thomas. I can still sing something for you if you’d like.

They all laughed, she and two ladies sitting on her immediate left and right looked embarrassed as they roared while falling against each other.

“Well, you look just like him! Has anyone ever told you that?”

Yes, but only about 105,000 times since I was in high school … 20 years ago.

I don’t think Joe Thomas and I look anything alike.
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Day 109 – Maceo!



Day 109 – Maceo!
By Jiddoe S'Phatt



Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to Day 109 of “Blog 365”.
A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I’m one of the lucky ones today. I get to attend a Maceo Parker concert. This is something I never thought I’d do. Growing up hearing the music of the late “Godfather of Soul” James Brown and him shouting “Maceo!” during performances, Parker to me was more of a myth.

As a kid I didn’t know what Maceo looked like. I just knew he was someone Brown gave frequent shout outs. I didn’t know how key of a band member he was. I was unaware of his role with Parliament-Funkadelic. 

Grown-up-me learned about the music legend that is Maceo Parker; he’s a motivating band leader, a doubler, a soulful singer, and dynamic jazz saxophonist who fully embraced the funk, the whole funk, and nothing but the funk.

Tonight I've been gifted the pleasure to experience Maceo’s music during “To Ray with Love”, his orchestral tribute to his idol, the late Ray Charles.

Yep. Lucky me.
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Day 104 – According to the Calendar



Day 104 – According to the Calendar
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to Day 104 of “Blog 365”.
A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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When you’re as involved in entertainment as I am, you value trips to events. I look forward to drives from city to city because it allows me time to be trapped with my ideas. I can go over them, process them, and talk my way through them without any other voices but my own.

The problem is I’m tired of driving in the snow. For starters, it’s Spring according to the calendar. Michigan apparently has other ideas. Ones it’s not simply talking through, but implementing with literal chilling results.

The last thing I want to do in April before heading to a play, movie, listening session or concert is brush a mound of snow off my vehicle!

I heard someone say how pretty it looked outside with everything covered in snowflakes. I didn’t have to ask to know they weren’t from around here. Out of respect they should have said that to themselves in their head.

That’s an idea.
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Day 103 – Spur of the Moment



Day 103 – Spur of the Moment
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to Day 103 of “Blog 365”.
A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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The 2018 NBA Playoffs started today. I cleared my schedule to watch what I hoped would be an exciting professional basketball game between the #7 ranked San Antonio Spurs vs the defending NBA Champions, the 2nd ranked Golden State Warriors.

With both Westcoast teams missing their best player due to injury – Stephen Curry for the Warriors and Kawhi Leonard for the Spurs – I expected San Antonio’s All-star center LaMarcus Aldridge to come up huge in this game. His toughness and consistency are often questioned, so this would have been the perfect opportunity to prove himself in front of a major viewing audience.

After scoring just 14 points in a 21-point loss while also getting out played by the Warriors’ JaVale McGee, this moment looked like more than Aldridge could handle.

Of course I couldn’t do any better. I can still expect it, though.

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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!