Cherry Blossoms

Confession: I never go to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms.

I know! I know! Miss "You Should Take Advantage of All the Cool Stuff We Have in DC Most of Which Is Free" Erin, doesn't go see the cherry blossoms in person. I also don't have anything to do with the Cherry Blossom Festival. I'm a monster.

I love cherry blossoms. Their abundance in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia for those new to the Island), is one of my favorite things about living here. Cherry blossoms are the harbinger of spring for most of us in the region. People come from all over the world to see the trees along the Tidal Basin. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is one of the largest tourist events in DC. We go on blossom watch in early March, and discussions of peak bloom are all anyone can talk about. Blossoms are a big deal.

I used to go. I would go at least twice, once during the day and once at night. The experience is better at night. The lights and the stars and less crowds - perfect. I stopped going about 5 years ago. Like everything in DC, getting to and from the Tidal Basin is a hassle. If the weather holds and peak bloom goes as planned, it's super crowded. So I stopped going, and started watching it on the bloom cam and stalking cherry blossom photos on Instagram.

This year was going to be different. I planned to go see the blossoms in person and rekindle my love of the Tidal Basin and the festival. One of my co-workers was planning a trip to Japan to see the blossoms there and we planned to share photos. I was ready, tracking peak bloom and planning my trip to the Tidal Basin. It was going to be a whole day and a fun "DC Day" post here on the Island. I was set.

Of course, peak is right when we're in the middle of stay at home orders and social distancing. My plan to see the blossoms in person was foiled completely. Here in DC, the National Guard has been called in to help the Park Police keep people out of the area. It's bananas.

I get it the need to go see the blossoms. People are trying to find comfort in the things that they normally get to experience in their lives. Cherry blossoms mean good things. The trees at the Tidal Basin were a gift from Japan in 1912, planted by First Lady Helen Taft. The cherry blossoms are a symbol of friendship between the two countries. We celebrate the festival while similar festivals are being celebrated in Japan. It's a beautiful tradition, one that shows us the beauty of global community and the tradition of hanami (flower watching). Considering our current situation, having something that ties us to people around the world sounds so good and uplifting. However, we all  know that the best thing for us right now is to stay home.

I started taking walks in my neighborhood after work. I moved into the condo in December, so nothing was in bloom at the time. I was hoping that some of the trees, particularly the one in front of my building would be some type of flowering tree. My first real walk in my neighborhood was on March 18, and I discovered something wonderful.

Cherry blossoms!

There are three trees at the front of my neighborhood by the community entrance/sign. There are smaller trees around the four courts that make up the condo community. If I keep walking past my part of the neighborhood to the townhouse community behind my street, they have a little park like area that has more trees and a bench, overlooking a little creek. There are also a fair number of dogwood trees, which makes sense given that the dogwood is the official state flower of Virginia. The trees in front of my house? Redbud trees! This is my favorite type of flowering tree. I was looking forward to seeing the one at the office bloom this spring, but of course, I work at home now. What are the odds that there would be two right in front of my house?

Earlier this week, I was out for my afternoon walk and got a message from a co-worker over text. I replied as I walked around the neighborhood, trying to help this person through some things over text (which isn't ideal, but that's how life works right now). I was struck by the difference in my current experience and theirs; I was walking around my neighborhood observing social distancing, but still out in nature. They were in their house, not able to go out much because of more restrictive stay at home practices where they live. I asked if they wanted to see a picture of the cherry blossom trees in my neighborhood, and got the most emphatic "yes" a person can send through a text. I sent the picture. They appreciated the beauty of the tree, the pretty pink of the flowers, and the calmness of nature.

After my conversation with my co-worker, I went back inside, washed my hands, and changed my clothes. I got on my laptop out and went to find the video I saw on Twitter from a Japanese musician who was supposed to be part of the Cherry Blossom Festival this year. Naotaro Moriyama is a pop singer from Japan and he sang the most beautiful song called "Sakura."

Here's the translation of the first part of the song:
I promise you I'll be waiting for you
Till the day that I can see you
Once again

You see the cherry blossoms blooming all around
It's time for us to say goodbye

You stayed so strong even when times were hard
I remember you were there smiling for me

When I was so close to giving up all of my dreams
You gave me hope to stand on my feet

As I look around everything just fades away
Whenever I close my eyes, I hear that song

SAKURA, SAKURA Now they are blooming all around
Even though they know sooner they are coming to the end
Say goodbye, all my friends, and I see you once again
I promise you that you will always be in my heart

It's not easy for anyone right now. We're all dealing with unprecedented personal and social change. Stress and anxiety is high no matter what. As I wrote a few weeks back, I'm experiencing a lot of flashbacks to my life back in New Orleans after Katrina. It's not the same at all, but there are a lot of parallels I've found. When I was texting with my co-worker, I shared my number one tip for not going crazy in high stress situations: stop watching the news 24/7. Watch/read what you need to stay informed, but that's it. Focus on what you need to do to make this "manageable" for you and your family. Maybe a walk will help. Maybe self-imposed quiet time is the answer. I don't know everyone's life, but I do know this is not forever.

This is my redbud tree. Apparently, a mama bird is nesting in it.

Next Week: We decide which tiger cult leader to follow with the only technique that makes sense: a pro/con list. Yes, we're talking about the Tiger King docuseries on Netflix. If you haven't watched it, please do so this week. I need you to watch this series. It's amazing. 

Ask a Cat: Keely's Guide to Social Distancing and Staying Inside

It's been a year this week, hasn't it? I hope everyone's being a good citizen and continuing to stay home and binge watch shows on Netflix. If you're like me, this week was your first week working remotely versus working from home once a week. It takes time to adjust to new work and home situations and not being around people as much. While I don't miss commuting, I do miss quick catch-ups over coffee and lunch breaks. I work with some truly wonderful people, so it's no surprise I'm missing the office. I'm on calls with many of them daily, so it's something.

I've been thinking about how to best approach this new normal, and it dawned on me that the best "person" to provide advice on this topic lives right here in my house. He's currently curled up in his bed napping, but I was able to keep his attention long enough to get some real advice on social distancing and living a primarily indoor lifestyle. Keely may be a cat, but he knows things. He has a very active indoor life, and we can learn much from him.

Welcome to the inaugural Ask a Cat post! Let's get right into Keely's advice for living your best indoor life.

Establish a solid routine to keep your days organized. You humans think that because I sleep 16 hours a day, I don't have a routine. That just means you're not paying attention. All pets have highly structured, scheduled days. We allot a certain amount of time for sleeping (16 hours minimum), eating, using the litter box, cuddles, and running around the house for no apparent reason. I also like to include at least 10 minutes for staring at one spot on the ceiling; it makes my human think it's haunted. Stick to a routine. Work when you're supposed to work. Take a lunch break. Workout when you would normally work out. Watch tv. Sticking to your schedule will help you keep calm in an otherwise chaotic universe.

Find a good napping spot. I like to nap. Napping is my favorite. I have three primary napping spots in the house, and at least six secondary spots. I like to use the secondary spots when my human isn't paying attention to me...she has to look for me when I nap in a secondary spot. My favorite spot for a nap is in front of the sliding glass door. It'a AMAZING! The sun comes in just right. There's some kind of pillow my human left there that I love. I can hide. Rest is an important part of indoor living. You can't keep up your schedule if you don't slow down for a nap every now and then. 

Manage your snacks/food. If I had my way, I'd get to eat whatever I want whenever I want. But my human has completely different ideas about how my diet should work, so I don't get to snack all the time. I know you bought some random things when you went to the store last time; don't eat them all on your first day or first week. The human has been sneaking cookies (she thinks I don't see her), and she's going to run out. You probably have more time to cook. Don't forget to eat some vegetables with every meal, and plan for some comfort foods. My human made a casserole this week and it smelled so good. She didn't share with me, but a cat can dream. 

Prepare your work from home space...and assert dominance over those who may also be working/learning from home. Make sure you create some type of dedicated work space for yourself. It's easy to think that you'll roll out of bed and work from your couch in your pjs all day, but that is a terrible idea. Having some separation between work space and living space, however minimal, is ideal. It may not be realistic to have a whole desk or something, but find a way to create some dedicated working space, even if it's temporary each day. If you're sharing a space with others, make sure you assert your dominance early on in the work from home situation; it's the only way to secure the best spot. I find a cold stare the best way to accomplish this. Pushing their stuff off tables while making direct eye contact also works.

Spend time doing the things you love or develop new hobbies. Besides napping and eating, my primary hobbies consist of running around the house, chasing the red dot, and trying to open the front door (I don't know how the round thing works, but I can reach it). It's important to dedicate time to your hobbies now, or discover new ones. My human is doing so much embroidery; it's tiny stitches for days. She's also practicing needle felting (just another excuse to stab something repeatedly), and has baked so many things. 

Write that novel. Paint that picture. Do that thing you've always wanted to do as long as you can remain in your home while doing it.

When in doubt, there's always Netflix.

Stay active. Run around your house at 2 am for no reason. Maybe running around the house isn't your thing, but staying active is an important part of being successful at social distancing. You can still go outside to walk, run, ride a bike. No one said you couldn't leave your house...just do so sparingly and keep at least 6 feet between you and someone else.

My human has started doing something called yoga. I don't know if you know what yoga is, but it seems like she moves her legs around weirdly and then sometimes lays on her back with her eyes closed. I thought I heard the word "down dog," but there was no dog. I've been trying to help her do her yoga, but she usually shoos me away. I'm really good at the laying on the back pose.

Wash your hands. Grooming is my third favorite activity, after eating and sleeping (in that order). I'm particularly fond of laying against my human at night and cleaning my paws. She doesn't know, but I sleep next to her to protect her. That's what cats do for other hairless, large cats who suck at hunting (basically my human). Anyway, wash your hands, especially if you do go outside or interact with other people. I'm shocked by the fact that basic hygiene seems so novel to so many people. I don't remember my real mom much, but she did teach me how to wash my paws. And don't hoard hand sanitizer!

Get dressed. My human made me wear a tie today. I may, on occasion, like to walk in the path of her video camera when she's talking to people who aren't here. She was on one of those calls today, and made me wear a tie. She told me that I needed to dress for work. I didn't like it, but she has a point. Even if you want to work in your pjs or yoga pants, change into clean ones for your work time. It'll make you feel better. My tie makes me feel important.

Check in with your people, especially your extroverted friends. I'm perfectly fine not being around another person or cat for days. My human's cool because she feeds me and lets me nap on her when I need a little cuddle time. But I get it, humans are inherently social creatures. Use all that technology that you designed to put us cats on the internet, and connect with one another instead. Have virtual lunches and parties. My human is having a virtual crafting party this weekend. If you have extroverts in your life, call them. They are not designed to spend this much time away from actual people. Check in on the older people in your life too. Every other day or so, my human talks to the lady and the man who makes the turkey and they're doing just fine. Maybe he'll bring me a turkey when this is all over. Mmmm, turkey.

Document what's going on! I'm told this is a significant historical event, and it's important for us to document what's going on. My human literally takes 20 pictures of me every day. She can't help herself. I get it; I'm a handsome cat and I pose, but she's getting a little out of control. No one cares that I'm napping in the sun again. I mean, I care, but no one else does. Anyway, taking time out to write down your thoughts from the day or vent your frustrations is a good way to get out some of those feelings you're feeling. My human writes in a pink journal while she eats breakfast, and she jots things down throughout the day. I assume it's all about me, but who knows? I'm a cat. I can't read.

Go to things virtually. My human went to a virtual concert earlier this week featuring something called the Dropkick Murphys. I don't know what they are, but she seemed to be having a lot of fun dancing around the house and singing. I think it was singing? I slept through the whole thing. So much stuff is now available online you'd be silly to not take advantage. Just remember to actually go visit museums, concert venues, and other places that gave you free access once things reopen.

Alone time. Some of you have to deal with other people being around all the time now. While I don't love that my human is here all the time, I would be very lost without her. I'd also be annoyed if there were lots of other people with us. Everyone is adjusting to new schedules and so much togetherness. Remember, you still need some alone time. Read a book, take a bath, sit quietly in a room drinking a glass of wine (if that's your thing). Step away from the laptop and the phone. Use the time to reflect on how awesome you are even if you feel like you're not doing everything right or whatever. Cut yourselves a break, humans.

Don't panic. The dolphins haven't gone anywhere. In fact, they've returned to some places in record numbers. If everyone does their part and stays home, we'll get through this. And then you can look back and fondly remember that time you took advice from a cat.

Just in case you need some extra calm, please enjoy this video of me purring and kneading. Those are my fourth and fifth favorite activities.

Do you have a question or a topic for Keely? Send in your "Ask a Cat" questions and topics, and Keely might respond to you in a future post. Keep in mind, he won't answer anything about politics (except to remind you to vote) or inappropriate topics. He's only three years old, people. Keep it clean. 

Being a good citizen...social distancing edition

Earlier this week, I was texting with a friend about going to the grocery for a regular shopping trip. This was the day after I found out I'd be working from home for at least the next two weeks. I hadn't done my regular shopping yet; I usually go on Thursday at lunchtime if I work from home my one day per week or Sunday morning. I decided to go Thursday since I was home, and lunchtime grocery shopping is always a calmer experience. My friend said something that would be the equivalent of "may the odds be every in your favor," and I reminded her that I grocery shopped in a post-Katrina New Orleans.

I bring up my experience in a post-K New Orleans because this entire week has reminded me of that time in my life way more than I expected. When I returned to New Orleans in November 2006, several months after Katrina, New Orleans was obviously a very different place. Most people had not/could not return. Those who were back were putting together the new normal in a place where trash piles seemed to grew exponentially, mail service was iffy, and you never knew what weird thing was going to happen next. We had a month to get ready for students to return to the university, so I threw myself into work. We went out, but observed curfew. We got used to crowded everywhere because so few things were open. We celebrated when a store or restaurant or cafe reopened. We continually took stock of who was back and who wasn't planning on coming back. Crime, always a problem in New Orleans, seemed to be worse, then better then worse again. Small things, like going to the store or getting gas, took twice as long as they did before.

One spring day, I went to the store on my way home from work. I planned to go to the Winn-Dixie on Tchoupitoulas, get a few things and then head home. If I could get half of the things on my list, I'd consider it a good trip. The parking lot was crowded...not a good sign. I walked into the store, saw the lines, heard the voices, and walked right back out. I couldn't bring myself to walk around a store that crowded, with people who were annoyed and cranky. I drove a few blocks to the Sav-a-Center just in case it was less crowded. The parking lot wasn't as full, but it was the same inside. I was so close to having a panic attack in the produce section until a lady said to me, "Honey, it's going to be okay. Go get what you need to get." She patted me on the shoulder and continued on with her shopping. My panic diminished, and I finished my shopping trip. I went home, made dinner and fed Pumpkin. I repeated this process many more times before I decided to move to Virginia. It was a long nine months.

Obviously, a post-Katrina New Orleans and a global pandemic are two completely different events, but I can't help but look at one to help me navigate through another. In the past few days, my life has become eerily similar to my life in post-Katrina New Orleans:  I've created several contingency plans for work, and talked to my team about managing a full work from home life. I spend a lot of time considering whether I should go somewhere, even if it's just to my parents' house. I've evaluated what I have at home, and was delighted/shocked when I found three containers of bleach wipes under my guest bathroom sink. I bought them when I moved in, and totally forgot that's where I stored them. I've made a list of projects and things I need to do around the house to fill the time I won't be going out. As more of an introverted person, I'm used to spending long stretches of time alone, BUT I've also had going to work as a counter. It's an adjustment to not to go into the office. I'm fortunate enough to have a job that can be done remotely, but I know the next few weeks will be hard because of the quiet.

Curfews were used in New Orleans to help maintain order and control what can be an incredibly chaotic place. I remember leaving a concert at Tipitina's at midnight. No one ever leaves a concert in New Orleans before 2 am. It was weird, but we did our part as good citizens to make living in the city "easy," whatever that meant at the time. Social distancing isn't exactly the same thing, but it's what will help us contain the coronavirus, or at least deal with what's about to happen in a scale that might be manageable. It's hard to deal with the closures and cancellations, but at the end of the day, it will help keep more people from getting sick. It won't stop people from getting sick, but the less we're out and about, especially around people we don't know, the less likely we'll be to bring the virus home or to work.

I understand some people's reaction to everything as an overreaction. It's hard to fully understand something when it hasn't impacted you directly or you're the type of person who believes the media is making this out to be a bigger deal than it is. Yes, we are sensationalizing a lot of what's going on. News outlets need to think very carefully about showing images of long lines outside places like Costco and gun shops, while still reporting what's happening. Shocker: you can do both. I unfollowed a jewelry artist I like yesterday because she was mad that the city of Richmond, VA canceled a craft show this weekend. I get it, that's how she makes her money, but she went about the entire situation in the wrong way, spouting Fox News tidbits and ranting about government involvement in her livelihood. I couldn't help but think "maybe you should have an online store" and "please read something with actual facts in it" before clicking unfollow. At a time when all I want to do is support people like her, her comments and actions made me do the exact opposite. The things she said might actually harm someone. Reality doesn't seem to exist for this person.

The reality is people are getting sick. We don't have structures in place to test people and to care for them on the scale that could be around right the corner. I can't blame the 45 for the actual coronavirus, but I can blame him and his administration and the GOP leadership for what's happening now. They care more about being wealthy and staying wealthy. So many of the things we're dealing with now reveal what a messed up place we live in.

But we do have each other, as long as it's from a distance of 6-10 feet away or over Skype. Maybe this time of social distancing will teach us something about slowing down, being intentional, prioritizing. Maybe we can be like Italian neighbors singing from their balconies to keep the joy in what is a terrible, heartbreaking situation. What I do know is that being a good citizen sometimes means staying at home.

Until November 3, 2020. And then we vote.

Next week on the Island: Keely's Guide to Staying Inside. He's very good at being an indoor kid. 

Lazy Movie Weekend: Dammit, Mahoney!

There are three things you should know about me before you continue reading this edition of Lazy Movie Weekend:

1. I watched a lot of age inappropriate movies when I was younger (say between the ages of 11-14). My parents are in no way to blame for this; I'm sneaky. This horrifies my mother to this day.
2. Since I don't have cable anymore, I rely on Netflix and Prime Video for my televised entertainment, so I've been binge watching random shows and re-watching a ton of movies.
3. Once I start down an entertainment path, I can't stop until I reach the end. I will watch all twelve seasons of Murder, She Wrote. Oh yes, I will. 

I don't remember the first time I watched Police Academy. The movie was released in 1984, so I was only five years old. I'm guessing it was around the time the fifth movie, Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach was released, so 1988. This was the 1980s: there was no rating system on cable television, USA Up All Night existed, and if your house had a second television in the paneled basement, chances are you got away with watching whatever as long as you went to bed on time. I've watched so many ridiculous and terrible movies in my lifetime, but I can honestly say I love them all. For every Troll 2, there is a Moving Violations. One is just bad, the other has some redeeming value. Or better yet, there's a UHF.

I love the Police Academy movies. Yes, there are a lot problems with these movies that I can talk about at length, and will talk about a bit today, but at the end of the day, they're the perfect example of one of my favorite sub-genres of 1980s comedies: the misfits/ragtag group of (insert whatever they are) band together to save something (the day, community center, city) by (break-dancing, selling cookies, being police officers). If you tell me a movie is about a ragtag group doing something good for their community, I will watch the hell out of that movie. I like movie citizens being good citizens, especially if they do it in a zany way.

Since I've been relying on streaming services for television entertainment since I moved, I've found myself watching the most random mix of movies and shows. This week, I watched High Spirits, a terrible movie from 1988, which stars Steve Guttenberg, Darryl Hannah, Liam Neeson, Beverly D'Angelo, and Peter O'Toole. It's a comedy about an Irish castle that's trying to save itself from closing by inventing ghosts, when if fact, it already has them. Hilarity ensues. I also watched Girls Just Want to Have Fun, featuring the amazing Helen Hunt. For whatever reason, watching High Spirits made me wonder if the Police Academy movies were available on either service. I hit the actual jackpot: all seven movies are currently on Netflix. I don't know if Netflix is listening in on my conversations or knows how much I love these movies and wanted to give me a present. I don't even care. I spent the week watching all seven movies, and it was wonderful. And yes, that means I watched five movies starring Steve Guttenberg in one week. Not all heroes wear capes.

I'm not going to go the traditional LMW route with a long list of each movie and what's going on when. I don't want to write about these movies for the next seven weeks. Instead, I thought I'd talk through some of the highlights and low lights of the series. One note: this was the first time I watched the seventh movie, Police Academy: Mission to Moscow. It came out in 1994, and I was past watching these movies on the regular by then. Let's grab some donuts (couldn't help myself), and dive in for Police Academy.

• As I mentioned, my favorite sub-genre of 1980s and 1990s movies is the misfits/ragtag group of people banding together to save whatever it is that needs saving. Why wouldn't we eventually get to a police version of this? In every movie in the series, the cadets and eventually officers save the day. From riots to gangs to the governor being kidnapped the Police Academy team is your go-to group of misfit cops.
• Carey Mahoney - the leader of the group. We live in a world where Steve Guttenberg was once considered a sex symbol (that's literally the premise of Three Men and a Baby). In addition to the early Police Academy movies, he was also in Cocoon, Short Circuit, and Diner. He had a long stage career and would eventually get into directing and producing (his production company is named after his high school drama teacher). In the early movies, Mahoney was the troublemaker, the one leading the madcap adventures, and stealing hearts. Kim Cattrall and Sharon Stone both play love interests for him. He's loyal to Commandant Lassard (more on him in a minute) and you can see how much fun the core cast must have had making these movies. They have a true rapport and Guttenberg's Mahoney is a big reason for that.
• The women of Police Academy. It would be easy to dismiss these movies because of some of the more problematic elements within them, specifically the movies "comedic" take on race and gender. In re-watching these movies, I realized how powerful the women actually are. I'm not claiming the Police Academy movies are feminist, but none of these women need to be saved nor do they take the nonsense lightly. Leslie Easterbrook (Callahan) and Marion Ramsey (Hooks) are tough in their own ways, and take no shit from any of these men, both on the force and criminals. Sharon Stone plays a journalist in the fourth movie, and she ends up flying a plane to help catch prisoners who've planned a jailbreak. The women of Police Academy should have their own movie. I'd watch a Callahan/Hooks spin-off in a heartbeat. 
• Lovable, bumbling Commandant Lassard. If you watched Punky Brewster as a kid, you knew George Gaynes as the foster dad on the show. That was one of my favorite shows, and he was the perfect blend of curmudgeon and lovable tv dad. He played Lassard, the lovable but accident prone leader of the Police Academy in every movie. The officers all love him and want to help him be successful. He also has a pet goldfish he takes everywhere, and is probably one of the franchise's best sight gags. He's everyone's grandpa. Gaynes died in 2016 so he won't be making an appearance in the new movie if it ever happens. I hope maybe Mahoney gets to be the new Commandant. 
• The best villain and sidekick combo in a comedy series - Captain Harris and Proctor. G.W. Bailey is hilarious as Captain Harris, the scheming foil to Commandant Lassard. He wants to be in charge of the Police Academy so badly that he will get in the way no matter what. Proctor is his equally inept sidekick. They provide some of the best laughs in the movies and the cadets always manage to make a joke out of them. His spin as a ballerina in the seventh movie made that movie worth watching. If the Police Academy movies aren't enough G.W. Bailey for you, check him out in the first Mannequin movie.
• The supporting cast. Bubba Smith (Hightower), David Graf (Tackleberry), Marion Ramsey (Hooks), Michael Winslow (Jones), and Leslie Easterbrook (Callahan) appear in most, if not all, of the movies in the franchise. They each bring a fun element to the movie from Hightower's tough guy who's really a sweetheart to Tackleberry's gun nut, these movies don't work without this group. Bobcat Goldthwait was even in three of the movies. Ensemble casts can be challenging, but there's a lot of balance in the movies. We know Guttenberg and Matt McCoy are the "stars," but they can't do it alone.
• Matt McCoy, the poor man's Steve Guttenberg. Guttenberg left the franchise after the fourth movie, and Matt McCoy took his place in the fifth and sixth installments as Lassard's nephew Nick. While not as good as Mahoney, Nick has a a certain late 1980s hero's charm about him. He was also the husband in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Try watching that movie after seeing him in these movies; it's so hard to take him seriously.
• I randomly know someone who was in the third movie. Back in college and right after, I worked as box office manager for a musical theatre company, Summer Lyric Theatre (SLT). One summer, we did a production of The Sound of Music, and Ed Nelson was cast at Captain Von Trapp. Nelson is probably best known for playing Michael Rossi on the tv series of Peyton Place. He was born New Orleans, went to Tulane, and eventually made it as an actor in Los Angeles. He eventually came back to New Orleans and that's when I met him at SLT. Nelson played the governor in the third movie, who gets kidnapped during a battle of the police academies, and of course, Mahoney and team save the day. I never got to ask him about being in the movie, but it's fun to see him in the movie. He passed away in 2014 after a long acting and teaching career. 
• The seventh movie, Mission to Moscow. I didn't see this movie when it was released in 1994. I watched it for the first time today. It's exactly what you think a movie about the Russian police bringing Lassard's team to Russia to help stop a Russian mobster will be. Did I mention the Russian mobster is played by Ron Perlman (yes, Hellboy) and that Claire Forlani (her feature film debut) and Christoper Lee are also in the cast? The mobster has created a video game that's taken the world by storm, and wants to create a new version that will install a code on every machine it's played on so he can get access to all computers everywhere. Yes, this move about computer fraud and a phishing scheme...in 1994. I like this one better than Assignment Miami Beach, but not as much as Citizens on Patrol. 

There's been talks for the last few years that an eighth movie, Police Academy: Next Generation is in the works. The original production team is on board, and Steve Guttenberg is named as the director. It would be interesting to see what kind of shenanigans the newest team of misfits would get involved in. I would be 100% here for it. 

I don't know if Netflix and Prime Video are reading this or listening to my conversations, but if you're taking requests, here are some of my favorites that I would love to see again (yes, a few of these can be rented on Prime, but I need them to be included in my membership):

• Feds - Rebecca De Mornay and Mary Gross as FBI recruits? Sign me up!
• Moving Violations - a movie about traffic school featuring the youngest (I think) Murray brother, John in the lead role.
• Modern Girls - Daphne Zuniga, Virginia Madsen, Clayton Rohner, Cythina Gibb & shenanigans around L.A. - what more do you want in a movie? 
• Just One of the Guys -The bad guy from Karate Kid is in this movie being an even bigger asshole, so you know it's going to be a great movie. 
• Plain Clothes - Another favorite sub-genre of mine: adult (usually a dude) goes undercover in high school to solve a crime and ends up falling in love with a teacher. 
• Pump Up the Volume - I have this movie on DVD, but not everyone is so lucky. It's basically a movie about students' rights to education and free speech packaged as a Christian Slater movie with a killer soundtrack. 
• Sing - the 1989 Peter Dobson/Lorraine Bracco musical, not the cartoon. Yes, Lorraine Bracco was in a musical about a New York City high school about to close, but of course, the students band together to try to save. Musical version of my favorite sub-genre of movies.