I’m so excited about the release of Hannibal Rising! I never thought they’d make the movie in the first place to be honest with you!

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Silence of the Lambs. My paternal grandfather threw a surprise party for my grandmother’s birthday. It was one of the last times that my Grandfather was completely healthy, before his first heart attack and all that jazz. It was one of the last times that the whole family was together for a joyeous occassion. We had had so many up to that point.

Anyway I digress, I remember turning to one of the movie channels and being entranced by the movie they were showing. It was a strange, violent, and yet entertaining and captivating movie. Later on I convinced my mom to rent it for me and we all watched it in Mississippi. My cousin Bryan in particular loved it, especially the parts where Buffalo Bill stated, "It rubs the lotion on it’s skin or else it gets the hose again". We would recite that line often for the next few months.

Later on as I became a voracious reader I borrowed a book from a family friend called Red Dragon. I had no idea it was the first book in the Hannibal Lecter series, but I was delighted to discover that fact. I read that book over a weekend. I practically absorbed it! At that point I decided to read the book version of Silence of the Lambs as well. Again I devoured the pages of that book (not literally, mind you….I know that certain characters in the books are prone to doing so very literally). I just couldn’t get enough. This was around my junior year of high school. I think around that time they began negotiating to release the sequel in book form first, Hannibal.

Well Hannibal didn’t end up coming out until around the end of my Sophomore year of college. I was anticipating it so much I bought the HARDCOVER version of the book. I was in the middle of a summer program and it was a bit slower than the other stories to me (I couldn’t get into the book version of the Italian segments) so it took me a bit longer to finish, but nonetheless I was looking forward to seeing the movie. In February of 2001 (my senior year of college) the movie was finally released. I was in San Francisco at a conference for College Journalists and Joe from Dallas and I think Kasi and I went to some theater near our hotel to check it out. I really enjoyed it, though I seem to remember that the initial reception to the movie was mixed at best. I liked the changes they made in the ending and the removal of certain characters from the book, but I can see how others may have been less than pleased. At this point I thought it was over.

I had heard about the original movie version of Red Dragon, relased as Manhunter. I remember being told that Brian Cox played Hannibal in that version and at the time I didn’t really know who Brian Cox was, but I was convinced he wasn’t any Anthony Hopkins. Once I started medical school I went ahead and bought the DVD version of Manhunter from CD Warehouse since it was only like 3 bucks. I immediately recognized that most of it was filmed in Atlanta, especially the High Museum of Art. I liked that aspect of it, but my initial reservations were confirmed. The movie focused more on the Will Graham character (admittedly as the book did). It just wasn’t the same.

I soon learned, much to my surprise, that they were going to remake the movie with the original book title and I remember being AMAZED at the cast they put together. By the time the movie was actually released I don’t think I had anticipated a movie release as much as I had anticipated that one, even Star Wars Episode 1!

I remember catching it in one of the many 3 for 1’s at Hundred Oaks (man I miss those days). I really enjoyed the movie too, it didn’t let me down! I loved how they showed Hannibal’s capture by Will Graham, something that was only alluded to in the books and previous movies. Anyway, I thought that it was the end for the franchise and I was satisfied.

When I heard that Thomas Harris was working on the novel Young Hannibal, I was at first filled with dread, I thought it would be overkill. Gradually however, I’ve grown to anticipate it and get another fix of Hannibal. I just can’t get enough.

What is it about the Hannibal Lecter character that is so intriguing to the masses? Is it the fact that he’s a genius gone mad? Is it the fact that he can remain so calm all while having an insatiable bloodlust boiling underneath? Is it the dichotomy of his utter brutality with his old world class and styling? Who knows!

Whatever the case, I cannot WAIT to check out the movie!

What a life changing experience!  I thought about naming everyone who had an impact, but it’s just too many of them. I’ll name a few.

My roommates Ankur and Max! I lucked out to get two cool roommates. They both will do well, I’m sure, I would be glad to run into either of them in the future…as a matter of fact I’m pretty sure I will.

Ari, Jennifer, Rose, and Lori….I spent alot of time with these four in what little spare time I had. We had tons of fun together at B Dubb and eating Jamaican food and going for breakfast.

There is so much I wish I could say, but I just can’t find the words. I think the best moment is when my shy friend stood up to do a drill and got herself 10 bucks, I knew she’d have that moment! She’s on her way to the big time! Some folks I wish I’d run into a little earlier, that’s always the case.

Whatever the case, I had a blast AND I enjoy medicine again!

I think things were a success overall!

About 2 Weeks ago on Random Thoughts I gave a tribute of sorts to one of my best friends, Eulus, on his 23rd Birthday (Oct. 1st to be exact). In it I mentioned my boy Nile…. Me and this guy have BEEN THROUGH IT….

Sometime during the first week of school they added two kids to my third grade class….my boy Bryan P. (the same guy my mother ran into at the drug store earlier this year) and Nile….

We clicked from jump-street….he loved football and I loved football….he had two sisters and I had two sisters (although he was a middle child)….we were in the same reading group (a crucial barrier for friendships in elementary school)….before you knew it we were like the Dynamic Duo of Utoy Springs Elementary School….

From third grade onward we were in the same class….he got glasses in the 4th grade and then I got glasses in the fifth grade….we were often confused for brothers even though we really look nothing alike (as he went to great lengths to assert the older we got)….

As time went on we had some legendary disagreements/almost fist fights….but they never really lasted long….when I moved in the 8th grade he stayed around the corner from me, so we’d play baseball and football in his front yard and play tricks on his neighbors….

In high school we each did our own things and started to become the adults we have grown into….but we still remained cool….during our senior year my dad moved up to Washington, D.C…..it just so happened that Nile’s number one choice of colleges at the time was Howard University so his parents invited me to ride up with them and his little sister Patrice as they visited during Spring Break….we listened to Wu Tang Albums and Life After Death by Notoriious B.I.G. the entire trip up….we listened to the the same songs at the same time and quoted the lyrics (sanitized just barely for his parent’s sake)…..I toured Howard with them….it was great….

We graduated and I thought we would be parting ways….but then Nile shocked me by telling me that not only was he coming to Morehouse….we would also be living in the same dorm….that first year we had our biggest falling out (a story for another time)….but by the end of the year we were cool again and it’s been that way ever since….

Last year we took a monumental road trip to San Antonio….and he also came and visited me in Nashville at the end of Spring Semester….he graduated from Morehouse this year (he enjoyed it a year longer than I did….sometimes I wish I had stayed around last year) He’s the youngest of the original crew from high school….the 4 flats and a spare(we were down like four flat tires but there were five of us….Me, Nile, Maurice, Reggie, and Smallwood)….

Anyways happy birthday nigga!…. Also….I have a friend up here in Nashville who shares a birthday with Nile…. Happy Birthday Ja’Nera….J-Sweet (ha ha)….no Outback this year….sorry….but I can afford some Mickey D’s!