It is also worth noting how long ago the previous film was (and yes, it does make you feel old) - it was 2001. Over 12 years ago! I can imagine that, rather than a plot that 'continues' the story, it is going to become more of a fun 'revisit' to the island; almost a tongue-in-cheek adventure movie rather than anything continuing the series. More like Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and American Reunion. In this time of 'vintage' and 'retro' products, films like nothing more than glorifying a film as soon as possible - and you can see it now, characters quoting lines in different manners, almost identical to the first film - even the whole 'science' argument becoming 'revamped' with a snarky social-media comment from a brain-box in some vain attempt to modernise the story. They could also imagine a world whereby, 12 years since Jurassic Park III, things have changed. Maybe a montage of small parks opening up all over the world - and the film shows, on the mainland, "nature finding a way". Or perhaps an opening montage showing parks opening up across America, and then falling down and unleashing the dinosaurs upon the world - and the film is set in a world whereby humans are already the prey and we follow a small band of characters as they try and survive in a post-apocalyptic world. There is real scope to play with the "12 years since..." dynamic.
In all fairness, we are in a time where, for better of worse, Hollywood generally seem to understand how to make good sequels - they understand what audiences expect to see from a sequel. In 2001, they were still a little unsure ("Lets get a dinosaur bigger and better than the T-Rex!" - eugh), but now with the continuity of comic book films, they know we want to see characters - and actors - returning, at the very least for a cameo. We want to see a respect for the series - and crucially the first film. Part of the problem of The Lost World: Jurassic Park was the completely different location - I wanted to see the torn up visitors centre and those green-and-yellow cars twisted and destroyed. Indeed, in Jurassic Park IV they truly could do this.
I'll be keeping an eye on the films development - but rest-assured, if it starts to go south, I think we can all sleep easy and just place the film alongside Jurassic Park III and the 'dino-human' plot that was thrown on the scrap heap. Jurassic Park remains an important film - and a fourth one won't take anything away from that.
Recently I had a chat with Ken Ostini, CEO/president of the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce and we talked about how people wait around until someone else does something that needs doing.
We know what needs to be done, but we usually wait to see who is going to finally do it. The other thing we discussed is that we should be working together to take advantage of all the natural and manmade assets that we have here in Lompoc.
I thought of these same issues when I sat down with Teddy Grossini of Sweet Repeats on West Ocean Avenue. I’ve never spent much time in antique stores. I should, because I’ve always like things from the past and I collect old plastic model kits of airplanes, tanks and ships. I’ve been hearing a lot about what a great place Sweet Repeats is so I just had to talk to Teddy.
The other thing that made me stop and take notice was how this whole antique sector of our economy just kind of popped up. To be truthful, it did not just pop up, antique stores have been around a long time in Lompoc.
However, when I thought of economic development and of taking advantage of what we already have, like the murals, the flowers and wine, I never once thought of our antique shops.
Over the years when I’ve talked economic development with others, no one else ever mentioned this part of the economy. And then, bam, it seems that when Sweet Repeats opened up, people started to notice. It could have been that Teddy’s store helped us get to a critical mass of these types of businesses that forced people to wake up.
I asked Teddy why he started the business; it was real simple, he just did what his wife Teresa told him to do.
Teddy operated heavy machinery and during the winter he would be laid off. During this off time he would buy items from estate sales, swap meets and storage lockers and sell them.
Well, he got pretty good at this and Teresa told him to stay home and do it full time and that was that. They first opened a store at 219 W. Ocean Ave., outgrew that and finally ended up at their current location which consists of 104,110 &118, also on West Ocean Avenue.
Business has been good, which is why Teddy had to expand. Basically, he sells everything on consignment and has about 84 vendors. I asked him where some of his customers are coming from and he said all over.
Teddy’s website tracks the number of visits, one month logging more than more than 400 hits. When he talks to his customers he is finding that they are not only coming to look for antiques but also to try the local wines and look at the murals.
OK, so now let’s get back to the working together to take advantage of what Lompoc has to offer idea. When people tell Teddy that they are coming to look at antiques and murals and drink some wine, like a good businessman and proud Lompocan, he is thinking about how to make it easier for these folks to do that.
The question we both had was if the city, the chamber and the local business owners are doing enough to make us even more of a tourist destination. I remember when I first noticed the tourist buses at the hotels on North H and I would see the tourists walk around trying to find a place to eat. I wondered what we were doing to help these poor lost souls spend their money. That was about four years ago and I still don’t think we have any organized effort to get these folks downtown.
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