Die Hard

Because it pops up this time of year, I recently re-watched Die Hard.

To get it out of the way I am in the camp that this is not a Christmas movie. It is a movie SET during Christmas. Setting it during Christmas makes it a lot better of a movie (Like Home Alone) but you could set this movie any other time and it would still be good. I know the war on whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie is only topped by the war on Xmas itself but I have chosen my side.

Note that this is not a bad movie and holds up very well so not much to say except my story on the first time I saw Die Hard which was in college.

A college girlfriend told me that it was her favorite action movie. Now, note that she was one of those "I don't own a TV" type people and was very crunchy. This isn't a slam on her. She was great but it was odd. She was someone who had Teva sandal tans etched into her foot by the end of the summer and rode her bike up South Hill...in the winter! She worked for NYPIRG going door to door asking for donations to support renewable energy. And Die Hard is a favorite movie?! "Oh yeah. The "ho ho ho I have a machine gun now" is so great"*

And, I had never seen it. But I had seen Firebirds and Delta Force a ton of times!!

She even had it on DVD but without a TV we watched it on my tiny 13" inch TV using my PS2 to read the disc. The go-go 00s in college were something. I would stolen it on Kazaa but then my computer would be a Chernobyl of digital hot hot heat.

The kicker to this story is that after we watched it we went to her place** and instead of her room in the said on-campus apartment she slept on the balcony. In a little sleeping bag on top of camp bed roll. A real semi-permanent setup (Just until it gets really cold. Like 40 degrees) with a tiny end table a little goose neck map clamped onto it. Then blankets and pillows all nestled into various corners. And we slept there about 3 floors up and the central New York sky (and yellow bee balm glow of the lamp posts) above us. And considering I can 1) Sleep anywhere*** and 2) It was next to a lady. Oh boy! I slept pretty well. And so did she as she continued this until Campus Safety told her to shut it down. They said it was too dangerous she told me in an anguished AOL Instant messenger with multiple sad emoji faces. "I wonder who ratted me out?" she followed up we both agreed it was her roommate, Maria. That bitch.

So, that is what I always think about whenever I think about Die Hard. Not John Ritter flying off the roof or Bruce Willis crawling through a duct. Not even a Yippie Kay Yeah, Motherfucker. Just the sleeping bag and the balcony nest.


*I don't know the rules for a quote within a quote. I was not one to edit. As you can tell from this blog.
**Don't get excited, porn bots. All 4 (Yes, 4!) of her roommates were there and we slept on a balcony.
***If we ever run across each other in the real world then it will surely be awkward. But, once we get over that, you can challenge me to sleep. And If I lay on anywhere for about 3 minutes I will fall asleep. Just don't take my stuff, ok?