First Monday with Characters

Edited by Morris Dean

Tom Lowe, in intriguing turn

The continuing journey back to having both feet on the ground has taken an intriguing turn. I’m watching television. That’s something I never did that much of, at least since High School, and think I’m better off for it. During the post surgery recovery I spent most of my horizontal time with a book in hand, and was fortunate to have roommates not suffering that addiction. So I find myself a bit bemused to find myself following not one, nor two, but three new shows of this season—do I need to seek better meds?
    Actually, it’s a case of having some talented people beat the odds. “A vast wasteland” was the 1961 description of JFK’s FCC chairman Newton Minnow to a shocked National Association of Broadcasters convention, and the intervening fifty years have damn-all to change anything. In fact, judging by the results, even the most skillful creators of television programming have less and less of a chance to get something original on the air. Not surprisingly, these programs come from individuals with a track record of success with more original projects.
    All three shows come under the category Science Fiction/Fantasy, and manage to do something different from the usual TV fare. Two are on Monday, Sleepy Hollow and Almost Human; Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. plays on Tuesday.
    Sleepy Hollow is based on the Washington Irving short story, but steals one plot point from his "Rip Van Winkle" in having Icabod Crane wake up from a 200-year coma in the modern era. It's freely improvised from the 1820 story, adding an African American female sheriff to the mix, and turning the Headless Horseman into Death from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
    Almost Human takes from Asimov's Caves of Steel the premise of a robot police partner paired with a robot phobic cop, and so far makes the tension drive some good drama.
    Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. comes from Marvel Comics by way of Joss Whedon's production team's spin through the Marvel universe, taking place after The Avengers film, with characters original to this program.
    The first two are from J.J. Abrams's creative team, which last held my attention with the Fringe series. Robert Orci, co-creator of Sleepy Hollow wrote the Abrams reboot of Star Trek movies as well as some of the best episodes of Fringe. Abrams is listed as Executive Producer of Almost Human but, since he is engaged in rebooting the Star Wars franchise, likely merely gave advice on the visualization of the setting in 2040.
    What raises these three series above much of the dross on the air is the quality of the writing. In general, the best TV has had sharp, inventive writers who were able to put their lines in the mouths of actors dedicated to their craft (as James Knudsen detailed in his "Loneliest Liberal" column in October). In sum, I'm feeling fortunate in having this much new material to enjoy while convalescing.

[Here's a larger rendition of the photo inset above; click to enlarge it still more:]

San Francisco's new Bay Bridge (night of November 6)

St. Basile in Red Square

Geoffrey Dean, in Moscow

Friday, November 1 was also the last working day before I left for Moscow as part of a 70-person group of participants in the “Days of Sofia” in Moscow. The City of Sofia does occasional cultural exchanges with various other cities, but sending a bunch of folk and classical musicians, artists, actors, and city officials to Russia is a little more involved than getting them to an EU destination, where invitations, visas, and other supporting documentation are not required. There was another additional complication this time: me.
    As an American citizen, my visa application contained an assortment of questions that Bulgarians are not required to answer. “Oh, I just found one reason why I would not want to be an American,” said the city administrator who kindly filled out the online form for me as the other members of the Sofia Quartet waited, quietly regretting that they had let me go first. Then, on that fateful Friday, it was discovered that there wasn’t enough empty space in my passport for the Russian embassy to insert the actual visa document, necessitating a long series of phone calls with the US embassy and the Sofia Deputy Mayor, who organized a city vehicle to drive me across Sofia to get extra pages stitched into my passport, then deliver it to the Russians.
    Ironically, I ended up being the first of the group to get back my visa-outfitted passport. The actual trip went smoothly, but I was there to perform, not to sightsee, so that’s what I did (perform, not sightsee). We did pass the Red Square and the Kremlin in the van on the way to the hall. though.

Susan C. Price, in greeting

there have been ABSOLUTELY NO improvements in my character! i'm just as rude, annoying, repetitive, whining as ever :-) love to all my "stotle" family

Madison Kimrey, ever on the move

I just launched a nationwide petition to give young people all over America the opportunity to pre-register to vote. I've been a good girl and I hope Santa will find someone to sponsor this legislation.

Paul Clark, aka motomynd, in realization

Characterless update from motomynd: not much excitement or character—or riding—in motomynd world right now, or in the foreseeable future. After a few years of what I now realize was blissful semi-retirement, compared to my former over-paced world-traveling standards anyway, I am overwhelmed trying to prepare for what everyone tells me will be an overwhelming time when Caelen is born somewhere around mid-January.
    Right now life feels about like it did in years past when I was in the final throes of training for an ultra-running event or adventure race, or preparing for a month-long overseas trip. Except there isn't a lot of running going on, and there is no learning a new language, or memorizing maps, or anything like that.
    One thing that is painfully similar is the duress engineered by old friends and long-time associates. Instead of kidding me about the possibility of my head being lopped off in Somalia or some other barely-on-the-map place, they are taking great delight in riding me unmercifully about my becoming a father at the age they locked in their retirement and started spending time with their grandchildren. You know someone is a close and dear friend when they interrupt their brunch in Norway to call at 3:00 a.m. Eastern time and say in their clipped but otherwise perfect English, "This is good practice for baby waking you, no? May as well go run six miles now that you are awake. Haha. Farvel!" So basically my retired friends are doing to me exactly what I would be doing to them if I were retired and had all that extra time, and they decided to have a child in their late 50s.
    To give an idea of just how much life today pales compared to its former standards: my two biggest moments in the past month were acquiring a large amount of Walt Disney collectibles inventory, and pulling a groin while running sprints up hills somewhere past 10:00 at night. On the bright side, I never liked Disney even when I was a child so I have no remorse about selling it as soon as I possibly can.
    And if I was going to pull a groin, what better time than when my wife is seven months pregnant? That's it from here, boring as it is. I do hope everyone else is hustling to pick up the horrendous amount of slack I am creating....

Caelan's clan's ancestral lands lie along the shore of scenic Loch Lomond

André Duvall, at book, blanket, and board

Last week, I ordered a collection of poems by Patricia Zontelli, entitled Edith Jacobson Begins to Fly. I first heard of this poet during a piano pedagogy course taught by Professor Sam Viviano at the University of Memphis. Sam enjoyed incorporating poetry into our activities, often selecting poems that didn't directly reference music, but provided a springboard for conversations about human learning processes. It has been several years since hearing a few of Zontelli's poems, but I still remember my strong attraction to them. I'm looking forward to experiencing these poems in the coming weeks!
    The trees this year in Memphis have not disappointed in their presentation of fall colors. This year strikes me as having some of the more vibrant and long-lasting displays of changing hues of the years I have lived in this area. Here are two examples. The first [above] is in a courtyard of a church, now owned by Rhodes College. The yellowed leaves have blanketed the ground, and have beautifully sprinkled the tops of the shrubs:

I stopped to take the second photo on my drive to work this week:

I go this particular route on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This is the third Tuesday/Wednesday trip that this tree has remained a bright red color!

    Following up from my last character update, I am pictured here with Michael Barone, the host of Pipedreams from American Public Radio, during his recent visit to Memphis to host our local chapter concert of the American Guild of Organists.
    I've been playing a chess game slowly over the last month with a friend that I only see once a week at a chess after-school program where I work with young chess students. We have about 15 minutes each time to make a few moves, taking photos each time we run out of time.

The Rogers, in Montezuma

On the 9th of November we took a trip to Montezuma, Costa Rica. This is a small town at the tip of Nicoya Peninsula. After the sixties, the hippies from the USA settled here, and there is still the feel of the sixties in the air. There were five of us. Alicia, her two kids—Weins & Vielka—and Janie and me.
    The drive to the ferry was a nightmare. A 45-minute trip took us almost three hours. There was some kind of relay race and the runners/walkers were spread from San Ramon to Puntarenas close to 50 miles. I drove 5 miles per hour all the way. The same walker kept passing us. We were so tired when we got off of the ferry, I paid a taxi $50. to take us to our hotel in Montezuma. From that point on we had a wonderful time...until the ride back to the ferry on the bus, which had a flat tire and we waited alongside the road for a replacement bus. They did, however, call ahead and have the ferry wait for us. Here's another few picture of the trip:

    And for a montage of many more photos:

Vic Midyett, in the trailer park

We plan to leave this area of Australia in the next couple of weeks, heading south again. Our next major stop will be near Brisbane, 1,700 km away. We are in the heat of early summer now and there are lots of thunder storms. Not ideal travel conditions, but we've been here long enough—over 7 months in one place. Shirley has itchy feet and I too would like to see more of the southern part of the country. More of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. Ya know what I mean Vern? (That's a saying from I guess the Southern States of America. "Vern" applies to anyone.)
    It has been interesting here in the trailer park:
Our neighbor was sitting on the deck outside his travel trailer the other day when he noticed a 5-foot-long black snake under the trailer. Well, his wife went in the direction of the camp office, and my wife simply made tracks backwards. People arrived with shovels and the park owner with a shotgun!

No one knew whether this rather large snake was poisonous or not, but people being what they are, they promptly ended the snake's existence and took pictures of their heroism.

Another thing that happened this past month involved a couple in their 70's who "sure have the stuff": They have a small boat mounted up-side-down on the roof rack of their Toyota four-wheel-drive "wagon." The cavity this creates is crammed with stuff. Their caravan (or travel trailer) is 8 ft wide and 26 ft long, and it's FULL too.
    The other day there was talk around "happy hour"—where folks meet to snack and have a "drink" (beer, wine, soft drink, or coffee—the main thing is to get together and socialize and "shoot the bull")—about whether or not this couple are legally over-loaded. The wife had just bought 10 kg of shrimp that day and put it in their freezer ("for Ron," she said—meaning "for later on").
    The husband actually brought this up, about his wife's adding to the concern that they might be over-loaded. But she said, "Hang on a minute, 10 kg of shrimp don't weight much!"
    Of course, someone felt the need to say, "Ten kilos is ten kilos, regardless, dear heart."
    This episode has been referred to several times in subsequent conversations, with an eruption of laughter.

Siegfried, in photographic repose

[Hey, Papa, take my picture!]

Photo filtered for dramatic effect and bordered
(using Droid's photo editing facilities)

Morris Dean, in loosened straits
    Our fellow character Vic Midyett (see above) kindly inquired as to whether my "south end rotor routing was uneventful other than the experience?"
    I told him that I had to think for a few seconds what on earth "south end rotor routing" could mean...It shortly hit me that, of course, that must be Aussie-talk, and he was asking about the colonoscopy I had in November.
    It wasn't that unpleasant actually; the staff at the endoscopy center we go to are friendly and efficient, and the doctor (to whom we've gone for years) is extremely competent and personable. He removed two small, insignificant polyps. I didn't even mind drinking the bowel-cleansing Colyte the evening and morning before—I just quaffed each 8-ounce glass and didn't think about it. Didn't taste any worse than lite beer.
    Funny thing was, though, the low-fiber diet (3rd and 2nd days before the procedure) and the liquid diet (the day immediately before) did give me the runs, and I was so surprised by the diarrhea I had minutes before I drank my first glass of Colyte that I literally "sh*t my pants"—not that any followers of Moristotle & Co.'s characters wanted or needed to know that!
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Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean

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