Colored Memories

I can barely remember the opening credits of the Daniel Boone TV show. Boone, played by Fess Parker, is standing in the trees, sees a bear, and readies his long gun. It's a dim memory because what I remember of the series is almost entirely from the color versions. And that first opening was in black-and-white. Why don't I remember the show from its earliest years? Dunno.

If you remember the show you probably also remember the color version, with Ol' Dan stepping through a stream, throwing a tomahawk, and so on. Do you remember the main sidekick from the first season? Ed Ames? No, he wasn't the sidekick in the first season, though he was one of the regular cast members. No the original sidekick in the series was played by Albert Salmi. His character was Yadkin, a trapper.

If you watched the show I bet you remember Israel Boone, the white-haired son, played by Darby Hinton. But Jemimah Boone, played by Angela Cartwright, only lasted through two seasons. I didn't remember that at all. Remembered her, didn't remember her just disappearing from the show.

What's the point?

Memory is a funny thing. Some things make an impact, others don't. I was raised in the Era of Television. Television shows were the entertainment medium that influenced me, even though Movies did, too. But my memories of TV shows are terribly imperfect. Spotty, incomplete, distorted.

For instance I remember "Sea Hunt," starring Lloyd Bridges as Mike Nelson. Playing a scuba diver, I remember his exciting adventures, the underwater filming. Great stuff. But did I see the original series or only the syndicated episodes later on?

Here's how Wikipedia describes the show:"The program followed the adventures of scuba diver Mike Nelson, an ex-Navy frogman turned freelance diver, played by Lloyd Bridges. He out maneuvered villains, salvaged everything from a bicycle to a nuclear missile, and rescued a downed Air Force pilot (in his sunken jet, in the pilot episode), children trapped in a flooded cave, and even a dog. One unusual aspect of the series was that at the end of each episode, Bridges made a plea to protect the oceans."

It's been years since I watched an episode, so my memory of Sea Hunt was lot more exciting than the reality. But I finally saw one, broadcast on RTV, and was surprised at how gentle the adventure was. I still love the ominous theme music, and enjoyed the swimming sequences. But somehow the 'adventure' was kind of bland. I'd have been about six-years-old when the series ended in 1961. So maybe I never saw the first run. But then, as a small child, what is bland now might've been exciting then.

Fact is the show was fun to watch - this time, too - and gave me a nice feeling of nostalgia. But it didn’t match my memory.

Unless something really impacts you as a child I don’t think your childhood memories are terribly reliable, if then. Yes, I know some folks who claim to remember things from their baby-hood. Maybe so, but I don’t. Most of the memories I do have from childhood are fragmented. Probably because I simply wasn’t paying attention.

I day-dreamed. And once my folks tricked me into enjoying reading books, well, I was off on dozens of other Universes. So my memories, of things going on during my early life, are faulty at best.

For instance, I do remember the assassination of President Kennedy. I remember being sent home from school early. But little else remains in my head. Getting out of school early was far more important to me. What I remember clearly from that short period was the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald. I saw that. On television. As it happened. I do remember that very clearly. But my memories of that moment are probably also colored by the years, just as other memories.

Do you remember how important things were to you, in grade school? The friends you made, the things you did and looked forward to doing? Not even a glimmer of importance to you now, are they? Why was it so hard to go to bed, when you were a small child - ignoring the times when you were utterly exhausted and simply fell asleep. Was it because there was so much going on, so much to experience, that you were afraid you’d miss it? When your folks had a party, wasn’t it sheer hell to be sent to bed before the party was over?

Why? You’d miss something. You didn’t know what it was, but you would miss something.

And your memories are colored, too, by that ‘missing something’ feeling, putting far more importance on events and experiences than they would hold later in your life. That’s also why the self-important pontifications of school students are not to be taken very seriously. There’s a distance between what they perceive and what is real. Their own life experiences are still so limited in scope that what they ‘feel’ is so important, so utterly imbued with urgency, makes it difficult to reason with them. Not all of them, but quite a few.

When we grow up, become real adults, our view of the world is tempered by experience, by learning. And we are embarrassed by the things we believed when we were just children. Most of us grow out of that stage of constant umbrage and self-righteousness. Some of us never do. Those colored memories become the ultimate truth rather than a faded, hazy view.

So, I will enjoy the old television programs, realizing that many of them were exciting for a child, but are only, now, amusing to the adult.

Just some thoughts I had. :)

How Obama Does It ...

From Grouchy Old Cripple by way of Van Helsing at Moonbattery, comes this perfect example of how the Obama Administration does things.



Grouchy also reminds us of the foolishness of the Obama ideas with Unintended Consequences. Give it a read, why don'cha?

Do You Nano?

As in National Novel Writing Month? Nanowrimo? Well, I do. I have since 2005, when I failed to make the goal of 50,000 words in a month. But each year since then I've managed to scribble enough words to win.

What do I win?

Well, satisfaction, I suppose. Knowing that I can sit my lazy tush down and write because I must. Normally I don't think writing 50,000 words or more is that important. After all, you write when you have something to say. But with Nano, you have a deadline - one month - and a set goal - 50,000 words or more. So it's all up to you.

I know Shoprat has done this in the past. I hope he can do it again this year, but he has his own trubbles to deal with, and may not feel he has the time. So we'll see, right?

Remember that Nano costs nothing to join and participate. Not one thin dime. You can donate to the cause, if you like. I have in the past, but I don't know about this year. I have a $600 dental bill to pay tomorrow - getting three teeth pulled! Oy! - and will find it hard to make the rent this coming month. But I will donate if I can. One of the neat things in the Nano universe is the Young Writers Program. And that's one way a donation helps. And Nano is about helping writers, especially young writers.

Here's how they describe the program at the YWP page:

"What: To meet your word-count goal and write a novel from scratch in one month's time. You will be able to enter your chosen word-count goal in your profile starting October 1, 2009.

Who: You!

You should sign up on the Young Writers Program site if you are:

17 years old or younger participating on your own.
In a K-12 teacher-lead class that is participating in NaNoWriMo.
An educator facilitating NaNoWriMo in your classroom.

If you are 13 or older you can sign up on the main site at www.nanowrimo.org. Just know that you will have to write 50,000 words since the adult site doesn't allow you to set your own word-count goal.

Why: The reasons are endless! To write freely without having to stress over spelling and grammar. To be able to talk about how cool your novel is any chance you get. To be able to make fun of real novelists who take far longer than 30 days to write their books . . .

When: You can sign up whenever you'd like to add your name to the roster of budding young authors and participate in the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach your word-count goal by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the celebration begins.

Still confused? Just visit the How NaNoWriMo Works for Young Writers page! If you are an educator, visit the How NaNoWriMo Works for Educators page."

They also say:

"In 2008, 119,000 adults participated through our main site, and 22,000 young writers participated through our Young Writers Program."

That's a whole lotta writers! :)


So think about donating, if you can, even if you aren't a writer and don't intend to join us in our 50K quest. It's better than hoping your tax dollars are being used wisely in the Department of Education. Whoo-Hoo!

I know, some of you are prolly thinking, "What's the big deal? Anybody can write some words." True, anybody can. But they don't. And for writers, and aspiring writers (I say, if you write, you are a writer! No aspiring involved!), this is like a kick in the pants. Here you have a self-imposed deadline, a set goal, and only yourself as a judge. If you fail, so what? So do may others. No disgrace. But writers know how hard it can be when faced with the 'blank page'. It can make you freeze. That's the first hurdle for the writer.

Others come along and threaten our well-being, too.

So Nano can provide the practice a lot of writers need. Practice in how to write something, anything, even when nothing is coming to mind.

Are you a writer? Then why not head on over to Nanowrimo and register? Join in the fun - yes, it can be fun, once you stop all the whimpering, and the weeping while lying on the floor in the fetal position.

November 1st is the opening date! Thew writing race begins! Come on, all you writers: Come Nano!

Whoo-Hoo!

But ... What's He Actually Done?

Seriously, now, Barack Obama? The Nobel Peace Prize? Peace Prize? What, exactly, has the President done to facilitate peace? In fact where is this Peace he’s being awarded for? Anywhere? Maybe in Afghanistan?

After two years of political campaigning, where candidate Obama proclaimed Afghanistan to be the ‘good war’ which Bush had taken his eyes off, how has President Obama brought Peace to Afghanistan? He managed to speak to his General in the field once, while availing himself of the Letterman show - and other venues - many times since assuming the ‘throne’. But only after the General in Afghanistan blurted out that he’d only spoken to his Commander-in-Chief once, did Obama deign to summon the General to his presence. In Copenhagen - ‘member that?

And what did they decide to do in Afghanistan? Well, that ain’t been decided yet. So, no Peace there.

Maybe in the volatile Middle East? Did he bring Peace there? Naw, all Obama did there is cozy up to the Islamists in the area and dis the Israelis. As yet ... no Peace.

Iran? No, he’s offered to chit-chat with the murderous Mullahs, but no Peace.

North Korea? Nah, the Hermit is still pretending to be in charge of a real nation rather than a starving basket-case that happens to have nuclear weapons and missiles. No Peace there.

Well, maybe the Prize is for the Peace he’s brought to his homeland. Chicago must be jolly and peaceful, now that it’s adoptive Son is the Prez. Right? No? More deaths by murder in Chicago than American deaths by War in Afghanistan? Hmmmm.

So where’s the Peace?

Turns out it’s not a Prize for achieving Peace - not anymore - but for promising Hope and Change! Wow!

Well, we all knew the Prize had become meaningless over the past few years. So this is not a huge surprise. But really, what has he done to merit the Nobel Peace Prize?

I haven’t done anything either. Maybe I should begin to campaign for the next Prize, eh? After all, I’ve done as much to achieve World Peace as Barack Obama.

Seriously, now. What has he done?


From Van Helsing's Moonbattery.com

A Pair O' Lists

From American Thinker:

Top 10 Reasons Chicago lost Olympic bid

October 03, 2009
Ethel C. Fenig

Too, too funny! Too, too true--and so many people believe the number one reason killed it.

Add your own. And thanks to Rich Lowry of NRO for sharing.

10. Dead people can't vote at IOC meetings.

9. Obama distracted by 25 min meeting with Gen. McChrystal.

8. Who cares if Obama couldn't talk the IOC into Chicago? He'll be able to talk Iran out of nukes.

7. The impediment is Israel still building settlements.

6. Obviously no president would have been able to accomplish it.

5. We've been quite clear and said all along that we didn't want the Olympics.

4. This isn't about the number of Olympics "lost", it's about the number of Olympics "saved" or "created".

3. Clearly not enough wise Latina judges on the committee.

2. Because the IOC is racist.

1. It's George Bush's fault.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here's a list that's been making its way across the blogosphere recently. It's been added to, derided, quoted, and so on. Perhaps it is a bit mislabeled. For Liberal substitute 'Leftist', and you will rest easier. I think. This is from SodaHead.com. I first read this at Bookworm Room. I recommend making her blog a daily stop.

What's the Difference Between a Conservative and a Liberal?

By Warner Todd Huston

People often wonder what is the difference between a conservative and a liberal. The simple fact of the matter is that the major difference is that conservatives wonder first what it is they are re... People often wonder what is the difference between a conservative and a liberal. The simple fact of the matter is that the major difference is that conservatives wonder first what it is they are responsible for while liberals wonder first what everyone else should be doing for them.

Here are some brief rules of thumb:

•If a conservative sees a U.S. flag, his heart swells with pride.
•If a liberal sees a U.S. flag, he feels shame.

•If a conservative doesn't like guns, they don't buy them.
•If a liberal doesn't like guns, then no one else should have one either.

•If a conservative is a vegetarian, he won't eat meat.
•If a liberal is, they want to ban all meat products for everyone.

•If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat it.
•If a liberal see an enemy he wonders what he can do to appease him.

•If a conservative is homosexual, he'll quietly enjoy his life.
•If a liberal is homosexual, he'll demand everyone get involved in his bedroom activities.

•If a successful conservative is black or Hispanic, he'll see himself as having succeeded on his own merits.
•Successful liberal minorities still claim "racism" and want government to give them even more.

•If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to work to better his situation.
•A liberal wants someone else to take care of him.

•If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
•If a liberal doesn't like a radio show, he demands that the station be shut down or censored.

•If a conservative is a non-believer, he just doesn't go to church.
•Non-believing liberals demand that everyone cease believing and demands churches be censored.

•If a conservative needs health care, he shops for it, or chooses a job that provides it.
•Liberals demand that everyone else provide him with healthcare for free.

•If a conservative sees a law, he thinks long and hard before suggesting a change.
•If a liberal sees a law he assumes it is just a suggestion and does what he wants anyway.

•Conservatives feel there is a right and wrong.
•Liberals feel that nothing is really wrong... unless it is believed by a conservative.

•Conservatives believe in freedom, responsibility, tradition, and self-reliance.
•Liberals believe in license, government restrictions, upending tradition, and collectives.

Black Hearts & Missing Souls

From Big Hollywood - 9/29/09 - comes this list of the morally-deprived of the Entertainment world who have signed the petition to set poor child-rapist, Roman Polanski, free. After all, who says that fleeing from justice deserves a penalty? And rape? meh! She's in her forties now, and she doesn't want to be put through the sensationalism of another trial.

So why don't we all just drop this, okay?

Right? Polanski is a celebrated artist of the cinema. So we cannot judge him by our puny, unenlightened standards, anyway, now can we?

Got yer hackles up yet?

Susan Estrich, with whom I disagree on every political issue, nailed this to the wall. By now I'm sure you've read her commentary, "Roman the Rapist", but if not, go take a gander. Worth it, trust me. The Washington Post is on the right side, too. As noted in The Corner, they say,

"What matters is not that Mr. Polanski is 76 or that he has a talent for filmmaking or that his own life has been filled with unspeakable horrors or that the case is decades old. It doesn't even matter that his underage victim, now grown up, forgives him. What matters is that this man admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old whose undisputed testimony details how he gave her champagne and Quaaludes, got her naked in a hot tub and wouldn't listen as she — terrified — said no. He was originally charged with sodomy and rape but agreed to plead to a lesser offense. He jumped bail and fled the country out of fear the judge would give him more prison time than the paltry 42 days supposedly promised by prosecutors. He has been living with impunity and in luxury ever since."

Even the readership of the Loony-Tunes Huffington Post have been aghast and appalled at the support for Polanski, and the diminution of the rape to a 'well, he's an Artiste, so it doesn't count,' by the usual suspects.

Fact is, if you think Polanski is getting a raw deal, or should be let go, you're not worthy of notice. I tried to think of words to describe how low these defenders of Roman the Rapist are, but there isn't a word to describe how low these creatures are. They're the stuff you scrape off your shoes onto the curb. These 'people' are missing some important ingredients which make up a true Human being. Their minds are not functioning correctly - obvious, right? - their hearts are tiny and black, their very souls are missing.

How to respond? Ignore them. Oh, I'm not saying forget what they say, and have said. No, I'm saying ignore their very existence.

Most of these 'people' I've never heard of, and I see no reason to look into their personal information. So ... ignore them. Don't buy their books; don't go to their movies; don't buy anything they're involved with - as sponsors, spokespersons, and so on.

Show them the contempt they've so richly earned by leaving them strictly alone. If they can prosper with only the financial support of their fellow believers in 'The Elite are above human decency and norms', more power to them.

I'm not calling for a boycott - it always seems to be something too political - but use your power of 'choice' to choose other products, other books, other movies, other television shows. It ain't that hard, really.

Imagine if Polanski had done this to your sister. Imagine if Polanski had done this to your girlfriend. Imagine it. Then give these fools the treatment a moral society reserves for the evil: Shun them utterly.

I won't try to update the list of those evil-supporters who signed the ugly petition to demand Polanski's release. But these are the ones I found at Big Hollywood. Do what you will. As for me, I will leave them strictly, and totally, alone.

I have no time for those with Black Hearts and Missing Souls.

Full list: (it might have been quicker to name who didn’t sign the petition)

A

Fatih Akin,
Stephane Allagnon,
Woody Allen,
Pedro Almodovar,
Wes Anderson,
Jean-Jacques Annaud,
Alexandre Arcady,
Fanny Ardant,
Asia Argento,
Darren Aronofsky,
Olivier Assayas,
Alexander Astruc,
Gabriel Auer,
Isabelle Adjani
Antoine Aronin
Paul Auster


B

Luc Barnier, Christophe Barratier,
Xavier Beauvois,
Liria Begeja,
Gilles Behat, Jean-Jacques Beineix,
Marco Bellochio,
Monica Bellucci,
Djamel Bennecib, Giuseppe Bertolucci,
Patrick Bouchitey,
Paul Boujenah,
Jacques Bral,
Patrick Braoudé,
André Buytaers,
Morgane Beauverger,
Candice Belaisch-Goldchmit,
Yamina Benguigui,
Pascal Bruckner


C


Christian Carion,
Henning Carlsen,
Jean-michel Carre,
Mathieu Celary,
Patrice Chéreau,
Elie Chouraqui,
Souleymane Cissé,
Alain Corneau,
Jérôme Cornuau,
Miguel Courtois,
Dominique Crevecoeur,
Alfonso Cuaron,
Jessika Cohen,
Philippe Corbé


D

Luc et Jean-Pierre Dardenne,
Jonathan Demme,
Alexandre Desplat,
Rosalinde et Michel Deville,
Georges Dybman,
Jean-Paul Dayan,
Katarina De Meulder,
Arielle Dombasle

F


Jacques Fansten,
Joël Farges,
Gianluca Farinelli (Cinémathèque de de Bologne),
Etienne Faure,
Michel Ferry,
Scott Foundas,
Stephen Frears,
Thierry Frémaux,
Nathalie Faucheux,
Corinne Figuet,
Pierre Forciniti

G

Sam Gabarski,
René Gainville,
Tony Gatlif,
Costa Gavras,
Jean-Marc Ghanassia,
Terry Gilliam,
Christian Gion,
Marc Guidoni,
Louis Garrel,
Albert Gauvin,
Johanna Gozlan


H

Buck Henry,
David Heyman,
Laurent Heynemann,
Robert Hossein,
Jean-Loup Hubert,
Davide Homitsu Riboli,
Taylor Hackford,
Isabelle Huppert


I


Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

J


Gilles Jacob,
Just Jaeckin,
Alain Jessua,
Pierre Jolivet,
Kent Jones (World Cinema Foundation),
Neil Jordan

K


Roger Kahane,
Nelly Kaplan,
Wong Kar Waï,
Ladislas Kijno,
Harmony Korinne,
Jan Kounen,
Diane Kurys,
Emir Kusturica
Thierry Kamami
Milan Kundera


L


John Landis,
Claude Lanzmann, André Larquié,
Vinciane Lecocq,
Patrice Leconte,
Claude Lelouch,
Gérard Lenne, David Lynch,
Gaelle Lancien,
Claude Lanzmann,
Bernard-Henri Lévy



M

Michael Mann,
François Margolin,
Jean-PierreMarois,
Tonie Marshall, Mario Martone,
Nicolas Mauvernay,
Radu Mihaileanu,
Claude Miller,
Mario Monicelli,
Jeanne Moreau,
Sam Mendes
Camille Meyer
Patrick Mimouni
Yann Moix


N

Sandra Nicolier
Mike Nichols
Sandra Nicolier
Marie Nieves Perez Neël

O

Michel Ocelot

P

Alexander Payne, Richard Pena (Directeur Festival de NY),
Michele Placido

R

Philippe Radault, Jean-Paul Rappeneau,
Raphael Rebibo,
Yasmina Reza,
Jacques Richard,
Laurence Roulet,
Salman Rushdie


S

Walter Salles,
Jean-Paul Salomé,
Marc Sandberg,
Jerry Schatzberg,
Julian Schnabel,
Barbet Schroeder,
Ettore Scola,
Martin Scorsese,
Charlotte Silvera, Abderrahmane Sissako,
Paolo Sorrentino,
Guillaume Stirn,
Tilda Swinton
Carine Sarna
Ysabelle Saura Del Pan
William Shawcross
Olivier Soares Barbosa
Steven Soderbergh
Nil Symchowicz

T


Jean-Charles Tacchella,
Radovan Tadic,
Danis Tanovic,
Bertrand Tavernier,
Cécile Telerman,
Alain Terzian,
Pascal Thomas,
Giuseppe Tornatore,
Serge Toubiana, Nadine Trintignant,
Tom Tykwer,
Alexandre Tylski,
Danièle Thompson

V

Betrand Van Effenterre,
Eugenia Varela Navarro
Diane von Furstenberg
Scott Foundas

W


Margaret Walker,
Wim Wenders

Z


Elsa Zylberstein

Bear in mind, these are only the ones dim enough to sign the petition. Many others are yapping about setting Polanksi free. You know you've heard about them. Remember them!

Whoopi Goldberg thinks his confessed rape isn't rape. Ain't she a good person?

Polanski Crime worse than people know? - Caution - graphic! It reads, in part,

"The quintessential Valley girl, Geimer artlessly tells of how Polanski approached her and her divorced mom about taking photos of Samantha for a fashion magazine. Impressed and reassured by his celebrity, the mom agreed. After a couple of outdoor shoots, Polanski and the girl ended up alone at Jack Nicholson's house. Says Polanski, 'I could sense a certain erotic tension between the two of us.' At the time, Polanski was a worldly 43. Geimer was a 13 year-old seventh grader."

neo-neocon nails this weirdness, too. Also here.