Good Spirits Last Night

I hope you all had a great Halloween.
Truth be told, it's my favorite holiday... yet I barely (if ever) do anything special for it.  I'm no longer the "wild party" type, so going to a spooky bash isn't really my thing.  I'm no longer Trick-or-Treat'ing, so I don't make rounds that way.  And I am often too lazy to decorate (but I do put some stuff out.)  Although I love the concept, I'm not all that into dressing up.  But otherwise, I find it the most intriguing and delightful.   (Except for the giant spider decorations on my block! - But that's rather the point, isn't it?)

However, yesterday I had a perfect Halloween!

This might sound pathetic to some, and it may be, but I rather enjoyed lounging around the house watching the many TV shows about the paranormal and hauntings plaguing the airwaves on account of the date.  Much to my chagrin, I had to keep switching around since I'd seen most of them before.  My fault for watching them whenever I can, I suppose.

Late in the afternoon, Bart left to go accompany his pseudo-cousin's kids on their Trick-or-Treat'ing.  Rather young kids - and they already had a gaggle of adults hovering around them, so I stayed home and kept watching spooky stuff.

Then, at dark, I decided I couldn't just sit around with no candy!  (We don't get Trick-or-Treat'ers since we're a building and not a house so there hadn't been any around.)  Thus, knowing myself to be deplorable, I paused the TiVo just as the skeptic husband would have his paranormal experience and ventured out anyway for something to snack on while watching.

I'm not out through the gate and I get a text message from Buttercup... who wants to know if she can come over.  Hosah!  I tell her I'll be right back (and it will take her a bit to travel to my place anyway.)  While on my way to the corner drug/convenience store to obtain my candy, I decide to cross the street (safely of course) at a place where one is not supposed to do so... why?  Because down the sidewalk going the proper way I see a tall, dark humanoid shape.  Looming.  Oooooo!  Not that I had any real reason to be scared but it did seem a little eerie.  Just standing there.  All dark, like a shadow person.  Not moving.  And here I just eariler had been watching a 'true' story of shadow people in a home!  It had been a real person and not a decoration, I'm sure... so I relished in the spooky nature, glad to have a 'fright' in fun and decided on an assortment bag of treats at the store.

Buttercup arrived and we talked for a while... and then Bart came back home.  Buttercup brought some spirits with her so we partook...and put on It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  I had already caught it randomly the other night on TV (turned it on and voila! special treat) but Bart hadn't seen it yet this year... and Buttercup hadn't in many, too many, years.  Yes, I laughed at it all over again, as Peanuts is a favorite of mine.

Then we watched my favorite 'scary movie' - The Changeling.  I've been trying to convince Buttercup to watch it for many months now... but it's never happened either due to scheduling or the fact that she had been a little too scared to watch.  She actually loves scary movies, but, knowing that I revel in watching hauntings (as I did all day) and barely (if ever) get spooked by them and yet I find this one scary... well, she hadn't been so sure she wanted to see it.  (She's also been freaked by other movies that I didn't find frightful at all.)  But what better night than Halloween?  Once again, I found myself tensing up and ready to cry at a certain point, as always, but tears never come.  I just find it SO unnerving.  Other than that, though, I think I've seen it so many times that the paralyzing effect no longer applies.  Darn.  Buttercup truly liked it, though, in the sense of yeah...she got totally creeped out.

As an added bonus... I found myself scribbling down ideas for the novel I'm hammering out.  Yep!  Inspired by one of my favorite films.  No... not in the sense of stealing from it.  It's just that several of the scenes and/or subject matter sprung up ideas in my mind that I could find useful in other ways.  That spark I spoke of the other day turns out to be viable... and it looks as if I have something I can work with after all.  I still need the motivation from the one character... but then, I might start writing anyway without knowing that wherefore yet.  I'm sure he'll tell me as I go.

And so... that, to me, constitutes a great Halloween!

No, Not Depp...

If you ask anyone who knows me, they’ll be quick to tell you I’m a pretty obsessive kind of guy. I mean, you only need to come to this site to know I’m obsessed with Peter Pan. But it is true. It’s not just Barrie’s creation… I tend to get uber-excited/interested from time to time.

However, for all of how it may look, I certainly know when I am truly obsessing. And quite frankly, I can’t recall the last time I’ve been THIS hooked on something. I’m talking about the cartoon series I mentioned in the previous post.

Oh sure, I’ve liked other shows a lot recently, such as The Mighty B! (which Laughter told me about) and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (which Bart and I recently “got into” when a friend of ours asked us to record it for her). But even with our absolute love for the delightful awfulness that is Sunny which we craved every week (and bought the complete series of) I didn’t have days where I’d get through the hours thinking, excitedly: When I get home, I can watch more!

As you can see from the logo image, the show that I’m currently in love with is Johnny Test. I’d heard of it, knew vaguely about it (and I mean vaguely) but had not actually watched it until I accidentally caught one the other day (a couple of weeks ago now, I think.) Immediate response: MUST WATCH MORE.

Fortunately it plays often (as I said in the last post) so I set my TiVo to pick up episodes. The more I saw, the more I fell in love with the characters, the premise, the humor, with everything.

For those who don’t know, Johnny Test (his actual name) is an 11 year old boy with a talking dog named Dukey. Dukey is able to talk (and drink coffee and ski, and…) because Johnny’s 13 year old twin (though not indentical) sisters Susan and Mary Test are geniuses who genetically altered him. They have a huge “lab” upstairs where they create all sorts of fantastical sci-fi goodies. They use Johnny as their lab rat. Yep, Johnny is their test subject - naturally with comedic disastrous results. Usually Johnny will cause the trouble himself by over-doing it, breaking the experiment or trying it out not as intended.

I love the show for a number of reasons. The character design, their personalities, the cleverness of the wild inventions, the homages/parodies…

As I said in the last post, I found the show on streaming Netflix and happily watched episode after episode. Though I knew I whittled away the ability to see new ones, I couldn’t help myself. I’d move on to the next one immediately. Even when just a few episodes remained to watch, and I knew I’d not have any more to see after that, I still went ahead and clicked the buttons. To give you some perspective, I watched three seasons of it pretty much over the course of two days.

Johnny Test has been “criticized” as a rip-off of another cartoon series called Dexter’s Laboratory. I can’t say for sure, as I’ve never seen it. I can see why someone might say so, however. The animation style is similar and just from the ads for it (or even just the title) it’s full of madcap experiments gone awry. So yeah, similar. But I have to say nothing I saw of Dexter drew me in to want to watch it. The minute I stumbled across Johnny, I had a new friend (so to speak.) However, even with the little I know, I wouldn’t call it a “rip-off” since there are many stories with similar ideas and themes. At worst I’d think Johnny Test to be a variation on Dexter’s Laboratory. And it at first glance it seems to be different enough, with its own set of indigenous siuations and characters.

Johnny Test is my wallpaper on both my phone and computer. I’m eagerly awaiting the 3 segments [each half hour episode has two different stories] I have not yet seen. You see, there is a current season still airing and are just those three that I haven’t seen. (Although it might just be one… I’m unable to tell from the online descriptions whether or not I saw two of them.) One day TiVo will pick them up. And fortunately for my sanity, a friend of Bart’s who works at Cartoon Network has said that the response to Johnny Test has been very positive — so more episodes are on the way, as well as some merchandising. (I’d been sad to see that no figures or video games had been made. Put me down for each of those when available.)

Just thought I’d give a “shout out” to it. Bravo to creator Scott Fellows.

I might be posting about Johnny Test again… after all, I’m obsessed, right? But seriously, there are a couple aspects of it that could be spoken about specifically — including a theory (or two) as to why I love it so much.

And I hope Scott Fellows and everyone else involved isn't angry at me for doing so, but I made a screen where Johnny is a fan of ME.

Not Taking It Lying Down?

In my opinion, the television series Frasier had one of most well played bits of retcon.
(Short for "retroactive continuity." Wikipedia article here.)

When Frasier first went on the air, I watched the first episode eagerly. For like many, I’d grown fond of the character on Cheers. Being the detail freak that I am, however, something did not sit well with me. How is it that they could include Frasier’s father in the series? For I distinctly remembered Frasier saying at Cheers that his father is dead. He also mentioned that he’d been a research scientist. So…how could his father be an ex-cop wounded in the line of duty and more than lively bitching about wanting his chair?

I let it slide though, given that the show proved pretty good. And Martin Crane (dad) along with the other wonderful new characters had me wanting more. Sure, I still wished the writers had scoured every utterance of the “original” Frasier on Cheers. So, I sort of grudgingly enjoyed watching the Frasier spin-off. Over time, perhaps I forgot about it due to what became compelling entertainment.

Who am I kidding? It always gnawed away each time I watched. (I didn't watch religiously, but watched much.) While doing a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I mentioned my gripe to Theseus/Oberon. He smiled and said it bothered the hell out of him, too. (Woe to us who curse ourselves with remembering stuff.) But you know what? He told me with an even bigger smile that they addressed the issue!

In an episode of Frasier, Sam Malone (the bartender at Cheers and friend of Frasier) comes to visit Seattle (where Frasier is set, as opposed to Cheers in Boston.) Upon being introduced to everyone in Frasier’s apartment, Sam is surprised to meet Martin Crane. Sam states that Frasier said he’s dead. And when Niles (Frasier’s brother) playfully says he bets Sam has heard many a tale about him, Sam replies that Frasier never mentioned him. (It’s true, we heard nothing of Niles before Frasier, created for the series.) Martin and Niles are, of course, miffed that Frasier didn’t present them correctly (or at all.) Frasier then explains in a huff that he’d just had a fight on the phone with his father before going into Cheers that night he’d said Martin’s dead.

And thus, we have the retcon. The marvelous retcon that Frasier lied. I laughed at the ingenious little patch the writers put on it. So deceptively simple! Of course characters can lie. But it just never occurred to me that he would have been. Why would we not accepte his declaration of his father’s demise and career choice at face value? How could we have known? He also changed Martin's job to make him sound more important [in Frasier’s eyes.]

Thanks to the magic of TiVo, I have finally been able to see the episode when Sam comes to town. And let me tell you, I laughed outright. Bravo to John Mahoney for his portrayal of Martin Crane upon discovering what his son had said. “You told him I was DEAD?” could not have been any funnier. The whole scene worked wonderfully.

In general retconning seems like a bad thing to me, as it implies that someone didn’t pay attention. But in rare cases like this one, it produces great results.

Bravo!

If Knowledge Is Power, Then Cartoons Are Mighty (Mouse)

Yesterday, I watched CA$H CAB. I do quite frequently, actually. I let the TiVo gather them up and when I need to “veg” with some intellectual pepper, they’re always there to watch. (If you don’t know the show, you’re missing out. Everyone I have ever suggested it to loves it or had already loved it…and I learned about it from Ellen. NUTSHELL: People earn cash money for answering trivia questions while on route to their destination in a taxi.)

Okay, well, one of the questions had been to the effect of: What childhood malady is associated with cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk? I knew the answer (yea me!) but the people in the cab did not. I don’t mean that as a jab at them. It’s not like one often hears of the Mumps. (And does it even occur with frequency anymore? I’m not sure.) But again, it’s not something that comes up every day. Also, their ages seemed comparable to mine, no more than five years younger. So I wondered… why did I know it?

After moments of searching, I realized that I saw it on a cartoon as a kid. I don’t remember which one, but that brings me to my point.

Cartoons, classic cartoons at the very least, are quite educational. By classic I mean such as Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry. Amid the craziness and shenanigans, there’s real information contained within them.

That’s how I knew about the Mumps, as I said. But there’s much more. Of course, there’s the ever popular exposure to classical music and operas. Spot-on caricatures of “old” celebrities abound. Weird historical trivia… such as the Zoot Suit that Tom “needed.” The expression “The Long Arm of the Law.” Poetry, like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Hiawatha.” Info on the World Wars. The Robin Hood legend (in both Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry). Wile E. Coyote’s personality and plight is based on Native American stories of coyotes. That’s just what came to mind right now… if I (or you) thought longer, I’m sure other bits would come to mind.

So don’t dismiss cartoons as useless visual gibberish… there’s plenty packed into them.

No Amity Here

Today I'd been sucked in by a stupid movie. I turned on the TV and saw it, chuckled, pressed the TiVo arrow to make it rewind and lo and behold, the start of the film! (It just happened to be the half hour in recorded TiVo memory.) What movie? Amityville II: The Possession. Hadn't seen this one before. You know what amazed me? It's a better movie than the remake which came out not so long ago. (Dragonfly and I sometimes go to bad horror movies on purpose and have Thai food.) And seriously, this sequel to the original film turned out superior. Oh don't worry, I'm not even going to try and tell you it's a good movie. It's not. It's filled with plotholes, there's not a genuine scare in it and it's utterly laughable. But that's my point. Still, it's a better film. [In all honesty, some terrific make-up and transmogrification F/X, though.]

All the aforementioned aside, what bothered me is that it had nothing to do with Amityville. Oh sure, the famous house with it's allegedly Jack-O-Lantern shaped eyes featured prominently. But here's the thing: It didn't have to. It could have been any haunted house story. No real connection (other than someone going crazy and killing the family) could be made to the original. No one even mentioned the history of the house. And someone going crazy and killing the family could happen to anyone. Wait...ok, you know what I mean. Next, it suddenly transferred to a poorly executed The Exorcist. (Should have known from the title, I suppose.) Two movies going on in the same film and neither one done any justice. And STILL, better than the latest incarnation of The Amityville Horror.

But what really set me off toward the keyboard is the use of religious iconography as a bane to the dark forces haunting houses and people. Of course, it's not just this particular movie. It's not the first time I thought of this issue. The problem I have applys to any film with such elements. But it struck me again watching this movie. And my problem? Why is it that Christian symobls and words are what offends and gets rid of the evil? There are plenty of other religious icons out there. What if the evil is of a different faith? I'm sorry, it's presumptuous and rude.

Okay, that's my two cents.

I Do Not Read! (This genre normally...)

I’m currently reading I Am Not a Cop! by Richard Belzer (with Michael Black.) It’s not my usual type. But I saw him on a talk show plugging the book. I don’t remember which one, as I also don’t normally watch talk shows except for Ellen. But when I turned on the TV, “Live TV” (as opposed to TiVo) showed Mr. Belzer and I started listening.

The book sounded very intriguing and fun. It’s kind of a real life fiction. As you’re probably aware, he plays on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Likewise, I don’t normally watch the show. I don’t actually watch any of the “crime” programs such as that one. I recognize their merit, however they’re not my cup of tea. But Bart is rather fond of SVU, so I see snippets or the occasional episode every third blue moon. I also know Mr. Belzer from his other work and comedy. So anyway, the book is about him, as an actor on SVU. But it’s a work of fiction in that he winds up stumbling into a crime/mystery and suddenly his real (though fictionalized) life mirrors his TV persona. You can see how that would attract me.

So, I put it my list for Xmas presents, since some people like to have those handy for ideas of what to get people. (I’m not one of them, but I make the list for those that are. I prefer to surprise and be surprised.)

I’m not very far into it. But I am enjoying it. It’s exactly what he described...and every bit as entertaining as I imagined. It’s “impossible” for me not to hear Mr. Belzer delivering the lines. Especially because his sardonic nature is not lacking.

I’ll give a report when I’m done. Um... do I need to file it?

"Pete Rogers" in the 21st Century?

Allow me to speak off the topic of writing and storytelling for today’s post so I may tell you what transpired this weekend.

Bart and took another step into the 21st Century. Our 52” widescreen flat HDTV arrived. Hosah. We also now have a Blu-Ray player and HD TiVo (150 hours of HD storage). To quote Napoleon Dynamite, “SWEET!”

That’s what we did on Saturday…waited beyond the “window” of time for the delivery and patiently waited for it to be set up. As you may know from the cover flap of Peter Pan’s NeverWorld, Bart and I live on the third floor. It’s a walk up. Obviously we did not want to lug it up ourselves when we could have someone used to the task do it for us. But we’re the “recipients who care” as we had coffee, orange juice, multi-flavor bagels from ‘Einstein!’ and both regular and strawberry cream cheese spread. He told us that many folks don’t even offer water!

I’m not going to typing rave about how “sweet” it is…you all either know or can imagine.

But wowsers.

As of right now, we have to wait until tomorrow evening to actually get HD channels…or even cable stations like the Food Network (a favorite of Bart, my adorable cook.) It’s because of a lack of knowledge both on my part and on the part of our cable provider. The cable provider is notorious for making “customer service” an oxymoron. [Thanks to Mission Improvisational, see post here.] However, don’t think me a moron. My misunderstanding is caused by unfamiliarity. We no longer have a “cable box.” A “cable card” slides into our TiVo and it becomes both. So the card equals/replaces the box. Completely foreign and wacky concept to me. Cable Provider had told me "oh just plug it in!" but...NO. "Lied" to, again. They need to activate it somehow and cannot do so until Tuesday because not enough people are aware of how to do it. (The technology/procedure is “foreign” to many, including their own staff.)

Having a dual tuner TiVo makes it all the more wonderful. And Bart is truly astounded and satisfied with the amazing quality of Disney’s first Blu-Ray animated feature, Sleeping Beauty. (It’s his favorite.) I gave him the Blu-Ray of it (as well as the enhanced regular DVD version) for our Anniversary this past October. So only now (then) has he been able to experience its glory. [And, yes, I too relish said glory.]

Okay. Enough about the 21st Century upgrade at our place.

The rest of our weekend (when not seeing [and learning remotes and settings and such of] the magnitude) had its share of delights. We had a lovely meal on Saturday night at the home of a family which is friends with ours.

Sunday morning we brunched with Dragonfly and Tall Boy. We had them meet us at our place first, as they had not been told about the “new arrival.” Needless to say, they Oooed and Ahhhed. We then went on to brunch, choosing a place just blocks from where we live. For the weather proved rather unwelcoming. Yes, Winter has officially come to Chicago. We braved the sleet-like rain and wind, rewarded, thankfully, with a great meal and a lovely visit. Tall Boy regaled us with some inside information on The Ville, his live theatre soap opera. Even better, he told us about the opera he has conceived. It's marvelously inventive...and it had been inspired by something Dragonfly said. How great is that? I wish could explain the premise to you, but 1) it is not place to do so with an unestablished work and 2) it's something you'd be better off discovering. It's that imaginative. "Wow," said I with utmost weight and sincerity to Tall Boy. "Yeah," he replied, "I've been thinking about this for a while now." Let us hope that he finds the time and gumption to bring it to fruition!

Meanwhile, Winter progressed to horrendous as the day wore on into a nighttime snowy, icy mess. But it looks damn pretty everywhere!

I then spent much of the rest of Sunday cleaning up the den. Before the new TV came, we had been using the television I use to play Wii, for we gave our living room TV to friends who had a television a fraction of the size of most folks. (Circa 18”) Since they have two adorable little girls, we knew they’d enjoy receiving a bigger screen, too. They also inherited our all-the-bells-and-whistles DVD player. Hooray for sharing and caring. Thus, since the TV had been removed, I took the opportunity to dust and just generally clean up and out and entire room. It had become a tangled overstuffed mess. Incidentally, the den is also where the computer is and hence, where I do my writing.

All righty, thanks for letting me ramble about my lovely weekend.

I’ll be back on track with story/writing posts tomorrow with a review of the movie we watched in HD.

And Season 3 Adds Up to...

Well, in my opinion, they have turned something intelligently ridiculous into something pointlessly ludicrous. My standard Monday night TiVo recording might no longer be required.

The Lost Boys "Found"

I'm ecstatic! I just ordered from Amazon!

No, not my own book.

Andrew Birkin's The Lost Boys that aired on the BBC in 1978.

Imagine Finding Neverland, but accurate and more in-depth.

Premier Barrie scholar Birkin wrote this acclaimed work.

Here's a link of praise for it.

Ian Holm stars as Barrie and it is said to be one of his best performances.

I've known about it "forever." But alas, it had not been available on DVD in the US region codes. I obsessively checked for it for quite some time. I even have a TiVo Wish List in case BBC America decided to air it. I wound up shelving it in the back of my mind.

But Hosah!

After waiting fifteen years or so...on this red letter day, I stumbled across it!

What a delight! Can't wait for it to come! It will be on my shelf instead.

Series-ly Good

Somehow Bart came across a delightfully quirky movie called Sordid Lives. It strings together various storylines of (dare I say) White Trash folks. The major one is three grown women dealing with the death of their mother. It’s a comedy. A dark comedy. I won’t spoil how the matriarch died (hilarious!) or even the other lines of story in case you decide to watch this wonderful mess. (I say mess in relation to the people’s…um…sordid lives, not the script or production.)

Written by Del Shores, it began as a stage play. He also wrote said stage play. And directed it, as well as the movie. Obviously he is either very controlling or very passionate about his work. I’d guess a healthy combination of both.

The reason I am bringing it up, however, is that last night Sordid Lives: The Series [also by Del Shores] aired on Logo television. Many of the same actors (including one of my favorites, Leslie Jordan and the incomparable Beth Grant and yes, even Olivia Newton-John) have returned for the series. Quite a blessing, given their amazing performances in the movie.

However, the fact that there is a television series based on a movie is not what makes me write about it now. Not a new phenomenon at all. It’s been done many times, to both great success and miserable failure. But this one? Sordid Lives pulls a glorious trick that to my knowledge, has not been done before. And I take my hat (if I wore one, which I used to do all the time) off to Del Shores for this endeavor, what I believe to be a unique idea: The series begins before the movie does. In other words, it backtracks to when mother has not yet died and she is now a seen character played by Rue McClanahan. It’s far enough back in time that we are seeing a lot more in depth of the characters. Leslie Jordan’s final scene in this first episode I found particularly moving, especially knowing what would come for "Brother Boy."

Imagine, though, the fun to be had in revisiting your own work some 8 years later to expand it in this capacity! I’d certainly love it. I’m always interested in the original creator(s) building outwardly on a story. Especially when it’s as good or better than the source material. Both Bart and I laughed out loud many times during the half hour. Sympathetic, tender moments quieted us, as I mentioned with Jordan.

We’re looking forward to the rest of it. TiVo will faithfully obtain it all for us. And it comes on right after Project Runway. What could be better?

Thank you, Del Shores and company for your marvelous exploration of storytelling! Bravo!

A Wink at Hood

Just wanted to mention that I really enjoy the BBC’s Robin Hood series. BBC America plays it and my TiVo faithfully collects the episodes for me. It’s not an incredible show, but it is certainly above average by my reckoning. They’ve taken the legend and treated it with respect, trying for a grittier more realistic tone. Of course, one can only be realistic to a certain degree with a tale like this, so it does have its “wild fun” moments. I also like the fact that they have made it their own. Yes, it follows the conventions we all know and love of Robin Hood. But they have also added a number of their own twists, elements and characters into the mix. So far I have loved each of these. If you have not seen it yet, give it a shot. (Get it?) They are now airing the second season here and I believe we are nearing the end of it. (The season, not the series.) And right now I can’t get the instrumental theme song out of my head. Bravo!