Month: December 2019

Lydster: talking to strangers

peekaboo

talking to strangersTalking to strangers when we happen to connect in some way is something I tend to pursue. My daughter HATES that.

It might be me speaking to the mother of a cranky baby on a bus. Or worse, talking to the baby. Because I’m willing to play peekaboo or make faces to infants, I have about an 80% success rate in getting wailing babies to stop, if only out of their curiosity. I’m actually better with them than I was with my once-baby, now-teenager.

We went to see Bernie Sanders in Albany in April 2016, in a line going around the block. I started talking to the couple behind us about the weather, which was threatening. My daughter was mortified at first. But as we ended up spending over an hour and a half in the line, she seemed to appreciate the efficacy of conversation.

Happy!

There was a report that was reported widely. Want To Feel Happier Today? Try Talking To A Stranger.

“The mood boost of talking to strangers may seem fleeting, but the research on well-being, scientists say, suggests that a happy life is made up of a high frequency of positive events. Even small positive experiences — chatting with a stranger in an elevator — can make a difference.”

Sometimes the conversation with the bank teller or sales clerk can be informative and/or fun. My daughter finds these interactions particularly cringeworthy, which, I always assumed, was the whole point of parenting.

Moreover, Malcolm Gladwell wrote Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About People We Don’t Know. It’s considered a “fascinating study of why we misread those we don’t know.” It is, in other words, the act is a social good.

Interestingly, my daughter has finally started recognizing the value of dialogue with people she doesn’t know. They’re not necessarily total strangers. It might be a kid she saw in middle school but never talked to. Now that they’re both in high school, she might take the initiative just to say hello.

Could the father be…RIGHT?

Christmas: the waiting is over

The Dream Isaiah Saw

The Christmas waiting is over. Now you can open those presents. Grumpy Uncle Harry will be going home soon.

Understand that some folks don’t have any presents. There was a nice story in PostSecret recently. An overworked, injured waitress/mom wrote: “I wish Santa Claus was real, so on Christmas, no child would have to go without, and no parent would have to feel like they failed their child.” The bottom line: some folks sent money to a PayPal account.

“Santa Claus is real, and alive and well,” she wrote. “I’m overwhelmed by the love and generosity strangers have shown my family today… I’ve got what I need, so please remove my PayPal account from PostSecret, and I urge anyone who wants to help someone in need to get in touch with their local charities.”

Interestingly, our pastors have shown us in a series of sermons What Can’t Wait, such as repentance. The term, in some traditions, has meant literally turning one’s body in a new direction. Repentance can be rooted in Christian theology, of course. Still, the idea of turning away from things that aren’t working can be a powerful thing. Is that why people come up with New Years’ resolutions at this time of year?

I’m utterly fascinated by the decidedly mixed reaction to the Methodist church’s nativity scene depicts Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as separated and caged family. Like much of good art, it’s designed to make one think.

Music in December

The first three I’ve sung this month.

E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come by Paul Manz, which we do almost every Advent. My sister Leslie posted this version on Facebook.

The Dream Isaiah Saw, which is rooted in this familiar scripture:

The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

Gloria – John Rutter.

I didn’t sing Handel this year, but I have a half dozen times in the past: Handel Messiah (Christmas Portion) – Robert Shaw and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus.

The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of TV

time well spent

Twilight ManI made my semiannual trek to my local comic book emporium, Earthworld Comics, this fall. On the shelf was a graphic novel The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television by someone named Koren Shadmi. I perused it for about ten seconds and decided to buy.

The book, of course, is about the creator of the legendary television program the Twilight Zone. In my book collection is The Twilight Zone Companion, an episode guide. I only have two DVD sets of complete television series; one is The Twilight Zone.

And there is that time I met the Man. (I’ve mentioned that, right?)

I found The Twilight Man to be thoroughly reached. The book had about three dozen items in the bibliography. The art was quite decent. I read the 170-odd pages in a couple of hours, and it was time well spent. There were bits of Serling’s biography I did not know or had forgotten about.

Speaking ill of the dead?

From a three-star review in Amazon: “A lot of the information presented seemed very personal and came across as a bit off-putting knowing that this was written by someone after the person in question was already dead. I would hope much of this type of information came from interviews or people who knew Rod..”

Yes, there is nothing in The Twilight Man that was out of character or inconsistent with the books and articles that I had previously read. If you can find it, check out Rod Serling: The Dreams and Nightmares of Life in the Twilight Zone – a biography by Joel Engel.

About THAT book, I wrote: “The subject of the book was unable to be content with his life, believe his success, [or] be happy with his first writing critic, his wife Carol.” The Shadmi book shows Serling with those same insecurities.

I was motivated to buy The Twilight Man because 2019 is the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast of Twilight Zone. Christmas Day would also have been Rod’s 95th birthday, though he didn’t get anywhere near reaching it.

Videos

Tell It To Groucho with Rod Serling (April 2, 1962). Rod plugs an Italian singer, leaves, but then returns

I’ve Got A Secret – 1972

Jack Benny Program – TWILIGHT ZONE LOST EPISODE –

Y is for the Yukon Territory

Sergeant Preston

YukonSurely, my early understanding of the Yukon in Canada came from watching Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, the 1955-1958 primetime television program on CBS. I probably saw it as a Saturday rerun.

Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh explained that Preston “cut a splendid figure in his smart red uniform (even in black-and-white!), his broad-brimmed hat, and his pencil-thin mustache.” The Mountie was played by Dick Simmons.

I gathered that the territory was much like the Old West, except colder. It was “where thieves and scoundrels preyed upon the gold miners and settlers who had come to open the wilderness.”

As Brittanica notes, it is “an area of rugged mountains and high plateaus. It is bounded by the Northwest Territories to the east, by British Columbia to the south, and by the U.S. state of Alaska to the west, and it extends northward above the Arctic Circle to the Beaufort Sea.”

Tourism

I was looking at the tourism page Travel Yukon. “Rich living-history, stunningly unique geography and more epic scenes than a Hollywood blockbuster.” One could, if one were not me, go on the Yukon Arctic Ultra. It is “a mountain biking, cross-country skiing and running race that follows the trail of the Yukon Quest from Whitehorse to either Braeburn (100-mile racers), Pelly Farm (300-mile racers) or Dawson City (430-mile racers).” In northern Canada.

The BreakOut West Showcase Festival is more my speed. Music! It “features a multi-genre line-up of over 50 of western Canada’s best emerging and established artists showcasing at multiple venues throughout the host city.” In October 2019, it was in Yellowknife. The event appears to rotate among the western provinces and territories.

From the Wikipedia: “Yukon was split from the Northwest Territories in 1898 and was originally named the Yukon Territory. The federal government’s Yukon Act, which received royal assent on March 27, 2002, established Yukon as the territory’s official name, though Yukon Territory is also still popular in usage and Canada Post continues to use the territory’s internationally approved postal abbreviation of YT. Though officially bilingual (English and French), the government also recognizes First Nations languages.”

Yowza! Another ABC Wednesday post

Mary Elizabeth “Sissy” Spacek turns 70

Recommended: In the Bedroom; The Straight Story

Sissy Spacek
I know nothing about this album.
Although I never saw either Carrie or Coal Miner’s Daughter, I’ve seen Sissy Spacek in a slew of movies, so many that I had to look them up on IMDB.

Three Women (1976). Robert Altman film about three women in a western desert town. It was creepy, as I recall.

Missing (1982). It was a Costa-Gavras (Z) political drama in a South American country on the precipice of a military coup. American activist Charles Horman (John Shea) suddenly disappears. Spacek plays his wife Beth, who can find no information from either the new rulers or from the American consulate. Her father-in-law Ed Horman (Jack Lemmon) joins Beth in the search, despite their political differences. A real thriller.

Crimes of the Heart (1986). “Three sisters from a rather dysfunctional family in the South are gathered together for a birthday. One can’t seem to stay in a relationship for long, one was just released on bond for shooting her senator husband, and the other is an aspiring actress.” Well-acted but stagey, if memory serves.

The Nineties

The Long Walk Home (1990). The Mongomery (AL) bus boycott of 1955/1956 was “a decided inconvenience for Miriam Thompson (Sissy Spacek), a well-to-do white woman. Now, Miriam must drive to the black section of town to pick up her maid Odessa Cotter (Whoopi Goldberg) and bring her to work.” I recall it as pretty good, albeit sober.

JFK (1991). Spacek played the wife of the crusading district attorney wife of the Louisiana district attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner), who is skeptical that Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby each acted alone. Liz Garrison served as a sounding board, I believe.

If These Walls Could Talk (1996 TV movie). An anthology “about three disparate women coping with unexpected pregnancies.” Spacek is in the middle section in 1974 “when Barbara, who already has four kids, tackles another one. A pretty good, if overly earnest, film.

The Straight Story (1999). A G-rated David Lynch film about “a trip made by 73-year-old Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth in his final role) from Laurens, Iowa, to Mt. Zion, Wis., in 1994 while riding a lawnmower. The man undertook his strange journey to mend his relationship with his ill, estranged, 75-year-old brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton). Spacek plays Alvin’s daughter Rose. This was REALLY good and quite touching.

21st Century

In the Bedroom (2001). “A New England couple’s college-aged son dates an older woman who has two small children and an unwelcome ex-husband.” This is Spacek’s best performance among the ones on this list. “Quietly wrenching…”

Tuck Everlasting. I’m fairly certain I saw it, but the details of the book adaptation are failing me.

North Country. I recall that Charlize Theron was quite good as “Lori Jenson, who took a job at a Minnesota iron mine in 1975. She and other female miners endured harassment from male co-workers.” But I’m not remembering Spacek.

Get Low (2009). I saw the movie. Fortunately, I wrote about it, and the details are refreshed.

The Help (2011). She played the old woman pushing back against her daughter’s bigotry.

Sissy Spacek turns 70 on Christmas Day 2019.

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