Seeking In The Zeitgeist

Ode to Autumn - Reflections on the Autumns of my Childhood

2009-11-09T09:11:00.001-05:00

This weekend an old friend who grew up in the same Indiana hometown that I did, wrote a love letter to our town. It’s about growing up there and the splendor of Autumn in Indiana. He shared it on his Facebook page and tagged many of us from there. There are now many wonderful comments from us sharing our own memories or just thanking him. I decided it needed to be shared with a larger audience. Enjoy!

Ode to Autumn - Reflections on the Autumns of my Childhood
By Terry Douglas

Autumn is my very favourite season and October is my very favourite month...and it unfortunately has already run its course for yet another year after blowing by at what seemed like warp speed…as it so often does. As Kurt Vonnegut repeatedly punctuated in 'Slaughterhouse-Five'… “So it goes.”

Anyway, a recent Roger Ebert journal essay about his autumnal remembrances got me a-reflectin’ on some of my own memories of autumns gone by, specifically from childhood.

The little town that I grew up in, Waldron, Indiana, U.S.A., was a great fall town. Located about 30 miles southeast of Indianapolis, it's really more of a hamlet or village than a town, or at least that's how I've always thought of it. The town's heyday has long since passed – gone with the disappearance of the old Interurban railway that connected it to Indianapolis and neighboring towns; gone with the significance of the ‘big railroad’ that ran straight through the middle of town - the New York Central line between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. As far as I know, not too much has changed from the way things were during my childhood and formative years…although the feeling just wouldn’t be the same somehow. The ballpark demographics: Around 800 residents, a post office, a volunteer fire department, an elementary school, a junior-senior high school, a couple of churches, and one of each of the most essential of establishments – a water company, a telephone company, a natural gas company, a small food market, a gas station, a café, a barber shop (maybe still there), a hair salon (or two), a boutique or curiosity shop (or two)…and that’s probably about it. I imagine that the familiar maple trees and old houses still line many of the short streets, especially the town’s two main bisecting streets – Washington and Main Streets.

For me, the Autumn was always when the town of Waldron was at its most beautiful, which in large part could be attributed to those aforementioned trees with their big orange, red, yellow, and brown leaves, which eventually and steadily floated and fluttered down from the limbs until they finally covered the ground and streets with their multi-coloured carpet. This romantic perspective is very much akin to the way the main character (as a grown-up narrator voiced by Woody Allen) describes how he remembers his boyhood neighbourhood at its most beautiful in the movie “Radio Days” – leaf-strewn, rain-swept, autumn-like. This sequence has always hit the spot with me and I completely relate to it.

Of course, Halloween was the pinnacle of the fall season and there couldn’t have been too many better settings for it in my view. This was the time each year when I most enjoyed my hometown…and when I am sometimes prone to missing it even now. It was during this time that one could imagine that the town had come to life out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Here was pure Americana in action and on display. The town’s size and atmosphere were absolutely perfect for hordes of ‘Trick-or-Treaters’, some brought in from surrounding towns by their parents - precise processions of cute and creepy costume-clad adventurers making their way through the decorated maze of the town collecting goodies and cheer. Freshly carved pumpkins were on nearly every porch, haystacks on some. The fresh smell of the air filled lungs and the crispness of the breeze prickled faces. When the night sky was clear, a star-filled canopy covered the scene from horizon to horizon with a bright shining moon illuminating the small town charms. There were even some notoriously ‘real’ haunted (or at the very least, spooky) spots to explore and investigate…if you knew where to look. And if you didn’t…or if you just didn’t have the heart for that kind of Halloween activity, then there were always plenty of horror movies waiting for you on television, hosted by Sammy Terry, a ghoul I grew up with and one of the greatest local television horror film hosts ever in my view.

Additionally vivid childhood memory snapshots from Waldron autumns include: School and church Fall Festivals, eating my mother’s chili (a fall and winter delicacy), walking and riding my bike(s) around town, playing basketball, baseball, &/or (American-style) football with friends, and the smell of burning leaves permeating the air.

I have special adult memories of the autumn as well as I have enjoyed my favourite season in a variety of locales and ways, and I continue to enjoy the autumn wherever I am and however I'm spending it…but of course the feelings of nostalgia from times of complete freedom will always seem magical, perhaps because they are so far removed from the realities and responsibilities of adulthood.
These days fall is the season when I feel the most fresh and at my best, with spring coming in as a close second. If it were up to me it would be autumn for…oh, at least 300 days of the year.”

ⓒ 2009 by Terry Douglas

Hugh Laurie Singing Minnie The Moocher

2009-11-07T13:22:00.001-05:00

This is from the House Soundtrack and Laurie is singing with his Band From TV. Years earlier, with his long-time comedy and acting partner Stephen Frye, his Wooster sung and attempted (with some help from Jeeves) to deconstruct the song. Good stuff.

Tac Bac - Tactical Canned Bacon From Think Geek

2009-11-05T15:01:00.002-05:00

OK, you may think $16 is a bit much to pay for a can of bacon. Ask yourself that question again after civilization collapses and the Zombie Apocalypse or Hamthrax or whatever happened in The Road has decimated the populace, you'll be all like "Man I could really go for some bacon right now. I totally wish I'd bought that Tactically Canned Bacon with a 10+ year shelf life back in 2009.” Hmm Mmm. Link

Did You Know 4.0 – The Mobile Revolution

2009-11-04T18:52:00.001-05:00

“The computer in your cell phone today is a million times cheaper and a thousand times more powerful and about a hundred thousand times smaller [than the one computer at MIT in 1965]…”

The video was put together in advance of the third annual Media Convergence Conference in New York City, 20-21 October, 2009. Unlike its predecessors, the focus of this version is NOT specifically on education, but on the proliferation of technology, its future and I suppose, our own self-education.

My Hulu Queue is Spilling Over

2009-11-01T15:37:00.003-05:00

I enjoy Hulu, especially its TV streaming service. I don’t have cable television or a DVR and have moral qualms about bit.torrents so if Hulu does monetize it’s service, I guess I’ll have more time to read.

Now, right after the Colts game and a walk, I’ll make some popcorn and dive back into it.

(click on the pic to embiggen)

Some Around Indiana Photos

2009-10-29T14:06:00.001-04:00

Browncoats, Doff Your Jayne Hats in Tribute

2009-10-28T22:54:00.001-04:00

<a href="http://mariancall.bandcamp.com/track/its-good-to-have-jayne-on-your-side">It's Good to Have Jayne on Your Side by Marian Call</a>

Four and a Half Minutes That Changed Film History

2009-10-26T18:01:00.006-04:00

Orson Welles' Touch of Evil has an opening scene that changed the way films were shot. Welles used precise timing, mind-boggling coordination, and a crane, to film an amazing four and a half minute tracking shot to open his 1958 film.

The shot starts on a bomb being placed in the trunk of a car. The camera follows the car into the street. As the camera moves back we pickup Charlton Heston walking with his date. Though we’re concentrating on Heston, the bomb is still in our minds. The sheer length of the take heightens the tension for the payoff at the end. On its first release Universal placed the opening credits over the shot, which severely retracted from its power and suspense. In a re-release Welles original version of the scene was re-instated.

Literally changing an aspect of film making, the use of tracking shots have sometimes been used to try to one-up it, Psycho, for example. The opening shot of Robert Altman's The Player is a loving homage to the Welles shot. The opening of Joss Whedon's wonderful film Serenity begins with a five minute tracking shot that introduces us to the ship and the crew. Technically it's two tracking shots, spliced in the middle with some CGI, but I'll cut him some slack. (Whedon also did a great 6 minute tracking shot in an early episode of Angel, though I don't remember which one.)

My favorite tracking shot has to be in Children of Men*, but you can't beat Orson Welles for sheer genius and innovation. Mental Floss has a good list of others you can check out.

YouTube - Touch of Evil Part 01 of 11

You can watch the rest of the movie here.

*This clip is R rated and contains spoilers. If you haven't seen it, go rent it now! It's one of the best films this decade.

Held by the Taliban. A Harrowing and Amazing Five Part Series in the NYTs

2009-10-24T01:13:00.004-04:00

This is a must read.

I can't recommend this series enough. Held by the Taliban - A Times Reporter's Account. This is a five-part series offering a first-person account by David Rohde of his seven months as a captive of the Taliban in Pakistan.

Your good enough your smart enough and gosh darn it people like you!

2009-10-23T22:17:00.002-04:00

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) humbles Hudson Institute representative over health care bankruptcies.

Via- Boing Boing

Listen to the Surprisingly Moving Fresh Air Interview with SNL & 30 Rock's Tracy Morgan

2009-10-23T14:56:00.003-04:00

Tracy Morgan On Being 'The New Black' : NPR

A Montage of the Top 100 Viral YouTube Videos in 4 Minutes

2009-10-23T02:04:00.003-04:00

A Montage of the Top 100 Viral YouTube Videos in 4 Minutes

Really Amazing Color Photos From Pre-Bolshevik Revolution Russia

2009-10-22T18:43:00.004-04:00

The Denver Post shared these photos on it's blog. The photographs of Russian chemist and photographer, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, show Russia on the eve of World War I and the coming of the revolution. From 1909-1912 and again in 1915, Prokudin-Gorskii traveled across the Russian Empire, documenting life, landscapes and the work of Russain people.

Man and camel loaded with packs; between 1905 and 1915 Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection (Library of Congress).

Old church of Saint Nicholas the Wonder Worker, Nyrob; 1910 Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection (Library of Congress).

Georgian woman standing on a carpet, outside, near a tree; between 1905 and 1915 Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection (Library of Congress).

Dagestani types, Man and woman posed outdoors; between 1905 and 1915 Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection (Library of Congress).

To learn more about the Prokudin-Gorskii, the process he used to create the color photographs, and see his collection, you can visit the Library of Congress, who purchased his glass negatives in 1948.

I think this cartoon about the importance of NPR (even during pledge drive) hits the nail on the head

2009-10-22T13:09:00.003-04:00

PoliticalCartoons.com Cartoon

Anne Frank: The Only Existing Film Images

2009-10-02T13:16:00.001-04:00

The Anne Frank House, in Amsterdam, has released this short 20-second video snippet from the life of Anne Frank. The video was shot in 1941, a year before Frank and her family went into hiding.

Video Link

The girl next door is getting married. From her window, Anne looks down as the wedding couple emerges. She looks back at someone in the room, and we see her smile. Maybe her mother asks her if the bride looks pretty. The mundane conversations of an ordinary life.

Looking, for just a moment, at that happy girl, my heart fills. And then, my heart jumps, I know what's coming for Anne.

But, on that bright day, with a couple beginning a new life, Anne must have thought that life was grand, the world outside was full of love and happiness and hope, and it was good to be alive.

Teh stoopid, it burns

2009-09-30T16:29:00.001-04:00

And is incredibly frightening. Right-Wing conference tells activists to get their guns ready for ‘Bloody Battle’ With Obama The Nazi.

Felicia Day Visits Jimmy Fallon

2009-09-30T12:38:00.001-04:00

Felicia Day of The Guild and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog visited Late Night last night and had a terrific interview with Jimmy.

Source link

LeVar Burton Can Finally Tell the World About His Long Nightmare

2009-09-25T00:59:00.001-04:00

From his heartfelt opinion piece*:

When the news came that Reading Rainbow would be canceled due to a lack of funding, I felt—well, to use a cliché like you'd find in one of the hundreds of books I pimped endlessly—like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Every day I went to work hoping that maybe the studio had burned down, that maybe the program had been cut, that maybe PBS would finally stop squeezing the life from me drop by drop. Now that it's over, I feel the relief a bruised and broken soldier must feel when he is rescued after rotting away for decades in some dank, forgotten POW camp.

May that godforsaken show burn in hell.

*This is from The Onion, it’s satire, it wasn’t written by LaVar, but I thought it was hilarious and literally Laughed Out Loud. But you don’t have to take my word for it - (via @levarburton)

The Urinal Protocol, With Math

2009-09-21T23:12:00.001-04:00

I might as well do two posts in a row from xkcd. (Actually I ran on this from someone on Twitter and thought, “I have to post this thing.” It only just occurred to me that my last post was from them.) Upon this, all I can say is, they rock!

Most guys are familiar with the International Choice of Urinal Protocol. xkcd shows, in an amazing and funny post, that it’s actually really complicated when we guys use urinals. Of course, there’s math involved.

Xkcd Witnesses History

2009-09-21T14:25:00.001-04:00

via xkcd.com

Carrie Prejean, the (Un?)Ironic Opposite Marriage of Alanis Morissette

2009-09-20T19:03:00.001-04:00

The Most Ironic Statement of the week award goes to: Carrie Prejean at Values Voters Summit: "I'm disgusted at the way some people can be so intolerant." Said the woman who became famous for her intolerant comment in support for denying people equal rights (and her semi-nude pictures). She also wins the self-righteous cognitive dissonance award. You go girl!

Yay! We’re Number 37

2009-09-20T15:22:00.001-04:00

SNL is Back! Weekend Update Thrusday and What Really Happened Behind "You Lie!"

2009-09-18T17:58:00.001-04:00

Something Positive To End a Meh Week

2009-09-18T14:49:00.001-04:00

I remember hearing this StoryCorps story when it aired March 28, 2008 on NPRs Morning Edition. Click here to listen to it. Enjoy and be inspired.

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right

“ Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'"

Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome.

"You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says.

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

"The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, 'You know everybody here. Do you own this place?'"

"No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz says he told the teen. "He says, 'But you're even nice to the dishwasher.'"

Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"

"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost a sad face," Diaz says.

The teen couldn't answer Diaz — or he didn't want to.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."

The teen "didn't even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know."

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me."

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch."

"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world." ”

The Grim-Reaping Of Summer Tour ‘09 Continues

2009-09-17T01:29:00.004-04:00

Henry Gibson (1935 – 2009)

Actor Henry Gibson died of cancer at the age of 73, a week before his 74th Birthday. While you might not recognize his name, you will almost certainly recognize Gibson’s face from one of his many screen credits from the last 45 years. Gibson got his break in the 1963 Jerry Lewis comedy The Nutty Professor, but received his first major role as a three year stint as part of the cast of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.

Children of the 1980’s (like myself) will probably remember Gibson from the 1989 Joe Dante comedy, The ‘Burbs, in which Gibson played the villain. He also played the leader of the “Illinois Nazis” in the 1980 John Landis classic The Blues Brothers.

Director Robert Altman cast him in four of his films: The Long Goodbye, A Perfect Couple, Health, and Nashville. He made a brief appearance in Altman protege Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia as an eccentric barfly. His last notable role was a re-occurring judge on Boston Legal. He also worked frequently as a voice actor, most notably providing the voice for Wilbur the pig in the 1973 animated film Charlotte’s Web.

Peter, Paul & Mary - The Times They Are A Changing - 1964
by thegirlstheyrock

Mary Travers (1936 – 2009)

I am surprised by how deeply I'm feeling her death. I'm not sure why.

(Update) I think it's a combination of being a politically and socially active person and that I gained a love of folk music from my parent's. Among the songs Peter, Paul, and May was known for: "If I Had a Hammer" (which they performed during the 1963 March on Washington), "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," and "Blowin' in the Wind" (and, yes, "Puff, the Magic Dragon").

The New York Times has an death notice.

And here's Pete Seeger himself introducing a clip of Peter, Paul and Mary.

RIP