Read to our boys Every Night! We watched The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit" video last night. Family time, quality.

Now this is really "funny":
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070514/media_nm/nbc_dc

I have absolutely no idea of what any of these titles are about. I can't name a character, give a plot line, nor offer an iota of detail proclaiming their cultural significance. Think of all of those commercials we've missed - approx. 15/hr for 3-4hrs of typical daily tv viewing = as much as 60 minutes of "Denham's Dentrifice...Denham's Dentrifice...!"

Gardening season on the East Coast, ballgames and bike rides...after scruffs' school work is done. I will grade papers until midnight most nights and then personal reading time --finally.

(What! 5:45am, off again. Who has time for "Reality" tv?)

Ninety percent of what is on TV these days is crap! That's why we spend ninety percent of our TV watching time playing DVDs of our favourite old shows, like Griffith, Bilko, TZ, M*A*S*H, Columbo, Looney Tunes, Harold Lloyd & Charlie Chaplin, etcetera, and the classic films.

I'm sure we all know people who spend their days, days mind you in front of those daytime stories, talk shows, game shows, judge shows, and the like. I'll tell you what, that's enough to kill you!

Same deal here, Doug. Made contact with some suppliers of vintage shows not officially out on DVD and spend two hours a night with those shows, which does me immeasurable good! Guess this is the time and place to announce that my trip to the REAL Arizona led me directly out of "Dry Spell, Arizona" and into a lush green land of productive creativity! Keep watching this space for word on the great American novel!

Lets Pirate television!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnDYssFcNxc

quote:

Originally posted by WildGravity:
Lets Pirate television!

You know, one of my partners brought up that very thing last night - we're already working on ideas.

So be on the lookout for us on youTube!

I certainly will be

Especially to our members over 30, does THIS ever happen to YOU? First I offer a quote from "Anne of Avonlea," by L. M. Montgomery. You'll never believe how I cried when I first read it (between the ages of 17 and 45!) Now that I am 45, I'm not exactly to the point of laughing, but I do have some comments:

"I'm so glad you're here, Anne," said Miss Lavendar, nibbling at her candy. "If you weren't I should be blue. . .very blue. . . almost navy blue. Dreams and make-believes are all very well in the daytime and the sunshine, but when dark and storm come they fail to satisfy. One wants real things then. But you don't know this. . .seventeen never knows it. At seventeen dreams DO satisfy because you think the realities are waiting for you further on. When I was seventeen, Anne, I didn't think forty-five would find me a white-haired little old maid with nothing but dreams to fill my life."

Okay, forty-five, yes, little, yes, old maid, if you insist. White-haired, NEVER! Pleased to say I've yet to spot a gray one. But in my creative life, dark and storm are not my problems, daytime and sunshine are! The transitional seasons of spring and fall affect me terribly, spring particularly. When the dandelions and other bright flowers blaze forth from amid brilliant green, and the world is full of awakening and unfolding, I have this HUGE feeling of inadequacy!

Oh, I could never describe a certain wonderful sight and feeling as Bradbury could! I don't quite feel "unworthy" to view and enjoy the flowers...it's not quite an unworthy feeling--but a feeling of either not fulfilling a duty I have, or not being fully equipped to fulfill a duty I attempted to undertake. This has been going on for over 20 years, but it's gotten WAY WORSE with each succeeding season since my late 20s. Before I was about 27, I was able to read things Bradbury wrote at those ages and think, "Well, he wasn't that good at my age, either. He got a lot better." Then in his late 20s-30s, he burst forth, well, like spring! There is just NO comparing and NO keeping up!

Not that I prefer November to May (never--are you kidding?) but I feel adequate to DO November and not the more enjoyable parts of the year! Of all my hangups involving writing, strange to say, the setting/atmosphere one troubles me the most--perhaps simply because it's constantly there and particularly in spring when there are nearly indescribably wonderful things to notice. How would I describe that? And how would Ray Bradbury or Thomas Wolfe do it better?

Does this ever happen to anyone else here?

Yes, dandelion, yes. Like some field cow, I've ruminated over parts and passages of a chapter I've planned to write for days, weeks, now months. It's called "Gordon Anderson and the Pear Lady," yet, the words come, then slip beneath like something--sinking.

I know the title means nothing to anyone, but it's a part of something I've wanted to complete for years. Now that I actually work on it, I wonder--often--if my better self was a writer some 30 years ago.

My words must be studied and true. Unlike Ray, my muse seldom visits, but if this student has learned anything at all, it's that hope, persistence, and committment are great in their own regard.

That title? They're a couple of people I knew, unrelated, save for their singular misfortune of passing on the same day.

Everyone has a story.

My muse,

is a tempermental mistress.

Dandiness,

"Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most"

(Words & Music by Fran Landesman & Tommy J. Wolf, Jr. - I recommend Ella's or Betty Carter's renditions...)

Our kids have a fort out in the back woods. Does that count? They climb the trees, make lean-to's, follow the paths between neighborhoods, and a bunch of other really boring stuff. Too bad.

RE:
Maybe the CBS producers should have these kids (below) all read Golding's Lord of the Flies before they get dropped into the abandoned town. Then, only the child wearing an old sombrero found on the wall of a dilapidated hacienda gets to talk - while everyone else listens:

"A new reality show, "Kid Nation," will take 40 children and set them up in an abandoned New Mexico town. Cameras will follow them as they try to set up their own society. without adult supervision." (Kid Nation lunch boxes and dvd's available in the fall, no doubt!)


Geez!?"@#^(&~ from
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070516/ap_on_en_tv/tv_new_season

Wow. There are a number of books like that. One, "The Girl Who Owned a City," gets asked about so frequently on "lost books" forums it should be added to people's to be read lists.

Butch, sounds like another horrible show. Those kids won't even have Melvin Belli's help?!

http://www.ericweisstein.com/fun/startrek/AndTheChildrenShallLead.html