They happen to us all the time; I would venture to guess. Those occurrences in our daily lives when we are hit by a profound pause in time, a deja vu - all over again, from somewhere in our Ray Bradury experiences. I have been thinking of this topic for sometime and just got startled again, moments ago, and figured now was the time to tap-tap-tap...

I hear a rumble outside the house and look out the front window to see a big yellow school bus rolling slowly by. Not a big deal, since the local central school is just blocks from us, and occasionally a special circumstance arises requiring a younger student to be delivered via our typically quiet, low-traffic neighborhood.

I notice, however, the bus has stopped in front of my driveway, and the door is opening. Unusual, indeed.

Then a gangly youth jumps off and begins running toward our front door. By the time he reaches our front steps, I realize it is our son. The pieces now fall in place.

He has forgotten something for his soccer game, and the coach has allowed the driver to cut through our street, stop, and permit said son to get his gear (which, of course, he had been reminded of last night and this morning...teenagers!?).

I figure this is a good time to be a perfect parent and take the opportunity to embarrass this knucklehead just a bit more in front of his peers and the coaching staff. As he exits the house with his soccer jersey flopping in his hand, I stand on the front step and make sure all of his buddies see me. Windows are down on the side of the bus. A few teammates are calling his name and "Hurry up." All of the kids on this side of the bus are looking our way.

I yell, with arm waving broadly, "Hey, nice to see you boys! Stop by anytime." My son boards the team bus, shaking his head. His pals are slapping him on the back and laughing.

The whole performance unfolded in just a few minutes. The bus rolled noisily away toward its destination an hour down the road. I stepped back inside and closed the door.

...I paused, moved. Nice surprise for me!

Then I realized, for a slight breath of time, I was Old Colonel Freeleigh....thanking the boys for making my day!

Thanks, Mr. B!

Whenever I see Ray in wheelchair talking to an assembled throng about his life, I see HIM as Col. Freeleigh. Funny, because at the same time he is Doug.

[Throng is a good word.]

Nice.

Well, here's a twist.

I am driving home late last night listening to a blues show out of Ottawa hosted by Ronnie Woods (of Rolling Stones and Faces fame). He plays a song entitled "The Man with the Golden Arm" by Elmer Bernstein. It really captures my interest.

With further review his prolific library of works is quite obvious:
http://www.elmerbernstein.com/disc/disc.html

So, I immediately think of Mr. Bradbury life works and its magnificent listing. I then am drawn to the fact EB did the theme for To Kill a Mockingbird. Now, the tie in comes full circle.

I taught both TKAM and Dandelion Wine countless times. Two tales that captured American life of the 20's and 30's as well as any stories written. Two stories I always admired and looked forward to reading with students even after all of the repetitions!

My consideration is to the status of DW being brought to the Big Screen (as often posted about here)!? It would need to be done, as most agree, with the magic and tone of TKAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVMqjNX0Ftg

fjp451 wrote:

quote:

My consideration is to the status of DW being brought to the Big Screen (as often posted about here)!? It would need to be done, as most agree, with the magic and tone of TKAM

Agreed! Excellent post fjp451!

quote:

Originally posted by Linnl:
fjp451 wrote:

quote:

My consideration is to the status of DW being brought to the Big Screen (as often posted about here)!? It would need to be done, as most agree, with the magic and tone of TKAM

Agreed! Excellent post fjp451!

What you guys said.

Did you know that the producer-director team from TKAM were, in the 1960s, working with Ray on a screen version of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES?

(Oh to live in that parallel universe where Bradbury-Pakula-Mulligan made MARTIAN CHRONICLES, and Gene Kelly made DARK CARNIVAL (SOMETHING WICKED). And Orson Welles got to finish MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS.)

Yeah, and Dean Stockwell was supposed to be in a musical of Huckleberry Finn with Gene Kelly and Danny Kaye! Okay, not Bradbury, but great!

As I read through this release (linked below), I was inspired to revisit the book which plunged me into my life's reading of Ray Bradbury stories. The images seem right off the pages of GAOTS, March 1953!

RE:
Their rocket was the Copa de Oro, also named the Prometheus and the Icarus, and their destination in all reality was the blazing noonday sun. In high spirits they had packed along two thousand sour lemonades and a thousand white-capped beers for this journey to the wide Sahara. And now as the sun boiled up at them they remembered a score of verses and quotations:
" 'The golden apples of the sun'?"
"Yeats."
" 'Fear no more the heat of the sun'?"
"Shakespeare, of course!"
" 'Cup of Gold'? Steinbeck. 'The Crock of Gold'? Stephens. And what about the pot of gold at the rainbow's end? There's a name for our trajectory, by God, Rainbow!"

Compare:
http://science.nasa.gov/scienc.../16dec_cometlovejoy/

Even down to Joe Mugnaini's classic drawing!
http://p1.la-img.com/642/14562/4623663_2_l.jpg

Seven "2's" are fourteen! Eight "2's" are sixteen! Nine "2's" are eighteen!

"Run, Montag! Run!"
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/o...MP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

I keep sensing I got out while the getting was good!
~ Happier New Year, folks!

This I have never read of on the board before?

Maybe Phil can dig up some clues for us.
Anyone have any info on this video from Russia?! Interesting, indeed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYwP3hqpRHc

Anybody ever feel like having a Bradbury moment involving the boss from hell and a flamethrower? Just asking.

quote:

Originally posted by fjp451:
This I have never read of on the board before?

Maybe Phil can dig up some clues for us.
Anyone have any info on this video from Russia?!

It's listed on my site (http://home.wlv.ac.uk/~in5379/film.htm), and I have a copy of it somewhere. However, I've never seen an English-subtitled version (and I don't speak Russian), so this is a useful find.

"I Sing the Body Electric": http://news.yahoo.com/video/te...y-side-27748600.html

This says it all about Mr. Electrico and Mr. Bradbury's understanding of Love for Life: Listen carefully!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL3sCmKCB70

(Doug's sculpture update sent me looking for this previously discussed video - just as important today, maybe more so!)