Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

I COULD have been a Moonie

I was just being a theological flirt myself, giving them hope that they might reel me in, but having NO intention following through.


In the summer of 1977, I was living in Jackson Heights, Queens (part of New York City), and working 30 hours a week, 6 pm until midnight, in Manhattan (NYC) for this telemarketing company. I was making phone calls all over the country for TV Guide subscriptions and Encyclopedia Americana annuals.

I seemed to have a lot of time on my hands because I wandered through the city a lot. One time I was somewhere around 36th Street when I was approached by this young woman. Initially, I thought she was flirting with me, which was nice because she was really quite cute. In fact, she was talking about her faith, which she did not really identify, and asked whether I wanted to come up to their facility in the Bronx to have dinner. Hey, it’s a free meal, and I’m a bored, underemployed guy.

So a day or two later, I did go up to the nondescript location. As it turned out, it was an outreach center for the Unification Church. I got into some interesting theological conversations with a group of people there. Though by then I wasn’t attending any church on a regular basis, I would engage in debate, using what I knew about Christianity and the Baha’i faith.

At some point, someone, not the young woman I first met, suggested that I take a trip upstate to one of their training facilities. I had heard about the church’s supposed devious recruitment tactics, and possible brainwashing, so I made some excuse not to go.

I did this dance at least another half dozen times, going up to the Bronx for a meal, talking religion, but being too busy, or not ready, or unclear about what that would entail. To the latter, I was assured that it would be SO helpful in my daily living. But no, I was just being a theological flirt myself, giving them hope that they might reel me in, but having NO intention of following through.

Hadn’t thought about that for a while, until I read that the Unification Church founder the Rev. Sun Myung Moon had died at the age of 92 this week. I was at such loose ends in those days, I’m a bit surprised that I DIDN’T make a trip north. My life might have very well taken a totally different trajectory.

 

Communications breakdown

The real problem is that, in the state budget cuts, a lot of institutional memory is being lost; NO ONE, at least that I could find, knows the answer to the question.

 

I was listening to the podcast the Kunstlercast a few weeks ago. James Howard Kunstler and Duncan Crary “have a ramble ‘n rant episode on the robotification of our communications landscape, that wasteland of overcomplexity and hyperdependence of modern technology.” I so related.

In my job, I use a lot of computer databases. But inevitably, I need to call various government and association contact by phone. Talking with someone, I often find information that an entity possesses, and it is NOT on the website. Ironically, a lot of government agencies initially set up their pages so they could offload staff.

Of course, GETTING to that person is a treacherous thing. I swear that half the people who perform those long-winded introductions never actually tried to then call their own office to see how frustrating it is to use. Worse, I’ll get to the “if you want X, dial 1” part, and, as often as not, I don’t want ANY of those choices; I generally pick something at random. Others give a bunch of names, often without titles; generally, I’ll pick the second one, for no reason except that the first is often the CEO and probably can’t answer my question anyway.

The real problem is that, in the state budget cuts, a lot of institutional memory is being lost; NO ONE, at least that I could find, knows the answer to the question.

Oh No! Gilligan Is Dead! I Read It On Facebook! True enough: Bob Denver died – SEVEN years ago this week. Whereas Art Modell, who “enraged fans when he moved the Cleveland Browns franchise to Baltimore,” where they became the Ravens, actually died THIS week.

Some Led Zeppelin.

The high school girlfriend is 60

Are you still in contact with your first great love?

Ah, my first great love, and all that entails. I really liked her dad, her mom not quite so much. She probably felt the same way.

We had our ups and downs over the years, most of which is not going to make it here. Maybe in some roman à clef that I will compose only in my head. I will say that she had thrown some of the greatest parties ever.

In any case, we’re good now. She’s happily married, I’m happily married. We went to her wedding; she was at least invited to ours. It’s all copacetic. My family even saw her family a few months ago.

Are you still in contact with your first great love?
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Arthur wrote this interesting bit about privacy, and while I’m not sure I would take it to the level he does, the privacy of other people does tend to factor into whatever I write. And it’s not just privacy, precisely; it’s based on comfort level or my perception of other people’s comfort level. I have discovered that there are facts about my life with other people that are well known by a certain coterie of folks, but perhaps not by the general public. I tend to err towards saying less, which can seem somewhat cryptic, I suppose. There are plenty of things I would say on this blog that I won’t because someone else might possibly, remotely, be affected.

This reminds me of the thing I think is the funniest request I have been given. I wrote about a family member. Actually, I was quoting directly a family member. Well, a direct relative of that person asked me to redact what I wrote, because that relative was up for a Very Important Position. Oddly, the original source of the quote was/is still on the Internet somewhere, but mine popped up on the search engine. So, I did.

Conversely, I’ve taken a lot more open position about those who are deceased. So, if I know your deep dark secrets, and you pass away…

MOVIE REVIEW: Bernie

With Bernie, director/co-writer Richard Linklater literally gets back to his Lone Star roots to create a black comedy and a fantastic character study.

 

Bernie is a funny movie. I mean, occasionally, laugh out loud, and there wasn’t a pratfall or a joke to be found. Strange for a basically true story of a mortician (Jack Black), well-loved, generous, pious, in an east Texas town, who starts squiring around a wealthy and unpleasant widow (Shirley McLaine), ignored by her own family, until Bernie is charged with her murder, and prosecuted by the generally unlikable district attorney (Matthew McConaughey).

You know when there is a particularly heinous crime in a town, and the defense attorney asks for a change of venue, lest the accused not be able to get a fair trial? That is NOT what happens here.

In the wrong hands, this could be a farce or a disaster. But director/co-writer Richard Linklater, who worked with Black in School of Rock, literally gets back to his Lone Star roots to create a black comedy and a fantastic character study, not just of the lead participants, but of a whole town, who seem to have collectively accepted the context of the rather disturbing events. To the degree the viewer agrees with the town becomes an interesting reflection of justice and morality.

To say this is Jack Black’s finest performance would be an understatement. Roger Ebert wrote: “I had to forget what I knew about Black. He creates this character out of thin air, it’s like nothing he’s done before, and it proves that an actor can be a miraculous thing in the right role.”

McLaine is wonderful as usual. McConaughey is all but unrecognizable, but very effective. But what makes this work are the various townspeople who fill in Bernie’s biography.

I am loath to say much more. See Bernie. But sit through the closing credits. A lot is revealed there, yet people walking out of the theater simply missed it.
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Though I saw him in only one film, The Green Mile, I was sad to see that Michael Clarke Duncan died this week at the age of 54 (!) as a result of his July 13 heart attack.

H is for Paul Henning and the Hooterville Trilogy

To understand just how popular The Beverly Hillbillies were in the US, look at a list of the top rated show episodes of all time.

A man named Paul Henning was the creator or co-creator of a number of TV shows. For this piece, I’m going to concentrate on what has been dubbed the Hooterville Trilogy, all appearing on CBS-TV in the 1960s.

The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971) starred Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett. If you’ve heard the theme song, written by Henning and performed by bluegrass artists Flatt and Scruggs, with Jerry Scoggins on vocals, you know the whole story. Poor mountain man finds oil on his property and moves his family to southern California, where they are in a series of “fish-out-of-water” situations. The show also starred Irene Ryan as his mother-in-law, usually referred to as Granny; Donna Douglas as his daughter Elly Mae; Max Baer, Jr., son of the boxer, as his nephew Jethro, and occasionally as Jethro’s sister, Jethrine. Also featured, the conflicted banker, Mr. Drysdale (Raymond Bailey) – he liked their money in his bank, but not always their antics; and Drysdale’s put-upon assistant, Jane Hathaway (Nancy Culp). There was an occasional appearance by Jethro’s mom, Pearl Bodine, played by Bea Benaderet, who was the original voice of Betty Rubble on The Flintstones.

To understand just how popular The Beverly Hillbillies were in the US, look at a list of the top rated show episodes of all time. Over 20 are Super Bowls; eight are from miniseries (six Roots and two The Thorn Birds); three are series finales (The Fugitive, MAS*H, Cheers); 11 are special/rare/highly anticipated events (the Beatles on Ed Sullivan; Olympic figure skating with Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding; the “Who shot J.R.” episode of Dallas, e.g.) The highest-rated “regular” TV shows on this list: some episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies from 1964.

The network wanted more, so Henning created Petticoat Junction (1963-1970), featuring Bea Benaderet, the proprietor of the Shady Rest Hotel, on the train line, just outside the town of Hooterville. The widow Kate Bradley had three pretty daughters, Betty Jo (redhead), Bobbie Jo (brunette), and Billie Jo (blonde), who we see in the opening, skinnydipping (presumably) in a large railroad water tank. Here’s the season 1 and season 3 theme song, written by Henning and Curt Massey, and sung by Massey. Billie Jo was played by three different actresses over the years, the longest by Meredith MacRae, daughter of singers Gordon and Sheila MacRae. Bobbie Jo was played by two actresses, the latter, Lori Saunders. Betty Jo was played by only one actress, Linda Kaye, who was the voice of Jethrine on the Beverly Hillbillies; not incidentally, she was Paul Henning’s daughter. Maybe that’s why, even though she was the youngest, she was the one to win the heart of handsome pilot Steve (Mike Minor).

When Bea Benadaret died in 1968 from lung cancer, a new character, Dr. Janet Craig, was created, requiring a change in the theme lyrics: “Here’s our lady MD, she’s as pretty as can be”. She was played by June Lockhart (pictured with the latter Jo’s), who had played mom to Timmy and Lassie, and on Lost in Space. Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan), who’s “a movin’ kinda slow” was the only actor to appear on every episode.

A direct spinoff of Petticoat Junction was Green Acres (1965-1971). CBS offered Henning yet another half-hour on the schedule, but he didn’t have the time, so he suggested his buddy Jay Sommers create the series. A New York City lawyer, Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert), decides to ditch city life for the country, much to the chagrin of his fashionable wife Lisa (Eva Gabor); it’s all there in the theme song, written by Vic Mizzy, and sung by the stars themselves. Interestingly, Lisa seemed to fare better than Oliver in encounters with the wacky locals. The shopkeeper Sam Drucker, played by the late Frank Cady, was a regular on Petticoat Junction, and even appeared on the Beverly Hillbillies, but who was a pivotal player on Green Acres. Despite decent ratings, Green Acres was canceled due to the infamous “rural purge” decision by CBS.

The head of the Federal Communications Commission, Newton Minow, had indicated back in 1961 that television was a “vast wasteland” of violence and frivolity, and to the latter category, these shows were often guilty. Yet, much of my misspent youth was spent watching these programs.

ABC Wednesday – Round 11

Ramblin' with Roger
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