Old Time Radio Fan

I love old time radio. Every Sunday night, I listen to "The Big Broadcast" on my local NPR station. For four fantastic hours, they replay old radio programs. "Johnny Dollar" (insurance investigator), "Gunsmoke," "The Jack Benny Show," "Mercury Theatre" (Orson Welles), "Broadway Is My Beat" (hard-boiled police tales from the big city), "Dragnet," "George Burns and Gracie Allen."

I especially love old time radio around the holidays. It's just a big warm and fuzzy, and the special programming is as relevant and delightful today as ever.

One of my favorite blogs posted one of these holiday specials, "The Cinnamon Bear," which I absolutely endorse. Check out this post...and the podcasts: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/11/28/the-cinnamon-bear-an-old-time-radio-christmas-tradition-4/

Bus Driver Gets Big (Nice) Surprise

Check this out--joyful and utterly safe for work:

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/bus-drivers-surprise-birthday-party/2093vg2e

Oldie Oldersen Takes on Mobile Devices Again

I mean, doesn't this strike you as a little sad?:



http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/passersby-preoccupied/?partner=rss&emc=rss

The Ped Gets A Ticket for Jaywalking

It's true. I got a ticket for jaywalking a couple of weeks ago. I was crossing the street--SAFELY. It's too tedious for words on why I was safe yet crossing against the light and not in the crosswalk, but you just have to trust me. About halfway across, I saw the undercover bastiges; well, "undercover" is not strictly accurate, but I didn't notice them in time. Probably due to my hyper-vigilance in crossing the street safely…anyway, I saw them, they saw me, and I was waved over.

For about three seconds, I suddenly heard the theme music from "Cagney and Lacey." I seriously thought about making a break for it!  Only two things held me back (apart from being a law-abiding [this incident not withstanding] citizen):

 

1)      I had my big-assed work bag with me, so did not have the range of motion I would need to dart in and out of the pedestrian traffic; and

2)      I had on ballet flats which would no doubt fly off at the first opportunity. 

     

So that's the story.

Tyne Daly Tangent

Tyne Daly (brunette) has two bottom lips. You can see this when she smiles. This is not a bad thing, but I mention it due to the time I devoted as a youngster trying mimic her smile in the mirror (that's Tyne today, and you can see what I mean):

Also, Tyne Daly was in a "Dirty Harry" movie.  If anyone thinks that the women's liberation movement wasn't necessary, take a gander at one of those movies—all the women are hookers, sexually available at Harry's word, or murder victims. Really disturbing. That shit would not go nowadays, thank heavens! The installation that Daly was in featured her as Harry's partner—perhaps as a sop to women who were none too pleased with their depiction in the first movie(s)?

She is the sister of actor Tim Daly.

And finally, Daly is currently starring as Maria Callas on Broadway in a show called "Master Class."

I am hoping I can catch the show, and have my flame of fascination for Tyne renewed!

What Would You Tell Yourself?

1

A friend recently asked me, if I could time travel and meet my younger self, what age would I pick, and what would I tell myself?

I have been pondering that very question for the past couple of weeks, as it happens. I had already picked a specific age and situation, and spent every walking hour thinking about what I could say to myself that I would listen to. After a lot of miles, I finally concluded that there would be nothing I could say about anything that would convince me of taking any different course at any time. The weight of experience cannot be communicated, afterall.

But then I turned my mind to something slightly different--and (to me) far more diverting. As I review my life and different decision points, the advice I would give myself (if I had one sentence maximum to use) would look something like this:

1.      Stop that.

2.      Get your head out of your ass.

3.      You're gonna want to think about that.

4.      Don't worry, that's perfectly normal.

5.      Ask questions.

6.      No. Ugh, no!

7.      Actually, DO call it a night after all.

8.      Don't bother with Edith Wharton or Henry James.

9.      Fight back.

10.   Go ahead, dance to one more song, sing one more Christmas Carol, and order one more dessert. A la mode!

Aging

My father has always been generous with information on aging. I don't mean this sarcastically--I mean it honestly. From my dad, I learned that you should sleep in when you're young, because you can't when you age. "If it's not your kids waking you up, it's your body--it just loses the ability to be at rest for long periods of time. You get tingling, or your back starts hurting, or some other darn thing."

I also learned that movies take a back seat. "I just don't feel like I have the time to devote two whole hours to a movie," he told me.

My dad is also always on the move--I call him "the man in motion"--a reference to the (American) football player who runs around, when everyone else is set up and ready, poised, before a play is triggered. "Here comes the play," the announcers say, "and there's a man in motion."

At home, my family often sits and visits (that's what we call "chats")--we visit while we're eating, we visit while we're playing marathon games of canasta, we visit while we're watching a sporting event, we visit while we watch the kids playing in the back yard. My dad, though, he's in motion--always moving, always moving. Putting the finishing touches on the food, cooking the food, presenting the food, asking everyone, "man, isn't that GOOD?" Cleaning up, grabbing the dust buster to swoop up a couple crumbs. Even, on a few notable occasions, hauling out the vacuum cleaner MID-FAMILY PARTY.

I am like my dad that way. I like it. I get a lot done in a day.

But I'm aging. I started noticing that my ability to sleep for long periods was ebbing. I'm a recreational runner, and usually train up for a half-marathon or two and a couple of 10-milers every year. Used to be, I could go on a long training run and then just move on through my busy day. Walking everywhere, naturally. Then, a few years ago, I started noticing that I had to stop mid-day. Not to take a nap, but to rest my bones. They were just plain tired.

I'm feeling my body's fatigue. It makes me frustrated. And a little bit sad.

Update: a colleague at work passed on something Jane Fonda said recently--I'm putting quotes around this, but I'm paraphrasing: "It's a privilege to get wrinkles, gray hair, and to age. I've lost so many friends who didn't have the opportunity, while I get to age."

Turn that frown upside down!