A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
It was an arts-filled weekend for us. This weekend was concert weekend for us, and was also the weekend of a Furman Theater production of “These Shining Lives” by Melanie Marnich.
Saturday morning was dress rehearsal. We started we what has gotten to be our traditional pre-rehearsal breakfast. This time ten of us gathered at Northgate Soda Shop for breakfast. It was a great gathering, and we enjoyed the company before getting to work.
Quick. Complete the phrase with a four-letter word (no, not that kind)… Captain James T. ______ If you somehow ignored the title of this post and all of the visual cues and filled in the last name “Kirk”, then you’re wrong, wrong, wrong. I speak of none other than James T. West, former captain in … Read More “1960s Flashback – The Wild Wild West” »
So, tomorrow (Thursday) is my last day in Spartanburg Five. It’s been a long, strange trip, and it’s weird to think that this part of my career is over. It seems only fitting that I go out with an appropriate playlist. But what to include? I think I’ll skip the obvious “Take this Job and … Read More “Retirement Playlist” »
When I did my mini-review of “Skyfall” I speculated out that James Bond must be a Time Lord because he keeps changing his appearance. However, he’s not the only Gallifreyan in the mix. MI-6 is lousy with Time Lords, and here’s the proof…
Blofeld
Doctor Who’s arch nemesis (apart from the Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, Sontorans, etc.) was another Time Lord known as The Master. Like The Doctor, The Master could regenerate, and his appearance changed over the long life of the series.
…or “Sean who??” I believe that James Bond is a Time Lord. That’s the only way to describe his regenerative abilities and ability to change appearance over the past 50 years of movies. In this latest movie, under interrogation Bond himself states that his hobby is “resurrection.” Be that as it may, in this 23 … Read More “Skyfall” »
Today is the 50th anniversary of the premier of the first James Bond movie, Dr. No. All this week NPR’s Morning Edition has been doing a series of specials on James Bond at 50. This week they are exploring the physics of Bond gadgets, music from the Bond movies, Bond’s favorite martini and the differences between shaken and stirred, and, finally, a survey to determine which actor was the quintessential Bond.
Some people memorize the names of all of the presidents of the US in order. Some memorize all the books of the Bible. I can recite all 22 James Bond films in order, with information such as the Bond actor, major villain, and plot. I sometimes do this as a cognitive exercise to relax, somewhat akin to counting sheep. (And, for the record, I can list all of the books of the Bible, but don’t know all the presidents.)
So, when NPR started this series I was delighted. Unfortunately, it came off as a bit shallow. I guess time constraints wouldn’t let them delve into the issues as much as I might have liked, but I was hoping they would get into whether or not a shaken martini tastes better than a stirred one, rather than simply which is colder. Oh, well.
A couple of months ago I mentioned that there seem to be a plethora of auction/evaluation shows on TV now days. Well, even more seem to be cropping up, and these seem to be taking a much uglier turn.
Perhaps it’s a sign of today’s economy. Rather than finding some hidden treasure of extravagant value, these new shows seem to focus more on desperation. Some of the shows are based on abandonment, and some are based on folks so down on their luck that they are willing to sell anything.
First up are the storage shed shows, and there are two of these hitting the cable networks. Both are set in California and are based on a law in that state which says that if the rent on a storage locker is unpaid for three months, the contents of that locker can be sold at auction. In other words, some poor folks couldn’t make their rent for whatever reason, had to abandon their stuff, and the guys on these shows get to make money off of it.
Both shows follow a similar premise. Buyers are not allowed a close inspection of the storage unit. They are allowed only five minutes to view what they can from the door. Upon that quick inspection they have to decide how high to bid. It could be a big pay-off with hidden treasure, or a bust.
Before Monty Python brought his (in)famous Flying Circus to British TV and film, there was a BBC radio show entitled “I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again” (ISIRTA). The show was pure silliness, and starred David Hatch as the hapless announcer, and also featured voices of John Cleese, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jo Kendall, and Bill … Read More “I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again” »
Summer blockbuster season is upon us, and is in full swing. After a dearth of movies, the theaters seem filled with films I want to see. So much so that I did something unprecedented – three movies in the theater in one week. Tuesday Night – 2nd viewing of Star Trek Since I’ve already given … Read More “Three Movies in One Week” »
While at the Open Book the other evening I picked up a copy of John Boyanoski’s More Ghosts of Upstate South Carolina. I had enjoyed John’s first book immensely because it was one of the first to focus on hauntings of the Upstate area. Most of the ghost books deal either with the state at … Read More “More Upstate Ghosts” »