12 Feb 2010

I finished watching the first season of Cartoon Planet's "Batman: The Brave and the Bold." Great series - very enjoyable. Last night's episode had the mysterious and mystic Dr. Fate, a character I have always liked. I don't think he ever got proper attention in the comics, however... at least not the Silver Age ones I used to read. I like the way he always materializes and dematerializes within an Egyptian ankh symbol. Very stylish.

I also watched "I Was a Communist for the FBI" (1951) last night, a real cultural curiosity of the times. I now feel like a better American. The lead actor was the harder-than-nails film noir guy Frank Lovejoy (pictured), who felt angst as his teen aged son was forced to defend himself in school with his fists because his father was a... Commie! (There was a great courtroom scene at the end as he testifies before a House sub-committee that all the while he was an FBI plant, bringing tears of relief to his son, now in the U.S. Navy and wearing a set of Crackerjacks.) This film extolled the efforts of the House Un-American Affairs Committee (HUAC), and so I shall express enthusiasm for the production, just to annoy liberals.

The Great Hardwood Flooring Project is at a temporary halt while we arrange to have new patio doors installed. No sense in putting in expensive flooring if our doors let water in to rot the wood. I kind of feel like a human being again, not having a series of carpentry activities awaiting me at home and stomping through sawdust, pulling acacia slivers out of my fingers hourly, etc. So I started practicing on the piano again - I am badly out of training. Sadly, this lesson includes learning an arrangement of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," a piece I have zero enthusiasm for.

Like everyone else in the area I watched the TV news during the snowstorms - it's a tradition. My favorite regional tragedian, Pat Collins, was deployed by the local NBC affiliate to add an element of pathos and drama that ordinary snow piles can't achieve on their own. Whether forlornly scraping on some snow on a sidewalk with his stick, or highlighting the inspiring bravery of those out for a stroll, his voice quaking with emotion and dramatic pauses, there is nothing else like him on the news. I expect to see him trodding the boards at the Kennedy Center some day.

Seriously, this fellow has won ten - ten! - Emmy awards. As for me, I fondly recall the days of humorless white males wearing white shirts and skinny black ties and reading the news with an emotionless but decidedly un-dumbed-down style. It was a sad day when happy talk started becoming fashionable among newsies in the Seventies.

The snowiest winter in D.C. history! Wow. I feel honored to have manhandled a shovel during that. And it's not over... they're calling for 1" - 3" on Monday, President's Day. What additional joy.

As for me, I am thankful that, 1.) We never lost electricity, and 2.) Our roof didn't collapse. Having lifted many scoops of it, I'm here to assure you that it was indeed a heavy snow. One newsie estimated nearly twenty pounds per shovelful. There is one area of our gutter at the downspout that is seriously clotted up with ice. I was considering getting up a ladder with a kettle full of boiling water to reduce it, but I could just see myself slipping on the ice on the deck and spilling scalding water all over myself.

I do not want Pat Collins reporting that.

Have a great three day weekend!

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