New Pops celebrating the almost end of the off-season. Ride with Norman Reedus finished yesterday, Major Crimes continues tonight, and Containment finishes tomorrow night.
We also just finished The Day After, a Russian drama with English subtitles on Amazon Prime. Entire first season, worth a watch.
In Food, posted Monday, I mentioned eating sweet potatoes when I was sick. The truth is I was almost never sick. I had the chicken pox like everyone of my generation and got a week off from school, staring out of the front window of our apartment with my brother who also had them that week. But I was never sick. I didn’t get colds, no ear infections. While my friends were out sick, I was always in school. I did miss senior skip day and I never went to class in college (or work later on) on my birthday and while I always worked Christmas, I never worked New Year’s. I also never called in because of having too much to drink.
So I was completely stunned when in my 20s, working for a child development center for the US Navy, I got an ear infection. Having never had one before I had no idea what it was except that I was certain that I was dying. The pain was unbearable. I tried to lie down to make it stop, not realizing that is pretty much the worst thing you can do for an ear infection. When I finally got diagnosed and on antibiotics, I thanked G-d for science and medicine and medical advances that would remove that pain.
Since then, I have had a few more ear infections, chronic ringing in my ears (thanks Stray Cats) and hearing loss (again, thank SC), but I still never really get sick.
My second pregnancy.
One or two bouts of food poisoning and a couple of flus, all after my kids were born. Kids wear you down. They really do.
I am pro-vaccine. I feel the need to say that in this world of maybe science doesn’t work, but science does work and vaccines save lives. I have the mark on my left shoulder from the small pox vaccine that my kids will never get because we eradicated it and no longer need a small pox vaccine in this country. I went to Jonas E. Salk Middle School, named for the man who discovered the vaccine against polio, a disease that killed our thirty-second president.
On Monday, I had my yearly physical, complete with a tetanus booster. I moaned in that childlike way of no like shots, but I took it and there was no doubt that I would.
It hurt for that split second and I went about my day, getting my hair cut, eating lunch which fit into my new prescribed diet (except for the diet coke which so far is the last one I’ve had). I watched Major Crimes. I slept and got up on Tuesday and went grocery shopping. I felt great.
Then I felt fine.
then I was achey and whiney, and my head was throbbing and I had a fever, but I was so cold that I needed a blanket and then another. I fell asleep in my office chair, which is an overstuffed living room chair.
I barely ate dinner. My eyes hurt (which is why I haven’t been here as often as I had planned), even as I listened to Containment on the television.
Wednesday was slightly better but not by much.
On Thursday, I was able to leave my bed, eat lunch and go to my meeting for the day of service for my church. I’m the secretary.
I will be calling the doctor today, although I should have called on Wednesday morning. I have never had a reaction to a vaccine before. Obviously, this is better than getting any of the things the Tdap prevents, but it was still pretty miserable.
I couldn’t even watch television which is usually very comforting when I ‘m not feeling well. Sweet potatoes and the blue glow of the television used to be the only medicine I needed.
Take your shots kids (and adults) and have some extra water, fruit, Netflix, wifi, and of course, sweet potatoes on hand. Just in case.
Besides the usual television, there are also tablets and phones with apps to watch network shows.
When I was a kid, television shows had seasons. They were very specific. School started and so did the new fall season. School ended right after the shows did. September through June without fail.
There was an occasional hiatus, but without the internet we drowned our sorrows in our bedrooms or outside playing in the fresh air. At least today we have other fans to commiserate with, not to mention reading and writing fan fiction and drawing fan art.
Sometime around high school (1981 for me) there was the mid-season replacement. A new pilot with a half schedule that started in January and if it got good ratings it would be back for the new fall season, sometimes with a cast change or schedule change.
While fans today talk about when a favorite show jumps the shark (it was also a Supernatural episode title in the seventh season), I remember the first shark jumped – Happy Days – and my kids are surprised that it was a literal shark. It was. I saw it happen live.
There were three channels, broadcast free (ABC, CBS, NBC) plus your local PBS station (operated out of Boston or New Jersey usually) that had some great murder and mystery mini-series and comedy, almost all British, which gave me a life-long love of them.
I loved my television shows. Summer was withdrawal. I always had the television on even when I was in the shower. I’m happy to say that while I still watch more than a little TV, I’ve stopped putting it on and leaving the room, and I’ve nearly all but given up on the news unless it’s something important that I can investigate online through reading.
I was with my great-grandmother watching television when Thurman Munson died. That was watched on a big box piece of furniture television.
I sat on a green velvet sectional sofa in the basement of my house when the 1980 Olympic Ice Hockey team beat the Russians. Most people forget that they won the gold one game later against Finland. That television was a smallish one that you had to get up to change the channels on. It stood on a TV cart that looked almost like a drink cart with handles and wheels. I think there was an Atari on the bottom shelf.
I got a new television when I graduated college. That was in 1988. It started giving us trouble two years ago.
One of my favorite shows all through school was The Fall Guy. I loved the behind the scenes aspect of stunt work. Being a stuntman was one of my fantasies. LIke riding a motorcycle, it was something that was just too cool for me to do but if I were stronger, or braver or more self-confident, I could, but I could never. It was also one of those shows that gave me the inside look into the television industry, which is something that still interests me and that I get to see a bit through the online world of fandom, especially where Supernatural and The Walking Dead cast and crews are concerned.
Then reality shows became popular. They were unique and unscripted, and then everyone was doing them. They’re everywhere. There are even scripted shows around reality shows. Law & Order, Bones, etc.
Today’s shows don’t get much of a chance. Supergirl was a good show but it wasn’t for CBS. I could see that. Fortunately, they dropped it and The CW picked it up so it will have its second season at a network that will love it and care for it.
One thing that started this past Sunday was the non-season. All of the shows had their season finales last week or will this week, right before school lets out.
There are new shows in mini spurts for a few weeks. I began with Major Crimes, a police procedural on TNT. I never watched the original show, The Closer that it was spun off from, but it has a great cast and interesting and entertaining stories. It’s similar to Law & Order in that the focus is on the crime, but you do get a glimpse of the personal lives, perhaps more than Law & Order always had.
Sunday’s show on AMC, Ride with Norman Reedus follows The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus as he rides his motorcycle around the country delving into the motorcycle culture, equipment and meeting some personalities. I saw the first episode where he went up the Pacific Coast Highway.
Major Crimes airs on Mondays.
Tomorrow, The CW’s Containment continues for another few weeks. As I understand it, it was not picked up for a second season. I’m still interested in the story though. I know that it’s somewhat predictable and I know exactly where the romance is going, and what the importance of the kid is, and how everything will turn out, but I still like it and I want to watch it play out. It’s my guilty pleasure.
So the non-season season starts this week and it goes for about six weeks, I believe. This will get we TV-aholics through half the summer and in my case, maybe give me something extra to write about.
Later in the week, for example, I’ll give a better review/reaction to Ride with Norman Reedus’ first episode with some links that might strike the fancy of the motorcycle enthusiasts visiting my page.
Another week passes. Looking at it in its minutia I’ve learned nothing. I’m sure in two more months I’ll remember something important from this time of the year. Time passes so slowly in the moment, but so fast at the passing of another week, or month, or year. My son will be turning 19 in another month. He was just awarded firefighter of the year. It feels as though it was yesterday that he was dressing up as a fireman and running around the house making siren sounds.
Our family has been doing a lot of family television. We eat dinner, and then settle down in the living room with that night’s program. It’s the mid-season and most of the shows are back. The Walking Dead returned last weekend, and Gotham comes back on the 29th. My kids get very upset when I miss a show and have to catch up the next day, like I’ve done the last two weeks Legends of Tomorrow. The first week I attended a memorial service and this week was another show I wanted to watch. Luckily, the CW has a great app to catch up as well as to watch interviews and previews. I wish the AMC app was that good.
Last night, we watched The Martian. My husband has been picking out new things for this year. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing it, but when he put it on, I started to watch it. It was good. I was afraid that it was going to be Matt Damon alone on Mars for the whole movie. I was happy to see that it wasn’t that at all. I did enjoy it, and would recommend it to anyone interested in space travel, suspense, and action. It’s also funny and emotional – all the things you want in a good movie. I told my husband that I thought I preferred Apollo 13. They’re not exactly comparable, and The Martian is more modern, taking place in the future.I think what I found more compelling about Apollo 13 was that it’s history; it’s a true story. We know the outcome, and we still find it suspenseful and we worried along with the astronauts’ families.
Family time is what we make it. Whether it’s watching movies or reading comic books, preparing food or shoveling the walk. We’ve been spending a lot of time together. In the afternoon while my husband is still in his office working, the little ones and I are together with our tablets or our books, reading and laughing, no one doing their homework, and trying to get as many snacks as they can before dinner.
The kids are home this week for winter recess even if it hasn’t been much of a winter. I’m definitely not complaining about the weather. I can’t stand the snow, and almost never drive in it. We’re going to be full up on family time by the end of the week.
Unfortunately, this is also our low money week. The paycheck where we pay the mortgage leaves us not much left. We get by – we don’t use credit cards so we kind of have to work with what we have.
This might be the week I start the taxes.
I wish money didn’t make the world go round.
Photo credit: Andrew Shiva
When I was a young person, I was lucky enough to go to a religious school that focused on the wonderful, rich Bible stories and Jewish history from the beginning of time. It was a special time, and it was more sacred for me than attending Saturday services. We learned the songs and the traditions of of all of our holidays, some better well known than others. Between that school and my parents, I learned everything I would teach my own children: how to light a menorah, how to stop and relish in the quiet of Yom KIppur, what counted as bread in this American Jewish family. I adored my teacher, and looked forward to my after-school and weekend classes with joy. I can still picture the classroom where we learned Hebrew in my final year, and the basement rec room where we had our celebrations with songs and food. Prior to that year of Hebrew, we learned Yiddish. I still have the first book that we all had memorized. It was the Jewish version of See Spot Run:
Der kinder.
Der kinder geyn.
Der kinder geyn in shul.
The children.
The children learn.
The children learn in school.
In 1981 there was a miniseries called Masada about the mountain siege of the Israeli Zealots by the Romans. They were led by Eleazar Ben Yair, and there was no surrender. When the Romans were finally able to enter the fortress, they found what was left of their provisions, their mass suicide the statement that they would not return to slavery. There were survivors; two women and five children left to tell the story. I collected newspaper articles and previews of the 1981 series; in fact, I probably still have those clippings in my basement somewhere. Of course, there were some changes for dramatic effect, but it was our story on primetime television.
On my recent visit to my Florida family, my cousin’s son was looking at my aunt’s pictures from their visit to Masada. He recalled his own visit. In our talking, I was reminded of the Peter Strauss miniseries, and he recommended a book that he thought I would like that was about the Israeli fortress.
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman.
I filed it away in the back of my brain, and came home, forgetting once again about something that had commanded my young life for what seemed like a very long time. Fast forward to one of my library visits. I sat and wrote for about an hour and a half, not including being bothered, and in turn, bothering a random ladybug, and before I knew it, it was time to go.
They’ve been redoing the layout of the library and in order to continue their renovations, they’ve moved shelves and spinny racks. I had to dodge a table, a spinny rack, and found myself in front of a rack of recommended reading. Exactly at eye level was the book my cousin, something removed, recommended. The Dovekeepers. I picked it up, turned it over, and read the synopsis. I didn’t have my library card, so I thought that I would wait and get it next time. As I went to return it to its shelf, there, staring me in the face, directly behind the book in my hand, was the same copy of The Dovekeepers.
I guess I was supposed to take this book home that day!
It was a wonderful journey through the lives of four women, how they each arrived at Masada, and how they found each other, their lives crisscrossing and mirroring the others. There is tradition and magic, and family and love and forgiveness. Knowing the outcome made their stories more poignant. These were strong, powerful women that spoke to me and would speak to anyone interested in history, women and life.
It reminded me of life growing up, the simplicity that we remember wrapped in the real life that was. It’s good to remember the past, and put it into perspective. Now, I have a longer list, but in those moments of high school, Masada was the one place I wanted to see; to stand where choices were made and where so much mattered.
I mentioned last week that I was out of town, and so I missed a few days here. My plan for the fall is to have new posts Monday through Friday, and see how that schedule goes for me, as, a writer and you, the reader. I’ll be putting up a poll later to see which of those daily features you’d like me to continue this season.
Each week, I have tried to choose a theme and keep it in mind to focus on. October is one of those extremely busy months in actual activities in my life, and monthly awareness in the world. World Mental Health Day was just a few days ago. October recognizes awareness and celebrations of:
Breast Cancer
Domestic Violence
Fire Prevention and Safety
LGBT History
Black History in the UK
Literacy
Pregnancy and Infant Loss
The Holy Rosary
Yesterday was National Coming Out Day and today is Columbus Day in the US, Thanksgiving in Canada, and Day of the Race in Mexico.
October is also ridiculously busy for me with family fun and stuff going on at the schools with fall festivals, back to school nights, recreation nights, eight week writing workshop, applepicking, my son’s birthday, Halloween, and this year, our school district celebrated its Centennial.
Busy.
Last Sunday was the premiere of both a spinoff and a prequel.The dichotomy of that intrigues me. It is both the past and the future, and of course, remains in the present.
Fear the Walking Dead comes from the creators of The Walking Dead, even taking its time slot until its return, Sunday nights at 9pm on AMC.
Fear the Walking Dead takes place in Los Angeles, California, right at the outbreak, the ramifications.of which we’ve been watching for the last five seasons. LA has never heard of the walkers and think what they are witnessing is a flu outbreak.
SPOILERS FOR FIRST EPISODE
Apologies for this week’s rec posting late. I decided to delay it to give Christopher Lee the top of the page for all of Thursday. I still can’t believe how many people who I admired and respected on an entirely different level than my normal celebrity watching/fandom feelings have died this year. It is indeed a sad one.
This week’s rec is a complete turnaround from that.
Sense8 is a twelve episode series that became available on June 5th streaming on Netflix. So far, I’ve watched ten of them, and I will finish the first season today and join the ever growing fanbase clamoring for a season two confirmation.
Ironically, I discovered Sense8 from a series of unrelated Tumblr posts. I was intrigued by the gushing, the one or two gifs I’d seen at that point, and how much everyone (two or three people on my dashboard) loved the cast and characters.
To be honest, I might not have given this Netflix original series a second look, but I took a quick recon to Wikipedia and the very first thing I found out was that this was a work of J. Michael Straczynski, known to Babylon 5 fans as JMS. That was all I needed to know. There are others involved in the creating, producing and writing (The Wachowskis, known for The Matrix and Cloud Atlas), but for me JMS’s involvement was it. I trust him and his work that much.
I’d barely read the premise when I saw that this is my favorite genre; to read, to see, to write, hands down favorite. I love sci-fi, and I especially love sci-fi that feels real. It’s almost embarrassing to call it fantasy because it can simply happen in the real world. At least in my mind. Real world and modern with a twist. And this has twists.
Some fine print. This rec is not for everyone. I would begin by warning that his program is not for children. I didn’t notice how it’s officially rated, but my personal rating would be 18+. However, use your judgment and preview it for older teens. There is no censorship (at all) for language, violence or nudity. Language includes racial epithets, and a maximum level of cursing (including fuck and cunt). There is also drug use. And a rocket launcher.
There is nudity: front, back, and sideways of both genders. There are sexual situations and conduct. There’s some transphobia from one of the character’s parents. I found it upsetting and sad and I became emotional, but it’s not triggering for me. There are some medical procedures and a locked psych ward. I know these are spoilers, but this can be very triggery for someone who’s dealt with transphobia and abuse like this on a personal level.
Now, you know.
But this only adds to the feeling of realness of the show.
It can be a little confusing, especially the first couple of episodes, but I found it refreshing. It’s probably one of the only programs that I’ve had absolutely no spoilers for. It was nice coming in blind (for want of a better word). I watched and had to learn things as the characters learned them. I found that very exciting. I would absolutely suggest that you don’t read Wikipedia or any reviews for the first third of the episodes. Let yourself feel the characters and the action. It might seem disjointed at first, but you will adapt and barely notice the switches when they happen.
It opens with a woman alone in an abandoned building. It’s dark and shadowy and she is apparently giving birth. A man comes to her, comforts her, but we find out that he’s not physically there. I wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating or if they were telepathically communicating. This becomes clearer as you meet the characters.
There is nothing typical about this birth scene, though, and herein it begins. She gives birth to eight adults, men and women in all parts of the world: Chicago, London, Berlin, Nairobi, Mumbai, Seoul, San Francisco, and Mexico. They are called sensates and these eight are part of a cluster and they can all see the woman giving birth. Seemingly, no one else can. They also aren’t sure what it is they’re witnessing.
This premise is amazing to me.
The characters are even more so. All eight (and their friends and families) are extremely well-developed, international and diverse in ethnicity and culture, religion, language, and gender identity and orientation. Between them, they speak seven languages, but somehow they all understand each other. They each have their own lives, families, desires, ambitions, troubles. It’s nice to see characters that don’t need the plot to flesh out who they are. Sure, the new relationships with the cluster is definitely going to affect them, but hopefully it will help them continue to grow into themselves, and not change who they really are. They are already people.
There is not one of the eight that I dislike. They are all such complete characters. They are so real in fact that I feel as if I know them already. I get their personalities, how they cope, what they believe, all the things that often take entire seasons to get. This is so quick to be involved in characters, and so many of them at the same time. No favorites. I’m rooting for them; all of them. I’m worried for them. I’ve cried with them. There were two exceptionally strong emotional moments for me that I can’t talk about without spoiling it for you.
These eight are psychically linked, more than telepathically, but they don’t know that yet, and are figuring out how to go about their lives with this new wrinkle. Some of them are dealing with it better than others.
There are some things I could use to describe the characters that actually give away spoilers for skills and orientation, so here is my very basic introduction to the characters:
They are all youngish (twenty-something) and all good looking and very fit. Definitely not at all hard to look at. They are all good people in their ways, even the thief.
Will Gorski: Dad was a cop, is an alcoholic. Will is also a cop in Chicago. He has a good heart and believes in helping people even when it screws him over. He’s curious and kind, compassionate, and strongly believes in right over wrong.
Riley Blue (nee Gunnarsdottir): from Iceland, but she lives in London, DJ. She’s close to her Dad, but she won’t go home (to Iceland). Does not have good people as friends. In fact, they suck.
Capheus: Nairobi, bus driver. His mother is sick with AIDS. He is sunshine personified. He sees the wonder and joy in everything. He is by no means a Pollyanna, but he has this sense of making the world a better place. He has a good soul.
Wolfgang Bodganow: Berlin, owns/runs a locksmith shop with his friend, Felix. He broods. He’s a brooder. He’s also a safecracker and a thief. His family is a crime family. It’s complicated.
Kala Dandekar: Mumbai, scientist with a pharmaceutical company run by her fiance’s father. She is religious – prays to Ganesha regularly, fiance, Rajan, is a good person, kind.
Sun Bak: Seoul, executive in her father’s company. She has an unusual hobby that we learn about later on. (It’s a pretty big spoiler, so it’s not here.)
Nomi Marks: She lives in San Francisco. She is a political blogger, trans, dating/living with her girlfriend, Amaneeta. There are some family issues that may be triggery for some people (related to transphobia and forced medical procedure.)
Lito Rodriguez: Mexico, actor. He loves his job as an actor and he’s a perfectionist; likes to retake if he thinks it’s not quite right. He likes to quote movies (don’t we all?). He’s passionate. He’s dramatic. His emotions go from he loves with the light of a thousand suns right down to the despairs of Dante’s Inferno. (He is also hiding a big spoiler.)
The cities shown are beautiful. Exciting. Real. You know where you are without a landmark lesson from social studies class. You get to learn alongside them as they find out more and more about their cluster and the individuals, what makes them tick. It’s surreal and real at the same time.
I know I’m gushing, but I love it! I loved it from the start, but as I said give it at least two episodes (three would be better) before making up your mind (that’s when my husband decided he liked it just as much as I did.)
The entire series is available now. I watched the first episode twice, and that definitely helped with the confusion, but so did watching the second and third episodes. Each one only gets better and better. Once I complete the season tonight, I’ll watch it again beginning tomorrow. I know I’ll see things that I didn’t notice the first time.
Spoiler Warning: If you’re Tumblr inclined, stay out of the Sense8 tag to avoid the spoilers. It really is so much better watching it first. (And that comes from a person who generally has no problem being spoiled. This is one show where I would have regrets, so I avoid them.)
Give it a try. Then come back and tell me what you think.
I think you will like it!
(*Pictures from official sources. No infringement is intended.)
As a child of the Seventies, I grew up with TV. There was never a moment in my house that we didn’t have a TV, and pop culture made a definite impression on my psyche. We still quote Seinfeld in everyday conversations. In fact, my kids recognize the voice and tone even after being born well after the end of that show. Our middle son is easily George Costanza. We talk in Star Trek and Supernatural and lie there a cat video for everything there is also a reference for everything.
This is a partial (at least what I can remember off the top of my head) of my TV shows; all the ones that I’ve watched:
The Flash began on The CW network in the fall of 2014. Our family is avid comic book readers, and Flash is one of their favorite characters. I knew they were going to be watching this new series, and I gave it a try.
This is one of our favorite shows, and the one we watch live as a family. There is something for everyone, and you don’t necessarily need to have read the comics to enjoy the television series. (I’ve never read the comics, and I love this program.)
I think they’ve done a great job with the characterizations. They’ve made it superhero-y while retaining some of that reality I like in a fantasy show. I like the blending of real world and fantasy world. The Flash does this really well. It has family dynamics, a love story, a nemesis, and the supernatural sci-fi effects and story fit right in. The Allens and the Wests could be your next door neighbors.
They have a great cast, and span an age range and gender balance that is admirable. Whatever demographic they were going for, I think they’ve hit on all of them as fans. I like it just as much as my ten year old son, and we are equally talking about the plot and speculating. As I said, a great family show!
After watching Tuesday night’s finale, I was surprised by some of the events, which is always good for a season finale, and it left me wanting more. I, for one of many am definitely looking forward to season 2.
Give it a try. You won’t regret it!
The CW is showing the entire first season through the summer on Tuesdays. This will catch you up before the fall start. Check your local listings.
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 