ITEM! Because of good word of mouth, I checked out the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. Not bad, not great. As a cast and a show, from seeing season 2, I’d rank it thusly on the roster of Trek shows:
1.Deep Space Nine. 10/10
2.The Original Series, films 9/10
3.The Next Generation, films 7/10
4.Enterprise 6/10
5.Discovery 5/10
6.Voyager 4/10
Kelvin timeline films
The cast/crew is mostly unremarkable, aside from Michael Burnam (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Saru (Doug Jones). Every Trek show has that one special character, that outsider who proves to be the emotional anchor or breakout character from the pack, whether it’s Spock, Data, or actually, virtually everyone on DS9, but here, it’s Saru. Jones does a great job bringing this gangly alien to life. Martin-Green does a very nice job with Burnam as well, even though the writers tend to make her a sobbing mess about as often as she’s kicking ass, if not more so.
Aside from those two, there’s Tilly (Mary Wiseman), who plays the ditzy– yet brilliant –ensign who never ever shuts up. It’s meant to be endearing but she makes me want to hit her with a baseball bat. I guess every crew needs a Wesley Crusher. There are at least another four or five bridge officers who are part of the furniture. There’s also a meticulous chief engineer (Anthony Rapp), who occasionally squabbles with another engineer (Tig Notaro), but over all, not a very memorable crew in general. I also can’t get with their weird take on the look of Klingons. The empress has some false teeth that she can’t speak through and for some reason, all the Klingons are different, vibrant colors, green, steel blue, shiny black, copper/metallic….it tends to make the rubber heads look more like rubber and plastic toys than one alien race. Not sure of their thought process there.
The most interesting character on the crew is not *part* of the crew. It’s Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), the man who commanded the Enterprise before Kirk. He steps in to command Discovery for the main mission of season 2. I don’t know whether it was always planned that there’d be a spinoff with Pike’s Enterprise crew, or Mount proved to be so instantly popular that they made it so to answer the demand, but it’s happening. “Strange New Worlds” premieres on CBS All Access in late 2021. Looking forward to getting that on Blu-ray in like two and a half years.
ITEM! Steve Shives hosts a YouTube channel called “Trek Actually”, which talks about all things Trek. He’s a life long Trekkie and it’s clear that he loves all things Trek.
For instance, he, like myself, had a problem with the finale to Voyager, and had a better ending in mind. He talks about it length on his channel and it is interesting. He gives his pitch on a better alternative. For myself, when the crew got back to earth, I maintain that Starfleet would detain all the Maquis crew members, experiment and disassemble Seven and impound the Doctor’s Mobile Emitter. Because Starfleet. Failing that, because Section 31. It would be such an unhappy ending that the crew, who’d become a family during their years in the Delta quadrant, would break out and skeedaddle, with the possible exceptions of guys like Tuvok and Harry, who had family on Earth. Done and done. And better than what they gave us.
ITEM! The Enterprise finale was worse. But the show was better than some think. If you want a *good* Star Trek Enterprise viewing experience, there’s actually an alternative viewing order that ups the quality immensely. Trust me on this. It’s worked for me as well as others. *Start* by watching the very last ep of Season Two first. Then watch Season Three and Four. Then, go back to the beginning and start watching from the beginning of Season One, through all of One and Two. It works.
ITEM! Those who haven’t watched Star Trek Continues on YouTube, you’re missing out. Go for it. We won’t be in lockdown forever!
Unloading groceries the other day and what emerged from one of the bags but a moderately sized tub of Pub Cheese.
You’re probably wondering whether this is a non issue or to get extremely excited. I agree, let’s get excited.
I mean… Pub Cheese.
That dazzling, zingy orange cheese paste that insinuates… something.
I honestly can’t tell if it means Linda found some cheap cheese, a new expensive cheese, she has a new recipe that calls for it or if there’s an impromptu Vegas Night coming to the house. The possibilities are admittedly finite.
I haven’t broached the Pub Cheese subject with her yet.
Conversely, she has said nothing about it.
She hasn’t put a label on it yet that says ‘Don’t Eat This”, as she would have if she’s intending to use it on or with something.
We have a Cheese history in this house, sometimes harboring as many as ten different cheeses in the dedicated fridge drawer (although such bountiful, Cheese extremism is rare).
If it remains unopened, I’ll eventually ask what the deal is, as I think this might be the first time we’ve had Pub Cheese and I want to know if I should feel anything like impressed or honored.
This might all just be because we’ve got some crackers in the house.
Tom Baker’s is the most popular Doctor in the show’s history and the longest running, including the finest set of stories ever under producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor/writer Robert Holmes. There are recommendations.
*Note: Unlike his predecessors, the fourth Doctor didn’t stick with any steady theme. He ventured into present day adventures with UNIT, traveled to earth’s history and future, went to alien planets and faced cosmic, galactic threats. This pattern was kept in place for the duration of the classic version of the show.
1)Robot, where Tom Baker makes an unforgettable entrance over four parts, with Sarah and the Brig trying to catch up as they face a giant robot.
2)The Ark in Space is a gripping space drama featuring a brilliant speech about Homo sapiens, that forever cements Bakers place in Who history.
3)Genesis of the Daleks is THE Dalek adventure, showing their origins and creator, Davros. The Doctor is sent back in time and tasked by the Time Lords to prevent the Dalek’s creation, even if it means genocide. One of the best.
4)Terror of the Zygons is a four part story mostly notable for the design of the Zygons, one of the coolest monster designs in the show’s history.
5)Pyramids of Mars is another classic, gothic masterpiece as the Doctor goes up against the renegade Osiran, Sutekh.
6)The Brain of Morbius is a four part fan favorite with the Sisterhood of Karn, Mehendri Solon, and deadly renegade Time Lord, Morbius. And now, potentially the most important peek into the Doctor’s past lives…
8)The Seeds of Doom. A fantastic six part tale featuring the Krynoids, a world devouring plant.
9)The Robots of Death. The title says it all but the story and design work is phenomenal.
10)The Talons of Weng Chiang, is, along with Genesis and Pyramids, the best of the best of the Baker era. It’s the end of the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era and this Jack the Ripper era, atmospheric classic is truly one of the best episodes of all classic DW.
Honorable mentions:
*Planet of Evil — antimatter monster and the most beautifully designed alien planet on any show anywhere, ever in the history of television.
*The Sontaran Experiment, a taut, two part, torturous adventure.
*The Masque of Mandragora, featuring a malevolent, deadly energy set loose in 15th century Italy.
*Hand of Fear gives us some fantastic character work, the menace of Eldrad and the departure of our beloved Sarah Jane.
*The Deadly Assassin is our first look at Time Lord society, as the Doctor must fight for his life in the Matrix and battle the Master.
*Horror of Fang Rock. A claustrophobic thriller all taking place in a lighthouse, wonderfully done.
British fans, please put the sharp instruments, torches and brass knuckles down and hear me out.
I just want to clarify up front I don’t really want this and historically, it’s just a bad idea when we try to adapt a Brit show, just like it’s usually a mistake when Brits try and adapt ours.
As far as I’m concerned, we can try and adapt all the British shows ever, but the very last on the list would be Doctor Who. Why? The Britishness.
It’s not because we don’t have any good tv over here. We do. We have just as many if not more quality shows over here. Make no mistake though: while we have more quality shows, WE ALSO have more crap. So right off the bat, let’s not let focus on the wrong things. Fair enough? Alright, so…. Britishness.
99% of Doctor Who’s charm involves good stories, good performances and Britishness. The iconic Police Box alone screams Britishness.
So, years ago, I’d thought about America making a Doctor Who program. It’s an interesting exercise. You first have to think how it would be approached. You’d have to have a showrunner that knows what works and what doesn’t for an American audience. What elements to keep, dump and change.
The conclusion I’ve come to is you’d have to exorcise the Britishness out of it. You….put down the flamethrower. Where did you get a..? Never mind.
Something I’d like to point out here… when Russell T. Davies left DW and went to America to work with BBC International, I was very worried they’d talk him into doing an American version. You know the suits lined up with their idiot ideas. Because we’ve seen the suits line up here before with idiot ideas. We’ve seen the suits at the BBC line up with…. ideas recently, and look where the show is now.
Let’s face it, over here, we would try to adapt anything and everything, so you just know DW was on the table at some point. Thankfully, I think they tried and tried and RTD successfully held them off, convincing them it was just not a good idea. I think we all agree, that although it wouldn’t be impossible, it’s *highly* improbable that we could reinvent the show here and have it be highly successful.
And to be more clear, the main reason I’ve been thinking about this at all, is because of where the current show is. If the Timeless Child mandate is upheld and/or reenforced by Chibs, well, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a very different show now and hey, all bets are off. May as well try to create some Doctor Who. It’s not really brain surgery. Is it? Maybe.
It is, however, a very engaging puzzle. An interesting hypothetical exercise–a game, if you will, and the only way to win would be to figure out an angle in which it would be successful. In which it would WORK. An uphill battle but what the hell…I’m not going anywhere.
So, here I am in my Hollywood office, getting paid obscene amounts of money to come up with an American version of Doctor Who. Russell just slowly wandered by my open doorway, shaking his head with a look of pity on his face. I shut the door, as he’s not helping. I’ve already decided that except for a possible British companion far down the line, this has show to have an independent American vibe, but a good one. Verisimilitude. All the characters within this world and the actors portraying them must respect this world and treat the material accordingly. This is not camp, this is not OTT.
Item one: The TARDIS. Of all the hurdles, this might be the largest one. I’ve spent a LOT of time thinking about this. A structure that is easily and readily identifiable to an American audience but also an *international* audience, as much as possible. A structure that takes up roughly the same footprint as the police box, give or take a foot. The answer? A dilapidated, blue garden shed with white trim, with maybe a weather vane on top that spins around. Double doors, a few frosted windows. Inside? Possibilities are endless but I think I’d start out with a console room that lay somewhere in between Capaldi’s, McGanns, and maybe Season 14. And maybe the console itself would be the original Hartnell version.
Item two: The writing. The showrunning. Lots of discussions here but it would depend on who wants the jobs and what they’re pitching. Verisimilitude again. And it should be aimed at the whole family. We don’t want to go Deadwood, but we also definitely don’t want to go Scooby Doo. Give me the imagination of Rod Serling, the characterization of Ira Steven Behr –actually, Behr’s not a bad choice for showrunner. He did a helluva job on DS9. But you get the idea.
Item three: The show pilot. The main character is known as the Doctor. He is not from this planet. At the start, he is an older man, maybe late 50’s, has a granddaughter named Susan. She has two teachers whose curiosity about the strange girl land them in a confrontation with this mysterious grandfather, the Doctor. This happens after finding out to their horror, that she evidently lives with the old man in a small shed in the back of a junk yard. An attempted call to child services! A struggle ensues, landing them all inside the shed to find the inside is much larger than the outside and they’re about to find out that it’s a time machine. Having been exposed, the Doctor cuts his losses, activating the dematerialization circuit, whisking them off to prehistoric times.
*Note: I do believe patterning the pilot more or less after the original is a very good idea for obvious reasons and the principle characters will work here again. Ian is still a science teacher, Barbara, a history teacher. The TARDIS is still hidden away in a junkyard, the Doctor is still a somewhat suspicious, prickly old man, Ian and Barbara are still horrified to find Susan stashed away in a box. Susan, instead of being a screamer, is actually more accomplished and acts mature beyond her years. The Doctor makes it clear again that stopping in this one time on this one planet and letting Susan experience that stupid school has now caused all this!
Item four: The Doctor. Why so far down on the list? Because you need the proper set up, the writing, an actual writers room, a good roadmap for what you want to do first. Then you hold your auditions. *Initially*, we would specifically be casting a white male but with the explicit plan to audition only women of any and all colors when the time comes for regeneration, to *immediately* illustrate that anything can happen with regeneration. After that, a third Doctor could be virtually anyone, men, women of any color, but there’d always be a rigorous audition process to get the best Doctor possible. The same holds true for the companions starting off with Ian, Barbara, and Susan.
Item 5: The Doctor’s history. This show would start fresh but aside from the set up as mentioned above, certain things would be revealed in time. Probably sooner rather than later. The original producers were adding bits of history as they went and some of it can stay as it does makes sense within the narrative. The Doctor would still be a Time Lord from Gallifrey that can regenerate. 12 regenerations/13 bodies and you’re done. It’s good to have boundaries but of course you wouldn’t necessarily have to deal with running out of bodies for at least a half century as we know. Absolutely NO plans to turn the character into a billion year old God that’s *not* from Gallifrey. That would be bonkers.
Item 6: Season length. While there is sometimes still a tendency to do 22 or 23 episode seasons over here, I’d definitely go with a shorter season, because as we’ve seen with so many quality shows, like Breaking Bad, The Americans, The Sopranos, you can get a much tighter narrative doing 13, 45 minute episodes and I think we’ve seen this successfully played out in nu-Who in Britain as well. The over all season and story breakdown would determine which eps would be one shots, two parters, etc.
The network: I’d be more inclined to reach out to a network like AMC or perhaps go right to Netflix or Amazon Prime, as there’s a bit more freedom and respect for the creative process and the creators wishes than with say, the CW, NBC, CBS, etc.
And there you have it. It probably shouldn’t and wouldn’t be done, but if it is, I think it best to do it right, if at all humanly possible.
I’m sure this idea is less welcome than Kill the Moon to most Doctor Who fans but I’m at least more open to it *now* than ever before.
Time has passed. So much in fact, that some may not be aware of what they missed when it comes to excellent animation. So here’s the scoop:
The ’70’s and ’80’s were 63 layers of garbage when it came to cartoons and live action stuff for superheroes on tv. Let’s leave it at that for now. I can devote another blog entry to the Superfriends.
1992 is when it all changed. Bruce Timm and his team of writers and animators graduated from working on other Warner Bros. cartoons to create Batman, the Animated Series. This was and is the ultimate version of Batman. This wasn’t campy or humorous like the Adam West show from the ’60’s. This wasn’t mindless pablum for little kids like the Superfriends. These were intelligent, suspenseful, dynamic, action packed adventures that presented the caped crusader in the best possible light. This Batman and Bruce Wayne were voiced by Kevin Conroy.
Now, to be clear– West was a true and noble hero. Keaton had an excellent Bat attitude in the suit. Bale was a wonderfully driven Bruce Wayne. Affleck’s Batman knew how to clear a room of bad guys better than anyone. But they all pale in comparison to the voice of Conroy. Over 25 years later, Conroy is still THE voice of Batman. One or two actors have come close with excellent vocal portrayals over the past 15 years in other animated productions, but none can match the nuance and presence of Conroy. In fact recently, he even got the chance to play an older, live action “Kingdom Come” version of Bruce Wayne in the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. He’s the king.
But then there’s the rest of the cast assembled by the brilliant Andrea Romano. Loren Lester as Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing. Effeminate Zimbalist jr. as Alfred Pennyworth. Bob Hastings as commissioner Gordon. Melissa Gilbert and later Tara Strong as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. And then, there were the villains.
There I was, age 30 in 1992, absolutely blown away by this unbelievable show, the story, the animation, the atmosphere, the voice work, especially that of the Joker. This was without a doubt the most interesting, disturbing, fully realized, homicidal, even *funny* version of the Joker ever presented. But I never looked at who did the voices of any of these guys at the time, figuring they were all unknown to me. It was months later, after getting a birthday present from Lin–a framed print of Batman and the Joker standing back to back in front of a sequence of storyboards. I was trying to figure out who actually signed the thing. Yes, only *then* did I find out that Mark Hamill did the voice of the Joker. Only then did I find out that he actually had talent. A LOT of talent. Since the start of the series until now, there is no other voice of the Joker. There have been good ones. Heath Ledger for one, but no, sorry, even he pales next to Hamill.
Other stand out performances as villains include Arleen Sorkin as the first and finest Harley Quinn, Paul Williams as the Penguin, David Warner as Ras Al Ghul, and the wonderful Michael Ansara with his emotional, tragic portrayal of Victor Fries/Mr. freeze.
Another massive piece of the puzzle was Timm’s “Dark deco” design of Gotham city. Most of the backgrounds were painted on black canvas to add to the grim and gritty atmosphere but instead of wallowing in darkness, they used the back drop to contrast the explosions of colorful characters in it. Top it all off with Danny Elfman musical themes and you had a fantastic series.
They even put out a theatrical feature called Mask of the Phantasm (4 stars), a wonderful animated film in the same style and one of the best Bat films around. In the next couple years, they followed up with a couple more direct to video entries, Sub Zero(4 stars) and Mystery of the Batwoman (2 stars).
As I said, this Batman is serious about his code, his war on crime, and doing things his way. The series takes place maybe 10 years into his career, as Robin is now an adult and even though they make an excellent team, Dick starts to chafe at always taking orders. The arrival of Batgirl and certain unexpected events produce changes to the status quo, resulting that when the show commits to the redesign, those last 20 eps pick up the action maybe a year later when Dick Grayson’s moved out of the picture and away to Bludhaven to become his own man, Nightwing. A new, younger Robin joined the team, Tim Drake, (Mathew Valencia), and the character’s background was a blend of Drake but also that of the comics’ Jason Todd, which would have somewhat dire consequences down the road. But these character notes and interpersonal dramas do play out in both the New Adventures (see below) and later in Batman Beyond, Return of the Joker.
After the initial 65 episodes, referred to as “Batman, the animated series”, they added 20 more, titling it The New Adventures of Batman and Robin. Then an additional 20 where they did a series redesign where they streamlined the look of the characters, calling it Batman, the New Adventures. This updated look carried over as Batman started crossing over with Superman on occasion in the other Timm produced show, Superman the Animated Series, which had 52 of its own episodes with a great cast headed up by Tim Daly (Clark Kent/Superman) and Dana Delaney (Lois Lane). When this Batman and Superman meet however, expect the unexpected, as they have to deal with not only the Joker but Lex Luther, played by Clancy Brown. Over the course of more than a decade, Brown provided THE voice for Luthor and like Conroy and Hamill, when I read anything with Luther in the comics, I “hear” Brown’s voice.
But Timm and company weren’t done yet. They had what seemed to be a bonkers idea doomed to fail. Teen Batman in the future. But you know how we trust Kevin Fiege with the MCU? Well, that’s how it was with Timm back then. The end product turned out to be Batman Beyond. A series set 50 years in our future in a Gotham that looked closer to Akira’s Neo-Tokyo than anything we would recognize as Gotham. We meet Terry McGuiness (Will Friedle), a troubled youth who’s father is killed under suspicious circumstances. Through a series of events, he meets an 80+ year old Bruce Wayne (Conroy!) and discovers who the old man once was. Terry steals the experimental Bat suit Bruce wore in his final days in action and proves himself worthy of taking on the mantle of the Batman, albeit with remote assistance by Bruce.
This idea shouldn’t have worked. Future Gotham, old Bruce, teen Batman, but it *does* and it is brilliant. They finished up with yet another feature film, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Another idea which should not, could not, would not work in any other circumstances but in these hands, it actually might be one of the best animated films I’ve seen. Amazing.
I’d love to be able to give you recommendations for individual episodes but seriously, you’re going to want to buy the entire four seasons of BTAS, as that’s how they break it down, as well as the movies. So kick back, and start at the beginning. But here’s the order as far as inserting the movies– I’d say watch seasons sets one and two, then watch Mask of the Phantasm. Then watch season 3, then Sub Zero, as it’s still in the original visual style, and then the new design in season 4.
Buying STAS—not really necessary but it is a very well done show. Worth it.
Then with Batman Beyond, watch all three seasons, then Return of the Joker last.
Time has passed. So much in fact, that some may not be aware of what they missed when it comes to excellent animation. So here’s the scoop:
The ’70’s and ’80’s were 63 layers of garbage when it came to cartoons and live action stuff for superheroes on tv. Let’s leave it at that for now. I can devote another blog entry to the Superfriends.
1992 is when it all changed. Bruce Timm and his team of writers and animators graduated from working on other Warner Bros. cartoons to create Batman, the Animated Series. This was and is the ultimate version of Batman. This wasn’t campy or humorous like the Adam West show from the ’60’s. This wasn’t mindless pablum for little kids like the Superfriends. These were intelligent, suspenseful, dynamic, action packed adventures that presented the caped crusader in the best possible light. This Batman and Bruce Wayne were voiced by Kevin Conroy.
Now, to be clear– West was a true and noble hero. Keaton had an excellent Bat attitude in the suit. Bale was a wonderfully driven Bruce Wayne. Affleck’s Batman knew how to clear a room of bad guys better than anyone. But they all pale in comparison to the voice of Conroy. Over 25 years later, Conroy is still THE voice of Batman. One or two actors have come close with excellent vocal portrayals over the past 15 years in other animated productions, but none can match the nuance and presence of Conroy. In fact recently, he even got the chance to play an older, live action “Kingdom Come” version of Bruce Wayne in the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. He’s the king.
But then there’s the rest of the cast assembled by the brilliant Andrea Romano. Loren Lester as Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing. Effeminate Zimbalist jr. as Alfred Pennyworth. Bob Hastings as commissioner Gordon. Melissa Gilbert and later Tara Strong as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. And then, there were the villains.
There I was, age 30 in 1992, absolutely blown away by this unbelievable show, the story, the animation, the atmosphere, the voice work, especially that of the Joker. This was without a doubt the most interesting, disturbing, fully realized, homicidal, even *funny* version of the Joker ever presented. But I never looked at who did the voices of any of these guys at the time, figuring they were all unknown to me. It was months later, after getting a birthday present from Lin–a framed print of Batman and the Joker standing back to back in front of a sequence of storyboards. I was trying to figure out who actually signed the thing. Yes, only *then* did I find out that Mark Hamill did the voice of the Joker. Only then did I find out that he actually had talent. A LOT of talent. Since the start of the series until now, there is no other voice of the Joker. There have been good ones. Heath Ledger for one, but no, sorry, even he pales next to Hamill.
Other stand out performances as villains include Arleen Sorkin as the first and finest Harley Quinn, Paul Williams as the Penguin, David Warner as Ras Al Ghul, and the wonderful Michael Ansara with his emotional, tragic portrayal of Victor Fries/Mr. freeze.
Another massive piece of the puzzle was Timm’s “Dark deco” design of Gotham city. Most of the backgrounds were painted on black canvas to add to the grim and gritty atmosphere but instead of wallowing in darkness, they used the back drop to contrast the explosions of colorful characters in it. Top it all off with Danny Elfman musical themes and you had a fantastic series.
They even put out a theatrical feature called Mask of the Phantasm (4 stars), a wonderful animated film in the same style and one of the best Bat films around. In the next couple years, they followed up with a couple more direct to video entries, Sub Zero(4 stars) and Mystery of the Batwoman (2 stars).
As I said, this Batman is serious about his code, his war on crime, and doing things his way. The series takes place maybe 10 years into his career, as Robin is now an adult and even though they make an excellent team, Dick starts to chafe at always taking orders. The arrival of Batgirl and certain unexpected events produce changes to the status quo, resulting that when the show commits to the redesign, those last 20 eps pick up the action maybe a year later when Dick Grayson’s moved out of the picture and away to Bludhaven to become his own man, Nightwing. A new, younger Robin joined the team, Tim Drake, (Mathew Valencia), and the character’s background was a blend of Drake but also that of the comics’ Jason Todd, which would have somewhat dire consequences down the road. But these character notes and interpersonal dramas do play out in both the New Adventures (see below) and later in Batman Beyond, Return of the Joker.
After the initial 65 episodes, referred to as “Batman, the animated series”, they added 20 more, titling it The New Adventures of Batman and Robin. Then an additional 20 where they did a series redesign where they streamlined the look of the characters, calling it Batman, the New Adventures. This updated look carried over as Batman started crossing over with Superman on occasion in the other Timm produced show, Superman the Animated Series, which had 52 of its own episodes with a great cast headed up by Tim Daly (Clark Kent/Superman) and Dana Delaney (Lois Lane). When this Batman and Superman meet however, expect the unexpected, as they have to deal with not only the Joker but Lex Luther, played by Clancy Brown. Over the course of more than a decade, Brown provided THE voice for Luthor and like Conroy and Hamill, when I read anything with Luther in the comics, I “hear” Brown’s voice.
But Timm and company weren’t done yet. They had what seemed to be a bonkers idea doomed to fail. Teen Batman in the future. But you know how we trust Kevin Fiege with the MCU? Well, that’s how it was with Timm back then. The end product turned out to be Batman Beyond. A series set 50 years in our future in a Gotham that looked closer to Akira’s Neo-Tokyo than anything we would recognize as Gotham. We meet Terry McGuiness (Will Friedle), a troubled youth who’s father is killed under suspicious circumstances. Through a series of events, he meets an 80+ year old Bruce Wayne (Conroy!) and discovers who the old man once was. Terry steals the experimental Bat suit Bruce wore in his final days in action and proves himself worthy of taking on the mantle of the Batman, albeit with remote assistance by Bruce.
This idea shouldn’t have worked. Future Gotham, old Bruce, teen Batman, but it *does* and it is brilliant. They finished up with yet another feature film, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Another idea which should not, could not, would not work in any other circumstances but in these hands, it actually might be one of the best animated films I’ve seen. Amazing.
I’d love to be able to give you recommendations for individual episodes but seriously, you’re going to want to buy the entire four seasons of BTAS, as that’s how they break it down, as well as the movies. So kick back, and start at the beginning. But here’s the order as far as inserting the movies– I’d say watch seasons sets one and two, then watch Mask of the Phantasm. Then watch season 3, then Sub Zero, as it’s still in the original visual style, and then the new design in season 4.
Buying STAS—not really necessary but it is a very well done show. Worth it.
Then with Batman Beyond, watch all three seasons, then Return of the Joker last.
Months before we left for Italy, I wanted to try and learn some of the language, so as to *not* be considered an ugly American and actually make an effort. When in Rome! Weeee! So, I bought an Italian phrase book, which imparted roughly 75 to 100 words that are tailor made to assist you in say, a business trip or vacation in Italy. The book even came with a cd to let you hear the pronunciation. It was really helpful. That, along with flash cards to study with, helped me learn some basics which came in very handy in several situations.
I was able to communicate with some of the waiters when ordering something like an iced coffee. I was able to ask a bookstore owner a few questions regarding his comics and store hours. I even had a fairly long conversation with a store clerk when I was trying to buy socks. Turns out my Italian was better than her English, so all in all, I was very pleased how well my little language course worked out. And I’ll say this– for anyone traveling to another country, getting the business trip basics is the way to go. Don’t even bother with something like Rosetta Stone. Utterly useless in this type of situation. If you’re going to go *live* in Italy or elsewhere, sure, spend two years with the RS program, and try to learn the entire language but for a vacation, it’s pointless. Rosetta Stone doesn’t even cover greetings like hello or good morning until god knows what future lesson. When we went to Greece (another post), I learned the important basics in 15 minutes from my next door neighbors, after totally wasting my time for two months learning useless items like cat and airplane and tree from RS.
But as we left off in part one, we were near the end of our time in Rome. The city itself was very over crowded and you couldn’t pay me to drive on those roads. These inner city roads were tight, winding and everybody on mopeds and in cars of all sizes were going at crazy fast speeds. Insane. I’m really surprised there weren’t multiple deaths all around us.
Leaving Rome by train, we moved on to Florence. I don’t remember Florence quite as well — although I do know that every step of the way, the food was always wonderful. Numerous times, we had a selection of prosciutto and fresh mozzarella amidst other dishes. Of course we spent a good amount of time around the statue of David, soaking in the presence along with the reverential vibe of the visiting crowds. Most of the rest of the time was spent checking out the scenery. We set the vacation up like this: arrive in a city and just check it out on day one, do some kind of tour at our leisure on day two, then more wandering and experiencing on day three before moving on to the next city. This pattern worked really well, as it was more relaxing and we didn’t have a rigorous schedule every day.
We also got lucky regarding some aspects of the weather. Sure, it was July and it was hot but whether it was just a dry heat or what, it didn’t feel that bad. And that’s coming from me of all people. And the extra bonus was that when we got to Venice, it was even a bit cooler and no flooding, which is becoming more and more of a problem as time goes by. Venice was really beautiful and our favorite of the three. Part of the magic is no cars allowed. It’s all either walking or bikes and the crime is almost non existent, if memory serves. It was lovely walking around the city. If you’re thinking about taking a romantic gondola ride for two though, it’s not a guarantee. You’re just as likely to get bundled up with part of another group. Still, it’s a lovely view of the city on the water.
It was in Venice that we visited the Murano glasswork studio and ended up buying the jellyfish creation we feature in our hutch cabinet in the dining room. Some beautiful and crazy expensive stuff in the Murano workshop. One night, we were looking for a place to eat and almost by accident, came upon a tiny little restaurant under a staircase. We poked our heads in and there wasn’t much seating, maybe six total but one couple was in the corner and they looked at us as we came in and gave an immediate thumbs up as they consumed their meal. Good enough for us.
Out from the back came a jovial woman, presumably the owner, who recommended the bruschetta and their pizza. Both were amazing, especially the bruschetta, which was dialed up to 11. I don’t know how much business they usually got, hidden away as they were, beneath a certain staircase amidst a city filled with maze like passages everywhere but they were top notch. I think if we were to go back, Venice is the one we’d most like to revisit.
Eventually though, all good things must come to an end. We bought our glass jellyfish and hightailed it out of Italy. Although it had a rocky start the first night, it turned out to be one of the best vacations ever.
In 2005, Linda and I embarked upon a 10 day trip to Italy, consisting of 3 days in Rome, 3 in Florence, 3 in Venice. It’s a trip that started horribly but righted itself early on and went wonderfully from then on. (Kids were with my folks in Florida, as mentioned in another post)
As I said, things started off badly as two days before we were due to leave, I was carrying the garbage bags down the front steps to put them out and I hit the paving stone at a bad angle, which resulted in an even worse angle for my ankle, ending with a hideous bend and a hairline fracture. The Doctor was very cool though and appreciated the importance of this WALKING trip and tried to accommodate me as much as possible. I think I ended up with a light brace over a tight wrap around the ankle and she advised me to stay off it whenever possible. Huzzah.
Time to pack for the trip. Now, it’s not that I don’t trust the airlines but no, I *don’t* trust the airlines any further than I can throw a plane. Especially when it comes to looking after our luggage. And extra especially when I know we’d be changing planes *somewhere* in Germany.
I had a thought. To cut down on the possibility of problems, I suggested we each share a suitcase, half and half. That way, if one of our suitcases got lost, we’d still have clothes until the errant bag caught up with us. My wife didn’t want to do that, preferring to keep all her own stuff in her suitcase. Okay.
So off we went, winging our way to Italy, via Germany. The 13 hour flight was more comfortable than expected, as it was a big plane and we had seats in front of the bulkhead which meant more leg room. I think this was maybe a kindness the airline bestowed upon me and my ankle, which I needed to elevate. It was odd though, having a sock and a shoe on one foot and a brace with a wrap and no sock on my other foot, keeping my shoe off as much as possible. Having no sock on the right foot just felt weird and took me a bit out of my comfort zone. Little did I know.
We arrived at Frankfurt, Germany at around 5 am local time on a Sunday morning, where we had over an hour layover before getting to our next plane for the final leg to Rome.
Grey. The Frankfurt airport was grey. Walls. Floor. Ceiling. Lights. Furniture. People. Windows. Pavement. Cars. Trucks. Sky. All grey and as tired as we were, our thoughts were all grey as well. I’d been up for I don’t know how many hours, was feeling grungy and just wanted a shower. And a sock. Eventually, after watching paint dry or evolution trying to take hold, we got on the next plane and did the relatively short hop to Rome.
Golden. It was sunny and warm as is befitting Rome in July. We were just glad to have arrived. We figured to grab our luggage, then a shower at the hotel, as it was a long flight, it was warm, we were grungy, I had no sock, etc. Oh, not so fast!
They lost my suitcase. In fact, after waiting by the carousel for an hour, then reporting it to the airline staff, they didn’t even have my suitcase in the database. No trace. At all. No way to track it, locate it. So all I had were the clothes on my back and one sock.
Linda? Oh she had her suitcase, no worries. They only lost mine.
Here’s the deal. The only time I qualify as a civilized human being is when I’m in my comfort zone. After arriving at the hotel, I just wanted to take a shower and put on clean clothes. We alerted the hotel about my luggage situation and my wife, who began to see our vacation starting to crumble on the very first day, was visibly upset. I had tried to wash my existing clothes in the hotel sink and use the hair drier to dry them. This did not work. Turns out it would take forever to dry the clothes this way. And this shortsighted maneuver also left me totally without clothes. Effectively, all I was left with were the bed sheets for an impromptu toga — which actually might make sense in Rome, just not this millennia. The group tour guide who was staying at the hotel took Linda out to try and find a store where she could find me some clothes. In Rome. On a Sunday night when most stores were closed. Oh, and just to add more tension to plot, I was clocking in at 250 back then, a weight which was probably unheard of to the populace of Rome considering the sizes available to me. Of the slim pickings from what store was open, Lin came back with the largest sizes of underwear and of long pants she could find and two button up shirts. The shirts were actually quite nice but the underwear and the pants were about two sizes too small (painful) and we had to cut three inches off the legs, they were so long. That was another hitch in the plan, we were going to the Vatican the next day and everyone’s knees must be covered. I guess bare knees piss off the Pope.
Now please bear with me. I had to get my mind right. We were in the first of a ten day trip, all my stuff was gone, the new clothes I did have included underwear and pants that were so tight….I lack the proper descriptors. The situation was untenable for me, so I crawled into bed — being totally without clothes, I thought it best—and just thought for a bit. About things. I mentally went down a very dark hole. Essentially, if I wasn’t a Fatty Magoo, I wouldn’t be in this situation. This was on me. To say I felt pretty low was a vast understatement. So I used that. It’s an established fact that I am my own worst enemy, so I had to use that to kick my own ass into gear because this was just pathetic on every level. I could not let me being me ruin our vacation, so I sucked it up, abolished the comfort zone nonsense, got my mind right and said fuck it. Suck it up, –and yeah really suck it up to get the pants on — and get on with it. I came up out of the dark mental hole and disregarded all thought of discomfort and proceeded to enjoy.
We went out for a delightful dinner and I mentally formulated various back up plans on how to make my two very different sets of clothing manage to last 10 days in three cities, as I feared my suitcase was forever gone to Narnia.
The next day, it was unsurprisingly 95 degrees in Rome in July and I was wearing long pants to impress the Pope. The temperature didn’t seem that bad though. To further make things interesting, I never realized how intriguing it is to hobble over giant cobblestones with a sprained ankle, but it does keep you sharp. Amazingly, my new mental outlook meant sharper senses, a greater tolerance of heat and possibly a greater healing ability, because I no longer had issues with the ankle, not even on the giant, rounded cobblestones.
That day, we saw the Vatican, with all the art that came with it, the Colosseum, which is always impressive, and it was all quite nice. The most impressive of all though was the statue of St. Paul, outside the Basilica. I don’t know if I can properly express my admiration on this piece. It has an elegance. The juxtaposition of the folds of fabric and the sword he carries. The weight. Seriously, I don’t know how long I stood there just staring at this beautiful object. My god, it was breathtaking. I’ll add a picture below to end this.
But before the end…..that night, we arrived back at the hotel and what was waiting for me but my suitcase. It fell off the track in Frankfurt. Of course it did. It’s a grey suitcase. It was home. But now, it was back, I had my other sock, all my clothes and joy reigned across the land. The next part will continue on from Rome. I leave you now with the promised picture of St. Paul.
When the kids were infants, for various reasons I won’t go into, we didn’t have babysitters. By that, I mean, we didn’t get strangers or teens who do that on a regular basis. This left us with few choices, as my folks had already moved to Florida and Lin’s folks had their hands full with watching several other grandchildren on a regular basis and were getting up there in age, so we didn’t want to impose on them that much. So when they were a bit older, we did have them stay at Linda’s sister’s house occasionally.
Bottom line, we very rarely were ever separated from them, even to that extent. And of course I’ve already detailed the time they went for a stroll and freaked us out in ’02. But in 2005, for the first time in over a decade, we were going to go away, just the two of us — to Italy for ten days. Theresa was now 11 and Matthew was 8, so we formulated a plan where my folks would fly up, visit, then take the kids back to Florida in our van, then after the trip, we’d fly down, collect them and drive back home. (I may be misremembering the back leg of that journey but never mind.)
I guess, in the end, I didn’t really grasp what was about to happen. The folks and the kids hopped in the van, ready to go. Matthew, for some reason, was wearing a baseball cap that made him look even younger than he was, something out of Norman Rockwell painting. Theresa and Matt were strapped in and as the sliding door started to close, Matthew said goodbye, but his voice caught in the middle of it.
Well.
Here’s the thing. This was the first time they’d be separated from us for more than an overnight. We didn’t know if they were going to break down or be upset, etc. so we were determined to hold it together for their sake, but his voice catching at the last second– I’m just glad they were pulling away at that moment.
Now, the following is an example of the two of us reacting in our own, specific ways.
As soon as they pulled away down the driveway, I was a stupid mess. Damn near inconsolable. Miserable the entire day. I just wasn’t used to them being gone, I was worried that they were miserable, worried about the drive down there, safety, accidents, you name it. But then, that night, when they called from the hotel they were staying at, past the halfway mark, the kids were fine and happy, trip was smooth and everyone was happy. And thus, I was content. Knowing they were safe and sound, I was totally good leaving the country and leaving them with the folks. I’d miss them but as long as they were ok, I could have been gone for a year, absolutely content at least knowing they were okay. I got it all out of my system.
But Linda… that first day they left, she was fine and mostly comforting her idiot husband. A few days later, we went to Italy, had a great time, barring a few early mishaps (a future blog). Thing IS…. while I got over the hump of worry on day one, with each successive day, she was missing them more and more, anxiety building and building, so at the end of the weeks before we saw them again, she was a bit miserable. Just never as demonstrative as I was on day one. She held it together far better than I.
In the end, it was a great experience for all involved.
The moral of the story?
I don’t know…….Do things?
We probably don’t always need a moral. But this did give you yet another piece of my mental puzzle. Or mental Jenga tower, however you want to stack it.
I’m filled with disgust at the animal who slowly murdered George Floyd for eight minutes, knee on his neck, while his brethren stood by and watched. That’s unacceptable by any rational or humane sense, any way you might want to look at it.
I’ll have to be satisfied he’s getting charged with murder and I hope justice will prevail. But it’s got to be due process and by the book, otherwise, we’re no better than the killer.
Police officers have to be better than this. It’s my belief, my hope that most are.
I’ve grown to be somewhat desensitized to the social rot and stupidity all around us. Opportunistic scavengers, whether they be the mindless hordes who destroy people’s livelihoods and lives when given an opening, or frightened politicians and commanders calling for overwhelming and unnecessary force against anything that moves. Also, those who keep the cycle of hate churning. All factions making everything exponentially worse.
WE should be better than this. Again, I think most of us are.
My admiration and respect goes out to those who are making their voices known loud and clear, but with their peaceful presence and protests. Their dedication to non-violence, even in the face of adversity. This is why I still have some faith in humanity.
I could go off on a much longer rant in general but I leave it at that. I’ll resume my usual content tomorrow.
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