Ripping Good Yarns: Final Voting for Your Favorite Comedy Nominee!

We're ready for the final voting!


Please vote for one of the following:

The Big Bang Theory

This CBS is the highest rated comedy on television, ergo it's gets the largest audience.  Alison and I missed out on the start of this great show, so we have been catching up via DVD.  Many of my friends are enthusiastic supporters of this show.  It has a great ensemble cast, led by Jim Parsons as Shelton Cooper, the neurotic scientist who has created one of the great characters of television,  If the show has any flaw, it is that it's producers/creators are also the people behind Two and a Half Men, so sometimes the humor is unexpectedly raunchy or low brow.

Modern Family

Great family show, showing a quirky but genuine extended family.  This has been one of only two comedies on that Alison and I have watched from opening to the most recent episode, in real time, not via streaming or DVD.

Parks and Recreation

This show Alison and I watched through streaming, and caught up through the most current episode.  We watched four or five episodes a week for a two or three months.  What a great way to watch a show, and catch up with characters we have grown to love.  A fabulous ensemble cast, led by the wonderful Amy Poehler as the rabid public servant Leslie Knopes.  There is not a character on this that we don't enjoy seeing.

Raising Hope

This takes a look at lower middle class life, but not in a mean spirited way.  Although the show is smart and sarcastic, it does so in a way that makes the characters human and endearing.  This is the other comedy that we have watched each week it has been on since the beginning..

30 Rock

Tina Fey's tour de force ended its run this year, with great performances by her, Alec Baldwin, Tracey Morgan, and the rest of the cast.  We are not regular watchers of this program.  I have seen some episodes of it, and have enjoyed it, but just have not fit it into our schedule yet.  sounds like a great candidate for streaming!

So there you have it, folks!  Our five finalists!  I would love to keep voting open long enough to at least get a dozen or more votes.  That would be really swell. 

There's a good chance that some of you won't have seen any of these shows, or very little of them.  But if at this point you just want to take a stab at the Pinata and pick which show you think sounds the best - I am OK with that.  WE NEED THE VOTES!

Vote now!  On here or on facebook!

I await your judgement!

Ripping Good Yarns: Sharknado- Sometimes It's Good to be Bad

Bending the curve of light until it reflects back on you.

Sometimes a movie is so stupendously awful, that is a blast and a hoot to watch.  So breathtaking in ti's sweep of nonsense that you just stare at it in open mouth wonder and disbelief.  A conceit of amazement that simply won't leave you.

Plan Nine from Outer Space was such a gem.  An incoherent mess that once seen, would sear in your brain forever.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was an incredible conglomeration that came alive through repeated viewings with friends, subject to sing-a-longs and costumed attendance.

And then along comes Sharknado, one of Syfy's long string of absurd and cheaply produced mutant monster movies.  But this one even set a record of jaw-dropping goofiness that even Dinocroc and Piranahaconda could not.  A global warming fueled super-storm sweeps up sharks into a tornado and sends them inland, where the traumatized beasts, who should be dead, unconscious, or worried about a whole lot more than the next meal, are instead taking a bite out of the first person they cross paths with.

The acting is amazing....in it's stiff pretentiousness.  The lines are so bad that it just brings howls of laughter.  My favorite is a seriously slumming John Heard, who spends the part inebriated (probably in reality as well) and carries around with him  his "stool of justice".

A couple more beloved quotes:

Baz: Storm's dying down.

Nova: How can you tell?

Baz: Not as many sharks flying around.

Guy at Retirement Center:  Hey, let's get away from the windows!

The last few minutes was the topper.  It's mind-bending ridiculousness left me laughing and stunned for a half hour after.  I will not spoiler alert it (too much(, but Pinocchio, we hardly knew ye!

Now it looks like Sharknado is headed for the big screen!  And a sequel has been greenlit.  Maybe we'll have college campuses showing it late night, with attendees dressing as characters and/or flying sharks, and bringing their own "stools of justice".

Ed Wood - your spirit is alive and well!

Super Size Weekend and Other Monday Musings

The glories of a four day weekend!  Off both Thursday and Friday, it was the last super size weekend for awhile.  Labor Day weekend may run four days, but even that's iffy with my Fridays being in jeopardy with the advent of a major audit looming, one our firm does each summer.  So although I am sad that this weekend is now over, I do cherish that I got to have it.

Alison and I spent Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning around Jacksonville.  They have a new shopping area that is called St. John's Town Center.  It had a lot of upscale stores, particularly clothing stores, that we did not go into.  It does have The Cheesecake Factory, which we indulged in.  The decor looked nothing like it does on The Big Bang Theory, being much fancier. The cheesecake was awesome, and Alison had a chopped salad which I tried and enjoyed.

The chopped salad was further explored at this great little place we found called Tossgreen, pictured above.  There you can build your own salad, combining the things you like the most, with or without meat,  The meats they did have included organic free range chicken.  They then chop up the ingredients and put in a huge bowl.  It was great fun and tasted amazing.

We saw the movie Fruitvale Station.  It is a very intense movie that brings you up close to the last day on earth to a man who was killed at a subway station in Oakland, California.  You learn that the young man that is killed by the police at the station, is neither saint nor hoodlum, but a caring young man who had been struggling earnestly to do right by those he loved.  Given the recent tragedy of the Zimmerman case, trial and verdict, it was a very poignant and important movie to see.

On Saturday we picked up BenJerMan from camp, where he had spent the week at Honey Creek, a camp for Episcopalian youth.  He had a great time, making new friends and having memorable experiences.  He didn't realize he had shampoo with him, and went the whole week without washing his hair, so he had kind of a matted, wild man look.

We later at Applebee's, saw The Wolverine and grocery shopped.  The Wolverine was based in part on a mini-series that involved my favorite Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat).  To my great disappointment, her part had been written out of the screenplay.  The whole movie was a good but not first tier contribution to the Marvel canon of movies.  But Benjamin really did like all the ninjas.

Later that night, we had family game night, where we played a new game called Munchkin. It's a card game meant to be an easier way to play role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons.  Benjamin had a great time, but Alison and I were kind of lost.  But it was nice to have the boy back and watch him have a great time.

The blog as a whole continues to depress me, and I did little with it over the weekend.  I did start to use a site called Wattpad, and I hope y'all will be able to find some of my stories there.  It may take a week or two, but I do hope to have History of the Trap posted there, in a way that makes all the chapters easily accessible.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

History of the Trap: June Dreams Part 6

SYNOPSIS:  After being visited in prison by Morgan LaDona Tigh, Lance Martin has agreed to Dr. Duncan's request to detail what happened in the time that Lance is calling "the Trap."  Lance begins his journal by describing the morning before the trap fell, where we learn his father was the Principal of Loren High, that Lance is a Junior, and has a sister named Diane who is a sophomore.  After a couple hours at school that morning, where we see how different his relationship with Morgan is.  We meet Lance's best friend, Artie Pentler, and their gang. Just as Lance is ready to ask Ginny Estill out, the Trap falls, and they witness the horrible death of two P. E.students as they are caught in some kind of electrical storm.  The students soon realize, as April marches on, that the so-called storm is something more, and that they may be trapped at the school and it's grounds for a very long time. May involves grizzly murders of staff that remain unsolved, as Lance's father and staff struggle to come to grips with events.  They decide to schedule more activities for the students to become involved with, including sports,  a TV variety show, and the beginnings of the tunnel project. Lance realizes that Ginny has chosen Artie, and finds himself moving closer to the studious, pretty Lisa Carlton.  Lance and Lisa stumble on to a drug ring being led by David Izzner and the band teacher, Mr. Black.  Later, the Guidance Counselor, Mr. Joe Oliver, is found dead, his office ransacked for cigarettes and other contraband.

6

With Mr. Frank's passing, another adult had to come into our sleep room.  Ironically enough, that turned out to be Alberto Foreman, the janitor that discovered Mr. Frank's body in his janitorial closet.  He was a more effective disciplinarian than Mr. Franks, and garnered respect from the twenty plus boys that slept there.  But Alberto was also a very sound sleeper, and once he fell asleep he generally did not wake up until morning.  Some, like the big athlete Jamie Smith, would use that as an excuse to wander.  Actually, I had done that myself sometimes, and would do so again in the future.

The ban on cigarettes had hit hard on Jamie, and some of the other smokers.  He had gotten into a fight the previous night, a fight that Alberto was barely able to break up.  Those jittery nerves were everywhere.  I could only hope that things would settle back when the withdrawal stage had passed.

It also enabled us to have more late night conversations.  We had to be relatively quiet, so as not to disturb those that fell asleep, but we did have them nonetheless.  I seemed to require less sleep the most, so I was often guilty of being part of these talks.

The discussion about was going on had abated somewhat over the weeks, but was lively that night late in June.  The most popular theory was a variation on Sue Boschman's military experiment.  What they were testing out and why they would choose our school to do it were the weakest parts of it. 

Johnny Summers speculated that it had something to do with the nearby scientific research centers at Huron University, or perhaps Gregor Robotics.  "I'm telling you, some experiment they did went horribly wrong, and this is the result of it.  They were messing with something they shouldn't and it caused this never ending electrical storm.  Some huge biometric feedback or something."

"Yeah!" chimed in Jimmy Stark.  "We should find Andrea Gregor and get her to spill."  Andrea Gregor was Ivan Gregor's daughter, who was inexplicably going to our public school rather than a private school.  Her father, Ivan Gregor, started and founded Gregor Robotics, and all we knew was that Andrea had been kicked out of a couple of private schools.  We assumed her coming here had been temporary, between private schools.  Well, it didn't look so temporary now.

She was thin, medium height, with wild red hair that flowed and curled down half her back.  She had an intense stare that seemed to be looking at someplace we could not see.  I knew who she was, but had little contact with her, 

"I think we should leave her alone.  I highly doubt she knows anything about her father's business or what it's engaged in."  I was highly sympathetic to letting her be.  As the Principal's son, I was very familiar with the attitude that you must know something.

"I don't think we're here anymore," said Geoffery Spivey, the sophomore who had done some theater with me.

"Where exactly do you think we are?" asked Johnny Summers.

"I think we're aboard an alien craft, being brought to an alien planet," answered Geoff, looking somber and serious.

"Really?  I mean, I can look out past the barrier and see that's not true," scoffed Johnny.

"That's like a big painting.  Haven't you noticed that?  We never see other people.  And nothing ever moves.  We don't even see trees and plants move in the breeze.  Nothing."

"That's one heck of a big spaceship!" said Jimmy.

"Yes, yes it is.  But it's not impossible.  Who can account for alien technology?  Don't you feel like we're moving sometimes?  That we're hurtling towards something or somewhere?"  Geoff looked at us for confirmation, but we just stared back at him blankly.  I don't think any of the rest of us had remotely felt movement.

"It's the wrath of God."

We all turned to Steve Smelther.  Normally quiet, his voice startled us.  We didn't even know he was awake.  Steve was of medium height, a boxy shape, and a stern face.  He wore his hair in a close crew cut.  He was a Pentecostal, his family devout members of Loren Church of God.

"We're in purgatory," continued Steve.  "We've done terrible things, as a society and as individuals, and now we must pay the price."

I thought that purgatory was a Catholic concept, but I didn't know enough about Pentecostals to question him one way or another.  Maybe it was a new revelation to him.

"And if you hadn't noticed, some of us are disappearing.  Where are they going?  No bodies, virtually no record of their existence.  I think they're being raptured.  When the Lord is ready for you, you're just being taken straight up."

"And what?" questioned Jimmy.  "Those being, uh, 'raptured' up.  Are they so much purer and better than the rest of us?"

"Do you know much about them?  Only the Lord really knows our hearts.  Do you remember Ronald Sparren?"

The name sounded vaguely familiar, so I nodded yes.  "I think so, but I don't remember enough about him to know why he might be considered ready for rapture."

"We don't need to know.  We trust in god and his judgment.  We believe and wait for our turn.  For it will come in time to all those who believe."

Jimmy Stark snorted in derision.  "I believe.  I believe that what you're saying is kind of nuts!"

"Oh, really?  And why do you think we have not run out of sustenance?"  Steve rose up out of his sleeping bag, extending his arms up as if he were Christ on the cross.  "Do you think the military is sneaking in here to resupply us?  Do you think it's aliens?  Or magic?  I know it's none of those things.  I know in my heart what it is.  It is the Lord.  Because the Lord will provide."  Steve looked up as he finished, staring up, not seeing our ceiling but beyond, beyond his purgatory towards whatever heaven he anticipated.

We looked up at him in awe.  And we knew that if what he was saying was true, he would be raptured up, right then and there, right before our very eyes.

He was not.

Maryanne Loses Her Job

Even though Maryanne's actions made her decision certain, it didn't make it any easier.  Firing people hadn't been the reason she went to medical school, sacrificed so much to be where she was now. She was a long way from Bhopal, and sometimes it got very lonely here.  But she was doing the career she dreamed of, and putting away a lot of money for her future, at least once she paid off her college loans.

Dr. Mala Jhadau was the only obstetrician/gynecologist in Dixon County, part of a program to attract doctors to rural areas, as many physicians were not happy making 200k to 300k a year - they wanted to make two or three times that.  Most people went into Waycross or even Brunswick.  The Crowley Care Center was not really set up for births, so you really had to go somewhere else.  Dr. Jhadau's patients went to Satilla Regional in Waycross for the actual birth.  She was great for consulting, had a tremendous rapport with her patients, and often spent more time with them than a more monetarily conscious physician would.

Most of her patients referred to her as Dr. Mala, and she was fine with that.  It helped set them at ease with her.  She wasn't the type of doctor that wanted to be seen as an arrogant, all-knowing authority figure.  Almost all the women she saw were very nice and easily opened up to her.  A handful were thrown by her dark skin color, and her Hindu background.  Once in a great while she would get inquiries about her religion, and since there wasn't a temple nearby, if she might want to stop into their church, you know, just to get a spiritual uplift and learn a little more about Jesus.  One woman, Dotty Mathers, did tell her that it was unfortunate that a woman as nice as her was going to go straight to the fiery pits of hell when she died.

The only other problem she had was facing the attitude about something that was related to why she was going to have to fire Maryanne MacDonald.  It grieved her, but she really had no choice.  The American style of practicing medicine, particularly in rural areas, somehow left the doctor in charge of entrepreneurial and managerial decisions that she would rather not be involved with.

Maryanne came into her office.  She was a pleasant young woman, early twenties, had her LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) certificate, and seemed kind and responsive to her patients.  She was of average height for a woman, a little heavyset, with a plain but caring face.  As she closed the door, her normally smiling face was lined with worry, as she had an inkling why Dr. Jhadau had called her in.

Dr. Jhadau gestured to a chair in front of her desk, a comfortable wingback chair where many of her patients had sat to receives news, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes welcome, and sometimes unexpected.  Maryanne sat down, her hands slightly trembling.

"When a patient comes in here to consult with me and we discuss their medical situation, what is the most import thing they can expect from me?"  Dr. Jhadau began.

"That you're smart and that you know what you're talking about?" Maryanne answered, hoping beyond hope that the answer really wasn't something else.

Dr. Jhadau flashed the smallest and briefest of smiles, and then turned serious again.  "Well, we can certainly hope that's true. No, what I mean is confidentiality.  When a patient talks to me, and we discuss their medical condition, they have every right to expect that the conversation is completely private, just between her and her doctor.  Do you understand that, Maryanne?"

So it was going to be about it.  Maryanne sighed heavily.  "Yes, I do.  I understand the importance of that." 

"But you went ahead and broke a confidence anyway, didn't you?  If you knew that was important, why did you disregard it?" Dr. Jhadau asked, knowing the answer but trying to lead Maryanne into it.  "Why would you violate this sacred trust and tell Pastor Dan?"

Maryanne straightened up in her chair.  If she was going to go there, she might as well go all the way.  "Because there are more important things than doctor/patient privilege. My relationship and commitment to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is much more important to me.  And if I can do anything to save a child, I'm going to do it!"

"So you took it upon yourself to tell Pastor Dan about Racine Steel's pregnancy?  You decided it was your place to reveal something to somebody completely uninvolved with it?"

Maryanne stuck out her chin, defiant.  "I heard her start to talk to you in the exam room.  She asked you about options to murder that unborn child.  You won't fully explain the horrible consequences of that, even with the new state laws."  Georgia had been passing laws right and left to restrict abortion and make it increasingly difficult.

Dr. Jhadau was a patient and tolerant woman, but this had frayed the edges of her restraint.  "That is a conversation that unfortunately Racine started in your presence and then finished up here in my office.  Let me be clear.  What we said or didn't is absolutely none of your business. I follow the letter of the law, and I find a way to honestly discuss all options with my patients."

"And Pastor Dan can make it clear what that murder will entail, and how it could impact her for the rest of her life, her life here and in the life to come."  Pastor Dan was the head pastor of one of Crowley's Baptist mega-churches, New Life Baptist.  They focused on social issues such as abortion and homosexuality, and preached mostly on Revelations and Isaiah, and centered on being born again, the prosperity gospel and the rapture.  They were instrumental in electing several very conservative politicians in the area.

Dr. Jhadau sighed.  She had taken a chance in hiring Maryanne.  She knew she was religiously conservative, but it was impossible to staff from top to bottom in this area without dipping into that pool.  Easily ninety percent of those that went to church in Crowley went to churches that were like Pastor Dan's or very close to it.  The vast majority were Baptist, but there were also others like Pentecostal and most of the Methodists (there was one United Methodist Church that was a little more mainstream than the rest).  She didn't care about any of that, as long as they let her do her doctoring they way she thought it best for her patients.

Now she had found out that several teens had driven Racine Steel to Pastor Dan's house for an "intervention".  This had deeply hurt and embarrassed Racine.  It wasn't even Racine's church.  Although Baptist, she went to Crowley Second Baptist.  This never should have happened.  And Dr. Jhadau was determined it would never happen again.

Dr. Jhadau reflected for a minute, and a bad thought crept into her mind.  Maryanne had been there for six months.  "Have you told Pastor Dan about other patients?"

There was no point in lying now, Maryanne thought.  God would not want her to.  "Yes, Dr. Jhadau, I have.  Whenever I feel like there's a possibility that a woman might choose badly, it is my God given responsibility to make sure she is fully informed.  I pray on each patient I find out about, and God leads me to the right answer."

Dr, Jhadau's heart sank.  How could she be so oblivious, so inattentive as to let this go on?  Well, it was time to put an end to it.  "Well, you will now have plenty of time to pray and reflect.  Gather up your things and get out of this office.  I don't want you to ever set foot in this office again.  There will be no recommendation from me, do not use me as a reference, and just be grateful that I have no intention to prosecute."

Maryanne got out of the chair and leaned onto Dr. Mala Jhadau's desk, staring directly at her.  "I'm not worried.  The Lord will provide." 

Dr, Jhadau said nothing as Maryanne MacDonald flounced out.

The irony was that Racine Steel had decided to carry her baby to term.  But Mala believed in confidences.  How a proud girl was going to feel about being outed and harangued, that was anyone's guess.

Why, it might even lead Racine to change her mind.

Ripping Good Yarns: Premium Cable Drama Award

My legion of Ripping Good Yarn fans, I am proud to announce the third award for 2013, given in the category of Premium Cable Dramas!  Two awards will be given in this category, one will be the Ripping Good Strait Award that is solely determined by me because well, to paraphrase one of my least favorite politicians, Ronald Reagan, "I own this microphone!"  The first will be the Ripping Good Fan award determined by all of your votes!

Ripping Good Fan Award, Premium Cable Drama

There are five nominees.  This is based on early nominations and my best estimation.  Voting in this area was very low, as many reminded me they do not have premium cable services. This must disconnect a lot of people to the Emmys as they are increasingly going to premium channels, like the 108 nominations that went to HBO.

The five nominees:

Boardwalk Empire 

Dexter.

A Game of Thrones

Homeland

True Blood

And the winner goes to....

A Game of Thrones!

This is a great show, a tremendously rich drama with a multitude of characters, with all the pageantry and magic of truly great high fantasy.  A fantastic rendition of the books by George R. R. Martin, there really has not ever been anything like it on television before.  No lead character is safe, anything can and does happen. We are HBO subscribers because of this show.

Ripping Good Strait Award, Premium Cable Drama

True Blood!  

Often times a hot mess, it still is a very entertaining and melodramatic show.  Alison caught up with this show over winter and spring and is now watching with me. The fact that we are now watching it together is enough to give it the edge for this ward.  There are a number of good characters on this show, and you often have to adjust your scorecard as to who is evil and who is good from year to year. My favorite in playing a vampire the way he should be played is Russell Edgington.  He is consistently vile, including ripping a news anchor's spine out during a television broadcast.

  

But let's not rest on our laurels.  Start commenting on Comedy series.  This can be from any part of television, broadcast, basic cable, premium cable or even streaming services. 

Nominate as many as you like.  Finalists are selected by how many nominations they get. Comment either here or on Facebook.  And with comedies, it's real plus if they make you laugh, or as our hip new texter friends say - lol.

Remember, we're looking for shows with compelling characters, colorful and exciting plot-lines, and continuing story elements.

Fellow Rippers, I await your input!

So Somebody Had A Baby

Here is a proud father holding his newborn son.  There were  probably many babies born yesterday, all throughout the world.  This is one that CNN and Huffington Post and Faux News and countless other media outlets wanted us to focus on.  Why?

Because he is of royal birth.  Yes, they still have those things in some countries.  This baby boy is third in line to the crown, or something like that.  I kind of missed that detail. Because.......................

.....we don't HAVE to know.  We turned our back to royalty.  We don't have such a thing in our country.  We don't have people we hold up up just because of their lineage....

OR DO WE?  Thank you, O royal Kardashians!

History of the Crab Trap and Other Monday Musings

Better late than never.

Alison and her mother wanted to go to Crab Trap.  It seemed like the perfect Mother's Day present.  But I found out that they didn't open until 5 and took no reservations.  They agreed they would not want to go all the way to St. Simon's on a Sunday (about an hour's drive for us), and wait an unknown amount of time just to be seated.  So they delayed the trip until a day that they would be comfortable with.

On Friday, July 19th, that day finally came.  As you can see by the above picture, they are at the Crab Trap, their son/grandson standing in-between them.

The Crab Trap is a long time mainstay on St. Simon's.  I'm not a huge seafood fan, particularly of shrimp, but this one has a unique appeal for Alison and her mother.  They have exceptional double-battered french fries, and for Benjamin and me there is a hole in the middle of the table in-which we can toss trash or whatever else we can think of.

Better late than never.

I finally got to see the musical Bye Bye Birdie, put on in Alma at the Bacon County theatre.  I was by myself, and it was their very last showing.  This is a shame because then I have no opportunity to promote the play while its run is on.  And it was a very good play.  Blake Kildow as Conrad Birdie is a standout.  His opening musical number is one of the best I have ever seen in community theater.  I got chills knowing I was watching something extra special.  Many others were very impressive, including Leah Walker Miles as Albert's mother, and Sara Crutcher as the teenage girl who is supposed to get kissed by Conrad Birdie on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Better late than never.

We celebrated Alison's father's wife Glenda's birthday Saturday night, with a grill out at our house, and family game night, where I inexplicably beat everybody at UNO.

Better late than never.

I only added one story to the blog this weekend.  I'm not quite sure why.  In the wake of the AdSense tragedy and dropping numbers, I've had a little trouble keeping my game face on.  I'm going have to continue to retool my thinking and see how this blog fits in with things,

Until next time,

T.M. Strait

History of the Trap: June Dreams Part 5

SYNOPSIS:  After being visited in prison by Morgan LaDona Tigh, Lance Martin has agreed to Dr. Duncan's request to detail what happened in the time that Lance is calling "the Trap."  Lance begins his journal by describing the morning before the trap fell, where we learn his father was the Principal of Loren High, that Lance is a Junior, and has a sister named Diane who is a sophomore.  After a couple hours at school that morning, where we see how different his relationship with Morgan is.  We meet Lance's best friend, Artie Pentler, and their gang. Just as Lance is ready to ask Ginny Estill out, the Trap falls, and they witness the horrible death of two P. E.students as they are caught in some kind of electrical storm.  The students soon realize, as April marches on, that the so-called storm is something more, and that they may be trapped at the school and it's grounds for a very long time. May involves grizzly murders of staff that remain unsolved, as Lance's father and staff struggle to come to grips with events.  They decide to schedule more activities for the students to become involved with, including sports,  a TV variety show, and the beginnings of the tunnel project. Lance realizes that Ginny has chosen Artie, and finds himself moving closer to the studious, pretty Lisa Carlton.  Lance and Lisa stumble on to a drug ring being led by David Izzner and the band teacher, Mr. Black.  Later, the Guidance Counselor, Mr. Joe Oliver, is found dead, his office ransacked for cigarettes and other contraband.

5

My growing recognition of contraband and addiction were not the only memorable parts of June.  I was growing closer to Lisa as the month progressed.  There was some physical stuff, but it was the growing interpersonal connection between the two of us that had me most dreaming through June.  We could talk for hours and never tire of each other. She was bright and beautiful. She was a bit more serious and stern than Ginny was.  But then again, so was I.  Artie had a much sharper sense of humor than I did, and maybe that's one of the things that attracted Ginny.  I really didn't know, but as June wore on, it became less and less relevant.

At first, we saw each other mostly outside the group, and when we were with the group, behave close to the same.  But after the first week or two, we gravitated towards each other everywhere, and it became quite clear to everyone that we were an item.  Even then, we were not overtly affectionate in public.  It wouldn't be until later in July that we would hold hands where we could be seen.

On her part, I don't think she had completely closed the door to her Huron University boyfriend.  She didn't want her friends, like Sue Boschman, who knew about the relationship, to think that it was fully over.  It was a little unnerving that this girl whom I was falling so deeply for might ditch me as soon as the Trap ended.  It was odd that I know had this little scratch of a thing that almost made me wish the Trap would go on.  Almost.

On my part, there was a reluctance to communicate to Ginny that I was no longer available, that I had moved on from my unrequited crush.  But she was so out of tune with me that I doubt that she would have noticed no matter what I did.  And as June moved forward, it mattered less and less to me what Ginny thought.

Ours was not the only relationship in our group.  Summer was bringing out the romance all through the gang.  Artie and Ginny were spinning around each other, each denying they were in a relationship, each so clearly in one.  There was a lot of sarcastic back and forth to each other, and you could see that it would just intensify their feeling for each other.  I'm not sure I could have done that.  I'm too serious and would not be up to the give and take.  I loved that Lisa's talking to me was always straightforward.

I doubt that Sue was paying any attention to the fact that Lisa might be moving away from her Huron boyfriend.  She was way too busy getting closer to our resident super mechanic, Tom Bodell.  Although still paranoid, conspiratorial, and rabid right wing, her rhetoric had toned down as other interests took their place.  They had grown to be the most openly affectionate of our group.  Tom was working very hard on the tunnel plans, and was a playing a key role as actual construction gotten underway.  Maybe it was the intensity and hard work, or maybe he was just crazy in love, but it was clear when he saw her he would light up.  They would hold hands, then kiss and hug, and soon we would be calling out, "Get a room!"  They would blush a little and then get up and go....somewhere.

Our newest romance was between sturdy football player Jim Kurrash, and Ginny's pretty blond freshman sister, Mary.  I think she was attracted to his quiet strength.  I'm not even sure how it started.  She just came over and sat by him more and more.  I thought at first she was just moving away from her sister as Ginny became increasingly focused on Artie.  Then I saw that she really was interested in Jim, and he in her.

Still single was Robert Bond and Jerry Mack.  Jerry seemed too fragile to get that involved with anyone, being sickly quite a bit of the time.  And Robert may have just been not quite as mature.  Even tough he was junior, he still seemed happiest with our group as an all-male enclave, as if we were frozen in our junior high state.  As time would tell, Robert's reasons were a little bit more complicated than that, but we didn't know that then.

Outside of our group, other couples were aligning.  And unfortunately, other cliques and groups were solidifying as well.  It wasn't quite divided rival gangs in bitter conflict yet, not yet like the Jets and Sharks in West Side Story, but if the trap continued much longer, who knows?

No one knew then how long this would go on, and how many bitter, deadly divisions would arise.  Our early summer of love would not last.

TO BE CONTINUED!

The Belles are Ringing

The belle rang clear
The belle rang true
Hard against the granite
Striking firm upon the track

I rode along the fifteen
I climbed up the Laderman
I stormed the sixty four
Someday I would thread the arch

Soon it will be tomorrow
When it is still tonight
Soon the day will brighten
Across a western sky

It cannot be closer
It will not be farther
The heart beat is a rocket
The vision is eyes closed

Look not into defiance
Glance not past the Saint
The other side is still the East Land
The place we have not left

And now it's on my mind
The night they drove old Dixiana down
A southside retreat
A place with gator feet

Hear it ring
Hear it in the east
Hear it call your name
Hear it light the way home

Flying Dragon Storybook Season!

Flying Dragon is proud to announce their coming season!  Get ready for......

Storybook Season Six!

1. Summer Broadway Festival - Part II (Beauty & the Beast, Grease, The Little Mermaid) - August 10th, 11th, 17th, & 18th
2. Charlotte's Web - September 21st, 22nd, 28th, & 29th
3. Goldilocks & the Three Scares - October 19th, 20th, 26th, & 27th
4. Alice in Wonderland (A Girl Scout Pathway) - November 22nd, 23rd, & 24th
5. Little Women - February 15th, 16th, 22nd, & 23rd
6. How to Fail at Prom - March 21st, 22nd, & 23rd
7. Alice & Dorothy in the OkayFayNoke - April 26th & 27th, May 3rd & 4th
8. Tom & Huck - June 6th & 7th
9. Pocahontas - July 12th, 13th, 19th, & 20th

SPECIAL EVENTS

1. 3rd Annual Cookies with Santa - December 14th
2. Fairytale Festival - January 25th

A number of these productions are written and adapted by local writers.

Looks like a great year at the Dragon.  Be sure to celebrate by buying a season pass today!

Ripping Good Yarns: Basic Cable Drama Award!

Ripping Good Yarns: Basic Cable Drama Awards!

My legion of Ripping Good Yarn fans, I am proud to announce the second award for 2013, given in the category of Basic Cable Dramas!  Two awards will be given in this category, one will be the Ripping Good Strait Award that is solely determined by me because well, to paraphrase one of my least favorite politicians, Ronald Reagan, "I own this microphone!"  The first will be the Ripping Good Fan award determined by all of your votes!

Ripping Good Fan Award, Broadcast TV Drama

Bates Motel and The Killing each received 12% of the vote.

Switched at Birth received 14% of the vote.

Psych and The Walking Dead tied at 31% each..

This does create a dilemma which I resolve by giving the Ripper award to........

Psych!

This is a great show, very funny, almost more of a comedy.  But because it was an hour long and was centered around criminal investigations, I let it be nominated here instead of as a comedy series.  Aaaand it won. It is great to see the adventures of Gus and Shawn are so popular.

Ripping Good Strait Award, Basic Cable Drama

The Walking Dead!  

The best character driven show on television.  If you are not watching this show because zombies sound icky, you are missing out.  The stakes are high, the emotion is real, the action and story movement is superb.  

But let's not rest on our laurels.  Start commenting on Premium Cable Drama series.  We already have some initial nominations but we could always use more.  Here are some of the great shows to pick from:

Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Newsroom, Treme, True Blood, Banshee, Strike Back, Dexter, Homeland, The Borgias, Boss, Magic City, Spartacus

Nominate as many as you like.  Finalists are selected by how many nominations they get. Comment either here or on Facebook.

Remember, we're looking for shows with compelling characters, colorful and exciting plot-lines, and continuing story elements.

Fellow Rippers, I await your input!

Ripping Good Yarns: Pacific Rim Shot

A still from the movie Pacific Rim.  Here the giant robots (Jaegers)  are doing what they did most of the movie - walking through water.

This is what the movie needed more of.  The giant creatures coming out of the water to threaten familiar cities.

The very best scene of the movie involved a flashback where this girl is alone, running through the city in terror, being pursues by one of the giant creatures.(Kaijus).

Transformers vs. Godzilla!

Who could ask for anything more?

Unfortunately, not quite more than meets the eye.  This movie promised a great deal, wasn't truly awful, but didn't quite make it in to be really great movie.  Kind of a rim shot, where it spins around the rim of the basket, finally dropping out instead going into the basket.

Too many scenes of sloshing through the water, and water battle scene, both above and below the water line.  Not enough big time stomping of cityscapes as in a good Godzilla movie. And way too much Top Gun style pilot training.  

There was a diverse international cast, which should help the movie with overseas audiences.  Most of the cast was adequate to bland, except for a part played by Ron Perelman and the two scientists.  Two of the blond male pilots were completely indistinguishable to me, and it took me most of the movie to tell them apart.

Benjamin saw the movie with me, and he was immensely impressed by it. He has been into robotics lately, so he was very fascinated by that aspect of it.

Hollywood this year has taken some chances and done some high cost movies that were not sequels, but trying to tell independent stories or kick-start new franchises.  Most, like After Earth and The lone Ranger, have bombed in spectacular fashion.  Pacific Rim appears to be more of a disappointment than a bomb.

Despite this rim shot, Hollywood needs to keep trying new things.  Hopefully, they can control costs and still bring great stories that promise more to come.  We can always use some great new ripping good yarns!

A One Note Monday Musing

It's Monday.  And I'm a little more exhausted than even I normally am.  Monday morning is almost always a shock, but this weekend I got even less sleep than normal.

The immediate and extended family are all okay. I didn't lose any sleep over that.  And we weren't up late with parties, travel, or anything unduly entertaining.

I lost sleep over the Zimmerman trial.  Over the horrific reactions I have seen by some on Facebook or whom have talked to me. The sadness that we may have to face future George Zimmermans, that we have confirmed the idea that it is okay to shoot and kill unarmed teenagers and young men, particularly if they are black,

There was the expression that there would be riots in the streets because, I guess, black people are innately violent and that's just what they do.  That George Zimmerman had a right to defend himself, but apparently young black men do not.  That George Zimmerman's life would now be in constant danger because, you know, they just are that way.

There were peaceful, non-violent protests after the trial.  I would be disappointed and ashamed of our culture if there wasn't.  There is always the random crazies, but George Zimmerman has been and will be threatened less than our current President.  I come from a church that at least tolerates liberals, but even in that church someone was so filled with hate that they said that if they found Obama hurt in the middle of the road, they would not call 911 or anyone else to come help him.

I am haunted by the attitude expressed to me a few weeks ago, by someone who said in all seriousness that racism is a thing of the past.  They were startled and unbelieving when I told them it was not.

Flip the racial composition of the two parties involved in the Zimmerman/Martin incident and tell me it would turn out the same.

Watch what happens in the wake of the Voting Rights Act demise. Voter suppression laws are already being proposed and passed in the areas where supposedly racism is a "thing of the past".

Watch what is happening on Big Brother.  Yes, it's just a cheesy TV program, but it is also reflective of a social microcosm, where racism and prejudice are still thriving.

And those who feel it important to tell me that I am not a lawyer and I wasn't on the jury and therefore have no right to an opinion, so sorry.  For the most part you are right, but the chain of evidence leading to manslaughter is just too clear, and it is hard to come to any other conclusion.  I'm not saying the Zimmerman did not commit second degree murder, I just don't know whether or not the prosecution effectively made their case for it, and that is where I would have had to watch the whole trial and/or be on the jury to form a conclusion.  But once Zimmerman ignored what he was told and left his car, pursuing someone with a loaded gun - the rest just falls into place fro a manslaughter conviction.

Well, as a multi-topic Monday Musing, this post has been a real failing.  I guess that's what comes from sleepless nights.

And for those who think it is ridiculous to lose sleep over national events you have no control over, tough noogies.  I is what I is.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

The Verdict Is In! Saturday Political Soap Box 69

Okay, well, if you're talking about the Zimmerman trial, that's not quite in at this moment. I didn't watch 95% of it, so I don't feel fully qualified to render a verdict.  It does seem pretty clear that Zimmerman way, way overstepped the bounds of crime watch observation.  Both people involved were real human beings, and not perfect stereotypes for either side.  Although not a trial watcher, I am not completely unfamiliar with the case, and lean towards the conclusion that although George Zimmerman may be guilty of second degree murder, the evidence may not be there to definitively support that, so manslaughter may be a more likely verdict.  I in no way believe that George Zimmerman is without culpability.

But that is not the verdict I am talking about.

The verdict is in, America.  Like it or not.

We still live in a racist, bigoted society.

Like the OJ trial, I see America viewing this trial through race-colored glasses.  People of different backgrounds can look at this incident, look at the evidence, and come up with completely different judgments.

But just try this.  Flip it.  A white teenager is going through an urban neighborhood where he is the only one of his race around.  He is not small, a football player, unarmed, has used marijuana at some point in his life, has a hood pulled over his head to protect him from the rain.  An armed black man confronts him so the white teenager starts to run.  The black man pursues him, finally catches him, and a tussle ensues.  In the tussle, the black man shoots and kills the white teenager. Does anyone have any doubt as to how the verdict on that one would turn out?

Racism still abounds.  Whatever the extent of Paula Deen's racism, the reaction to it falls on similar lines. Yes, there is a hidden impulse in the South, a nostalgia for an era where the races fell into more predictable camps and attitudes, a secret longing underneath the desire to return to an antebellum idealism, a covert message in the display of the confederate flag.  It has not been eliminated, simply more cautious and coded in it's expression.  And I don't mean to give the North a pass.  Believe me, they have plenty of racial problems of their own.

The efforts to suppress the vote is race-based, to the extent that Republicans know they're going to get very little minority vote, and now that the Supreme Court has freed them, the voter suppression efforts should increase.  It's already happening.

One of my favorite SNL skits from yesteryear involved the talented Eddie Murphy disguising himself as a white person and getting on a bus.  The bus starts out with many white people and one black guy.  The conversation is inane and light, about golf and other banal subjects.  The black guy gets off the bus, and Eddie Murphy begins to watch the conversation instantly change.  Racial stereotypes and slurs abound and everything Eddie Murphy feared about white people is confirmed - when minorities are not around, whites reveal their true racist nature.

Sounds ridiculous?  Catch Big Brother this year.  Hear about the boiler plate of racism and bigotry that is heating up the house. Wishing the Asian woman would just shut up and go make rice, that blacks stick together and can hide in the dark, jokes about queers and faggots, praising of Hitler, and asserting the concept that when women say no they don't really mean no.  And that, my friends, is just the tip of the racist iceberg that Big Brother has hit.

It is true that overall our younger generations are more tolerant than our older generations.  Things have been getting better in that regard.  But don't kid yourself.

It ain't over.

Not by a long shot.

UPDATE:  The Zimmerman verdict is in. He has been found not guilty by a jury of HIS peers.  I guess what he did was okay in Florida, if not the whole country.  And yet the reaction I hear most from conservative friends is their fear that wild out-of-control back people will riot and endanger white people and their property.  I guess they feel that black people will react violently to injustice, instead of just accept that there is nothing they can do about it.  The real fear should by that this will inspire and create other George Zimmermans in the future.  That our young people of color should be even more afraid now to be in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time. That they shouldn't ever try to defend themselves because the stand your ground and self-defense laws are not written for them.  

Be careful out there.

History of the Trap: June Dreams Part 4

SYNOPSIS:  After being visited in prison by Morgan LaDona Tigh, Lance Martin has agreed to Dr. Duncan's request to detail what happened in the time that Lance is calling "the Trap."  Lance begins his journal by describing the morning before the trap fell, where we learn his father was the Principal of Loren High, that Lance is a Junior, and has a sister named Diane who is a sophomore.  After a couple hours at school that morning, where we see how different his relationship with Morgan is.  We meet Lance's best friend, Artie Pentler, and their gang. Just as Lance is ready to ask Ginny Estill out, the Trap falls, and they witness the horrible death of two P. E.students as they are caught in some kind of electrical storm.  The students soon realize, as April marches on, that the so-called storm is something more, and that they may be trapped at the school and it's grounds for a very long time. May involves grizzly murders of staff that remain unsolved, as Lance's father and staff struggle to come to grips with events.  They decide to schedule more activities for the students to become involved with, including sports,  a TV variety show, and the beginnings of the tunnel project. Lance realizes that Ginny has chosen Artie, and finds himself moving closer to the studious, pretty Lisa Carlton.  Lance and Lisa stumble on to a drug ring being led by David Izzner and the band teacher, Mr. Black.

4

Students were not the only ones addicted to smoking.  There were a good number of teachers and staff who smoked.  There were several rooms designated as teacher/staff areas where they could gather, talk and relax without being around students. Two teacher's lounges  were in existence even before the trap.  One of them permitted smoking.

As the number of available cigarettes dwindled, some students couldn't help but notice that the staff smoking lounge still remained fairly tobacco odor tainted.  Did they have their own supply, or were they being furnished by David Izzner and Mr. Black?  This mystery was partly cleared up by the awful events of that mid-June morning.

Many students milled in the hall leading to Joe Oliver's guidance counselor office.  The staff blocked the students off before they could get too close, but that made them all the more anxious. I stood near the front and saw my Dad coming out of the office, looking very shaken and pale.  I was standing near Phil Irman, my friend from the TV studio.  He had been there longer than I had.  "What's going on, Phil?" I asked.

Phil shook his head, trying to absorb and articulate what he knew.  "Not sure, Lance.  I think someone was killed in there.  I heard Mr. Tate say that the office had been ransacked, and that it was too late to help them, and that's all I heard." 

My Dad came forward towards the crowd of students.  "Listen up, everybody.  There is a terrible incident here that we need to investigate and clean up.  If you have information, please report to Mr. Tate's office.  Otherwise, I will be on the newscast tonight to tell you all whatever we know about what occurred here.  Now please get back to your classes or work assignments, and we will do our best to take care of this."

As the crowd broke up, I went with my Dad to his office.  He was very shaken up.  He sat at the conference table and struggled to hold his composure.  His friend and colleague, Joe Oliver, head guidance counselor, had been found on the floor with his throat slit, lying in a pool of his own blood.  The office had been torn apart, records strewn every where, office equipment thrown and smashed.  He believed they were after some cartons of cigarettes that Mr. Oliver had hidden in his office.

"I tried to turn a blind eye to it," my father said, his voice shaking. I had rarely seen him so emotional.  "I tried to ignore the whole cigarette thing, let it run its natural course.  Maybe their slow decline would facilitate a more gradual withdrawal.  I was wrong.  We should have destroyed them all to begin with.  And now it's cost me the life of one my closest friends."

I tried to reassure him, but the best I could do was just to put my arm around his shoulders and be there for him.  Sometimes presence is more important than words.

I wondered how he must feel.  He was a very good man, hard working and devoted to us and the school; family, faculty and staff alike.  And how much it must be hurting him being apart from Mom.  Sometimes we forgot about how hard it must be to be separated from your spouse, with no certainty you would ever see them again.  It was different than our anxiety we had as young adults being apart from our parents, and it was different than the early relationships we had as kids, like Linda's separation from her boyfriend at Huron University.  There were a small number of teachers that were in the trap that were attached to each other, from the originally rumored but now growing relationship between the shop teacher, Mr. King and the health teacher, Miss Symms, to the one intact married couple, the Branches.  But the largest numbers were like my Dad and Mr. Eurich, tragically cut off from their one true love.

That night my Dad gave a speech that was broadcast throughout the school.  He started with a very moving tribute to Joe Oliver.  The guidance counselor had helped many students over the years, and I imagine there were a lot of students breaking down throughout the building.  Then he turned to the matter of finding the killer, who many thought was the same murdering scum who had killed math substitute teacher Mr. Franks and front office secretary Betty O'Neal, and assured everyone that the investigation would lead no stone unturned, and redoubled on the buddy system that would ensure no student be left alone.  He concluded with the dramatic statement that "The scourge of cigarettes is now over.  All cigarettes will be searched out, found, and destroyed.   Anyone caught smoking will be sent to detention, including any staff that does so.  I know that smoking is a horrible, addictive thing, and we will have staff available to help you through it.  But no drug, whether in taking it, or in fighting over its possession, is worth another life.  It ends with Joe Oliver."

I think my Dad made absolutely the right decision.

Not everyone would agree with that.