Earth Shatnering Experiences

 

   

Well, right off, my bad for the delayed appearance. Last week was one of those collision and collusion of events and circumstances weeks  that happens every then and now. I must put my eyelids on a diet. On  those nights that  I sat down to the keyboard, they were just too heavy to stay open. Anyhow, the boat still floats and the dog still barks so  call this a 168 hour hiccup

　



Carolyn, it was “far out” to hear that you feel, at times, like a stonewalled flower child. Like any other “ good old days” phenomenon I think the Age of Aquarius has taken on a rose colored patina as it recedes further into history. I  turned down a road trip to Yasgur’s farm for that get together because I was doin the night shift at A&P to get “ the bread “ for my first year in University. My twenty-something friends reported upon their return that it was pretty muddy, soggy and scruffy most of the time.
　

I so agree with your take on Tamara’s story as “Twilight Zonish “. And that’s also my foot in the door for where I’m headed now. My first flying experience was in my early teens in the sixties on a tired old prop-engined airliner. A few weeks before the flight I’d seen that now iconic episode of The Twilight Zone - Nightmare at 20,00 Feet. I had a window seat and didn't open the  curtain for the whole flight.







The Robert Matheson ( the guy Stephen King cites as a major influence ) short story behind the script was great, but what I still see, vividly and  overwhelmingly in my memory, is the anguished and terrified face of Bob Wilson, the just out of the sanatorium passenger who sees the gremlin on the wing that nobody else sees. That was my first exposure to William Shatner. I wouldn’t run into him onscreen again until the mid-seventies when Star Trek reruns became part of our newly-weds dinner routine. I was precluded from being a Trekkie during the show's maiden 1966-69 voyage on prime time by my folks wish to follow more fifties-ish TV fare. There was, no doubt, a moment when I realized that  Kirk was the guy from the Twilight Zone episode, but I don’t remember it. William Shatner has impressed me from thence on, though.

Yes, he’s the guy whose picture  should be in the dictionary under the entry for “ histrionic” and yes, he has a penchant for making a single word sound like a compound sentence - I heard someone recently refer to that as speaking " Shatnerese " In fact he’s made the latter part of his career in part, an exercise in playing on those very aspects. That’s part of his appeal for me, he’s not afraid, in the least, to parody himself . We all know that he can still nail any part he takes on .
He's got an indefatigable  work ethic, and that's why you see him in so many places and have done so for almost seven decades.   Like Paul McCartney he’s centrally focused on his craft and simply cannot let go of the desire to entertain. I think he's like Sir Paul in more than a couple of ways.

The Shat has an undefinable presence. It's  not gravitas like Morgan Freeman, or Patrick Stewart  or fellow Canadian Christopher Plummer. It's closer to the  Bill Clinton or Dustin Hoffman, or Robert De Niro type presence, but with  some Sham-Wow Guy  DNA mixed in.  In a previous century he'd be the  Circus Ring Master who worked his way up from carnival pitchman.   He makes you watch him just by being there. He’s the grown-up version of that compulsively over-achieving guy or girl you knew in high school who was self-centered, capital C  confident and conspicuously talented.  ( you know, like most of the cast of Glee ) The Shat does cheesy as magnificently as he does anything and everything else.





I’m not a Shat fan-boy , however. I wouldn’t want him as my best friend . I think that down deep Bill Shatner’s best friend is Bill Shatner.  He'd rock as  an occasional drinking buddy, though.   After a libation or two I’ll bet he’d have some incredible stories to tell. I don’t think he’s the sole reason, or even the main reason,  that Star Trek became what it is ( methinks he does  though ) I imagine he’s pretty high maintenance . I didn’t follow him in his T.J. Hooker or Rescue 911 days, but the fact that he pulled that stuff off as well as cutting his acting teeth   in Shakespearian  Stratford and on Broadway in the 50’s, when mainstream theatre was totally hard core and old school , speaks for itself. His multi Emmy winning four years as Denny Crane on Boston Legal  ( 2004 - 2008 )  were most sublime to behold. The C.V. is just so long and so varied that the overwhelming impression is that this guy has it all.

 Alas, even his participation couldn't save the twitter feed derived $#*! My Dad Says  ( Sept 2010 - Feb 2011 ) , primarily because its network TV iteration was de-fanged, watered down and hackneyed from the git-go. Even in his eighties he still clearly has what The Beastie Boys called " the skills to pay the bills."

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Okay, time to slink back into the riddle cave. Before I get to your most recent offering, Carolyn, I'm still in the dark as to whether your riddle that began with " Looping curves of color..." was all about paper clips. Mine from the April 24 entry was a screwdriver. Also,  before I move on to this round I have to know, or at least ask - what the "h" "e" double hockey sticks is a " salad shooter " ??  It sounds like something you'd order at a health food bar. I am still solidly in the dark about your last one (Apr. 28 ) but I'll take a wild swing at it with  bookends ( Although the fake snow thing doesn't click for me here - unless you have really dusty bookends ! )   

Tonight,  here's what I'm bringing to the riddle table:


 
 
 

Sometimes a lady, other times blind

Those of Eire have the lion’s share

Broken optical device

Creates negative version for 2555 dawns

 

 

Don

 

 

 

All Images retrieved from Google Images

 

Fig. 1  - realmagick.com

Fig. 2 - MyConfinedSpace.com

Fig. 3 - Flickr.com

Fig. 4 - broadwayworld.com

Fig. 5 - shit-my-dad-says. wikia. com

Fig. 6 - roflrazzi.cheezburger.com