You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair. ~Douglas MacArthur
A cold breeze blows from offshore, waxing moonlight sprinkles stars on the waves breaking along the cold, empty beach. I sit alone comtemplating the end of the year, the blessings therein and wondering what blessings the new year will bring. Fitting that we start 2010 with a blue moon.
At the last New Year's full moon I was feeling very upbeat and positive. Shari, the kids, and I were in Los Angeles visiting family over the holidays. We had just returned from Japan and would soon be heading to Hawaii for the next three years of our Navy careers. There was something delightful coming and I felt it. I don't remember if I was aware of the blue moon that year. But I recognize a similarity in mood today. An optimism about the future. A feeling that everything is all right.
The article goes on to say that there is no conclusive evidence that the phase of the moon affects mood, and behavior. Maybe so, but experience tells me otherwise. Of course it's all subjective. Do I happen to notice a particular mood when I look into the sky and see the the full moon? I don't know. I like the romance though.
An Afghan man sits on a hill next to the waxing moon in Kabul December 30, 2009. When the moon becomes full tomorrow, December 31st, it will be the second full moon of December, known as a "blue moon". The next blue moon will occur on August 31, 2012. (REUTERS/Marko Djurica)
I wonder If we were comtemplating the same things? What thoughts are on your mind as we change decades? How could 2010 be better for you than the previous year?
One more holiday weekend to get through to end the old and start the new year.
2009 has been a pretty good year all things considered. I've been steadily gaining strength and confidence in my body after the rough time I had in 2008. I expect this to continue into the new year although the first thing on my plate is a colonoscopy on monday. It's partly preventive maintenance and partly to help figure out what is causing this tightness on the left side of my abdomen that is not particularly painful, but does prevent me from moving as I would like. 2009 has been good to me in other ways, especially renewing relationships with old friends and family members long missing from my life. The support of friends and family has been tremendous this year. Shari, Cameryn and I have had a bit of a rough time with me unemployed. Strangely enough, the reduced income has allowed us to better see what is essential to our long term happiness.
2009 Top Ten List of great things that happened in 2009.
#10 Starting a blog.
#9 Meeting new friends on the internet, some who are also bladder cancer patients and others who are great bloggers.
#8 Getting in touch with friends of 25 years or more who had disappeared from our lives for awhile.
#6 Seeing an African-American elected to the Office of President of the United States.
#5 Having George W. Bush out of office.
#4 Having a delightful Christmas week with the in-laws and my daughter Journey home to celebrate.
#3 Welcoming my son Aidan home after an extended stay in the city's sleep away camp.
#2 Getting in touch with my son Chris after some years of no contact.
And the NUMBER ONE GREAT THING THAT HAPPENED IN 2009.
Alyssa Shay Williams, my grandaughter born on December 18th.
What great things did you see in 2009? What's the best thing that happened? Are you optimistic about 2010 like I am?.
I'd like to wish all friends of Going Down Hill a very happy and prosperous New Year. I'd like to thank all of you for your support, kindness and encouragment. Without you this endeavor would have been in vain. You have become a special part of my extened "family" Love to all.
Mike.
ps: I have added the Pandora widget to my blog. Feedback on your experience with it should you try it would be nice.
A girl phoned me the other day and said "Come on over, there's nobody home." I went over. Nobody was home.
- Rodney Dangerfield
I was having a drink at a local restaurant with my friend Justin when he spotted an attractive woman sitting at the bar. After an hour of gathering his courage, he approached her and asked, "Would you mind if I chatted with you for a while?" She responded by yelling at the top of her lungs, "No, I won't come over to your place tonight!" With everyone in the restaurant staring, Justin crept back to our table, puzzled and humiliated. A few minutes later, the woman walked over to us and apologized. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you," she said, "but I'm a graduate student in psychology and I'm studying human reaction to embarrassing situations." At the top of his lungs Justin responded, "What do you mean, two hundred dollars?"
-- J. Smodish
Moses was walking down the street when he bumped into George W. Bush. "Hello," Bush said. "Nice weather we're having, huh?" Moses took one look at the President, turned, and ran in the other direction.
The next day Moses was walking down the same street and there was Bush. Again he tried to initiate a conversation. Again Moses turned and ran away.
Bush was tired of this bizarre treatment, so the next time Moses ran away from him, Bush followed. When he caught up, he asked Moses what was wrong.
Moses said, "The last time I talked to a bush I spent 40 years in the desert."
What's grey on the inside and clear on the outside?
An elephant in a baggie.
God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
For those who haven't heard of the charter for compassion I ask that you visit the website, affirm the charter by adding your name and lend your support by spreading the word. It is a very simple four paragraph document with the power to change the world.
The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.
It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others - even our enemies - is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.
We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings, even those regarded as enemies.
We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy anda peaceful global community.
In the last couple of days I've heard some folks who should know better completely screw up simple explanations of the solstice. This is stuff I learned back in Miss Ralph's fourth grade classroom. Twice I've heard commentators refer to the solstice as the earth reversing its tilt. If that actually happened then twice a year we would get climate changes that make global warming insignificant.
Here's a blogger I respect; The Wise Turtle who says "I challenge you to learn like a scientist, and live like an artist." Well the turtle took a bit of artistic license with yesterday's blog.
Another mention was made on a local weather broadcast by a comunications major who took a test to get her meteorological certification so she could screw up yesterday's broadcast.: "At 12:47 this afternoon the earth's axis will reverse, marking the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year".
I remember having to teach this to the 18 year old weather junkies coming to observer school in the 80's The Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5 deg(the axis) from the perpendicular. It stays that way all year, every year. To be fair there is specualtion by geologists that the axis has changed at times in the past and may do so again in the future. Unlikely in the next week or two though.(btw, that's an official forecast)
As it goes around the sun that tilt doesn't change. its that tilt that causes our seasons and drives the whole heating mechanism that is utlimately responsible for the weather we experience locally.
MSNBC gets it right with their graphics: I notice they rely on NOAA instead of having an internal weather hack mess it up.
Pretty simple really. Notice the axis never changes, Only the angle relative to the sun does. Even a local TV weather putz should get this one right. Turtle I love you. I read your wisdom every day. But when it comes to weather wisdom don't go any farther than: In the rain a wise man carries an umbrella. Tag out.
A freckled face redhead with the most gorgeous green eyes I had ever seen stood at my front door with a bottle of Ripple.
"Hi! I was feeling a bit lonely, saw you in here by yourself, so here I am".
"Hi Bev, I was feeling a bit lonely too. Ripple! I'm honored".
"Shut up! its the only thing I could afford, you want it or not".
"Well, what the hell, a pretty girl, a bottle of wine and just the two of us". I had no reason to resist fate.It had been a strange two weeks. I thought "Why not end it on a great note".
"C'mon in Bev, "I was just packing up my stuff, getting ready to go home"
"You can't leave, you just got here." She said
"Yeah, well Denton's nice. I like it here but LA's home". I was anxious to get back, though nothing seemed to be coming together for me in LA. No job yet but I was really looking more toward going to school than working. I had registered at El Camino, but had no idea what I wanted from school. So nothing was definite and I know my parents were tired of my presence. I had about worn out my welcome.
Beverly sang Neil Diamond misquoted at me.
"LA's fine but it ain't home no more". I sang the rest, "I am I said, I am said I, I am lost and I cant even say why"
There was some truth there.. After my first enlistment was up, I had stopped by Denton to see my friend Michael who had gotten out a couple of months before me. I spent a week or two in Denton before getting back on the road to Los Angeles. Motivated by something unknown, I had left all my belongings except for my guitar and some clothes with Mike and his girlfriend Kaylen. Either I had to come back or I had to abandon it all. I was waiting for something. I just didn't know what.
A few months later me and Steve Quijano were supposed to get together and drive back to Denton to pick up my stuff. Steve was going along for the ride. On a Friday morning I knocked at Steve's door. His brother told me he wasn't going to go. "That's cool" I thought, I wasn't really sure I wanted him in the first place. He had been acting erratically for a few weeks. I didn't need the hassle. More fate. Got to Denton with my car only breaking down once. Mike said he had a ticket To Pink Floyd for me so I would have to stay a week. Kaylen was in the hospital for something not too serious. So I stayed in Denton, but only for a week. Pink Floyd Was awesome especially with the blotter I dropped before the show. Mike was with Kaylen most nights. I was left alone until Bev showed up with the Ripple.
Bev and I and chatted a little drank a bit of wine, smoked a bit of dope. She went through my record collection and pulled out a few favorites. We found we had much in common.
"So why are you alone tonight?" I asked.
"Bruce and I had a big fight last night" I feel like he's smothering me, he wants to control everything I do together and I don't have a say"
"She was a Green Eyed Lady from El Paso,
Said I loved her too hard,
she had no room to grow.
That's when she said "good-bye"
That's when she said "dont cry"
That's the first verse from the first song I wrote. I'm not sure if I'm talking about Bruce or me in that lyric.I had fallen in love with Bev that night. I think it was the bottle of Ripple, plus the laughter, plus the green eyes. I was smitten. I abandoned my plans to leave, got a job in Denton. Bev and I hung out every night, went to Dallas on the weekends. Snuck into a James Taylor concert at SMU, then went to a disco aftwards. I asked the DJ to play Green Eyed Lady. She bought me a Conan the Barbarian comic, I bought her Red Sonja. It seemed like we were perfectly matched.
Somewhere in those few weeks together she started seeing Bruce again, just to talk she said. We would still go out together. One day we were headed to the lake, She saw Bruce on the street and ducked so he wouldn't see her. I think he did though. I know he recognized my bright yellow and black Gremlin. At the lake we laughed and played in the water. Everthing in the world was perfect.
That's when she said "good-bye"
That's when she said "dont cry"
I chased her around Denton for a few weeks, stalking her I guess. I just wanted to talk. She moved back in with Bruce. I still don't understand why. We never talked again. I heard she moved but no one knew where, I stayed in Denton for a year got a job running the lights at Texas Women's University. Finally headed back to LA with a plan. Sometimes it takes awhile, but I eventually get there.
I love happy endings, I've seen so few of them.
That was thirty some years ago, disco is dead, I've been married twice. I have four fine children and now my first grandchild. I am content, even happy most of the time. But I can't stop the what ifs. And of course Every time I hear the song a tear falls slowly down my cheek.
Green Eyed Lady, lovely lady
Strolling slowly towards the sun
Green eyed lady ocean lady
Soothing every little wave that comes
Green eyed lady, passion's lady
dressed in love she lives for life to be
Green eyed lady feels like I never see
setting suns and lonely lovers free Do,do,dododo do.
Little Beaver If you're out there and see this let me know.
And I spent 5 years teaching alcohol and substance abuse prevention for Sailors.
Quien va llegar ah bailar con migo
Que me siento triste y solo
En esta noche me levantare
Entre tu lumbre yo bailare
Anybody wanna dance with me yeah
Quien va venir ah bailar con migo
Que me siento triste y solo baby
En esta tempestad e llegado
Y aqui me quedare bailando
Theres no time for crying
Only time for flying
Onlytime to keep it up
Only time to fly with love
Ave maria ilumina me
Con todos los santos regozare
Rezo por el pobre rezo por alla
Que se acabe la guerra la batalla
Rezo por la gente en mi vecindad
Rezo por el mundo que venga la paz
Si quieren se acaba la guerra
Perdoname
Lagrimas cayeron
Como caà la lluvia
Sobre un dÃa triste
Todos mis pecados
Te los traigo a tus pies
En la luz de tus misericordia
Perdóname
Todo lo que querÃa
Un cielo en esta tierra
Derrotado estoy
Quebrantado por los vientos
Del tiempo, y espacio
Y la eternidad
Perdóname
Perdóname
Te lo suplico
No me abandones
Soy parte de tu ser
Perdóname, perdóname
Rios Misticos
Con amor no falta nada
Yo aquà guardo tu espalda
Y si sabes que eres amor
Lloverá amor
Con amor no hay condiciones
Simplemente es sin razones
Y si sabes que eres la luz
De este mundo brillaras
RÃos de agua viva
RÃos mÃsticos
RÃos de amor son tuyos
El amor es tu destino
Convierte el agua en vino
Y si sabes que eres amor
Lloverá amor
Con amor no hay condiciones
Simplemente es sin razones
Y si sabes que eres la luz
De este mundo brillaras
RÃos de agua viva
RÃos mÃsticos
RÃos de amor son tuyos
No sabes que tú quieres ser
Lo que no puedes ver
Pues tú sabes que tú quieres ver
Lo que no puede ser
RÃos de agua viva
RÃos mÃsticos
RÃos de amor son tuyos
RÃos de ti, rÃos de mÃ
RÃos mÃsticos
El Camino Menos Transitado
Maria
You always sing it better
Even when I fade away
You steal my heart with all
The words you want to say
I know that you’re lonely
I don’t want to fight
Yeah your heart owns me
I need you tonight
Maria
Te amare por siempre
All I do is for you and I
Though it may be hard to see
By the life that I lead
There is no without you in my life
There’s no without you
The blind can see
You are my faith, my truth
My reality
Maria
Te amare por siempre
All I do is for you and I
Though it may be hard to see
By the life that I lead
There is no without you in my life
Te amo
Stay with me, stay
Don’t let me go
There’s so much more to this
We will come to know
Stay with me, stay
Have faith and see
I swear to give you all
That you will ever need
Maria
Te amare por siempre
All I do is for you and I
Though it may be hard to see
By the life that I lead
There is no without you in my life
There is no without you and I
As usual I get a little carried away. Especially with a band I really, really like. Del Castillo is special.
The lyrics are from their website which I've linked to in several places. I thought to do translations but decided the Spanish was better. I hope you like Del Castillo as much as I do.
'We will think about cancers in a very different way'
Last Updated: Thursday, December 17, 2009
10:06 PM ET Comments222Recommend170CBC News
Researchers have mapped the DNA mutations in skin and lung cancer — findings that one researcher says will change how cancer is viewed.
For lung cancer, the British team found almost 23,000 mutations — one mutation for every 15 cigarettes smoked.
"This is a fundamental moment in cancer research," said Prof. Michael Stratton from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge. "From here on in we will think about cancers in a very different way."
Scientists knew that smoking causes genetic mutations than can start tumours. But they didn't expect to see evidence of the genome bearing scars of every cigarette smoked. When they catalogued the mutations, they saw how cancer-causing agents in tobacco repeatedly bombard the DNA.
As with lung cancer, the second paper on melanoma showed repeated evidence of damage to DNA, this time from exposure to ultraviolet light. The team found about 33,000 mutations related to melanoma.
"Let's decrease exposure, let's stop smoking, use sun protection and so on, and actually we will be decreasing the chances of having cancer," said Dr. Tom Hudson of the International Cancer Genome Consortium in Toronto. "Prevention is probably the most important message to be had."
The genetic sequences that were studied came from tumours from two men who died from their diseases. The researchers compared normal and cancerous cells from the patients to find the genetic changes behind their fatal cancers.
Prospect of new tests, drugs
Now the time-consuming challenge is to learn more about these deadly mutations, and translate this knowledge into something that is clinically useful, Hudson said. In the meantime, there's no point in people calling to ask for their cancer genome, he said, because researchers wouldn't yet know how to use the information.
The international team of scientists from the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, India, Japan and Singapore will now sequence several hundred more tumours from different patients to look for key mutations that could become targets for future drugs. It's the biggest genetic sequencing effort since the human genome project first gave scientists a look at the blueprint of life. There are tens of thousands of mutations in cancer DNA, but researchers say it's likely that only a handful of those mutations are responsible for making a cell cancerous. Every year, 20,000 Canadians develop lung cancer, but by the time symptoms emerge it's usually too late to treat, which is why 95 per cent of patients don't survive. Worldwide, lung cancer kills around one million people each year. Melanoma kills more than 900 Canadians a year, according to Canadian Cancer Society statistics.
So rougly I smoked roughly 167,900 cigarettes between 1973 and 1996 (11,000 genetic mutations). No wonder I had cancer. No wonder the VA won't accept my claim that it was asbestos exposure that caused the cancer. Of course it didn't help.
Pigeons flocked around my daughter Journey as dozens of Japanese tourists snapped picture after picture. Her blonde hair and blue eyed humor attracted much attention everywhere we went in Japan. She loved the camera and always had a smile and a laugh for anyone.
The City of Kamakura, perhaps a half hour drive from our home in Hayama or a short train ride from Yokosuka was a frequent destination for Shari, Journey, Aidan and I. perhaps it was the temples that attracted us or the great Buddha, or even the KFC with the fiberglass Colonel Sanders outside. Whatever the attraction we were there often. Here are some reasons.
Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, a Shinto shrine in Kamakura was the home of thousands of pigeons. next door was a Buddhist Temple.
Large Torii gate at the entrance to the Hachiman Shrine. The Torii gate marks the transition from the everyday mundane world to the world of spirit. Thus they are common at Shinto shrines and occasionally at Buddhist temples.
During the weekdays thousands of Japanese school children are touring the temples and historical sites. the kids are mostly dressed the same with the color of the uniform identifying the school. Try getting a stroller through that crowd and up the steps to the temples. Quite a challenge.
I met tourist from the Americas, Europe, and other parts of Asia each time I visited.
Daibutsu at Kamakura
: Located at Koutokuin 高徳院 in Kamakura, the Kamakura Daibutsu (literally “Kamakura Big Buddha”) is a giant metal statue of the Amida Nyorai. Roughly 50' in height (the face itself nearly 10' long), This statue weighs 93 tons. Upon the head are 656 hair curls, a traditional characteristic of the Amida Buddha. The silver boss on the forehead (from which emanates the light that illuminates the universe) weighs 30 pounds. Wikipedia- all photos from Wikipedia Commons
Amida Nyorai
Buddha of Infinite Light and Life
Lord of the Beyond and the Afterlife
Lord of Gokuraku, the Land of Ultimate Bliss
Savior of Japan’s Pure Land Sects
Entrance 20 yen.
I don't know if that sign is still there after all it has been 20 years since my last visit to Kamakura, but on the back of the Daibutsu there was this sign in Kanji and English.
The Daibutsu was originally inside a temple, but this was washed away by a tsunami in 1498. The temple was destroyed the Buddha has sat alone in meditation for the last 500 years.
Even Gojira has passed by leaving Amida Nyorai in peace.
I remember well the awe I felt standing next to the Buddha and looking out over the ocean a pretty good distance away, realizing a Tsunami had come this far inland and at height to destroy a temple. Godzilla pales in comparison. Kamakura is also a nice little city, population of about 180,000. Many small shops selling artwork, clothing and food, as well as western influences such as the Colonel and Ronald McDonald. Kamakura is still one of my favorite places in the world. I wonder if they still need English teachers?
Cheap Tequila, Sambuca, and Hennessy's washed with pints of Guiness draft in a pub with what seemed like half the British Navy and a good portion of the crew of the Kearsarge. Not necessarily a recipe for disaster though. Thanks to Smokie and Alice.
Richie and I were drinking buddies, raised glasses together, usually Gin N Juice, from Gitmo to Greece. We started hanging out together at the Porthole Lounge and Thunder's in Pascagoula. Playing darts and getting hammered on a nightly basis. Two alcoholics away from home and family found solace in each other's company.
Rich and I would hook up as soon as liberty call went down. In whatever port we happened to be in New York City, Torremolinos, Spain, San Juan, Puerto Rico. It made no difference. Our goal was to drink as much as possible, play at trying to find hookers and keeping each other out of trouble. Except it all fell apart in in Malta;. St Andrew's Pub. I may still have the t-shirt. This is where the drunk-alogue starts.
Rich and I were slow getting started. A pint of Guiness, consumed slowly as we waited for the usual crew to find us. The Brits trickled in a few at a time, they were always a hoot to hang with. Not stingy about buying a round and not againest being bought a round in return. To the Brits, Malta was part of home. They had obviously spent much time there, seemed to be on a first name basis with the Irish band setting up and singing along to songs of the Proclaimers, Wreckless Eric. Flogging Molly, Maybe reaching way back for Obla Di, Obla Da and some ballads I was unfamiliar with. One song in particular seemed to appeal to the Brits. All of them knew the hook and sang along. The band cooperated by repeating this song throughout the night. Each time the pub crowd got louder and rowdier.
Living Next Door to Alice, unrequited love, a secret crush, a nice back story and a pub full of drunk sailors. British and Americans asking the question. Who the Fuck Is Alice?. What gives her the right? Leading us on, then breaking our hearts. Everyone of us knew the story, had probably lived it and knew a Sally. Someone there to pick up the pieces. Who had her heart broken in return as we kept trying to find our Alice.
I lost Richie some time after St Andrew's closed for the night. Ended up the night by peeing all over a Maltese cop's car. Got dragged back to the ship by the shore patrol, Went to Captain's mast. Missed the next three port calls. Lost over $4000 in fines and lost salary. The only thing I didn't do was start a bar fight. What a great drunk. As it turned out my last; good thing, I don't think I could survive another.
This is a street in Pusan (Busan), Korea. This was actually the first port outside the US I had ever visited.
The city is a study in contrast. Much of the city is modern, with attractive architecture and landscaping. Other sections of the city are hovels with foul smelling open sewers lining the streets right outside the doors of homes.
This is a typical working class business district. Mostly mom and pop stores with all kinds of goods for sale and many restuarants or bars.
A weather balloon launch from the fantail of the USS George Washington. Weather guessers use to have to do this twice a day all over the world to get an accurate picture of the structure of the atmosphere.
The wake stretched for miles behind the ship. Bioluminescent animals stirred up by the screws would glow all through the night.
An idea for a logo. Ephraim Horn Jr
Words and Music.
Over the years I've filled a number of notebooks with musings, sketches, dialogs with god, rants againest society, story ideas I'll get around to one day, and other assorted stuff. Unfotunately I've tossed most of that stuff during many moves. Most of it was crap, but every once in a while a flash of creativity would pop up. Which likestanding on my head I suppressed, until a psych professor actually encouraged me to publish my thoughts on gender equality and gender roles as I had written them for class assignments. (The Psychology of Men and Women). I had never considered a blog until I came across Kirk Jusko's blog "Shadow of a Doubt" From there it became almost viral. A growing community of writers, artists and philosopher's who as Tre'e and LimesNow have said have become more than just 'tend friends. At first I was satisfied to just get the words on paper. However my fellow bloggers have inspired me to push myself a bit to become a better writer, much as my psych prof did many years ago. I appreciate it, and like a good support group I treasure the words of advice, encouragement and care that you all bring to this process. Plus you are all damn interesting.
At each scene change the giant Christmas Tree would grow a few more feet, until by the end of the ballet the star on top was barely visible below the proscenium arch, a little bit of stage magic the public usually didn't see happening. The bulk of the tree fully decorated was below the stage with the top 6 or 7 feet above the floor. Very beautiful in operation as the tree was slowly pulled upward by the offstage fly system.
I believe there is a law saying the Nutcracker Ballet in one form or another be performed at every theatre in the country at Christmas time. Most Americans above the age of three are familiar with the story: A young girl dreams of a Nutcracker Prince who does battle with the the Mouse King beneath the Christmas Tree. Set to the beautiful music of Pytor Tchaikovsky the Ballet and score are known to perhaps billions worldwide.
For a stagehand though Nutcracker takes on a more painful connotation. In some venues the steup is very easy. A painted backdrop, extra long for the height of the tree, slowly unfolds as the pipe is taken upward. Depending on the quality of artwork these can be very beautiful. Easy to set and reset between performances. At other venues a real tree is used, 20 to 25' high. In this case the show is known by the crew as nutbuster. Not an attractive but, certainly a very fitting appelation for the time and stress getting these monsters to fly.
I think it was 1979. I was a seasoned Nutcracker crewmember, but that year I had decided to forego the setup because I was involved in another play on the campus of El Camino College. A late night phone call "Tag can you come over to the main auditorium as soon as you can" Unusual for me to receive a phone call from the stage manager at midnight. Usually I would get the call at 8 am because I was late for a setup call. That night was a lot different.
I walked in the stage door to be greeted by an awful stench. "Oh! my God, What the F**k happened!" was my first thought. It became obvious what had happened. But let me explain...
In most modern theatres of a certain size there is a counter-weight fly system. This means that anything that needs to move in a quick scene change can be flown out of sight or onto the stage. Each piece to be flown including: set pieces, backdrops, performers or Christmas Trees needs to be counter balanced at the fly rail off stage. So each piece is connected to the fly rail by pipes, chains, long lengths of aircraft cable and pulleys. The arbor of the system contains the counter balance weights usually rectangles of iron weighing 25 lbs. How many 25 lb weights does it take to counter a 25 ft Christmas Tree weigh? I don't know, but it is a lot.
Apparent from, the water dripping from the loft and the tree tilted at a crazy angle through the broken stage floor, that either a cable had snapped or a piece of rigging hardware couldn't hold the weight of the tree. When it gave way, the tree slammed back down through the stage floor. The arbor loaded with hundreds of pounds of weight, suddenly free of its counter weight went into free fall, crashing into the flyrail where a few stagehands had just been. The now free cable wildly whipping through the other battens, cables and pulleys almost took a stagehand out as it fell through the offstage arbors. The batten the tree was on now without its counter weight took off toward the fly grid above the stage. The pipe slammed through the sprinkler system on the way up to the grid unleashing a torrent of dirty water onto the stage and all of the stage drape. In a word, catastrophe. Luckily no one was injured.
Turned out the damage wasn't as great as it could have been. None of the set drape had been flown, so only the stage drape owned by the school was soaked. It did cost a bit to have those cleaned. The stage floor was cracked and splintered around the open trap doors. These were fairly easily fixed. The fly system had very little damage. Some bent steel and shredded cable to be replaced. All in all it could have been much worse. Fortunately we still had a week before the performance and nothing else in that theater until the opening performance. We worked our asses off to make repairs and reset the tree, the other set pieces and drapery. Nutbuster went on as scheduled. After all " the show must...
25 Days out of Singapore, south-southwest of Sumatra, the USS Coral Sea slowly crossed the Indian Ocean in search of our mock enemy. In the pre-dawn gloom, the ship still running dark as is the custom of a combat ship on patrol, I hurried through the maze of passageways to my station. Upon reaching the balloon room I dropped a bathythermograph for deployment into the calm seas we traveled through.
Fishing a smoke out of the patch pockets of my dungarees, I stood on the launch platform watching the sunrise and scanning the surrounding waters as I normally did each day underway.
Not that I expected anything, perhaps a sighting of one of our battle group. A destroyer, or perhaps a light cruiser standing by on patrol for a submarine or small boats that would come out to watch a launch and recovery had we been flying. But this morning all was quiet. Almost eerily so.
This morning as the gradually lightened the sky I was surprised to see in the distance off starboard a small island. I had thought we were clear of the small chunks of land that made up the Indonesian Archipelago. As far as I knew there wasn't supposed to be any land out here where we cruised. The wake informed me that the Skipper had brought the ship into a slow turn in that direction, perhaps to recover an aircraft.
Or perhaps to get a closer look at this mysterious island where no land should be. That proved to be the case. As we approached the details of the land became clearer. A narrow beach with scattered palms gave way to the dark interior of dense rainforest. That in turn led up the steep slopes of a dormant volcano rising out of the jungle. It's upper reaches suggesting a human skull. Well schooled in classic films one word stood out in my shock numbed mind. Kong!
Rooting around in my garage yesterday I came across a copy of The Dictionary of Imaginary Places I had bought for Shari and the kids years ago. Its one of the few books that seems to make every move with us. Published in 1980 the book covers a lot of the older works of fiction and specualtion going back centuries. Skull Island the home of the infamous ape King Kong is actually one of the newer imaginary places reported on. Many of these names in this book are quite familiar such as Tolkien's Gondor and Burrough's Pellucidar. Others though are obscure, but fascinating none-the-less. Way back in 1846 Herman Melville wrote of the island of Bora-Nomma, also called the Island of Dreams in the book Mardi, and The Voyage Thither. On Bora-Nomma you must pay tribute to the King for entrance to this wondrous land. The tribute consists of a nap, something I could afford quite easily.
Like the science fiction I wrote of yesterday these adventures to fantastic places were where I spent most of my time as a child. perhaps I found the details of my everyday life to be too hum-drum. Perhaps I used adventure to escape the constant presence of my siblings and the noise they generated. Perhaps I imagined myself as the hero of each of these adventures. Perhaps all of these and more.
Books were my constant companion growing up and they still are during times of stress. Today its just as easy to get lost in a seiries such as Terry Pratchett's Discworld as it was to get caught up in the L Frank Baum's Oz back in the 60's. Sadly, Discworld isn't in the the dictionary. Ether is is Frostbite Falls or Hogwarts. Fortunately there is a wiki to keep us updated on these and other lands of our imaginations.
In my ear: That damn Walk Away Renee. Thanks Limes : )
