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“I’m not senile,” I snapped. “If I burn the house down it will be on purpose.”

The morning is a cold one, a frosty morning. The sun is shining but has a pale winter light which brings no warmth. Gracie has been burying her treats. Her new chew has been buried twice and is still somewhere hidden underground in the yard. Gracie’s dirty face was a giveaway. She pushes the dirt over the hole with it. I cleaned her face but she didn’t seem grateful, only annoyed.

I watched Zorro today, twice. When I was a kid, it was shown in black and white, but it was filmed in color so that’s what I see now. Today Don Diego sang to Sergeant Garcia about how strong and powerful Garcia is, a flattering lie. The song was dubbed, not something I would ever have noticed when I was young. When the theme played at the beginning, I still knew the song by heart. Like Superman’s Clark Kent, Zorro’s Don Diego hides his alter ego but the disguise is easy to see through. Though Zorro wears a mask, he has Don Diego’s voice and mustache. When I was a kid, I knew enough to suspend my disbelief, and I loved watching Zorro. I even bought and read the first book of the Zorro series by Johnston McCulley. Instead of being a distraction, TV was an inspiration which led me to read novels on which the programs had been based.

I remember when cigarette commercials ruled the TV. Dancing packs, virile cowboys, catchy phrases and movie stars hawked cigarettes. I remember, “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should,” bad grammar but catchy. Santa Claus even smoked Luckies. I figure with all that traveling, he needed a cigarette break. It would have been tough smoking as the sleigh flew.

Pharmaceuticals now rule the TV commercial world, and I chuckle a bit at how many commercials are aimed at baby boomers. They show people my age solving problems such as incontinence, erectile dysfunction, the need for whole life insurance and wearing underwear like Depends which can’t be noticed under clothing. I’m thinking my future is fraught with indignities if the commercials are any indicators.

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20 Comments on ““I’m not senile,” I snapped. “If I burn the house down it will be on purpose.””

  1. greg washington's avatar greg washington Says:

    January 23, 2015 at 1:46 pm
  2. MT C's avatar MT C Says:

    January 23, 2015 at 1:50 pm

    Kat,

    I agree, fraught. Yes, FRAUGHT! unfortunately not that much into the future any more. Just around the bend, you might say.

    Carl

  3. Caryn's avatar Caryn Says:

    January 23, 2015 at 1:56 pm

    Hi Kat,
    Happy Squirrel Appreciate Day. I think they might like a shower from a Super Soaker. 😀

    I remember the Tsk-tsking over the bad grammar in the Winston commercial. There were articles on the use of “like” in a sentence. I think one of my teachers weighed in on it as well. It made no difference. Language grows and adapts.

    Zorro was a favorite of mine. I didn’t know there were novels, though, nor did I know it was originally filmed in color.

    It’s bright blue sky and yellow sun up here today. A little cool, though. I’ll take it.

    Enjoy the day.

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      January 23, 2015 at 3:41 pm

      Hi Caryn,
      I was thinking of more than that-a potato gun is what I have in mind.

      The bad grammar was finally accepted as colloquial. Language does change. Every year new words are added to the dictionary while others are deleted.

      The novels predated the movie and the TV series. The first story was published in 1919 serialized in a magazine. There were also four novels. Mine was a Whitman published book. They used to cost me 49 cents.

      It is still sunny and cold here.

      Have a great evening!

      • Caryn's avatar Caryn Says:

        January 24, 2015 at 8:59 am

        A few days ago I saw an article that said words were added to the dictionary at a rate of something something.8 per day. I don’t remember the whole numbers because contemplating what a .8 word would look like distracted me too much. 🙂

      • katry's avatar katry Says:

        January 24, 2015 at 10:51 am

        Caryn,
        I figure most of the new words last a while then disappear as the times and mores change. I’m now curious about that number and which are new words.

  4. Christer.'s avatar olof1 Says:

    January 23, 2015 at 2:04 pm

    We didn’t have commercialtv when I grew up, I think it wasn’t allowed until 1987. The rules for commercials during childrens programs are really tough and they don’t allow commercials for toys if I remember right. The big thing here now is betting companies, I think they own the commercial spots in some channels because those are the only ones I can remember 🙂

    We did have commercials before the film in movies and we all rushed to the cinemas to see them. If anyone came in late everyone got angry at the poor person 🙂 The odd thing is that it’s still the same with movies today, we love commercials before the movie but we have commercials on tv 🙂

    None of my dogs bury their treats, they know any of the others will dig it up as soon as they leave it 🙂

    Have a great day!
    Christer.

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      January 23, 2015 at 3:45 pm

      Christer,
      The commercials were usually for cereal during kids’ shows when I was young. As it drew closer to Christmas, the commercials were for toys.

      I like the movie channels and PBS because they have no commercials.

      My friends have a dog who doesn’t have a backyard. She buries all her stuff around the house like under cushions. It’s pretty funny.

      Have a wonderful evening!

  5. bob fearnley's avatar bob fearnley Says:

    January 23, 2015 at 5:21 pm

    Just a quick word about the Chordettes version of the Zorro themesong; actually, two quick words: well done.

  6. Bob's avatar Bob Says:

    January 23, 2015 at 11:10 pm

    We are the first generation to grow up and growing old with TV. If those cancer sticks the Marlboro man hawked haven’t put us under the grass yet we need all those pharmaceutical products to get it up, keep us dry or drop our bad cholesterol level. We grew up with commercials touting products that went plop plop, fizz fizz or cured our tired blood and drained all eight sinus cavities. Whoever decided to allow prescription drug commercials on TV was nuts. Patients now walk into their doctor’s office with a list of drugs they want prescribed that they saw on TV for ailments they don’t have.

    Zorro, Superman, The Lone Ranger and the Cisco Kid were among my favorite programs that came into our house through rabbit ears antenna in living B&W. The grainy monochrome images filled all 21 inches.

    Another beautiful day with temperature in the low 50s.

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      January 23, 2015 at 11:36 pm

      Bob,
      The worst thing about those prescription drug commercials are the side effects. Some are so horrific I’d be afraid to take the medication.

      I liked some of those cartoon type commercials we saw as kids. They were fun and humorous.

      The programs you mentioned are still fun to watch. They are a bit hokey but not silly. Cozi TV has many of them. Superman is the only one you mentioned not on.

      Today was cold. Snow is coming starting tomorrow morning for the rest of the state but the Cape will be getting rain.

      • Jay Bird's avatar Jay Bird Says:

        January 23, 2015 at 11:51 pm

        Bob’s comment reminds me of a great Robin Williams’ line: If you go to someone asking for specific drugs, that person is not called a “doctor”… they’re called a “pusher”!

      • katry's avatar katry Says:

        January 24, 2015 at 12:29 am

        Jay,
        I’ve never heard that, but I can see it.

  7. minicapt's avatar minicapt Says:

    January 24, 2015 at 3:11 am

    Well …

    Cheers

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      January 24, 2015 at 10:59 am

      minicapt,
      The video was wonderful. The dancing was amazing.

      This is a song I’d hadn’t ever heard so I looked up The Pipkins. They were, according to Wikipedia, a one hit wonder in 1970. That’s why I missed them as I was in Ghana then.

      The song is quite fun.


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