Posted tagged ‘James Arness’

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“4 am—if I’m ever up that early, it’s because I’m up that late. ”

December 23, 2012

It was another one of those what time is it mornings when I first woke up. It was still dark, but when I looked out the window, I saw three houses ablaze with light. It being Sunday and all I figured it was late at night, but I was wrong. It was 4:45. Knowing I was done with sleep, I came downstairs, cranked up the heat and made coffee. It’s far too early for the papers.

Television is interesting this time of the morning. Infomercials rule the air waves. I think my favorite title was Holiday Hair Gain. I watched a bit of The Thing From Another Planet, but I’ve seen that so many times I know a lot of the dialogue. James Arness, though, does make a great Thing or Mr. Thing, I’m not sure of the protocol when it comes to flesh eating aliens. Dante’s Peak is on now. It is one movie which proves the rule that you can kill people but never a dog. The grandmother gets it, but the dog finds refuge and is saved. Obviously I’ve seen this too many times as well. A main character is now talking about how wonderful a town it is for raising children. Good luck with that.

Vampires are out. Their blood sucking days are over. Zombies are in though they are far uglier and tend to be less discriminatory about which parts of the body they enjoy. Zombie actors also come a bit more cheaply: no speaking parts. I think the only directions they get are to drag their feet and try not to drop dangling body parts.

I watch all sorts of Christmas programs. Yesterday I saw a movie I’ve never seen before, Carol for Another Christmas from 1964. It has quite the pedigree as it was written by Rod Serling and has a Henry Mancini score. The movie was made for TV and is a dark version of A Christmas Carol. Peter Sellers appears in a strange role in Christmas future, a devastating future. When I looked up the movie on IMDB, I found out, “Presented without commercial interruptions, this “United Nations Special” was sponsored by the Xerox Corporation, the first of a series of Xerox specials promoting the UN.” I watched all of it without enjoying it much. I was just curious as to how Mr. Grudge would find redemption. Now I don’t need ever to see it again. Give me Alastair Sim every time.

No white Christmas this year. Rain is forecasted. Good think Santa is magical.

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” If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics?”

March 23, 2012

A damp, cloudy day has replaced our two days of summer. It is 57° which is still quite warm, but it’s no deck day. From my window, I can see pine trunks and branches dark against the light grey sky. A slight breeze flutters the dangling dead oak leaves. It’s a sweatshirt day.

Yesterday TCM was b&w 1950’s science fiction day. I watched a behemoth rise from the Thames and a glob of radioactivity melt people. The best of the films was THEM!, the giant ant movie, one of my all time favorites. I haven’t seen it in a while, but I still remembered some of the dialogue. “Make me a sergeant in charge of the booze,” is one of its memorable lines. At the beginning of the film, the regular size ants eating the sugar on the floor of the destroyed shop is a great scene and the only hint of what is to come. Pat Medford, the lady PhD, got off the plane wearing a suit, a hat and white gloves while Robert Graham aka James Arness, the FBI hero, constantly complained about the desert heat but never took off his fedora. Before the Big Dig, as you went through the South Station tunnel in Boston, you could hear, bouncing off the walls, the exact sound the ants made. I always listened for it as I drove through.

In Ghana, some of the ant hills are taller than people. They always looked like something out of a science fiction movie to me. The hills, made out of sand, are different shapes: some look like the sand castles we used to build on the beach while others resemble stalagmites which rise from the savannah like conical sand icicles. I never stopped to see the ants by the hills, but once during training an army of ants marched across the school grounds. The column was about a foot wide, but I have no idea how long it was as I had to pull myself away to go teach. I watched as long as I could. Some of the ants carried leaves while others carried food of some sort. We’d put a leaf in the middle of the column, but it never deterred the ants who’d move around it on the two sides then regroup when past it. It was fascinating.

I have a full dance card today.

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“If you’re gonna to use that gun, you better start on me.”

June 4, 2011

The morning is beautiful with a bright sun and a blue sky, but that pesky cool breeze is still with us and will bring the temperature down to the high 40’s tonight. Standing outside in the sun is warm and cozy, but the shade is a might chilly.

When I went to get dog food yesterday, I brought my list of flowers so I could buy a couple more and be finished buying for the season. Well, that was a mistake. I bought one or two of each flower on the list. My trunk was filled and some of the taller plants went in the back seat. I have never heard of most of these flowers. I found their names on line when I read about making a country garden. The author said add herbs so I have some Russian sage and hyssops. I bought blanket flowers and I don’t remember what else, but they are lined up on my walk waiting to be planted later today. When I went to get the papers, I noticed the garden is dry so I hauled out my watering can and watered a few which looked a bit wilted. I’ll have to get my irrigation system turned on as I’d hate to lose any flowers, and the grass too is looking a bit needy.

Matt Dillon died on Friday. I know he was really James Arness, but for years and years he was the marshal of Dodge City, and that’s how I remember him. I can still see in my mind’s eye the opening of Gunsmoke when Matt shoots the bad guy with that long pistol. That was in the heyday of TV westerns. I think we watched one every night. I had some favorites and Maverick topped the list, but the The Wild, Wild West wasn’t far behind.

We sat around the small black and white TV and watched Have Gun Will Travel, Yancy Derringer, Wagon Train, Cheyenne and so many others. I learned what a paladin is by watching TV. I also learned that good guys win though that truth has weakened over time. I, however, still keep hope.

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