This Lonesome Road

The following post will spoil the ending of  movie that came out over 65 years ago.

In the 1957 film A Face In the Crowd, a woman named Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) discovers a man who goes by the sobriquet of Lonesome Rhodes (Andy Griffith), a crude and unkempt vagabond with a wonderful singing voice and a clever way of telling stories.  

Despite his unsophisticated demeanor, Rhodes has a certain charm, a charisma if you will, that Jeffries thinks could make Rhodes a star.  

Starting with Marcia's small town radio station then moving on to a bigger market, success leads to success as Lonesome Rhodes becomes a national sensation with his own network TV show. 

The growth of his popularity as an entertainer brings him into the orbit of politics and Rhodes is being groomed for a leadership role in government.

Marcia Jeffries thinks this is a bad idea. 

For whatever talent and charm he might possess, Lonesome Rhodes is an appallingly ignorant person with a volatile temperament and a narcissistic ego.  

One night as the closing credits roll for the Lonesome Rhodes show, in the control room Jeffries flips a switch at turns on the microphone near where Rhodes is sitting and holding court.

"Those rubes out there, they're mine! There stupid, like sheep, but they are mine! They will do what I tell them do! They will think what I want them to think!" 

By the time Rhodes takes the elevator to the ground floor to his waiting car, his popularity has plummeted and his political support has evaporated.  

Since he came down his gold escalator in 2015, I have been waiting for Donald Trump to experience his Lonesome Rhodes moment.  

The epiphany that will finally break the spell Trump's faithful cultists exist under.   

We've come close a few times. Damn it, January 6th should have been his Lonesome Rhodes moment, that showed the whole world for the loathsome, self-serving motherfucker he is.

Instead Donald Trump and his sniveling sycophants have tried to re-write history, to turn that day of infamy to a day of celebration, to re-cast the hundreds who have been convicted of crimes for their actions that days as heroes and martyrs. 

The facts that Donald Trump is a morally deficient, intellectually limited, sexual assaulting, empathy deprived, incoherent convicted felon are NOT a secret. 

And yet...

Recent polls show that over all Kamala Harris has a lead over Donald Trump but that lead is narrow and in certain battleground states that will decide the election (such as here in North Carolina), Trump has regained ground and as of now has the lead again. It's a slim lead and within the margin for error.

But...

How can anyone who actually listens to his angry, hate filled rhetoric and his rambling incoherent speeches come away thinking, hey, I want this guy to be President again.

Consider the case of the idiot in Valdosta, GA.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Donald Trump arrived (getting in the way of clean up and recovery efforts) to angrily proclaim such lies that Gov. Kemp couldn't get President Biden on the phone to get help from the Federal government and basically just lied his ass off. 

A young man who came to hear Trump speak left the event with the resolve "that cinched it: I'm voting for Trump." His logic? "Trump really cares about people." 

Or the consider this woman who I saw on video proclaiming that "America needs a MAN to lead us" and that Donald Trump is that man, admitting that yes, "He is narcissistic but he cares about America!"  

Of course the definition of narcissism is to care about the self above all other things.  

As I write this, an NBC poll has Donald Trump tied with Kamala Harris.  

But he is...   ALL that stuff we can see and hear!  

The lying, the hate, the anger, the incoherence!

On SNL, they did a sketch where Kamala Harris and Donald Trump face off on Family Feud.  Steve Harvey asks Harris "Why are you not ahead more in the polls?" and Harris replies, "That's what I scream into my pillow every morning."

You and me both. 

I am truly frightened.

I am trying to remain hopeful that Harris can and will win this thing.

But I think the harsh reality is that Donald Trump might just win this thing.  

This lonesome road is leading to a MAGA future. 

Doctor Who Is CLASSIC!: The King's Demons

 It's time for another edition of Doctor Who Is CLASSIC!,  an intermittent series of posts about everyone's favorite space/time travelling show from the 20th century.  

Today's post takes us back to 1983 and the 20th season of Doctor Who.  

While most stories in the classic era were 4 half hour installments, today's tale is a 2 part adventure.

Starring Peter Davison as the Doctor, here is The King's Demons.  

The place is England,  the time is March in the year 1215.  

King John is visiting the castle of Sir Ranulph Fitzwilliam. 

The entertainment is a medieval joust which is interrupted by the strange appearance of a mysterious blue box.  

The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough exit the TARDIS and find their sudden arrival is NOT the cause for consternation one might expect in the 13th century.  

The King with his aide Sir Gillis Estram greet their arrival warmly as the King declares the visitors as "friendly demons" and express his intrigue at their "blue engine".   

The Doctor quickly susses out that King John and Sir Gillis are not who they claim to be and Sir Ranulph Fitzwilliam is suspicious as well. Those two guys are acting kind of weird and the last anyone in the castle heard, the King was back in London.  

There shenanigans and stuff going on. (Even with only 2 half hours to fill instead of 4, we still have some classic Doctor Who filler to meet the run time.) 

It turns out Sir Gillis Estram is...  (Ta da!) the Master.  

("Estram" is an anagram of "Master".)  

And... 

King John is really Kamelion, a war weapon found by the Master on Xeriphas, which can be mentally controlled and used to adopt disguises and personas. 

Here's the plot: King John acts like a total dick totally offending the various noblemen who will go on to sign Magna Carta so they don't and that is that for the foundation of democracy.  

This seems like a fairly small potatoes kind of thing to involve the Master.  So why is the Master doing this? It's not made plain so I'm guessing out of boredom or just a case of the "evulz" or whatever. 

The Doctor engages in a battle of wills with the Master to wrest control of Kamelion away from the sinister Time Lord. 

And he does. Yay? Yeah, why not. Yay!  

Kamelion is his true self, the plot to stop Magna Carta is foiled and the Master escapes to never be heard from again.

(Until the very next episode, "The Five Doctors".)   

The Doctor welcomes Kamelion aboard the TARDIS to join Tegan and Turlough on their adventures through space and time.

And it is a glorious partnership as Kamelion has ever so much fun with the TARDIS crew as they scamper around the far reaches of the galaxy and all through time and...

No, he doesn't.  

Kamelion never shows up again until season 21's "Planet of Fire" where he is written out.  

The Kamelion robot is not some skinny actor is a robot suit but is in fact an actual robot. Unfortunately the guy who built this robot didn't write down any instructions on to work the robot which became a problem when the robot creator died.   

"The King's Demons" is clearly a time filler before the bigger spectacle of the 20th anniversary special "The Five Doctors" comes along.  

I'm trying really hard to remember what Turlough and Tegan contributed to this story and I'm guessing not much. I do recall Tegan complaining about how cold the castle is owing to her very short light material dress.  Tegan should know by now that the Doctor isn't very good at navigating the TARDIS and should be better prepared for any number of environmental challenges. 

(Companions never seem to learn this. In the 11th Doctor story "The Hungry Earth", Amy Pond has to keep justifying her provocatively short ensemble: "I was dressed for Rio!")  

The Doctor gets put Peter Davison's fencing skills to use for a good ol' sword fight so there's that.  

So that is that for this post of Doctor Who Is CLASSIC!. 

Next month I will be back with another post about a Doctor Who episode from the 20th century.

And in December, we've got a Christmas special coming and that means a new post of Doctor Who Is NEW!

Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post: Paddington

The 3rd Paddington movie is coming to theaters this November which will send the adventurous bear and his human family to back to the place of his birth, Peru.  

Recently, Andrea and decided to catch up on the first movie in the series.

Andrea had read Paddington books when she was a child but neither of us has seen the movies and I came into this cold.

I actually assumed Paddington was some kind of magical creature, a toy bear brought to life or something.

Nope, Paddington is a real bear.

And this is a real movie.

And Andrea and I really watched it.    

And this is a real blog post about it.

Paddington opens with a montage as a British explorer tells of his journey to darkest Peru where he found a most remarkable species of bear. They are quite intelligent to the point they learn human speech.

They also develop quite an intense fondness for marmalade.  

Before the explorer departs, he leaves his hat as a parting gift and an invitation to visit him in London.  

Several years later and after the death of some bears, young Paddington has made his way to London to do just that. 

Paddington has been lead to believe that Londoners are a cordial and welcoming people and would be more than happy to take a young bear in for a visit.

Er, not quite. 

Everyone rushes past and studiously avoiding eye contact with the forlorn bear.  

(Is this London or New York City?)  

Until one person's compassion compels her to engage with the poor bear.  

For the moment, Paddington has a home for the night with the Brown family although with varying levels of enthusiasm from the family.

• Henry Brown is a fastidious man with an obsession with order, security and safety.  He sees Padding as a threat to all that.
• His wife Mary is a woman of compassion and imagination and is more willing to accept Paddington's account of himself and is willing to go off on an adventure to help him find the explorer who came to Peru. 
• Son Jonathan is an adventurous sort himself but held in check by his fearful father.  
• Daughter Judy is very intelligent (she speaks different languages) but lacking in confidence to truly be herself. 
•  Eccentric housekeeper Mrs. Bird finds Paddington endearing and thinks this ursine visitor is just what the Browns need. 

Unfortunately, there's a least one person who does not have Paddington's best interests at heart, a female taxidermist who is determined to add Paddington's stuffed and mounted body to the museum where she works.  

Well, that's kind of dark, ain't it? 

Overall, Paddington has a surreal magical tone where the real world runs up alongside another world that is just a bit different  from ours.

Where bears talk and really love their marmalade.   

The "It's a British Film! Of Course Someone's Been In Doctor Who" Department 

• 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi is in the movie as Mr. Curry, a nosy neighbor who causes problems for poor Paddington.   
• Doctor Who companion Nardole Matt Lucas is on hand as Joe the taxi driver.
• Hugh Bonneville who portrays Henry Brown was the Pirate Captain in the Doctor Who episode "Curse of the Black Spot". 
• Geoffrey Palmer has a small role in the film; he was the captain of the spaceship Titanic in the Doctor Who special  "Voyage of the Damned"
• Michael Gambon who provides the voice of Paddington's Uncle Pastuzo was Kazran Sardick in the Doctor Who special "A Christmas Carol".
• Jim Broadbent who is Sam Gruber in the film played one of the Doctors in the 1999 charity special "Curse of the Fatal Death".  

The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department  

• Sally Hawkins as Mary Brown was Willy Wonka's mother in Wonka   
• Julie Walters as Mrs Bird was also Molly Weasley, the matriarch of the Weasley family, in the Harry Potter film series, and she was one Donna's band mates in the Mamma Mia films.   
• Barry the security guard was played by Simon Farnaby; Simon is a creator, writer and star of the UK version of Ghosts and he also co-wrote Wonka and had a role in that film as... a security guard.   

The "It's That Woman Who Is In Everything" Department 

• Nicole Kidman is the evil taxidermist.  

My God! Nicole Kidman is in EVERYTHING!!

Steve Martin once commented that he does not always recognize all the actors he meets so he usually says "I loved you in that thing you did with Nicole Kidman and 9 times out of 10, I'm right."   

Back to Paddington, the movie is mostly family friendly (bears do die in this movie!) but it's not dumbed down. The filmmakers treat their kid audience with respect as they do with the adults watching this movie with those kids.  

Or in the case of Andrea and myself, without them. 

We will not a little thing like not having kids in the house stop us from seeing a kid friendly movie. Back in the 1990's, before Andrea and I were parents, we paid money to see Rugrats the Movie in a theater. (I am NOT making that up.)   

Tomorrow is a Doctor Who post and I'll be back next weekend with another movie post (or two).

Until then, remember to be good to one another.   

Especially to talking bears who really like marmalade.  

Your Friday Video Link: The Cha Cha Slide

This week, Your Friday Video Link is the Cha Cha Slide....

In multiple dimensions.   

My son Dean shared this with me. 

Do you think maybe he hates me?   

Your Friday Video Link #2 is a bit more traditional version of the Cha Cha slide.

OK, it's the club remix. 

Holy Frickin' Jesus Christ on a pogo stick!

ONE! MORE!! TIME!!!

Do you think maybe I hate all of you?  

Earth's Second Moon

"And now people of Earth, there will be TWO moons in the sky!" said Howard Wolowitz (Big BangTheory) from the International Space Station during a video chat with his wife Bernadette. Buzzed on anti-anxiety meds, Howard dropped his pants.  

Well, people of Earth, there are in fact TWO moons in the sky and nobody in orbit needed to drop their trousers. 

On September 29, our planet captured the tiny asteroid named 2024 PT5, turning it into a temporary mini-moon.

OK, the moon is very small and only here for a little while but still...

How cool is that?  

It seems like it should be a bigger deal. 

Maybe it is and I'm just not been paying attention.

Maybe I've been too stressed out by things going on here on Earth to ponder the wonders of what's going on above it.   

Wars, super storms and threats to American democracy are just pulling my eyes from the heavens and I can scarcely remember that there are in fact two moons in the sky!  

Despite all my worries and anxieties over life, having a 2nd moon, albeit very small and only temporary, seemed like something I should make note of. 

People of Earth, there are TWO moons in the sky!!!

And astronauts on the ISS can keep their pants on.  

Our 30th Anniversary

Last Wednesday, October 2nd, Andrea and I reached the milestone of our 30th anniversary of marriage.

 

A very significant milestone, a milestone one might even describe as memorable.

 

We did not remember it.

 

The next day, Thursday, October 3rd, we exchanged gifts.  

 

The celebrate 30 years of marriage, I got a gift card for IHOP.

 

Andrea got one for Applebee’s.

 

You might think that sounds sad.

 

I suppose, objectively speaking, it is sad. 

 

Subjectively, we’re perfectly fine with it. 

 

Reduced price dining fits perfectly in our respective wheelhouses.  

 

We did go out to dinner to celebrate on Sunday.  

 

Regular readers of this blog may assume we went to Olive Garden.

 

Well, I would like to tell you we did something unique and different and daring.

 

I would like to say that.

 

But we went to Olive Garden.  

 

It was loud and noisy like a crowded 3rd world train car.

 

But Andrea still likes to go there and our waiter Brian took good care of us.  

 

To commemorate 30 years of love, loss, sacrifice, rewards, support, affection and more, we got…

 

A free slice of pumpkin cheesecake!

 

30 years for a free slice of pumpkin cheesecake?

 

Hey! It also came with a caramel drizzle and dollops of whipped cream.  

 

What more do we need out of life actually?

 

Happy anniversary, Andrea!

 

No one else would’ve put up with me for 30 years. 

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Brilliant Minds, High Potential, The Penguin and Agatha All Along

Today's post on what I am watching on television has not one but FOUR series making their Tuesday TV Touchbase debut.

Brilliant Minds

This series wormed it's way into our awareness with frequent promos while Andrea and I were watching the Summer Olympics on NBC. 

Brilliant Minds stars Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf, a super smart neurologist who doesn't play by the rules. Which is why he winds up near the bottom of the hospital hierarchy at Bronx General Hospital.   

OK, this may remind you of House and that's a good call. Brilliant doctor with a cadre of interns work super hard to find a solution to a patient's super hard condition. You know the drill. 

But Dr. Wolf does differ in some ways from the cantankerous Dr. House.  

Wolf is immediately drawn to get to know the patient, to see the world from their perspective, to understand how they are experiencing their symptoms. 

Wolf has a condition known as "face blindness" (we all look alike to him) which causes him to appear brusque and dismissive of others which makes his deep dive into empathy for his patients particularly ironic and compelling.  

NBC has put out a series with a gay lead. It's not a big deal. Wolf explains to a patient who is also a basketball coach his lack of sports skills stems from being in high school as "the short skinny gay kid who got picked last for team sports".  

Brilliant Minds may be formulaic but so far it's worth watching for Zachary Quinto's intensity and charisma on screen.  

From solving medical mysteries to solving crimes...

High Potential  

Blame Tik Tok for making want to watch this one. The video of a mini-skirted cleaning lady dancing around a police station likes she's in "da club" when she stops and makes a correction to a cop's murder board and then keeps on dancing. 

Kaitlin Olson (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) is Morgan, a single mother with three children. She is also a high potential intellectual with an IQ of 160 and a wide range of knowledge. Morgan is poor because having an IQ of 160 and a wide range of knowledge is not quote the boon you might think it is so she has trouble holding down a job. 

Her brain is always on and she has no way to shut it off. She sees something wrong and she has to fix it or it keeps her from getting any sleep.  

LAPD Police Captain Salina (Judy Reyes from Scrubs) decides to take a chance on this wackadoodle cleaning lady to help her Major Crimes Unit to solve some damn crimes. 

Think Sherlock but in this case, the crime solving genius is capable of human empathy and looks better in short skits.  

High Potential  has (dare I say?) potential for being an intriguing addition to the genre of the crime solving procedural.

From solving crimes to committing them...

The Penguin 

This series picks up on the aftermath of the Matt Reeves directed DC film The Batman.  Still reeling from the Riddler's destruction of Gotham City's sea wall, the city is in chaos and not helping matters is the conflict between two major crime families, the Falcones and the Maronis.   

In a moment of anger when crime boss Alfonse Falcone was laughing at him, Oswald Cobb*, our erstwhile Penguin, shoots the bastard.  

*A show this serious was not going to call him "Cobblepot" as he is in the comics.

The series involves Oswald's efforts to play the Falcones against the Maronis as he waddles his way up the ladder to keep out of jail and out of the grave while bolstering his power and influence on Gotham's organized crime. 

When all of this over, Oswald expects to be the kingpin of crime of Gotham City.  

This is a graphically violent and intensely profane show. If all you know about Batman is the Adam West TV show, you will not recognize this series.  

I am really fascinated by this take on the Penguin and I am very much intrigued to see where this goes.

Now from DC to Marvel...

Agatha All Along 

The enchantment Wanda Maximoff put on Agatha Harkness at the end of WandaVision has been broken.  

Agatha is pissed! 

She wants her life back! She wants her power back! 

Gathering a coven of misfit witches, Agatha leads a quest down the mythical Witches' Road and...

Damn! 

I know it's been what 20 or 30 years since WandaVision ended but Agatha All Along quickly asserts itself as it's own thing. 

By the way,I hope you like "The Ballad of the Witches' Road" because it is instrumental (ha! ha!) to the plot. Here it is being performed in episode 2. 

The look and style of this show is awesome and Kathryn Hahn is just so damn good! Agatha All Along is at turns scary and funny and sometimes at the same time. If you've gotten bored with Marvel journey, this series might be enough to get you back on the road again.

And that is that for this week's touchbase.

Next time we go from new things to returning things,   

Next week's Touchbase, we've got... 

• Superman & Lois
• Law & Order
• Abott Elementary

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.