Ramblings Of A Returned Traveller, II

Before getting back to the regular pattern of drivel alternating with reviews and stories, it might be nice to think about those travels once again. Standing outside the personal experience of it all, isn't it amazing that we can cross a distance that would take a ship a week in just the span of ten hours? It's true that you have to strap yourself into a flying metal death tube, be pressurised to an atmosphere near that experienced near the summit of Mount Everest, lose all sense of reality due to enforced dimming of the windows (thank you very much, Norwegian Air), and have all your allergies triggered by the air conditioning simultaneously, but... No, I can't do it. It's horrible to fly. Take the boat, you crazies, take the boat!

It's fun to travel, and see the world. America is one of the more strange places, though, with its curiosities such as firearms in large supermarkets, the absences of public conveniences, and the apparent inability to provide public transport systems that people will depend on. Yes, those car-developed cities are not the easiest to get around without some significant driving assistance. Oh, and sugar is in absolutely everything. Everything! Is that enough moaning? Yes? Finally!

It was good to experience Miami, especially when unleashed to wander myself, stumbling over marathons and toddling over the immense 'Venetian Causeway' that links the Miami Beach island to the rest of the city, and enjoying the great lifeguard huts on South Beach. In less well trodden fun things, it was also good to espy all three of the Dice Tower top ten videocast hosts at a board game shop in the Hollywood area, taking part in a monthly local gaming event. Yes, these things do happen and they can be very impressive. I must be a nerd to have gone out of my way to see those guys...

The Quirky Muffin will now return to its normal service. In the next few weeks, expect some chatter about 'Honey, I Shrunk The Kids', some stories, and perhaps a thoughtful piece about Mark Twain's 'A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court'. I'm also building my LibraryThing book catalogue up a bit. It's something to do...

O.

Ramblings Of A Returned Traveller, I

How lovely it was to meet my longtime penpal Diaslen, and her esteemed spousal analogue. How nice it was to get the chance to explore a new city on a whole new continent. How awful, on the dark side, to be sick once again and have an awful plane journey. Such is the way of life. This must begin with a great thank you to my wonderful hosts, who drove me around, fed me, organised activities, and were generally far too nice! How wonderful it is to have such friends, and great wishes for their future are attached herewith.

Miami is a lovely city, but one not suited for the pedestrians! If I had travelled to all the places I saw by foot, the trip would have to have been twice as long, with ever more plane trauma added in for karmic retribution! Not only was there the traditional Gatwick rock and roll landing, but on the outgoing trip the lady next to me collapsed and had to be taken away by paramedics on landing. I hope she was okay after all that. Flying is a nasty business. I may never do it again, if it can be avoided.

Points of interest around and about Miami include Vizcaya House, a mansion built by a wealthy resident who wanted a picturesque house to live in and entertain in. The breakfast room is nice at Vizcaya, but the rest seems stuffy. The Cuban restaurant called Versailles is rather awesome, and has some wonderful fish. The Loewe Museum of International Art is also well worth a visit, as is the long long walk across the Venetian Causeway that links the island of Miami Beach to the mainland. Dania Beach is lovely and quiet in comparison to the famous South Beach, with its wonderful artist-designed lifeguard stations, and if you're lucky you might stumble across a marathon as I did. How bizarre it is to be wandering around at dawn in Miami South Beach, and stumble over a major marathon. Things like that don't normally happen, do they?

Sadly, the Venetian Pool was closed for refurbishment, as was the Bass Museum of Art, while the Science Museum was closed due to moving to a whole new building. The old building looked pretty nice, though, as did the sea whenever the beach was visited. You can't beat a green-blue sea, with rushing surf. One day, I'll get into that snorkelling experience on the Keys, or fail in my so far successful attempts to avoid the alligator swamps. Oh, next time, given the momentary insanity that will get me onto a plane or the decadence required for the sea journey, there will be snorkelling and oblivion to the mosquitoes. Actually, getting mosquito bites is pretty scary in these days of the Zika virus.

How's that for a start?

O.

On The Book Piles - January 2016

(Prepared in advance, for holiday cover. Many of these books will be finished in the thirty hours of travelling!)

I'm not here right now. This is a projection from the pre-Miami days, before everything became Spanish-based and I changed my name to Pablo. This is the beginning of a probably intermittently recurring feature about what's on or in the - gasp! - piles of books in progress right now, and how exactly they're going. So, let's go.

'A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court' by Mark Twain

This novel is taking forever to read. Now, at far more than halfway through, it feels as if the same hammer of satire or criticism has been wielded far too many times on the same topics. Yes, it is at times funny, but there's not enough story there to have kept it going for so long. Perhaps it will pick up as I go into the finale.

'Jamaica Inn' by Daphne Du Maurier

I'm only a few pages in, and worrying that the Hitchcock film may have spoilt the whole thing. It's got to better than that movie, at least? Hopefully, it will be better than the Hitchcock of  Du Maurier's other famous novel, 'Rebecca', which was so dismal and overly long for its story, that it became interminable. This novel seems far better, in its stages.

'Journey To The West' (Volume 2) by Wu Cheng'en

Following on from volume one, what lies in story in volume two of this epic? Will Monkey finally be redeemed? Will the other questers Xuanzang, Friar Sand and Brother Pig make it to distant lands to bring back the Scriptures? Will the jokes be as good? Only time will tell.

'Armadale' by Wilkie Collins

The third of Collins' four great novels, and the novel that I was reading on my Kindle before it self-destructed. Will the saga of the Armadale family conclude in a better way than I think, or does manipulation and scandal await all?

'Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat' by Ernest Bramah

A LibraryThing recommendation, and one which promises much. Is it as funny and witty in its opening pages as 'Bridge of Birds'? No, not quite, but perhaps this patchwork of stories will culminate in something entirely different?

'Dean Man's Cove' by Lauren St John

A recommendation from a dear friend, which is very promising in its early pages. A young adult novel, a mystery, and it might have some similarities to the beginning of 'Jamaica Inn'? We will see.

'The Complete Peanuts: 1955-1956' by Schulz

Schultz in his early pomp, where Linus forms his attachment to his blanket, Schroeder reached full Beethoven worship, and Lucy becomes the full fussbudget. Charlie Brown plays space alien.

'Jokes And Their Relation To The Unconscious' by Sigmund Freud

It's fascinating that Freud devoted so much attention to humour and jokes, but halfway through this novel it seems as if they do have some interesting connections to the unconscious. Many classifications of the types of jokes, and the

'The Voyage Of The Beagle' by Charles Darwin

Another one of the books that have hung around for ages, due to book blocking. Darwin's account of his legendary voyage is fascinating both for the political and social history, as well as the natural sciences he was famous for. Want to know about South America? This one place to go.

'The Archetypes And The Collective Unconscious' by C.G. Jung

Longest standing non-fiction book on the piles, whis was abandoned at some point, but will be picked back up when Freud's joke book is done. Jung certainly knew what he was doing, but is very dense and difficult to read...

'Histories' by Herodotus

The legendary first history book in existence. Herodotus recounted tales from his own recent and classical histories. More stories than you can count, and one of the source materials that underpins classical history as a whole.

Television: 'The Adventures Of Superman: Round The World With Superman' (1954) (Episode 2x26)

(The author is in Miami right now. This post was prepared far, far in advance.)

This is a special episode of a great television show. It's cute, awesome, sweet and lovely. There's not a crook in sight, and it's all about the other side of being Superman. The side that almost never gets shown any more, that doesn't involve endless punching and brawling. It's true that there was plenty of beating up of bad guys in this series, but there were also other things. This exemplifies them all.

This was the last episode of the black and white version of 'The Adventures of Superman', and it seems that they wanted to go out on a bang, knowing that they wouldn't be back for a while. When they did return, more than a year later, it would be for four half seasons in colour, and with far more of a focus on pleasing the children than the family as a whole. That refocussing had already begun to happen when we arrived here at the second season finale, but it works perfectly.

The Daily Planet, an icon amongst newspapers, had been running a letter writing contest, for children who wanted to fly around the world with Superman. (At this point, I must confess once again to being more schmaltzy than any five other people put together). The winner turned out to be a blind girl who wanted the trip for her lonely mother, to cheer her up and distract her from her problems. The mother, who wanted nothing to do with the prize, got rid of the gallant Planet's reporters, but Clark was set on fixing the problem. First, he realised that the girl's blindness could be fixed after all (precise x-ray vision), and organised the vital operation. Meanwhile, Lois got to the bottom of the mother's issues, and when Superman returned from flying the girl around the world, her father was there waiting for her.

It sounds sentimental, I know, but it's a perfect encapsulation of a different kind of television and superheroics. Just as Ernie Bilko could be the sharpest card shark, but be knocked over by the smallest tug of his own conscience, Superman spend an episode not fighting criminals or lunatic inventions and instead fix some people's lives. Superheroes can be about helping people; that's not a crime. In fact, many of the most iconic heroes transcended their comic book origins because of their hearts and not their fists. Never forget that the first superhero was Sherlock Holmes, and that he spent more time helping people in his stories than capturing them.

Yes, this is the Quirky Muffin, purveyors of schmaltz since 2012, without shame. We could probably do with more sentimentality in the world.

O.

Television: 'The West Wing: The State Dinner' (1999) (Episode 1x07)

(Prepared long in advance as holiday cover)

"You have a big brain, a good heart and an ego the size of Montana. You do, Jed."

Have we touched on 'The West Wing' yet here? No? That's quite the oversight, but is explained by the fact that I literally watched every episode from the golden first four seasons on a repeat loop for several years just after release, and had to abandon the series for a lengthy period of time as a result. It was so excellent that it couldn't be put down, much like those legendary first four seasons of 'M*A*S*H', which is equally difficult to settle down to now due to magnificently excessive over-familiarity.

There are many episodes in the first half-season of 'The West Wing' which could be called the beginning of the 'super golden' period that are the first two of creator Aaron Sorkin's four seasons in charge. (Any season without Sorkin can be written off.) 'The State Dinner' has a very good claim as it features a veritable pile of overlapping story elements, and a definitive abandonment of the shoutiness that mars the first four. For the record, my own personal tipping point is episode 5, 'The Crackpots And These Women', but this one is much more even, showcases the strengths and weaknesses of every character, and introduces the First Lady of the series. It has less Bradley Whitford and John Spencer, though, and no wolf only highways or the sneaky early career appearance of Nick Offerman.

A unifying feature of 'The West Wing' and 'M*A*S*H', as well as many other things I love, is the capacity they have to show characters that care, and are passionate about those things they have chosen to believe in. In fact, the only character to be booted from the cast is the most cynical Mandy of the first season, who is also the most culpable of shoutiness in early episodes. She's used well in 'The State Dinner', which is a tour-de-force in ensemble acting. It's fantastic to watch as Sorkin weaves the material so that every character gets their moment, but also so that it collapses down to the finale where the president is talking to the radio operator of a storm-struck tender ship. Yes, it all did matter, but when you see your room full of main characters listening, and caring, you can't help but realise you're watching something truly special. This is the same episode with a comical multi-step English to Bartok sequence, after all, and a staffer's reaction to their hostage rescue plan leading to casualties. It fits together wonderfully.

We will revisit 'The West Wing', as its sheer magnificence unfolds in my re-watch, and the power of all these magnificent actors in their defining roles is revealed. It's a great show, and this episode begins the sporadically recurring Yo-Yo Ma motif. Do you need any more incentive? No? Well done, you passed the test. Take three golden bananas and please don't leave the state.

O.

PS Don't ever claim to be a sorceror in Indonesia, especially if the locals are wielding scythes. This episode fully reveals the importance of Josh's assistant Donna, who I might have had a massive crush on at the time, continue to now, and will have throughout all time. Donna is one of the best.

Television: 'Star Trek: The Animated Series' (1973-1974)

(Prepared long in advance for holiday cover)

This will probably be the last 'Star Trek' post for a while, the classic cast movies being well recognised for their strengths, and the spin-off series being their own little worlds. It's very fitting to finish on something nice, after the under-appreciated third season of the show, with its immense variability.

The animated 'Star Trek' is fun, a departure from every other incarnation of the series, but still intensely connected to the original show. It's limited animation, so don't expect anything like a masterpiece, but it's still well done. Gene Roddenberry rubber stamped the show, DC Fontana returned as story editor, and all the voice cast but Walter Koenig returned, apparently due to budgetary reasons and Majel Barrett adding a second set of female voice options in addition to being Mrs Roddenberry. Bad luck, Walter. At least you got to write one.

These twenty two episodes were very much a welcome bonus at the time. The original series was cancelled, with added spite, and the cast disbanded back into obscurity. According to 'Star Trek Memories', William Shatner spent the next few years in touring theatre companies, camping out in a space age collapsible hut, and the other cast seemed to have suffered similar fates. Nimoy got two years on 'Mission: Impossible', and was the sole person to stay in the spotlight, possibly working off the remainder of his Desilu contract. Meanwhile, the original show took off in syndication and fans desperately wanted more. They got twenty two half hours, with wilder and crazier aliens, but slightly less interesting 'Saturday morning' plotlines. Despite all that, it was a welcome bonus.

Viewed in context, 'Star Trek: The Animated Series' was a remarkable show for a family cartoon. It broke some of the same barriers as its predecessor. There weren't often outright villains, the antagonists turned out to be misunderstood some of the time, and the same good natured optimism carried over from the second season of the live action show. (The third season's flaws included an absence of that positivity.) Also, Kirk's action roll was often a welcome sight, and the lack of outrageous violence is incredibly refreshing now. On the other hand, some of the stories are weak, but often have fascinating little throwaway bits that catch you off guard.

Yes, the animated series is the little Easter egg that sits between the original series and the movies. A cool little curio. An extra year of the five year mission, of sometimes disputed canonicity. Now, it seems to be accepted as part of the whole, but it wasn't always like that. A little more classic cast 'Star Trek' couldn't be a bad thing, right?

O.

Movie: 'This Island Earth' (1955)

(Prepared long in advance for holiday cover)

It's quite different to the book, by Raymond F Jones. The movie strips out a lot of the talkier sections, and the non-confrontational portions, substituting instead some 'MutANT' workmen on the alien planet and some impressive spaceship-guided asteroid attacks. Despite all that, this is a very good but solemn 1950's science fiction movie. Oh, how I wish that humour had been acceptable in old science fiction films, or even the occasional non-apocalyptic ending!

'This Island Earth' does capitalize on the main strength of it's novel antecedent, in accepting the written start, with the mysterious electronics puzzle. Can you think of many other films that begin with a mysterious shipment of components, an electronics catalogue, and the building of a device you've never even seen before? It's not quite as intriguing as the written version - they have a diagram in this case - but still unique.

Watching old science-fiction films, you can forget how smart some of them are, and lose the historical context. Yes, 'This Island Earth' does have an ant monster, and some flying saucer action, but it's not in the bottom drawer of science fiction dopiness. Some thought has gone into it. The casting is interesting, the alien makeup is nowhere near as dumb as it could have been - except for the plastic hair covers - and the exploitation of the female characters is at a minimum, although those coveralls were fairly tight...

So, what is the story about? Boiled down, a nuclear scientist receives a strange higher technology replacement component in the post, investigates, and manages to build a fantastical device known as an 'interocitor' from the components listed in the mysterious Unit 16's catalogue. Then he's whisked off to a mysterious base, which is promptly destroyed, and kidnapped with his old flame to the mysterious planet of Metaluna, which is under deadly siege by some nasty aliens who like to drag in asteroids as assault weapons. Metaluna turns out to be much more imminently doomed than anyone thought, and the scientist and his lady doctor barely escape with the aid of their alien abductor. They're dropped off on Earth, as their mortally injured friend scuttles his ship into the ocean. Of course, it has to be a gloomy ending, as it's a science fiction film.

As I mentioned, there is an awful lot of source material missing from the film, but it's interesting to see what they did do with their tiny budget and humourless 1950s directing style. It's actually very solid, with some interesting and even impressive effects. The production style makes 'spartan' seem more like a consequence of compact alien science away from Earth, but the acting... It can be said that the acting is better than in most 50s genre films. The most interesting actor is written out when the lead scientist runs off to the alien base at the beginning of the film, though. Let's say that the acting is decent.

Oh, how I wish that there wasn't an ant monster, though. Oh, world, why? Some of the book's ending would have been nice, too, but how much can you squish into eighty minutes?

O.