Friday! Jan. 08

Curse the Thursday that feels like Friday; you feel like you’re in one of those loud long movies where the bad guy has been defeated twice already but comes back one more time, howling for blood. It’s partly the weather – it feels very personal when it’s cold and blowing and cruel. It follows you where you go; it waits outside when you’ve gone indoors. I wonder what people who have an aversion to swearing say when they get in their cars, turn on the ignition, and get a blast of cold air because they forgot to turn off the heater. GOSH just does not fill the bill. JEEPERS seems likewise insufficient. Some folk might find themselves flinging a fillip of a fricative-founded foul phrase, although FRICK IT might work, too.

Good day, though. Accomplished enough, but not enough. Took a nap that felt like dropping down the Marianas Trench in an overweighted bathysphere, and found it difficult to wake; finding myself was like fishing for a slender hair in a vat of cold syrup. Once up, I found my keys, somehow found the slot in the vehicle where they went, and picked up child to orchestra class. The caterwaul is really quite remarkable, and makes you wonder if they tuned every instrument a bit out of sync, they might sound perfectly harmonious.

Have to write a column now, and then watch a little “I, Claudius.” Still on a Roman jag; love me some Rome, as the annoying web-based locution would have it. This is probably my fourth viewing, and hence it’s less gripping, but still wonderful TV; the more you know about Roman history, though, the more the fancy and invention shows through. Brian Blessed’s Augustus is still a wonderful character, but you suspect the jollity was more of a projection of British sensibility than historical fidelity. One of the things that’s fascinated me lately is Roman religion, an elaborate, time-honored pantheistic construct that completely collapsed over time, but bequeathed its symbols, dates, traditions – and, after a spell, its architecture – to its inheritor. Greek and Roman mythology is an utter mess, and you can well understand the appeal of monotheism after reading that depthless cesspool of celestial squabbles. The Romans also absorbed gods like America absorbed musical styles.

Anyway. If you’ve never seen “I, Claudius,” by all means: Netflix. Now. If nothing else, it’s a fair introduction to post-Republican Roman history, and it’s incredibly well-acted and directed and staged. (Only about three musical cues, though.) A young but already bald Patrick Stewart as a villain? John Hurt as Caligula? Can’t be beat. I still remember when it first hit the states – I was working as a seed salesman down south, and would try to end my anabasis in a town large enough to get a PBS feed. I’d put a six-pack on ice in the motel sink, sit back, and watch my soaps.



I had a longer section written to preview the Friday links, but it was lost; a peril that arises when working on different computers. So I’ll just say this:

100 Mysteries stages its triumphant return, with an interesting remake

Comic Ads brings you some unexpected history

Sears 1934, one of my favorite sites, hits page #60. Halfway there, I think.

Enjoy! Have a grand weekend.