Then and Now

Saying for the Day- If I had a choice I would live in Oz.

In the last two days I have given you two accounts of the same event. One in fairytale form and one in the “nitty gritty” form. I wanted to show you the then and now of storytelling. When I was a kid (then) the prevailing way of telling the story was fairytale. It didn’t have to correspond to the “real world” and most of the time it didn’t.
If you went to the movies good always won out over evil and you could tell the difference. Heroic cowboys defeated bad ones but they never killed them. They also never kissed a girl yet another cowboy. Lovers held hands and stared into each others eyes and no matter how bad things were always got together by the end of the show. They, however, never took off any clothes or went to bed.( That was left to your imagination) Cops were the good guys and crooks were evil people. Cops won but always in the right way. You never, ever, cheered for the bad guy.
In the comics there were real heroes who were the essence of goodness, had no personal problems, and were capable of handling anything thrown at them. You could fly with them or run with them and you would always win. There were delightful animals that talked and played and laughed. In the romance comics nobody ever went to bed. It was fairytale.
On the radio and television it was the same. Radio gave us “queen for a day” where some poor beggar got a new washer and dryer because her kids loved her.
It was fairytale and it was a place to go to hide from the nitty gritty of life.
Now they take the nitty gritty and hit us in the face with it. We have reality shows like “Survivor” where it’s not goodness that triumphs . In the cowboy movie the boy kisses the boy and they run off together. It is the age of the anti-hero where you cheer for the bad guys because they are less bad than the cops. In the comics the heroes are beset with personal problems and self doubt and barely function. Literature takes us back to Oz to find out that Dorothy was a scoundrel and Glenda the Good Witch was not good. You can not escape from life because the media magnifies the worst of it and throws it at you.
Well folks I prefer then to now. I like my Lexus, my tuxedo and my gold plated walker . In fact I prefer them to my Yooper Lumberjack shirt, my van, and my whatever it is I walk with. I prefer a moment when I can stand up straight and my lungs don’t hurt. I confess I prefer fairytales to nitty gritty.
So I almost never go to the movies, don’t watch much television , and never buy comic books.

I dig out my old comics and my collection of Wizard of Oz books and escape from the nitty gritty.
Your welcome to join me.
I’ll pick you up in my Lexus.

@@@ News from Pigeon Falls– The fairytale community in my garage where the trains still run, dragons fly and you and I know Eino or Tommy will figure it out.– Eino and Tommy, the undertaker’s kid went over the aerial pictures last night. They were looking for possible secret government installations. They decided that if there is one it is well disguised . Eino, of course, said they can’t find one because there aren’t any to find. Tommy wasn’t so sure. The government does a pretty good job of hiding things they don’t want you to see. In fact. Tommy says. If Eino’s theory is correct wouldn’t the government have built a fake instillation to give credence to the idea they were up to something. Since we can’t see one that might be proof there is one. ( How do you argue with logic like that?)
It has been so cold in Pigeon Falls that one has to wonder if the dragon or the White Rabbit will survive. Can dragons survive at 20 below zero? Perhaps, they just spew a little fire until the rocks in the cave get hot. But what about the poor rabbit? Nobody has seen the rabbit since the snow came. Not even the snowmobilers who are going all over the woods.
Pigeon Falls has a groundhog but it slept right through Groundhog Day. People wern’t sure if you should wake Bob up or dies he have to wake up on his own for it to count? They are new to this prediction stuff since they just caught Bob last summer. Does it count if he wakes up on some other day and sees his shadow/ Is there a rule book on this some where? Who decides which ground hog’s experience counts?
The town council met last night and argued over adding three new channels to the community cable system. That would bring the total to ten. Two of the members said felt that seven was more than enough channels. They tabled it until the next meeting so Pigeon Falls continues to be a seven channel town. That’s sort of like being a one horse town.( Of course Pigeon Falls has more than one horse)
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Today's Link- Blather-Rinse-Repeat- A different look at music - Leave the musical Dr. John in the comment.
This was a good day. I felt better when I got up this morning. I still have a cough but it is not as bad. I spent all morning working with Betty's computer but it is now up an running as good as new. I watched my soaps. I blogged a bit. I played canasta with Betty and Pennie and I won. I think they let me win just so I will feel good. But , heck, you take um as you get um. I hope it warms up pretty soon as I am going fortress crazy. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA