Ho ho ho!
It's been a nice Christmas for me personally, but there's been quite a bit of death in the news. The first casualty was James Brown. I've never been a big fan, but how can you not like a character like that? Next is Jerry Ford, who I remember well as he ran the country during my late high school days. I didn't have anything against him, he seemed like a decent guy and all, but I voted for Carter because Ford was a hold-over from the Watergate mess in a way.
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Then there was the announcement that they are going to hang Saddam Hussein. That seems like a big step in the course of humanity. It's not that he isn't a first class jerk and an all-round bad guy apparently... it's just the notion of one modern country invading another and stringing up the president. Something about that troubles me.
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Oh well, a new year is at hand. I will buy another DayMinder Monthly Planner and dutifully note when my bills are due. I expect that to go on for another year... unless of course the Grim Reaper has plans for me as well.

Let It Snow...

The flakes are gently falling this morning. It may turn into a storm... you never know. At any rate it's a little whiteness for the Christmas Season (or Holidays if you prefer). It's hard to believe it's that time of year again. It really struck me when I saw a promo for some animated special about Grandma getting run over by a reindeer. It seemed like they just ran that thing about two months ago, but I guess it really has been a year.

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So all of the songs are playing everywhere, the ads have Seasonal themes, and there are more dwarves on television than usual. Have you noticed how handsome they have become? Strong, symmetrical faces with dark eybrows...like little Matt Dillons, and there are good looking little gals to match. Many are very good actors apparently as they don't seem to have trouble getting into productions. Good for them.

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In other news: I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out. This was a new one for me. It was with a group of people who work at the same place and their significants, and me tagging along in the usual stray dog position (it was a Christmas gift and almost like going on a date so I can't complain). It was good to meet some new folk and the game was a lot of fun with all of the between-period folderol -- shooting t-shirts at us and putting people on the big screen and throwing turkeys across the ice. Why not? You only live once.

What's it going to be then, eh?
That's the famous first line from the Anthony Burgess novel, A Clockwork Orange. I purchased a VCR/DVD player not long ago, so it has rekindled my interest in some of my old videos. One of them is that film by Stanley Kubrick, which I came to admire. Actually I liked the novel itself much more at the time, but I was given the tape as a gift. That was back when a video of a movie like that was specially packaged and cost about seventy bucks, if you can believe that. It's a good movie, and holds up surprisingly well over time. That usually doesn't happen with visions of the near future, but Kubrick had a nack for it (2001 still doesn't look very old-fashioned).

I have various recollections of CWO... the first being an article in Playboy. That must have been in 1971 when the movie was released. I know... a thirteen year old boy looking at a Playboy. It sounds impossible but it really happened. I remember the weird pictures of Alex with his fake nose, etc. It was beyond comprehension of course. Several years later while in college I ended up at an art theater that was showing it. It was still pretty opaque but caught my interest. Then I read the novel... then I got the video tape which has a date of 1983 on it (sounds about right). I'm not sure I've watched it since then, until the other night. I also obtained the soundtrack...and dressed up like Alex for Halloween one time... as did two of my nephews... as did Bart Simpson.

In sum I will say that various elements seem pretty prescient. Alex and his "droogs" could be dressed as punks or goths and their actions would seem pretty normal nowadays. His "treatment" or "cure" seemed like something that might be used on terrorists somewhere, and the manner of speaking by the bureaucrats would also fit our times. Maybe Kubrick was another time traveler -- they're everywhere... I'm sure of it... probably moving through the years by means of wind-up citrus fruit.