Does another world exist around us, inhabited by people whose most potent resource is secret knowledge?

The Blacklist, echoing the X-files psyche, suggests that secret people are powerful players in government and big business.  Many of them live only by crime, but hide in the impenetrable depths of the very institutions we are supposed to trust.

Unlike ordinary criminals, the motives of the secret people are difficult to understand.   Rather than money or comfort, they apparently seek power and prestige.  For people who must forever live in the shadows, such goals seem ironic.

In The Blacklist, James Spader plays Raymond Reddington – just such a secret power player. His objectives are mysterious, but he seems occupied with using the FBI to neutralize other power players. One wonders if he is doing so to thin out his competition.

See my second drawing, below, of Reddington. This time I put in more detail, in the tradition of my earlier drawings.

Talk to you soon. Happy Halloween:)

 

 

Bela Lugosi was an American actor born in Hungary. He played Count Dracula in the first such film in 1931.

I’ve seen “White Zombie” and a few of Lugosi’s other films.  I’ve never seen his portrayal of Count Dracula.  Around Halloween, I always think of him, since he played a lot of horror roles.  See my drawing of him – done over a year ago, I’d say – at the end of this post.

The time before Halloween, yard work is also bound to come to mind.  There is leaf raking, dead heading, and general clean-up before winter.  Today I was out there for longer than planned, raking up oak leaves and picking up sticks and cones blown from the Douglas fir. Around here, a yard needs to be combed of debris at least a couple of times per year.

The oak leaves are a great catch.  I raked them from my own yard, but also from the sidewalk and road.  Oak leaves are very high in nutrients; they’re great for composting.  My lawn will be very happy come springtime.  The oak tree has lost about half so far, so I’ll probably bring in another haul about as big within the next couple of weeks.

Last night we hit zero. Today is warm and bright, with a high of 14.  I take such opportunities to get sunshine, since we can go weeks without it in winter.

Hope to talk to you again soon:)

Wikipedia was a source for this article.

 

Bette Davis (1908-1989) is an iconic American actress from last century.

I found out about Bette Davis from Kim Carnes’ song “Bette Davis Eyes” back in the early ’80s.  I have never seen a Bette Davis movie, although I’ve seen clips here and there.  Davis had intense presence and was very sexy.  See my drawing of her at the end of this post.

Here, the weather’s turned foggy.  Everything is wet in the morning.  Sometimes the fog rolls in after school; I haven’t seen such weather since living in Newfoundland.  This morning, the sky above is bright as the sun struggles to break through.

There is yard work I must do, but day to day action has kept me from it so far.  There are courses to work on and of course spending time with the children.  We play a lot of games together:  Careers, for instance, as well as Mille Bornes, Rummy-O and others.  The kids don’t enjoy them as much as my wife and I do, but I think they’re important anyway.

We haven’t got our pumpkins yet, but we need to:  Halloween is just over a week away.  People ask me if I’m going to dress up, but I don’t plan to.  However, I always give out candy to the trick-or-treaters while my wife takes our kids around.  We haven’t even bought the treats yet, but we’d better do it soon.

Our reno is taking a break right now.  The place is liveable, anyway, and looks much better than when we started.

Talk to you again soon.  Cheers.

Wikipedia was a source for this article.

 

I always imagine “Newman” being spelled “Neuman”.  I guess that ‘s because, to me, Victor seems German.

I continue to watch Y&R.  Some subplots are certainly better than others.  I want Phyllis back.

Right now, Sharon is trying to get back with Nick.  Although she’s been underhanded in her approach, I’m sympathetic with Sharon.

I really do believe in “true love” – where one person will do anything to be with the other.  Therefore, Sharon’s crime of passion – I understand it.  She and Nick were together for a long time once before; Sharon believes their love should last forever.

Nicholas himself can be quite likable, but quite the opposite as well.  Overall, I dislike him more than I like him, though he can have some very cool moments.

My own life is not so exciting as Y&R, though it does have its own dramas – our never-ending reno of the downstairs, for one.  The kids had friends over this weekend – always a yellow diamond.

On the yard front, I did some much-needed weeding on Friday, but unfortunately not where my lawn needed it the most.  I was talking to someone:)  Hopefully, I’ll be able to weed the backyard soon.  Although we live in a rainforest, and are even heading into the rainy season, there is no rain forecast in the coming week.

We had a very light frost the other night.

Well, here’s my drawing of Nicholas.  Believe it or not, I wasn’t trying to draw Nicholas; it just became him on its own.  That phenomenon has happened to me three times.  In each case, the person the drawing became – not the person I was trying for – was unmistakable. I hope you agree.

Take care, and I hope to talk to you soon.

NBC’s The Blacklist is a gem.

The other day I asked someone if they’d watched The Blacklist.  “No,” they replied:  “I don’t watch much TV.”

Believe it or not, I don’t think that I do, either.  However, I have shows I like.  Elementary, for instance, returned a couple of weeks ago to my delight.  Now I also like The Blacklist, having seen its first two episodes.

The Blacklist begins with a famous wanted man’s walking into FBI headquarters and surrendering.  The wanted man – whose name is Reddington – immediately starts giving his conditions of cooperation.  His ability to tell the FBI facts they want to know confirms his value to them.  Therefore, they decide they must cooperate.  Each agent shows his or her unique brand of distaste for Reddington.  Reddington loves being hated by them – and gives it right back with a smile.

Reddington’s motive for surrendering to the FBI is dubious, but seems to be control.  “The FBI works for me now,” he casually states in the second episode.  He suggests that he, himself, wants to take down high-value criminals for his own reasons.

Here’s James Spader as Reddington.

As Autumn descends, it’s hopefully time to start posting more.

For those of you who reach me through my WordPress blog, you may not know that my website has many earlier posts.  You can find them from my homepage here.

If and when you do visit those earlier posts, you’ll learn that one of my perennial themes is yard work: lawn care, composting, pruning…you name it. The weather is another favourite topic; anyone who gardens is conscious of it.

Well, the weather has turned here. Today is rainy and about 10 degrees, with a forecast of 12. We haven’t hit zero yet at night, but we did get down to 2 degrees the night before last. The leaves haven’t let go yet, but some have started changing color.

The weeds have been prolific. I haven’t had much time to fight back, but I’ve attacked them three separate times since June. I always weed by hand. There is much more to be done, but I’ve got them under control in a couple of key areas.

I didn’t water my lawn over the summer, which came late but hot and dry. The lawn went mainly brown, but stood up pretty well; it’s gone green again with the return of the rain. I’m pleased.

I’ll be talking more about my summer and fall chores in future posts. Now, let’s discuss today’s subject: Steve Buscemi.

I first noticed Steve Buscemi in Tarantino’s movies. However, I’ve been in a movie blackout since I had my first child in ’02. My wife recently showed me Boardwalk Empire: as Nucky,Buscemi is fantastic. I can’t watch that show, though; it’s too heartbreaking for me.

Here’s my rendition of Steve.

IMDb was a source for this article.

Gilderoy Lockhart is a key figure from the early Harry Potter era.

I’ve read the Harry Potter series to my children twice.  We are working on a third time; presently we are about a third through Order of the Phoenix.

Before I got hold of Harry, my wife read the entire series to the children.  I’d overhear bits when I came up from work.  Parts I heard from the last three books drew me in. From that point of view, I was a late comer to the earlier books.

Arriving at the series the way I did, I definitely think there are two eras of Harry Potter.  In the first three books – Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban – the kids are young.  The stories are more tender because the kids are vulnerable due to their youth.

Later in the series, the books focus on how damage during childhood affects peoples’ later lives.  That psychological focus unifies the last three books – Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows.

Gilderoy Lockhart, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher from Chamber of Secrets, is a popular buffoon.  Although he turns out to be unethical, he’s not evil.  His playfulness and vanity stand out uniquely among the Potter characters.  In many ways, Chamber of Secrets is his story as much as anyone’s.

Lockhart’s benign flaws fit in easily with the younger, more innocent period of the Potter books.  Later on, his dominating early presence is all but forgotten.  Yet, he remains a compelling figure, partly because of his unique ability to captivate other characters who endure through all seven books.

Here’s Gilderoy Lockhart, smiling as normal.

PS:  I regret that I’ve not posted in over two months.  The summer was good, but very busy.  I have much to share, and will try to do so in more frequent posts starting soon. Until then, take care.  I hope all is well with you:)

 

My first-born son is eleven now.

Paul, when you were born I knew nothing about kids.  I failed you often, starting with the first time I held you:  I dropped your head (sorry about that).  The summer you were born was hot, rather like this one.  As the days and weeks spun, I learned to change your diapers and give you baths and feed you bottles.  I sure wasn’t perfect – or even very good at it – but you were stuck with me a lot of the time while your mother recovered from bearing you.

As you became more durable, I took you out for walks in the pram.  By around Hallowe’en, you wouldn’t fall asleep in your crib; I had to walk you to sleep in the dark, quiet streets around our house.

Month after month, our walks lengthened; the summer you turned one, we’d go out for a three-hour walk in the morning, then another after lunch, then of course one at night to put you to sleep.  With you, I explored parts of town I never would have visited on my own.  I remember crossing a park one day when some kids called out, “He’s the guy who jogs with the kid in the stroller.”  They were right, of course; they’d seen us from the swings.  By the way:  we didn’t have a jogging stroller; it was just a regular one.

At the play-gym, I remember watching you run across the floor just for the joy of it.  Like everything with kids, some days didn’t go so well as we hoped.  I remember one morning, sitting in our Olds with you and (by then) your younger brother, James:  you were both in your car seats, both crying.  A revelation came to me:  “Today, the best you can hope for is a bad day.  Just try to keep it from getting worse.”  We made it, the three of us; believe it or not, the day actually did improve.

You turned four, then went to pre-school; you turned five, then went to school.  When you were bullied, I told you to fight back, and even trained you how you might do so.  After two years of being walked on, you fought back and won.  Years later, you’re confident in your ability to defend yourself and your brother James.  You’re also friends with the kid who bullied you so long ago.

Whether it was training you to defend yourself, or teaching you to read, I’ve always been on your side.  Notwithstanding, I’ve been the worst bully in your life.  Forcing you to practice the piano, forcing you to learn to read before you went to school, forcing you to eat your fruits and veggies…so much of your childhood you spent being pushed around by me. I swear I never liked doing it, but felt I had no choice.  I can easily understand why you might not agree.

Nowadays, I rarely have to tell you to do anything.  After school, you hurry up to your room to tackle your homework.  You always get good report cards.  You eat your meals without my leaning on you.  I guess you’re growing up.

Physically, you’re the strong buck I never was.  At age eleven, your shoulders are broader than mine were at age fifteen.  Your fearlessness – I think it’s reminiscent of another Paul, after whom you’re named.

Nowadays, I try to influence you as little as possible.  The world has changed so much since you were born, I am not qualified to give you advice about it.  I can still help you with your math – on the rare occasions you need it – and remind you to practice the piano. Privately, I can anticipate a much brighter future for you than I faced at age eleven.  That’s what I wanted for that perfect baby I carried into the waiting room eleven years ago, to so many hushed voices and wide eyes….

From that day on, I’ve been amazed someone as wonderful as you could be my son.

Happy birthday, Paul

-Love, Dad.