the cream rises

one of the things i love about where we live now is the spontaneous urge to re-discover the familiar. a few weeks ago while entertaining my folks at our new home, we finished dinner and i realized we hadn't thought to get a dessert. "no problem" i said. "why don't we all go to fenton's?" mom clapped her hands. the kids all asked "what's fenton's?" and soon we were in the car and headed down the road to oakland. for those who still don't know, fenton's is a long standing east bay stop for some of the finest iced cream you will ever find. what a book could be written on the thousands of birthdays, first dates, after game celebrations, anniversaries and the like all shared here. in fact as we ordered and then waited patiently at the table making crayon masterpieces on our paper tablecloth, we joined in on no less than 3 rousing choruses of "happy birthday" for tables nearby. proving that the good times shared with complete strangers over ice cream is enough to momentarily satisfy our human longing for community. i guess some other folks know it too as evidenced here in the final scene of pete docter's last film "up". and now i see from our crayon box souvenir that they even have a location in the new nut tree plaza. good reason to stop the next time we travel up to sac to see our friends there too.

philately have i loved

one of my sons recently developed a new interest for collecting stamps. he checked a book out from the library and has since immersed himself in procuring and studying these little works of art. he even pestered me enough to go digging for a few old canceled examples i'd kept in an envelope. i was never really a stamp bug. comic books was my career in collection. i can see the draw though. the art and design. the international flavors. the romance of travel. politics and history, science and economics, sure sure, it's all there.
sadly i think though that it is a dying passion. we're into the second decade of the 21st century now and how much magic is really left in this old pastime? and though we can now communicate across oceans with each other instantly i don't think we are better for it. life was what used to happen while you waited for replies. the news from a loved one, the encouragement that weighed against our doubts as days passed waiting for a letter. isn't there so much more to say in those spaces?
i used to take great pleasure in buying stamps at the post office, like finding something that would express to the world who i was as they moved silently, even unnoticed in that corner of an envelope. they were there. and sometimes i might even pick out and save one for a special friend in hopes that they would see my secret message and smile. little bits of currency and art from my hand to yours.

the toastwalk

just taking the toastrobot out for a little walk today...
(still a work in progress)

greetings programs

in anticipation of the new tron film, i re-visited the first tron last night. it's really hard to wrap your head around it now, because in so many ways we are all living more and more "inside the machine" these days, but there was a time not that long ago when the barriers between the two worlds were a lot more distinct. i would think for most people now looking back at this film it would seem ancient, crude visually and quite simple. but as i worked my way through the exhaustive supplemental features disc, i was completely awed by the monumental process by which it came about. and in fact in that regard i think it ranks as a one of a kind film which will never be duplicated at that scale. marrying the techniques up to that time of computer technology and traditional film-making, each frame has been laboriously produced.
but aside from the technology and design of this film, i think it's the metaphysical aspect of it that interests me the most these days. director steven lisberger made a comment in one of the interviews, talking about how much of who we are is in computers. that in a sense all of this information is our essence in this digital world. and that really became the basis for the story in this film. and even as i type this i am aware that i am adding to my own meager representation of myself in this world. that i am a "user" and these words in this font on this screen of pre-selected turnkey design are some vague attempt at representing me on this matrix. and then i think of all the masses who now have capabilities to do this very same thing. we no longer have to be "programmers" like high priests in this world. we all have access to the same technology.
and this i think really begins to poke at the larger question. the question of quality that robert pirsig wrestled with in his epic tome. as one of the producers pointed out in an interview, although we all have access now to word processors all of us are not shakespeares. looking back at the 1982 world in tron from both the outside and inside was a nice nostalgic feeling. and as journey sang about "solutions" through the end credits i couldn't help feeling that all of the 80's optimism was lost on me. that although we have created technologies that have brought us closer together, in reality i've never felt more isolated.
maybe it's my inability to adapt as well as the kevin flynn character did in the film. when zapped by the mcp and scanned into the world of the computer, although he has an adjustment period, he quickly learns his way inside this new world. guess i still haven't got it figured out yet.

a balanced part of this complete breakfast

saturday morning. the eternal kid in me wakes up with hopes for the weekend measured out in careful optimism. the cartoon cavalcade underway, bowls and spoons clink together as milk is slurped. and i am reminded of what edie brickell and her new bohemians once said, "philosophy is the talk on a cereal box"
quaker recently re-introduced these great cereal boxes from the 1960's. they feature the early characters and look that capn' crunch had at that time - the crew of alfie, brunhilde, carlyle, dave and sea dog. and of course the characters they met along the way in their adventures on board the good ship "guppy". crunch beast, smedley, and the dastardly pirate jean la foote, who of course was always plotting to pillage the guppy and steal the crunch berries.
all of these characters and ideas came out of the jay ward studios. they also brought us rocky and bullwinkle, george of the jungle, tom slick and superchicken. what a better fit for the design of a cereal box. you could catch the adventures of rocky and bullwinkle on a saturday morning while gazing back to these packages. and these reproductions also feature two trading cards with a character and bio on each.
general mills recently did this same thing with the trix boxes and i have to say i'm really enjoying these re-releases. the simple graphics and wonderful characters for me have opened again that door to the past where a world of imagination awaited. floating on the guppy with the capn', i too can now re-take my place at my station awaiting the capn's orders on the high seas of adventure cereals.