The Wild Blog in the West

"Well sure, lots of people dislike driving," you think. No, I hate driving. "Sure, lots of people hate traffic jams and speedsters and --" No, I hate driving .  Not just hate it, but fear it. Let me back up a little.  I don't hate all driving.  I actually enjoy driving to some extent, like on curving country back roads.  Driving across town?  No problem. It's when I need to drive long distances on the freeway that the hate and fear come in waves.  By long distances, I mean more than 20 miles. I can't fully explain where the hate/fear came from.  It arose not long after I first started driving, when I realized that 65 mph on the freeway was kind of fast!  It is probably mainly centered around issues of control: driving is one of the more dangerous activities in this country, and I really prefer keeping my risk of death or bodily injury low, thanks. Then there is the claustrophobia element: stuck in one car, one position, for possibly hour

For the previous installment, go here . "Why even bother?" you might wonder.  When you think of media portrayal of introverts, could a less likely example come to mind? Sometimes you find introversion, and treatment of introverts, in unexpected places.  And sometimes the examination of lack of introversion can be just as revealing. First, here's the story.  Six kids, two parents, and a housekeeper, blended together through marriage in 1969, on a sitcom that would last five years.  While Mike and Carol Brady occupied a more central role in the earlier seasons, in later seasons, they would frequently be supporting players to the kids: Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy.  Most episodes were surprisingly grounded in real life situations, such as school elections, fundraisers, football games, romantic rivals, school plays, and learning to drive.  That is, when they weren't about cursed Tiki statues, unlikely celebrity cameos, or being a professional pop

Normally I provide one unpopular opinion and expound at length.  However, the unpopular opinions I have lately are on subjects that are not especially weighty.  That is not to say I couldn't find more to say about them at a future date.  But for now, I give you not one, but five randomly chosen unpopular opinions. 1.  Get off my lawn!   Usually when that expression is used, it is meant to paint the speaker as a crotchety, out-of-touch, inflexible nincompoop who hates the free-flowing awesomeness of young people.  Omigod, how dare this geezer resent young people romping on his lawn?  It's like he cares about respect for other people's possessions or something.  If you worked hard to maintain your property, or something equivalent, why shouldn't you resent the people who make light of, and ruin, your efforts?         2.  I can't stand Pixar's UP.   People treat this movie like it's the high watermark of cinema.  The first 10 minutes were poignant, but

By which I mean: should I keep blogging about episodes of this series? At this point, it doesn't matter: for us luckless Americans, Series Five of Downton Abbey  begins in January 2015.  But Downton  will begin airing in the UK and other parts of the world soon, and already promises that earth-shattering changes are on the way. The year is 1924.  Socialism is on the rise, and the Labour Party runs the country for the first time.  There will be change like never before, and Downton Abbey may not survive! Pause and consider what you just read.  Does it sound different from what was promised in previous series? Unprecedented change in the social order?  Check.  Downton may come apart at the seams?  Check.  Downstairs characters reveal a desire for social advancement?  Check.  Lord Grantham sputters with outrage?  Check.  The Dowager Countess has the perfect witticism to capture it all?  Double check. Each year promises remarkable change, but the greatest upheavals -- Matth

Still very busy and dealing with some big life changes, blah, blah, blah... That said, I've been meaning to write a blog post on how I do my research for my Victorian novel, if only because it's a vital part of my writing process, and I'm always interested to see how historical writers approach it. Many writers declare that research is their favorite part of the process and that writing comes second.  I feel the opposite.  I enjoy research and get excited when I discover new details, but for me, the story is the thing.  I want to harvest enough details to provide a realistic setting.  I don't want to wallow in research books for months on end; rather, research is like an itch that I need to scratch until it disappears. That said, providing a wholly believable setting for a historical story, especially if the story is broad in scope, can take quite a bit of research.  Reference texts, contemporary novels, newspapers, pamphlets, maps, you name it.  As for where I

I'm cheating a little here.  I had said that (except for The Sound of Music ) I would stick to reviewing movie musicals produced in the last 15 years.  I had intended my next Movie Musical segment to be about Jersey Boys .  But I just haven't been able to get out to see it.  My "meh, why bother" attitude reflects what I felt when I saw Jersey Boys  the musical, and also the movie's general reception.  I do intend to review it before it leaves the theatres, but a  Les Miserables  movie event it is not. Then recently, I saw the 1972 movie Cabaret on television, the first time I was able to watch it the whole way through.  Figuring that I would just forget the details if I waited until after reviewing the post-2000 movies, I decided what the hell. Cabaret  is in the Right column because I couldn't justify putting it in the Wrong column, but it's a much more tepid Right than I ever imagined it would be.   Cabaret the movie and stage musical alike are wi

For the previous installment, go here . And so we continue to the next installment of the Introvert series, to a show that no one takes seriously, yet seems indelibly etched into our collective brain.  That would be Saved By the Bell , the original series that ran from 1989 until 1993. Saved By the Bell  followed six high school students on their daily adventures.  The series was a spinoff of a failed Hayley Mills star vehicle, Good Morning Miss Bliss , which aired in 1988.  Audiences were underwhelmed by the show's tepid humor and moralizing, and Good Morning Miss Bliss headed for the chopping block.  Yet instead of swinging the axe, NBC decided to buy the rights and rework the show, turning it into Saved By the Bell .  Among the "saved" were lead characters Zack Morris, Samuel "Screech" Powers, Lisa Turtle, and the principal, Richard Belding.  Gone were Miss Bliss, the rest of the cast, the Indiana location, and several IQ points.  Set at Bayside High