Lantern's Spotlight - Canadians, Aging, and Ron Burgundy: Chapter 2

Greetings, cyberspace! Chapter two of this Lantern's Spotlight article focuses on something everyone has, and keeps getting more of. Even me...

You say it's your birthday? Well it's my birthday too, yeah!

My birthday passed two weeks ago Friday. It was pretty much a non-event this year. Oh my boss took me to work, and the wife let me watch the director's cut version of Brazil via our digital cable's on-demand service...but that was pretty much it. Outside of my parents (who sent money) and my in-laws (who sent new clothes), and the guys I work with, noone else seemed to know.

Don't think that I'm complaining. At 37, I might not be "old", but I'm hardly young anymore. Birthdays used to be such an event when I was a boy - Spider-Man cakes, Star Wars presents, swimming parties, all sorts of things. I suppose time and distance have a way of catching up with a person, rendering such events extraneous. Oh don't get me wrong, I'd still eat a Spider-Man cake at 37. Most of my friends know they could get me a Star Wars-anything and I'd likely enjoy it. But has modern life made for such a frantic schedule, that we can't time out as a group and make someone feel a little extra special? Even just for one day??

Of course it's possible that this is a case of getting out what you put in to things. I can barely remember my parent's and wife's birthday. One or two friends, maybe, but that's it. Maybe if I made a bigger deal over other people's birthdays, I could once again reclaim the "cake-and-ice-cream" natal celebrations of my youth.

Wow...I think I've just given myself a mouthful of food for thought. Didn't taste too bad.

Four days later, my wife left for her sister's wedding in Pennsylvania. She made a fine bride, and with the wife's permission I'll display a few choice pictures in recognition. Then that Monday as I was watching Headline News and getting ready for work, the talking head onscreen blurted out something about "July 29th" while she reported the rest of the story. It seemed that a fellow Leo passed away - and another Canadian made famous by American television (like James Doohan before him) - was being acknowledged.

NEXT CHAPTER - The story ends with Peter Jennings, Ron Burgundy, and the end of TV journalists.

Lantern's Spotlight - Canadians, Aging, and Ron Burgundy: Chapter 1

Greetings, cyberspace. Originally I was going to write about a thread connecting some recent news events as filtered through the Lantern's Light, but part one ran a little long and it's getting late. Instead, enjoy the first of three focuses for the Lantern's Spotlight. Starting in chronological order, a worldwide personality passes...

James "Montgomery Scott" Doohan
March 3, 1920 - July 20, 2005

Probably the best article I read the day of "Scotty's" passing was from the movie critique site Ain't It Cool. Take it away, Harry's Dad:

Our beloved Scotty, James Doohan, the engineer of the Starship Enterprise on the original "Star Trek" TV series and movies who never failed to answer the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died today, Wednesday, at the age of 85 about 5:30 a.m. at his Redmond, Washington home with his wife Wende, at his side. The cause of death was pneumonia complicated by advanced Alzheimer's disease.

James Montgomery Doohan was born March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, British Columbia. At 19, James joined the Canadian army, becoming a lieutenant in artillery. He was among the Canadian forces that landed
on Juno Beach on D-Day. The Canadians crossed a minefield laid for tanks; the soldiers weren't heavy enough to detonate the bombs. At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: one that took off his middle right finger (he managed to hide the missing finger on screen), four in his leg and one in the chest. Fortunately the chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case.

After the war Doohan on a lark enrolled in a drama class in Toronto. He showed promise and won a two-year scholarship to New York's famed Neighborhood Playhouse, where his fellow students included Leslie Nielsen, Tony Randall and Richard Boone, among others. Doohan already had a career as a character actor when he answered the cattle call for a role as an engineer in a new space-opera-adventure on NBC in 1966. A master of dialects from his early years as a radio voice actor, he used seven different accents in the sesson before he settled on the Scotsman.

The series attracted an enthusiastic following of science fiction fans, especially among teenagers and children, but a shortsighted NBC canceled it after only short three seasons. When the series' first life ended in 1969, Doohan found himself typecast as Montgomery Scott, the red shirted engineer with a burr in his voice. "Star Trek" continued in syndication in the United States and abroad, and its following grew larger and more dedicated, fanatical even. In the years after its original NBC run, Doohan attended dozens upon dozens of "Trekkie" cons around the world and even gave talks on several college campuses.

As one of Star Trek's "second hand" fans from it's early syndication/pre-franchise days, the character of Mr. Scott held a special place for me. Mostly because like my grandfather, Scotty came from Scotland - though if I remember my trivia correctly, Scotty was from Aberdeen while Grandpa came from Edinburgh.

Scotty worked the transporter and knew how to fix the ship. While these are not particularly enduring character traits, they are certainly something a six-year old boy will find "neat" about a TV character. Why, he was kinda like that "Q" guy in those James Bond movies my dad likes too!

Finally, Scotty was different. It wasn't just the Scots burr, the quick grin, or the way he pulled off last-minute saves - he was the only regular member of the bridge crew in a red shirt. I'm not certain when I noticed this, but in a ship run by gold and blue-shirted senior staff, Scotty's red shirt 'authoritah' was keenly felt.

With the advent of the animated series, I began to pick up on a few things. Not only did I notice the turnover rate for all the other Enterprise crew that wore red, making Scotty an early standout, but the nuances of the character began to reveal themselves. Doohan's Montgomery Scott was a working class ship's officer that expected his stern orders to be followed, but never talked down to his fellow red-shirt staff, or even the technicians in the blue jumpsuits. Scotty even treated the most replacable guys on the ship with professional respect, just just because it's the correct thing to do, but because Mr. Scott remembers when HE was that technician, or HE was that Engineering Aid. A real working man's officer.

Like many early Trek fans, I was taken in by Scotty's thick accent, and in imitating it I picked up on many similar sounding male voices like Carter Winston in The Survivor, or the male Thasian voice from Charlie X. It wasn't until after Doohan's death that I learned about his career
in Canadian radio productions. Hell, I didn't even know the man was a D-Day war hero until I heard it on NPR...though I don't remember them mentioning anything about a lucky cigarette case. In any event, I'm certain between trying to master Scotty's brougue and the Liverpudlian scouse of The Beatles, I developed my love of speech and sound. In later years, Doohan narrated many of the Star Trek audio books, and produced accurate renditions of Kirk, Spock and McCoy based mostly on tone, timing and inflection. Even in ill health, the man still worked doing what he could with what he knew.

Some have written that Doohan's death is a "terrible tragedy" and a "crushing blow". Look fanboys, the man was 85 years old and suffering from compliations due to Alzheimer's! He died surrounded by friends and family, and he's remembered by millions of people worldwide. How is having a full life, a rewarding career, and millions of fans a "terrible tragedy"? An old man that entertained and inspired generations of fans is no longer ravaged by a debilitating disease.

Bless you, Mr. Doohan.

NEXT CHAPTER - Another year? Already?? Nahhh...

Lantern's Spotlight - Kristina Miller and the Sharm el-Sheik Bombings

Greetings, cyberspace. Long time no see.

Instead of excuses, I'm going to get write to the point. I am probably the world's worst friend. Like my ignored blog, plenty of email and phone calls from friends and family get stacked up, unanswered. It's not that I don't care, it's just that I figure I'm SO busy I can't take the time. Having the wife out of town has given me a little extra free time to slack off, so I've been trying to balance productive use of time with couch-potato sloth. Sloth has been winning, but things have been getting done at a steady pace - including catching up with old friends.

It Can Happen To You Part 1 - Terrorism

Janet and I used to work for the same company years ago. Then she became a partner and moved to Las Vegas to run a sales office, and finally to open one in Orange County, CA right before the company fell apart. Funny, when the "fit hit the shan" on my career there, it was Janet who had to fire me.

Don't worry, Janet. It's all water under the bridge. Killing the messenger is stupid, anyway.

Not long after she took over the Vegas office, Janet hired a girl named Kristina as her secretary. Now at this company, secretaries were known to travel through revolving doors at most locations, but Kristina seemed to still be there month after month. That was probably the first thing I noticed.

Next was her personality. In my roles with our firm, I had to deal with Janet's counterparts in the satellite offices quite a bit, which meant getting to know the different personalities who answered the phones. Kristina liked to laugh, had a clever sense of humor, and shared many of my tastes in music and movies. These I noticed over time during our two and three minute conversations.

The pinnacle of my time at this firm was our company-wide trip to Las Vegas right before the corporate explosion. It should be noted I was saving myself at the time for a cheating Canadian woman, so I was more than disheartened when that year's Northern snowstorm grounded her flight. Hell, if it wasn't for the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton I probably would've wormed my way out of the whole hoo-hah! I didn't really give much of a damn for the famous Vegas strip, and I feel gambling is a waste of money, so there wasn't much else for me to do besides drink with a Ferengi.

It was at the Vegas company conference that Kristina and I met for the first time. I remember musing about how attractive she was - a model like quality, with big eyes and an expressive smile that lit up.

Kristina and I turned out to be kindred spirits. We didn't really fit in with the sycophants or corporate cheerleaders, so we spent what time we could hanging in back and making fun of everyone during the conferences.

Our friendly relationship remained strong up through the time I was targeted for a "Reduction In Force", and even afterwards she would call me to and from college classes. Smart, dedicated, focused, and attractive. Selecting my company just proved that she had wonderful taste in men, so I'm certain I'd have approved of the boyfriend she talked about.

Over time, I let Kristina's calls and emails get stacked up, unanswered, along with Janet's. It's not that I didn't care, I just figured I was SO busy I didn't take the time. That's why I stopped now to write this when I got Janet's most recent email.

It was dated July 26th - yes I let it sit for a while - and in a quick few lines explained how Kristina was the only American killed during the terrorist bombings in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. Since my life is mostly a cycle of work-home-sleep, this factoid failed to make it through my skull. Janet's letter was kind enough to assume I had already seen the news, but even if I had I wouldn't have immediately thought of MY friend Kristina Miller.

I watch Headline News every morning as I get ready for work, NPR's Morning Edition on the drive in, and the networks' All Things Considered. I like to think of myself as a fairly educated person, and I pay attention every time one of the commentators talks about how many of our armed forces died in overnight fighting, or from some sniper attack. I remember thinking back to my high school trip to London, and knowning that I traveled some of the area that was bombed on July 7th. Still, I never once imagined that an act of terrorism would take the life of someone I actually knew.

This entry was written not to inflame paranoia, nor to lash out over how our civil rights are being curtailed in the name of freedom. Clearly, something needs to be done to combat terror threats worldwide, and I think some concerns that the ACLU and other groups have brought up are valid. Decisions like those are left for people with louder voices than mine.

No, this is to thank Janet for not giving up on me as a friend.

This is to resolve to be a better friend in turn. Those who reach out deserve something to grab hold of, or the nothing you give them will be yours instead.

And this is for Kristina Miller.

Godspeed, Tina-Meena. Your untimely passing as an innocent victim of conflict is not in vain; as the only American casualty, you have brought addition attention to a regrettable event. Attention to any situation is always the first step to changing it.