On Technology - Part 1

When I find myself admiring some newfangled (does anyone even use that word anymore?) technology, two things can happen.

I sometimes feel like a kid in a candy store... maybe a kid on Christmas morning would be a better analogy.  When I find some new gadget, software or other form of tech to be truly impressive, I get all little-girl giggly.  Because I'm a geek.

The other thing that is just as likely to occur is that I'll suddenly start thinking about how far we've come (technologically) in such a short time.

To frame this last thought, within my lifetime perspective, is what this post is really about.  Consider...

My earliest encounter / memory of "cool new tech" harkens back to a few major (and painfully slow to develop) technology changes during my formative years (remember... I'm old!).

I clearly recall the changes from Black and White to color in both film and television.  Not so much film, as color was already the convention for most new films, but I spent many hours watching old (and even slightly older) B&W films on TV.  From Citizen Kane to Casablanca to Psycho, B&W was still a normal part of film.  Color was cool and somewhat new, but film just came in two 'flavors,' no big deal.

TV, as a young child, was always B&W.  (To put the timing in perspective, there were only three (maybe four) channels to choose from and they all went off the air somewhere between 11:30pm and 1:00am.

I remember getting up very early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons.  If you got up early enough (before 5:30am), nothing was on TV (yet).  I think it was either channel 2 (CBS) or 4 (NBC) that was the first station to "come alive" and the first show was... Modern Farmer.  (Modern Farmer was a non-fiction, farm based show about... duh).  Of course it made perfect sense to be showing this to 3 and 4 year olds in Brooklyn, NY (somehow I never did get a hankerin' to be a farmer) but did we care?  Hell no! It was "TV" (the great, new American babysitter!).

We "suffered" through Modern Farmer to get to 'the good stuff.'  Crusader Rabbit, Winkie Dink among others.

As I aged, watching movies on "The Early Show" after school, became part of my world.

When a movie was shown on TV, if it was a color film, it was rendered in B&W.  Again, the "norm."

Then one day... after many years, came color television.  Color TV wasn't cheap enough, nor was there enough content being broadcast in color in it's early years for color televisions to start selling widely until the mid 60's. This means I was in my mid teens when color television became a "reality."  That is for some, not for my family (color TV was still outside our financial reach until the later 60's).

I remember going to a church member's apartment to watch The Wizard of Oz in color (yeah, you could only watch shows and movies when they were actually aired back then and the airing of TWOO was only once a year!). That's when I first found out what the hell "a horse of a different color" was all about!

So during my first 15 years or so of existence I was witness to the following technological advances as it pertains to television.  Let's compare!

Roughly 5 or so TV stations became 7 (not counting UHF, look it up) in NYC.  Color replaced B&W. 
Today, there are hundreds of stations, almost all in High Definition.

Screens (aka picture tubes) lost their rounded corners and became larger (upwards of about 25").  Remotes came into existence and went from terrible (almost mechanical) to bearable.  Screens were 4x3 aspect ratio for many years to come.
Now, every screen sold today is "flat" and is (roughly) 16x9 widescreen ratio.

TV's also went from gigantic pieces of furniture to smaller, almost (but not really) "portable" forms.
While my last 27", picture tube model TV weighed around 100 pounds, even 65" - 70" TVs probably weigh less today.

Finally, how we watch TV seems to be the largest change,  As mentioned, you had to wait and be in front of the TV when something aired to see it.  The invention of the Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) with VHS format winning out over the superior Betamax (again, look it up) changed peoples lives.  You could finally record something to watch later.

The VCR was a true technological, watershed moment.  One of the biggest.  Not only could you record "live" TV for later viewing but you could buy movies on tape and watch them whenever you wanted to.  The future had arrived.

A bit more on these changes in part 2.

The Beach, Plans and Catching Up

So... here we are.  It's been mbggrphhh days since I last wrote something (other than checks!).  But that's okay.  It's been a bit of a whirlwind couple of weeks.  To wit:

We held a really big BBQ/party last weekend.  The days leading up to the party were buried in preparation.  I moved porch furniture (a seven piece faux wicker sectional) four times.  (Long story, our porch is under construction so the furniture went from shed, to backyard lawn and back twice.)

I cleaned the house top to bottom (literally).  We shopped (a lot), Suz cooked...  yeah, we were busy that week.

Couple of days immediately after party... lost! (R and R.)

This week, I took long walks two days in a row (trying the "get up early and walk," routine).  Exhausted me a bit but I'm going to try to keep it up ("regular schedule" style).

We had to go back to Brooklyn for an overnight so that (sort of) killed two days.  Saw two films (Love and Mercy and The Wolf Pack).  Enjoyed both but neither 'blew my skirt up.'

I spent half a day working on a tax issue (unpaid tax from 2011, due to my investment people not sending me tax info I didn't know I needed for filing that year).  It's all good, I just owe a little.

Spent some time at the beach yesterday (finally) - see below.

So what's really the story here?  Why bother writing this rather mundane tripe?

Well, I did get to bang on my keyboard for a while (always good for the ol' arthur-ritis).

And I did get to sneak in the photo.  BTW - it's the view from my bar stool.  :-)  Yesterday reminded me of what I thought retirement might feel like - and in a way it did... briefly, but I felt it.

So first I'd like to point out that the idea (or assumed idea) that I'd find it "easy" to get into any sort of routine in retirement has proven wickedly difficult.  Not sure yet if that's due to the shifting events that needed our (or my) attention or whether it's going to be "just the nature of things."  Time should tell.

But I also wanted to mention that I'm thinking (not nearly enough, but at least a little) about what my next script project will be.  Do I re-write one of my old scripts - as I initially thought I might do first - or start something new?  Or... do I tackle something completely different (other than this blog) such as a novel, fiction or fact (e.g., memoir).

On the re-write path, I did speak briefly with my old screenwriting teacher (at the party) about my script People Who Kill (a thriller that I still think has the best potential of all my scripts).  He mentioned that one of his connections might be interested in reading it.  Of course, it's not ready (ergo the re-write).

While it's not the first script I would have chosen to work on (I've a hankerin' to work on Guardian Demon), it seems the most logical choice.

More on this soon - I  hope!

p,s, Apparently, the only script I don't have a printed copy of is People Who Kill.  Hmmm...

Asbury Park, North Beach - from the Convention Center balcony bar (Anchor's Bend)

Fireworks

I remember (millions of years ago) watching fireworks from our rooftop on Avenue C in Brooklyn. You could see the fireworks in Coney Island - even though they were 6-7 miles away. 

There were a couple of times we sat on the beach in Coney to watch them.  The first time it was an amazing experience, sitting directly under the explosions caused a concussive 'thud' in your chest. Wow!  For a little kid, that shit's awesome!

Fireworks 'in the distance' never quite did it for me after that.  Sure they were cool, but that collective symphony of physical, auditory and visual power looses something as each part diminishes (or even disappears).

As boys, we loved setting off fireworks. Lighting them and running. Blowing stuff up. But as an adult.., meh.

When Macy's moved the fireworks from the Hudson to the lower East River, and since we were living in Brooklyn Heights, we had THE view.  After a couple of years of 'fighting the crowds' we found a great 'secret' location.  Furman St., below the Promenade, right on the shore.  It was as close as you could get to the barges. It was way cool.

Today that 'secret spot' is a giant, public park that tens of thousands have already visited. I can't even imagine how crowded it will be tonight. (Kinda glad I'm not there!)

Which brings me to Asbury Park.  During our first few summers here (not the very first, that year we had to stay on the boardwalk) people were allowed to sit on the beach to watch the show (see photo).

The first time we did this, I was transported back to those few summers on the beach in Coney Island.  I was "a kid again" (if only briefly).  I love moments like that and I hope to have many more of them as I drift into my twilight years.

So watching the fireworks in Asbury Park for the last decade or so, has been a blast. Even though we have to stand on the boardwalk or hang out on the second floor balcony of Watermark bar
(they don't allow people on the beach anymore) it's been fun.

Tonight, we're attending a BBQ with friends in Long Branch (up north a bit) and will be watching their fireworks display.  As a long string of AP fireworks comes to a close, I can only plan and hope to be able to attend again in future summers.

This is not "goodbye."

Addendum: The fireworks in LB were a huge disappointment (not to mention we were at least a quarter mile away). Our friends said, the AP fireworks were the best in years. Sigh.

Day One: Not A Diary!

So here I am.  Day one of retirement.  (It is a bit "early" for it but a very far cry from "techno-megabuck-buyout early.")

As it says in the title, this will not be a "diary of my days in retirement," for if it were, I'd have to shoot myself (and I don't own a gun, so I'd have to buy one, but that's against my principles, and things would get messy - pun intended - and...), 'nuff said.

The single biggest thing I can think of on day one is... drum roll... ready..?  I'm writing.

Not really a big deal. But then again, it is.

One of the great 'chestnuts' about writers and writing has always been, "write every day."  My response to that has (in a logical yet defensive voice), "yeah right... fuck that!"

To elaborate... My writing (pretty much exclusively screenplays), has occurred while I worked a full time job.  I drove, very close to every Friday night to our weekend house where chores, socializing and "chilling out" were pretty much the reason for being there. Sunday was drive home time.

That left Monday through Thursday nights for writing.  Some nights were unavailable due to various commitments (social, entertainment, etc.).  If I was lucky, I had an average of 3.5 nights, and another average of about 3 hours or less each of those nights, to write  each week.  In under ten years, I wrote six and a half screenplays (three full length, two shorts, one long short and one I abandoned after struggling with it for over a year).

Not bad for a "part time" writer but the notion, the "rule" that I "had to" write every day, not only just couldn't really work for me, but I found it unnecessary (see... logical AND defensive).

Which brings me back to today.  Day one.  The "urge" (need?) to write must have been lurcking somewhere as I just simply had to fire up the laptop, and "do that thing."

Yet, as we all know, the proof will be in the pudding  and be it chocolate or rice, I do love my pudding.