Today I’m guest blogging at Chiseled in Rock.
Reincarnation
Twilight Zone Posts
Hey, readers, I’m a huge Twilight Zone fan, so am pimping my other blog, Reality Check, and two recent Twilight Zone posts there (here and here). Please check them out and enjoy!
Twilight Zone—My 25 Favorite Episodes!
Well, I’ve been putting this off for years, but after visiting some recent Twilight Zone-related blogs (here and here) and being asked the question–and seeing an actual list from one of the sites—I decided, okay, I really should put down a list of my favorite episodes. So, here they are—in no particular order (except the top 4 really are my top four):
- And When the Sky was Opened
- Judgment Day
- The Arrival
- The After Hours
- Mirror Image
- King 9 Will Not Return
- The 7th is Made Up Of Phantoms
- Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
- The Thirty-Fathom Grave
- Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up
- A Game Of Pool
- Long Live Walter Jameson
- Death Ship
- The Passage of the Lady Anne
- Nothing In The Dark
- A Passage For Trumpet
- Ring-A-Ding Girl
- Perchance To Dream
- The Last Flight
- The Changing of the Guard
- A Stop at Willoughby
- A World Of His Own
- Trouble With Templeton
- The Passersby
- The Hunt
I’m a fan of ATMOSPHERE, which can clearly be seen in some of my selections, like Judgment Day, Lady Anne, Martian, etc., and there are some others missing, like I Am The Night, Color Me Black. And in my review of episodes, I think I actually found one I have never seen: An Occurrence At Owl Creek. How did I miss this? Must also be another rare episode. I mean, thanks to Shadow & Substance, but I even caught the rare George Takei episode, The Encounter, a powerful and polarizing episode rarely aired. But you can also see the ex-military side of me, and my love of ships, subs, and aircraft. But I also love the reincarnational and paranormally weird. But, hey, I’m a Twilight Zone fan, right?
Will this list change? Just like the Twilight Zone is a state of mind, so this list is a result of my state of mind at any one moment in time….
But, oh, how these bring back such wonderful images, emotion, and atmosphere!
Related Article: John-Boy Wrote For The Twilight Zone
Ray Bradbury Passes at 91
Yesterday, an icon, a legend, passed away.
I’ve read a handful of his work and watched many of them on The Ray Bradbury Theater. I read his Zen in the Art of Writing periodically (I just love this book). While, like any author, I may not have liked all his work, I’ve always loved his imagination. It always seemed so playful! Sure, some of it was quite serious, like Fahrenheit 451, but I loved how he spent his life playing…imagining. Writing. How he looked out into the world like a child, always in awe and wonder! He always hearkened back to his youth in Waukegan, Illinois. And I’d heard him say he had a perfect memory…but I definitely believe he had perfect nostalgia. I think “Ray Bradbury” should be included in very definition of the word.
It was a life well spent. Might one even say, “charmed“?
Mr. Bradbury’s wife of 57 years, Marguerite, died in 2003. Little is said of his wife, so I urge you read about her.
The best story (but it’s true) I’ve ever heard from or about Mr. Bradbury was about Mr.Electrico, in 1932. I love the reincarnational, the magical, the mystical of this anecdote! And it, indeed, had set the tone for the rest of his life! I hope that he an Mr. Electrico can, once again, meet! I’m sure they have plenty of weird tales to tell each other!
Thank you…for everything. For making the world shine a little brighter….
Farewell, Ray Bradbury!
Related articles
- Ray Bradbury, 91, leaves a rich theatrical legacy too (latimes.com)
- Author Ray Bradbury Passes Away (geeksaresexy.net)
- Author Ray Bradbury Dead at 91 (laist.com)
“Tail Gunner” accepted in Longmont Library Anthology
I have just been informed that my short story, “Tail Gunner,” originally published in issue #103 of The Black Sheep, is to be published in “The You Belong Collection: Writings and Illustrations from Longmont Area Residents” anthology, available April 9th, 2012, for $15. Though I live a little south of Longmont, it’s an honor to have been selected! As I become more aware of availability, I’ll post it here, but you could definitely contact the following:
Longmont Public Library
409 4th Avenue
Longmont, CO 80501
General Information Desk: 303/651-8470
This is my first anthology, and I’m really psyched about “Tail Gunner” heading toward a wider audience! Nearly 300 submission were received, and I’m glad to have finally been included in the “accepted” category, though feel for all those not accepted (keep trying–never give up)!
Just Thought I’d Say “Hi”….
I’m sure we’ve all have experiences where we’ve met someone for the first time ever…and had either an instant dislike or an instant liking.
Sometimes we meet people and there’s no issue with the individual in and of themselves, but we just “clash”’ with them. And as hard as we might try, we just cannot work with the person.
Or maybe there’s something else you just can’t explain.
On July 29, 1997, my wife and I were walking our Black Lab, Mac, in the neighborhood. Way up ahead of us I noticed this guy, walking by himself. He looked somewhat heavily built, at least in the legs, but just walked on by himself. For some reason it struck me, or seemed, I don’t know, “interesting” to me. As we walked on, the guy seemed to slow up, or, at the very least, we overtook him. Again, this just struck me as “odd.”
Why should it stand out to me?
As Laura and I continued our walk and we talked, we overtook this guy, which I was by now strangely fascinated by. As we came up alongside him–Laura and I still talking (and I’m mentioned none of this to her)–I had this urge to say “hello” (I’m normally quite outgoing like this anyway, but felt a need to do this, for some strange, instantly compelling reason).
Almost interrupting Laura, I turned to the guy, and felt this sudden, powerfully strange feeling that this unknown guy was my brother! He almost looked “familiar” to me! I mean, as I looked over to him, I “almost” (does this make any kind of sense?) recognized him–yet didn’t. Like he was a brother of mine in another life. He suddenly felt so damned familiar to me.
And as I passed, I tried to watch his expression (though I didn’t get a good look at his face; just its profile). For a very real moment, I thought he wasn’t going to say anything, then he said, “How are you guys doing?”, or something similar. And when he said that, the greeting felt…“interesting.” It felt genuine; the greeting almost felt like a dichotomy to what he appeared to be like as we approached him–like maybe something weird clicked inside him, too. I could see he seemed quite pensive, quite, “to himself.”
It was all very odd.
As we passed him, I kept feeling him behind us, occasionally checking out the corner of my eyes (I wore shades) whenever I could to see where he was.
I actually felt him.
Watching us?
Later that night I brought all this up with Laura as we were watching TV, and she mentioned how when this happened, I had actually slowed down, and she was wondering what the heck I was doing, thinking the guy probably thought I was weird! I never noticed I’d done that, but was certainly curiously amused! The night before this happened, I was reading a “new” Seth book (personal session that hadn’t been published from the “official” Seth books in their heyday), the first one, where Seth was telling Rob how he and Rob had met another person who was a friend from another lifetime. How Old Friends have a way of meeting up with each other throughout their different reincarnations. I firmly believe this is exactly what happened to me that day. Synchronicity. Pay attention to those.
It was so weird. You know the “weird” I’m talking about…electric, maybe feel like you’re straddling realities?
I mean all this I just discussed never occurred to me as we came up to this guy–just that something “weird” was “about” this guy. Stuff like this is so neat, especially when it just “sneaks up” on you!
So, next time something odd happens when you meet someone for the very first time, try to go with it, and see if you have any feelings or images flooding your mind. Even if you don’t…just roll with it and see where it goes. Try to “feel it out” afterwards. See what you come up with! Maybe, though an instant dislike surfaced, this “meeting” is an effort on both your parts to rectify old wounds. Your and his or her way of saying, “Look, I know we didn’t get along last time, but we’ve both grown since then. Let’s move on and let bygones be bygones….”
It’s neat meeting old friends (and family!) from other times!