@exindy

What a fabulous show. Heavily underrated.

I grew up in a family printing business- I was the offset pressman, my dad was the letterpress/hand-set-type guy, and my mother was the Linotype operator that did all the hot-metal, non-hand-set typography for the business. We had a Model 14 Mergenthaler Linotype that was the absolute bane of her existence.

Those machines are cantankerous when tuned up well, and after they have worn out for 50-60 years, they become positively belligerent. It squirted molten type metal up her leg literally hundreds of times over the years. It was a true hate-hate relationship: she hated that machine with the flaming passion of a thousand suns, and then some. When they closed the business after I went off to college, she broke her foot kicking it one last time.

The purpose of this story? There was one episode of Then Came Bronson wherein he befriended a retired Linotype operator who had a Model 14 Mergenthaler Linotype identical to ours sitting out in the rain beside his house, and Bronson helped him disassemble it and bury it, one piece at a time, in a big hole his backyard. They also had a wide-ranging philosophical discussion on some topic or another, as the show usually did. I couldn't hear much of it, though, over my mother's cheers and maniacal laughter.

My mother was enthralled. I ripped a VHS video of it for her years later, and she literally wore it out, crying real tears as each little bit of that infernal engine went one at a time into that big pit in his fictional yard. She watched that tape weekly until she passed, and I think that that gave her more pleasure than just about anything in her life...

It amazes me to think that there were maybe 100 people in the world who would appreciate that as a plot element: but that sure landed with her. They used to do the Congressional Record via Linotype, so some of those operators could probably equal her for hate of that machine... Anyway, so now you know where Etaoin Shrdlu came from.

On edit: I actually found the video, but the site won't let me embed dailymotion videos... https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6d1zj2 And yes, that is Woody Guthrie's old buddy Will Geer. And sharp-eyed watchers will also see Iron Eyes Cody (the most successful Italian pretend Native American evah!) in there.

Ahh, not the kind dealing with home agriculture, think Rick Nelson.

A couple days ago I saw that George Maharis had died. Since it was in the MSM, I went no further than the headline. I have read so many of these "breaking news" reports that I don't bother because I can pretty much predict the thrust of the piece.

I have determined over the years that there are 3 kinds of intellects in the world. There are who people, what people and why people. The bulk of our current society are who people. In fact the wurlitzer works very, very hard to push the who as being the most important and if you wish to succeed in this environment you have to pick the side from those offered. A case in point is our current BS about the debt ceiling. 'nother year, 'nother bad guy/good guy, red team blue team. Nothing ever changes but we do have a rousing "debate" and someone to blame. SSDD.

The snooze report no doubt would expound on the life of the man and how he as an celebrity made such a splash. My first thought wasn't the man. His identity faded into Route 66. I was slapped by the what and what that time meant to me personally. The series was set at the end of the '50s. As a teen for whom any car like that would be far and away what I could afford, I didn't identify with the concept of the series. I was saving up to buy an old chevy, budget limited to $125. I had lied about my age to get the job to pay for it. The boss didn't care cause I was helping his wallet with my $.78 an hour and non existent tips. Anyway, add on a couple of guys who could do their gap years before taking their PMC job and I didn't follow the series at all. I did stop by Winslow AZ a few years ago, tho.

Which is where the why comes in. Why did the series have an affect on our culture and what was the result? It was a tween time, Cuba more of an annoyance in our policies, anti-red fading into the optimism of jfk. There were some very bad times looming on the horizon but so many of us had no idea.

Then a decade later a series was released which did have a profound affect on me. Then Came Bronson. Not a lot of violence, not a lot of gratuitous romance, but a lot of cerebral discussions dealing with people and how they were dealing with the turbulence. That was the year I married.

The series lasted one season. I guess it was too cerebral for a society which was trying so hard to cope with so much happening all at once. The premise of the series was complex and draws a visage that many would find distressing. (Personal aside, pretty tough for screenwriting also). Bronson had a good friend who committed suicide and he was trying to deal with that trauma and a boss who cared only about compliance, not condolence. So Bronson chucked it all and started on a personal journey to find himself. The Bob Seger song, Roll Me Away, is the opening episode. Bob said the inspiration was a trip he made but I'm not so sure that there wasn't a subliminal memory. In my family I'm not permitted to say I like Bob's music, too maga. Hmm, that says a lot also.

Anyway, that's how I spent my memorial day, thinking about what might have been and where and why I went where I went.

And no, Indy did NOT pay any attention to the spectacle in my old home. I can count on one hand the number of times I was in that speedway and I would have some fingers left over.

Maybe later I'll recount my joys of joining the Win 11 borg and how the chromium model won't let me go. As a teaser, I replaced all of my systems but did manage to salvage my notebook PC and a couple hard drives.

Interesting times.

Thank you.