November 28, 2015
Dear Everyone:
When I first started writing these Letters, 27 years ago, I typed them
out on my office computer during my lunch break.
Over time, I acquired a computer at home, but still needed the
office to make copies to
mail out, approximately 14 per week.
In fact, I would dispense with the Weekly Letter if I was on
vacation. Time marches on,
but technology travels at warp speed.
Now only two copies are still printed out on paper.
All the others go out via
email.
Yet I continue to operate as if I can only send letters out
during the week. It is
simply a case of “that’s the way we’ve always done it”, or put more
succinctly, “tradition”.
This week I decided to break with tradition and do the Letter on
Saturday. Why?
Because “Jeannie” and I wanted to go and see a movie the day
after
Thanksgiving.
Which movie? Well, it had to
be one that we both wanted to see, plus it had to be showing at a
theater that was not in close proximity to any shopping centers, the day
in question being the
“official” start of the Christmas shopping season.
So we settled on Spectre, the latest
James Bond film.
In the original books, written by
Ian Fleming,
SPECTRE was an acronym
for SPecial
Executive for Counter-Intelligence,
Terrorism,
Revenge and Extortion.
In other words, just about anything villainous that the author or
film-makers wanted.
In Bond books, and subsequent films, the villains were typically
Communist countries, like
Russia and
China, or non-Anglo-Saxon
oligarchies, usually of criminal, or quasi-criminal, composition.
An oligarchy is defined as a small group of people wielding
considerable power over a much larger group of people; sort of like the
DMV.
Like most Bond films, this one jumps all over the globe, starting in
Mexico City with the usual confrontation that demolishes whole
neighborhoods while Bond battles the Villain-du-Jour for no apparent
reason. Then it’s off to
Rome, Austria, London, etc.
This allowed “Jeannie” and me to play “I’ve been there!”
In London, “Jeannie”: “I’ve
been there!”
In Rome, “Jeannie”: “I’ve
been there!”
In Tangier, me: “I’ve been
there!”
On a train in the middle of nowhere, ostensibly in
Morocco, me:
“I’ve been there!” (Although the
train I was on in 1971, notably NOT the “Marrakesh Express”—it frequently stopped in the middle of the desert
for no discernable reason—was certainly not as luxurious as the one Bond
and “Bond Girl” were on.)
Any attempt to make sense of a Bond film is an exercise in futility.
“Why is he battling
samurai warriors in a
Viennese
crystal
factory? How did we get
here?” It’s all about the
high-speed action sequences, neatly choreographed fisticuffs and
gratuitous sex. Trying to
blame the whole thing on sibling rivalry is just plain ludicrous.
As for Thanksgiving itself…
In the past, “Marshall” and “Jeannie” have been inclined to spend the
Holiday at someplace “out of the way”, leaving me at home as I am less
inclined to spend hours walking in and out of expensive stores not
buying anything. However,
this year they decided that it would be too costly and we all agreed to
just blow the whole thing off.
No daylong drives, no hours spent slaving in the kitchen.
Just relax and watch your favorite sport on television; in
“Jeannie’s” case: Something
called
What Not to Wear
(shudder). In “Marshall’s”
case presumably,
football.
A few days ago, as I was picking up some things at my local grocery
store, I suddenly realized that not having to worry about The Big Meal
eliminated a tremendous load of stress.
Here’s to being Thankful for chicken
pot pies and
cheese puffs.
Love, as always,
Pete
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