Episode #58 of NOTEFLIX’s production of “Troubles in the Garden”: This is a dream sequence in which our heroine, Mamzelle Pinkie, sees herself back in a ‘Normal’ reality. (You can spot her through your binoculars, somewhere, over there, in her favorite Rosebush.) Did you catch the fantasy? Mamzelle Pinkie is mask-less; but this is only a dream – as you will see in the picture at the bottom of this post.
NORMAL IS A PLACE IN KENTUCKY, SOMEWHERE OFF ROUTE 20. …OTHER THAN THAT, THERE IS NO NORMAL – NO MORE.
- I have been reading when this Lockdown and Covid19 is over that ‘Ma &Pa’ businesses will largely vanish. Big corporate restaurant & hotel chains & mega corporations will produce, create, serve and distribute most everything. The trend was going this way before the virus appeared on the scene. In the ’70’s, 107 firms earned half the corporate profits in the U.S. Last year 30 corporations earned half the profits. But I had a thought in the middle of the night…perhaps there will be a shift in the other direction – towards small enterprises, individually run operations, small partnerships; because many people who need to work for a living will no longer trust the ‘Big Guys’ to give them safe, secure, and decently paying jobs. During this current crisis “The Big Guys’ have laid-off, and fired their employees and then tried to get them to come back to work in unsafe conditions for low, low wages. The individual might start to think she/he is better off trying to make it on her/his own. It is a thought.
- Here is the evolution of Man: In the early days, #1) He watched the Fire and marveled. …Fast forward to #2) He recorded history in his memory and could recite long, long tracts of poetry verbatim. …Then, years later #3 ) He learned to read (which was the beginning of losing his amazing memory skills). …And again, years later, #4) He learned to watch Movies, TV, and the Smart Phone. I am steeped in Phase #4 and think I enjoy being there; but questions arise (Mostly at night): 1) Have I seen this show before? 2) What season am I on? 3) Does this series ever end? 4) Wasn’t that actor a serial killer in the show I saw the other night? I don’t trust him and I don’t like what he did..so, how am I supposed to like him now? 5) What time is it? 6) How long have I been sitting here? 7) Does the President watch these things, too? or does he just watch his favorite ‘news’ shows? Then my mind drifts…maybe I could have become President – if I could only get out of my apartment and stop watching all these shows. 8) I think Morgan Freeman has been President 4 times…after he escaped prison. 9) I have learned how to speak Cockney from watching this endless British crime thriller I am sitting in front of, forever….is this a skill anybody wants to pay for? …It used to be when the script-writer had to fill the screen with something – but there was no plot to be added, he would throw in a car chase. The crowd loved car chases. But today, I’ve noticed, when they run out of plot and need to fill the screen with something – they either put in some raw sex or shoot somebody in the head – or both. I think the script-writers like this a lot….and it is better for the producers, too, because showing sex and putting a gun to a head is cheaper than filming cars smashing up on the roads. What I am saying is: When you see the people on the screen start to take their clothes off, you can go and get more ice-cream or chocolate pie and not miss anything. But if you like the sex and guns, there is always the re-wind.
- To pass the time in Lockdown, I have been thinking a lot about God lately. I wonder why He/She invented Oil. I would not have done that. I would think man could have gone straight to…what do we call them now?…”Renewables”: Sunlight, Wind, the Tides…Skip the whole polluting of God’s creation. Of course, we would not have had all these big oil companies to keep the ‘Market’ booming…and our friends in Saudi Arabia would not be as rich as they deserve to be…the whole thing gets complicated. I hope God is big enough to forgive me for wondering why She/He did certain things…like sometimes I wonder about His/Her creation of Man in the first place. I like me, of course, and most of the people I’ve met; but I’m not so happy with the whole creation of us. I hope this lockdown will end soon, so I can go out there and be ‘Socially Near’ again. Maybe bumping up against strangers in line at the cash registers, or standing check by jowl with the crowd waiting to get in a Rock-concert… my mind will not drift toward these curious and unGodly ways.
I will end it with this:
- “Real news is bad news” – Marshall McLuhan “The Medium is the Message” 1967
or,
- “The Sun will come up Tomorrow…” -Annie
Episode #58 continued: But the Dream is over and the harsh reality is: Mamzelle Pinkie (Top Center) must still wear her mask as she flits about. Mathuzala (lower Right), the wisest stuffed animal of them all, is there to remind her of her responsibilities. Mathuzala would never hit Mamzelle Pinkie with his stick – even if she misbehaved; but Mamzelle Pinkie does not know that. Come back next week for more action.
Morgan Freeman plays God sometimes too.