Morning Ramble 385: Hitchcock, Buffalo, And Steps

Morning Ramble 385: Hitchcock, Buffalo, and Steps

Today I ramble on about the new class I signed up for that looks at Alfred Hitchcock, my feeling of accomplishment at averaging 10k steps each day this past week, and I continue with episode one of American Gods.

Alfred Hitchcock and TCM

Ball State University and Turner Classic Movies have teamed up to offer a class on Alfred Hitchcock presented by Professor Richard Edwards, and it looks pretty interesting. So much so, that I’m gonna go through the course even though I’m starting a week late.

Hitchcock has always been one of my favorite directors but then, what’s not to like. He’s made tons of classic movies that have become legendary in the industry and his style and technique has been copied by so many directors over the years, it’s only fitting that I try to learn more about him. Mrs. Redshirt pointed out the class to me and together we’re gonna see what we can learn about this wonderful movie icon.

The class started in June but we’re only a week in so I figure we can catch up if we work real hard.

American Gods: The Bone Orchard – On a Jet Plane

The story so far…With 5 days left on a prison sentence, Shadow Moon is released early to attend the funeral for his wife but after a confrontation in the ticket line, his seat’s been double booked on the flight so he has to suffer in first class.

And this is where Shadow meets Mr. Wednesday – the guy who conned the ticket lady into a first class seat earlier.

He’s still up to his verbal manipulation as he convinces the flight attendant to let him keep his drink while they take off. And, he surprises Shadow by being the first person who’s not an asshole to him since he’s gotten outta prison.

We then get a glimpse of Shadow’s street smarts as he compliments Mr. Wednesday on his ticket upgrade con in “con-man lingo”. But once again, it’s Shadow who’s surprised as Mr. Wednesday indicates he knows that Shadow just got outta prison.

They get to know each other a bit and Mr. Wednesday asks what Shadow’s downfall was…casinos. It seems Shadow got into trouble in some kind of casino heist as he goes on to demonstrate his prestidigitation. Mr. Wednesday on the other hand indicates that his powers tend towards the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime and that he usually ends up getting what he wants – on average, over time.

Then we get introduced to what I think will become a big part of the series. Mr. Wednesday claims that “it’s all about getting people to believe in you – it’s not their cash, it’s their faith”. Does the 18 ton airplane fly because of Newton’s scientific principles or because people have faith the plane will stay in the air? Sure, the scientific explanation gives a good description of real world observations, but there’s always the belief that something is gonna work that adds to the equation. If you didn’t believe that a plane could fly, would you really get on one? Would the Wright brothers have built the first plane if they didn’t have faith that it would eventually fly? It’s an interesting thought experiment.

So Mr. Wednesday usually gets what he wants…is he gonna get Shadow?

He asks about Shadow’s job prospects and while Shadow says his buddy has something for him, Wednesday says – No you don’t. He does however offer him a job and confirms he has no problem hiring an ex-con and that he might even become the next King of America. With the offer hanging out there, Wednesday suggests Shadow not to rush into anything, he turns to the side and is immediately asleep.

We then are treated to another cool dream sequence with Shadow emerging from a cave to confront a huge tree in the bone orchard. Walking towards it, Shadow is approached by a buffalo with flame jetting out of his eyes. The buffalo simply says “Believe” and the flight attendant is waking Shadow up. Apparently the plane needed to make an emergency landing and he’s stuck somewhere within driving distance of Eagle Point.

Queue the driving music…actually the song is called Torture by Kris Jensen and it seems pretty appropriate to the hell Shadow is going through just to get home for his wife’s funeral. Now I’m not sure where Eagle Point is but I thought the bus Shadow left the prison on indicated it was from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and now he pulls over in Indiana at Shakamak State Park. In any case, if you’ve had to drive any long distance in the Midwest, you’ll understand the Torture song as well as Shadow’s need to shout at the fate that has resulted in his current situation.

In any case, we put his story aside for the moment and next time we arrive in Hollywood.

What did I learn:

• Shadow has never flown before and is nervous about the take off.
• Our first hint at who Mr. Wednesday really is comes when he points out that he’s got “an eye for these things…just the one” – sorry, but I did read the book a few years ago so I’ve got some inside information.
• This is further reinforced what he says that Wednesday is his day.
• Mr. Wednesday sure knows a lot about Shadow…I’m pretty sure their meeting was not a coincidence.
• Music is going to play a big role in this show

Averaged 10k Steps this week

This is the first week in a while that I’ve managed to get in an average of 10,000 steps a day.

Sure, it’s not 10k steps each day, but the weekend is usually harder for me to get things rolling unless I’m actually running. I’ve had a bit of a twinge in my right knee so have cut back on the running lately, but I did get close to 10k on Saturday as I zipped around the Del Mar Fair trying to find a replacement for a special bag. Of course they didn’t have it – the person I got the original from 2 years ago even dared to claim that they’ve never sold what I was describing, but when I got home…there it was. Oh well, you can find almost anything online so I’ll have to try finding it there.