Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

Very saddened by Casey Kasem's death this past day. Although I didn't grow up with him as Crystal and many others did, I longed to be able to see Scooby-Doo for years before I was finally able to. And JP made me a couple of tapes of the Top 40 show. I was thinking I should get those out again for a listen.

Crystal mused in her post how Casey was somewhat responsible for her interest in the Monkees, due to the Davy Jones episode of Scooby-Doo. Meanwhile, I've mused many times how The Monkees are responsible for almost all of my current interests. How in the world did that happen? Behold:

- Because of The Monkees, episode 25, Alias Micky Dolenz, I became interested in Jimmy Murphy, who played Tony Ferano.

- Because of that, I started looking up all of his roles and finally decided to try Kolchak: The Night Stalker, a show I'd been idly curious about for years.

- Because of that, I got interested in Simon Oakland, whom I knew years before from Perry Mason, West Side Story, and I Want to Live!, although I hadn't taken note of his name.

- Because of that, I got back into Perry Mason while watching Simon's episodes.

- Because of that, I rediscovered my interest in Hamilton Burger/William Talman and added Wesley Lau (from I Want to Live! too), Richard Anderson (from The Student Prince), and H.M. Wynant (from a Nancy Drew episode; see icon) to my list of interests.

- Because of them and Simon (and Darren), I got around to trying The Wild Wild West, The Virginian, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Cannon, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, and other shows that I liked enough to start watching religiously.

- Because of WWW, I discovered Christopher Cary.

- Because of that, I watched The Rockford Files and discovered Luke Andreas.

- Meanwhile, while watching Mannix, I finally tried season 1 and discovered Joseph Campanella.

All thanks to The Monkees.

I did the first part of the Bonanza-related fic for theme #12, as planned. I am so proud of it! I rarely do such intense and deep character monologues anymore, as I usually rely more on character dialogue and action to tell the stories. I don't always like that, as I love monologuing, but it doesn't always seem to fit. For this story, however, it's perfect. The next scene is due for Tuesday, I think.

http://31-days.livejournal.com/2875469.html

I've been keeping a nice, relaxed pace this month, alternating between updating The Denying Detective and The Night of the Moving Wound. And I was just thinking I need to update my FF7 Western fic, too. Those in addition to blog posts and work-related writing. It's nice having a better balance.

It's confusing, rotating crushes on three wonderful men all at the same time. I can watch something with Richard in the morning, write something with a Wesley character later, and see William playing Hamilton at night. Alternately squeeing over each one. Very strange.

I finally saw some of The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man. I watched the Kill Oscar trilogy, where Richard's Oscar character is abducted by a madman. And he had previously issued orders to kill him if he were captured, because he's afraid of what he might divulge to the bad guys under their modern torture methods. I was hoping to be blown away. I almost was. The first two parts were really intense and good and I love them. But I think the third part kind of fell short. They were trying to pack too much in, and they didn't leave any room for a wonderful reunion scene in an epilogue. And after all the build-up, and Oscar's friends trying so hard to save him before the order to kill him was carried out, it just really felt like a let-down. I've located the fanbase now and am asking about episodes with squeeful interaction between Oscar and the other characters. I'm also hoping someone's written some fanfiction to fill in the gaps in Kill Oscar.

I was absolutely blown away by the episode of The Big Valley entitled Last Train to the Fair, however! Oh my goodness. It was one of the most heart-wrenching, heart-breaking, beautiful things I've seen in a long time. And it was incredible all the way through; there was definitely no let-down there. If you can see it (I think it's on Hulu), I thoroughly recommend it! It's just so amazingly moving even if you don't really watch The Big Valley. I don't, but I was just so entranced and impressed and touched. Everyone's acting was just wonderful. There's a lot of poignant sibling hurt/comfort, angst, and squee, as well as intensity and heartache going on with the doctor trying to treat the ill sibling on the train. People are out trying to kill him, and the reason why is so unexpected and gah. And the climax! Oh my goodness. I don't want to reveal any spoilers, so I'll leave it at that, but oh! It's so worth watching!

And I wonder why it is that it seems like at the Scottish Festival, I get terribly attracted to booths that aren't directly Scottish-related. Ha, the irony of it. I found a booth on Friday that carried those ornate masquerade eye masks, the kind they used in Victorian times. I was enthralled! It reminded me of The Wild Wild West, and I stayed and looked at almost every mask on display. I would have liked to have gotten one, but even the lowest-priced ones were too much for me right then. I've been doing a juggling act with my money all this week, trying to determine my buying priorities.

I had to wait until I saw some of those TV series to decide what to do. (Gah, I wish I had sent for that disc before the Get Smart disc instead of after.) I had been considering trying to get one of the Bionic Woman seasons. Now, unless I hear something wonderful from the fanbase (such as that I really must get hold of one particular, entire season), my plan is to get a T-Shirt I found with Richard, a Celtic Woman CD, and wait for the Trixie and Lyra My Little Pony figures to be released. It shouldn't be long now.

Well, I finally did buy The Racket. It's a good film and I still quite like it, although it pales in comparison to the other movie Robert Mitchum and William Talman made together, One Minute to Zero. In The Racket the characters feel like archetypes. In One Minute to Zero they're a lot more fleshed out and feel so real you could reach out and touch them. Also, William's character's death is far more powerful. The way Robert's character looks, oh my gosh. You can just see him shatter at the loss of his best friend. And that haunted look remains for the concluding moments of the film. In The Racket, Robert's character is upset, but he's always the stoic cop. And they're not anywhere as close as they were in One Minute to Zero.

I finally felt like watching One Minute to Zero again after seeing The Racket for the second time. I still cried, but it wasn't overwhelming and I came away feeling that in my private canon William's character John survives. I noted a curious thing about the film: the characters seem to either die or end up physically unhurt but badly shaken and hurting emotionally and mentally. (Well, aside from Robert's character's injuries fairly early on.) I think they should have had some characters who lived but were more seriously injured physically. And I have stubbornly determined that John is one of them. I don't know if I'll ever write any fanfiction to that effect, but I'll definitely be thinking it.

When the movie is pretty clear that John is supposed to be dead, however, it makes the final scene bittersweet and really somehow leaves me cold. Robert's character is briefly reunited with his love, but I keep thinking of the contrast between that happy reunion and John's wife Mary getting that horrible knock on the door and the news. Oh gosh.

Overall, One Minute to Zero is just an absolutely beautiful, moving film that really leaves you thinking. It deals with so many angles not usually seen in war pictures, and the close friendship between the two leading male characters never fails to thrill and delight me. (Plus, we hear William Talman sing! Yessss.)

I'm also caught up with My Little Pony. I prefer season 1 to season 2, I think. I like spotlighting other characters in season 2, but I miss the focus being on Twilight Sparkle. She's even absent from several season 2 episodes. And I also miss the lack of episodes with the main ensemble. In season 2 there are often two or three Ponies it focuses on for an episode, with the others being curiously absent. Showing the whole group and their close friendships through trials and adventures and adversity was one of the things I loved most in season 1. I'm really hoping season 3 will go closer to that format again and not continue to drift away from it.

I find it amusingly curious that I've become so immensely fond of Fluttershy. I thought she was just a goody-two-hooves at first, but oh, she's so much more than that. And aside from Twilight, I probably relate to her the most. When something goes wrong and someone is being unfairly assertive over her, she often shrinks back and wants to just drop the whole thing. When someone gets like that with me, I'll usually have an initial burst of anger and indignation and try (sometimes unsuccessfully) not to be rude in return. When that passes, I usually feel like crawling in a hole and dropping everything.

Sometimes I feel like that being the rebel, too. Being the rebel seems to mean that in general I won't get as much interest and attention as conformists, and that even why I try to do something that I think might appeal to the main body, it doesn't. Sometimes I feel like everything I'm trying to do I turn into poison. Both Once Upon a Time and Bonanza are popular fanfic categories on FF.net. And okay, maybe I didn't write about a popular Once character, but I did for Bonanza. And even though reviews seem to be pretty prominent on the other stories, they're not for mine. I do get hits; people are looking and I'm grateful for that. But I can't help being puzzled over why no one can take the time to review. I get more reviews from my Perry stories than I do for those other categories! And Heaven knows I've been discouraged over a recent lack of Perry reviews too.

There's times I feel like just throwing my hands in the air and giving up and forgetting FF.net. It's my main story drop, but since I expect comments there I'm often disappointed. Sometimes I think I have more fun when I'm writing something for a place where I don't expect comments, like a theme comm here or years ago, on my Gomer Pyle and Monkees websites. And I feel like oh gosh, what's the point on FF.net; people aren't that interested in what I can produce anyway. They mainly just want romance, and in most cases, I just can't deliver. I don't feel it and I'm not comfortable writing it. Usually even if I like a couple I can't write for them. (Although platonic sibling squee is, for once, much loved about Bonanza fics. Making it even more confusing and disappointing about mine.)

But in the end I always break down and decide that since people are reading, even if they keep silent, I don't want to disappoint them. So I keep posting on FF.net anyway.

I just got a couple of comments on my blog last night that sound like they came from a book purist. They seemed to insinuate that I'm not really a big Perry fan because I haven't read the books. I knew I'd probably take some flack from that, but I was in a particularly bad mood last night and that wasn't what I wanted to see then at all. Maybe I'm wrong about their intentions, but that's what I took from the message. I was also informed that I might change my opinion on Perry/Della romance if I read the books. I'm not entirely sure what was meant by that.

As I told the person (and I doubt it will be seen, since theirs was an anonymous comment), I'm a fan of the TV show and I'm not particularly interested in the books due to their treatment of Hamilton. I find this quite logical. However, in spite of that, I want to give them a chance if I can find them. The person said in the original comment that libraries usually have them. Maybe most libraries do, but I'd be surprised if mine did. It's a small place. And I rarely get out to it. I can't check the catalog from home, either, unless they've finally fixed their website (which is doubtful). I haven't ever felt a particular urge to seek the books out there due to my disappointment over the unfair treatment of Hamilton (and probably all prosecutors), but I suppose the next time I do get to the library I can give it a shot and see if there's any.

I also replied that I was not particularly interested in the Perry/Della romance. What I really like (I didn't mention this), is the unresolved sexual tension between them on the TV show. And when there is such an element in any show, I usually feel that to resolve it and make the characters a couple ruins everything. That's why I prefer keeping my stories as per the TV series as far as their interaction goes. Also because their dialogue can be seen as both friendshippy and romantic all at once. Everyone can see it the way they want to see it!

Concerning them in the books, I know that Perry has proposed twice and Della has turned him down. I don't understand why she would, especially since it's implied in the TV series that she wants a proposal and Perry wants to remain a bachelor. So if book-Perry was sincere in his proposals (and it's hard for me to imagine he wouldn't be), I'm just puzzled by book-Della's refusal. I haven't heard about the explanation for that, either (if there was one). I also know that in spite of all that, it seems more like they might have an established relationship going on, at least in the early books and according to shipper fans. I'm not particularly sure why any of that would supposedly change my mind on my stance.

Anyway, so after I replied to this anonymous person, my annoyance over their choice of phrasing died down and I wanted to crawl in a hole. I wondered for hours whether they would reply again and dreaded it if they persisted sounding like a purist. (If they're not, I would be alright with talking to them. I enjoy comments and I don't mind if people disagree with me; I just don't like it when they sound rude or purist when they do.) I even briefly wondered if I should just give up the blog, because I already know a great majority of fandom people are Perry/Della shippers and I just can't give them what they want. But those feelings were fleeting; in the end I'm just all the more stubborn about persisting in what I want to do. Actually, most of my commenters like what I'm doing. Some of them even agree with me. Us Hamilton fans have to stick together. So no way will I give it up.

But that doesn't mean I won't continue to feel intimidated and discouraged now and then, just like Fluttershy. She and I both need to learn how to be more assertive without being rude. (Although I hope I wasn't rude to that person; I tried so hard not to be.)

I've had this random bittersweet story idea for a day or so. It would involve Hamilton in court, noticing this old lady who has been showing up in the spectators' gallery for a while now. He finally goes over and asks her out of curiosity if he can help her with something. She tells him that she heard about him some time back and came to L.A. to watch him in court, because something about him reminds her of her husband, killed decades ago during a rescue mission in Korea.

Basically it would be a tie-in with the movie One Minute to Zero, in which William Talman's character does eventually die rescuing Robert Mitchum and his struggling unit with a badly-needed ammo drop. I decided I should watch the movie again before I'd try embarking on such a oneshot idea.

So I did. And I ended up completely breaking down, bawling worse than even the first time I saw the film. (This was the fourth time.) I absolutely did not want to try writing the oneshot afterwards, nor did I think I could bear finishing or even opening a oneshot I started writing months ago about his widow's thoughts and feelings. The funk got worse after I followed it up with what turned out to be a fairly blah Perry episode. It caused me to do some pondering on season 3, but that's a future musing for my Perry blog. (http://parkavenuebeat.blogspot.com/)

I was left with the titular question. What happened?! Why did the film affect me so deeply this particular time? I really don't think the answer is as simple as my emotions being off-balance. (Which they are at this point.)

Could it be that I've become even more devoted to William and his characters than I even was when I saw the film previously, despite the fact that he was the reason I got it in the first place? Could it be that now I just can't bear to write about that character being dead because it devastates me much more and I still want to see if there's some way to have him be alive after all?

I really don't think it would work. His parachute was shot out of the sky, and even though he didn't fall that far to the ground, the thing he fell in/on/near blew up when he landed. If he possibly survived, he would surely be horribly injured and burned. What's more, I really think the staff fully meant for that death to happen, and not having it happen would take away from the messages of the film. I can fully understand that, what with my problems of always feeling like I can't change David's death in Lead Me Through the Fire, as much as I might like to. (Of course, on the other hand, there were other fatal sacrifices made in the film, one by another fairly prominent character, so if William's character John survived, maybe that would have been a good angle too.)

Maybe I went into that funk because if I write that oneshot I'll have to fully concede that John is dead and I still can't bring myself to do so, even if I never try to write him alive.

I really do love that movie. It's the most poignant and powerful war picture I've ever seen, and the friendship between Robert's and William's characters absolutely thrills and delights me. And I'm always so moved by John's sacrifice, even though it shatters my heart into tiny pieces every time. The scene where his wife wakes up and realizes he's going on a mission again and he thinks she's asleep and kisses her before looking in at his kids one last time ... gah.

At this particular point, though, I think I won't want to watch the film again for a while. Just thinking about it depresses me. Nor am I sure I really want to buy The Racket, another film with those two actors where William's character dies. (I think I have a better chance of reviving him in that one, though.) On the other hand, though, I probably still will. I'd like to get hold of all the movies where William plays good guys.

I've been wanting to see The Persuader again, but I'm not sure I want to see it any time soon, either. William plays two characters, twins, and one of them is killed. And even though the other one lives, and I just love the film, I don't think I'm ready to see another of William's characters die right now.

Maybe it really is my off-kilter emotions.

I came away with an intense craving for Hamilton hurt/comfort, perhaps because I knew he'd come out of it alright in the end.

I find it interesting that, while I've been fascinated by Perry and Hamilton's unique relationship for years, and I've been interested in William Talman for the same length of time, I'd never actually reached the point of actively fangirling over him. (Although I have fangirled over how awesome his and Mr. Burger's behavior and personality are.)

Then came last Saturday (I think). I was watching The Frightened Fisherman from season 7 and suddenly realized I was physically attracted to Hamilton Burger. I was thinking "... He is a good-looking man!" and was sort of ... inwardly squeeing and wanting to hug him.

I suppose it's really no surprise, or it shouldn't be. I've thought about his good looks before and have loved his smile and his blue eyes. Now I just went up a notch to actively squee.

I really do have this thing for older men. But I'm not ashamed or awkward about it now. Actually I think I'm kind of proud of it.

I have made a new blog post. This one continues a previous discussion, but can stand on its own and is largely new information on the topic (dissection of Perry Mason's formulaic approach and what it meant for Hamilton Burger). http://parkavenuebeat.blogspot.com/

A few minutes ago (just as the clock was winding down on Saturday) I purchased another movie in which William Talman has a large role as a good guy: One Minute to Zero. I wasn't going to buy it until after I go out to the stores on Monday, but I changed my mind when I saw the price had been upped in the Amazon Marketplace. The price was still the same on the same store's eBay branch, so I decided I'd better buy it before they changed the price there, too. William's character, unfortunately, dies at the end, but I still want the film when he has such a large presence in it and is a good guy. Eventually I want to buy The Racket, too. I've seen it, though, and I haven't seen One Minute to Zero (albeit I know what it's about).

I really love having been born at this time of the year. Autumn is probably my favorite season, with the changing leaves, shorter days, and cooler temperatures. It's also time to start thinking about creepy things, with Halloween right around the corner. And my church's general conference, in which the leaders give inspirational talks on religious/spiritual subjects to the members, always falls right around my birthday. This year it was yesterday and will be today. And then my birthday is Monday, so for me it's like an extended weekend of awesomeness. There's a special feeling of anticipation and excitement in the air. As with Christmas, the anticipation is often times more fun than the actual arrival of the day, since that marks the end of it all.

I remember one October, I believe in 2000, when the whole month was especially neat. Some close relatives had given my brother and me some money that we divided between us. I had so much fun getting things throughout the month that I wanted, such as a book about The Beatles old cartoon series, a book on The Monkees, and a Beatles poster. I picked up some Monkees CDs, too. And some other things. I remember I bought The Beatles' album A Hard Day's Night for JP for his birthday that year. (It was either a belated gift or else I had the money some time before October.) Also, I think that was the same year I formatted a book for someone and I got money from that, too!

I always look forward to my birthday shopping spree. Sometimes, especially of late, they're more window-shopping than anything else. But it's still so much fun. I have some things in mind that I want to look up this time. Hopefully I'll be able to get at least a couple of them. And this year I'll want to get back in time for Perry; we've moved into season 5 on weekdays, it's awesome so far, and Mr. Burger is a regular cast member again. Good stuff.

As a random note: the opening for seasons 4/5 is one of the strongest memories I have from years earlier. That opening is, I think, the most epic and intriguing. I always thought so. But since Perry is the only character actually shown, my favorite theme is from seasons 2/3, with everyone present. Season 1's theme showed everyone too, but they superimposed the cast list on top of everyone so you couldn't see them. That was ridiculous. In seasons 2/3, the names are placed under every person, so they are easily identified and you can clearly see them.

I think I'll do a blog entry on the openings, maybe next week. I'm trying to get an entry up there at least once a week.

As a final note on the openings, it was in the latter third of season 3 when they altered it so Perry was the only character shown. They did that during that disaster with William Talman. What I don't quite understand is why they didn't put it back with everyone present after William was restored to his position. The only reason I can think of is that William's name still disappeared every time he was absent from an episode. Also, it was season 5 when they brought in Andy to lighten Ray Collins' load, and maybe him appearing less was another factor in keeping the openings the way they were, only showing Perry.

It's kind of sad that things never did fully go back to normal when William returned, since Ray Collins then was around less and less. One more reason why season 2 is just about my absolute favorite season. But season 6 is high on my list too. I have nothing against Andy, Ray Collins was still there sometimes in 6, and Perry and Mr. Burger are very obviously close friends by that point.

Since I ranted about Deputy D.A. Sampson in here, I decided to link the readers to my full-length analysis of him here: http://parkavenuebeat.blogspot.com/2011/09/deputy-da-sampson-series-stereotypical.html I'm rather pleased with this entry especially, including the shameless fic promotion at the top. I think the quote looks good as an introduction to the post, as well as a good piece of writing in general.

Next, I need to write something for the Simon blog. I was toying with the idea of a post on Ready for the People, because although I haven't seen it, it stands out as being very unique among Simon's works. The reason being, he's not a co-star or a supporting actor; he is the star. I think I want to see it more than any other thing Simon's been in.

I've also seen three other movies in which William Talman appeared and played good guys: The Racket, Smoke Signal, and The Persuader. In The Racket he's a policeman trying to help bring down the criminal organization that has control over the city. He ends up killed by the wretch who was put in charge. It was heart-breaking. I'd like to tinker with an addendum where his character lives after all. The movie doesn't go far enough to have the funeral; it ends that night. And the way it was set up makes it possible for me to bring his character back to life if I want.

In Smoke Signal he's the captain of a cavalry fort, bitter against a supposed traitor who was apparently responsible for several deaths (including the captain's brother). He's really the main character as far as I see it, but he gets fourth billing because Dana Andrews is a bigger-name star. He's a very complex and somewhat dark character, and I've pondered long and hard over some of his actions in the film. I may make a separate post for Captain Harper later. It's a really powerful performance and film. In the end, he has come to respect Dana Andrews' character and believes that he is not a traitor or murderer after all, as Halliday has claimed. Because of Harper's bitterness throughout the film, the ending is extremely poignant.

In The Persuader he plays twin brothers. One of them tries to fight against the criminal taking over their Old West town and ends up killed. Then his brother, a preacher, arrives in town. He also tries to get the criminal's power overthrown, but by turning the town to God. And there's an adorable scene with him and a litter of mewing kittens. William Talman petting and holding cats = not something I ever expected to see. I squeed.

The Persuader is my favorite, but I love them all. And in The Racket, there's the added oddity of Ray Collins playing a crooked district attorney. LOL. I am amused by the irony of Ray playing a D.A. and William playing a policeman, the opposite of their roles on Perry Mason. And of course, the D.A. in The Racket being crooked is dark irony too. Hamilton Burger, upright man that he is, would be utterly appalled and disgusted.

Well, I loved The Ballad of Josie. And William's character is a good guy, as I'd thought and hoped! He has some awesome moments, such as when he encourages Josie to do whatever she wants, including cattle-ranching, and when he blows up at George Kennedy's character, who's a real rotten guy. It was epic and delicious, seeing him give it to that creep.

And I just finished watching both the only color Perry episode and the epilogue scene of the very last episode. I ... really don't like season 9; I never have. I think the show was losing steam by then and changing too much. (And it was admittedly depressing to see some of the people looking so much older.)

That being said, the color episode was interesting. It was based heavily on Oliver Twist; Perry even comments that he feels like he's reliving the story. LOL. It was a lot of fun picking out all the parallels. About five to six minutes were missing, though. I'd love to know what was cut. And even though I liked seeing everybody in color, it just ... didn't seem right. Perry is so much a show of the black and white era.

(Of course, that doesn't change my mind one iota about writing the characters into the modern day. Oddly enough, while picturing the events of my story, I've been seeing it largely in B&W, although sometimes color is thrown in. I don't know; I think if the show had still been like it was in earlier seasons, and the story structure had been more the same, the color episode would have been a lot better.)

And the epilogue for the very last episode was nice. I'll have to watch the whole thing sometime, I suppose; Mr. Burger felt the need to apologize for something and tried to invite Perry and company for dinner, but he found it too awkward and made Lieutenant Drumm do it. LOL. Drumm said it was as close to an apology as Mr. Burger would get. Which is actually not true; he outright apologized to Perry in season 2, in court no less! But anyway, so they accept the invitation and then are looking over the notes for their next case. It was a nice way to end the series. I think I've seen at least that scene before, too; I seem to remember Mr. Burger's awkward behavior.

I have the urge to write a Halloween-ish Perry fic, maybe something involving mediums and faked seances. I don't know if I'd have anything actually supernatural going on; that would stray too far from the show's roots, I think. But it would be creepy, at least, before everything was revealed! I got that plunnie from a Mission: Impossible episode I watched from the first season. That was interesting. I didn't think they ever got into the supernatural on that show. But it was very effective and very eerie.

I also had a plunnie after I rewatched The Hitchhiker movie. I started thinking of some crook showing up in L.A. who looks exactly like Mr. Burger and starts using it to his advantage. Mr. Burger would not end up arrested and on trial himself, but the problem would definitely create some awkward situations.

I saw a really good movie on Netflix Streaming yesterday. (And tonight I have to cancel our streaming part, since they start charging us separate for both streaming and physical DVDs on September 1st. Ugh. It makes more sense to cancel streaming, since we use it less, but I still hate to get rid of it. Nevermind, it looks like we don't have to get rid of it until our next billing period near the end of September. Maybe by that point we'll have some extra money and be able to keep the streaming too.) It was Two-Gun Lady. Short, and little more than an average Western romp (nothing earth-shattering or philosophical happened in it), but gosh it was fun. Robert Lowery (Big Tim Champion from Circus Boy) showed up as the saloon keeper and had a lot of great screentime. And William Talman played a federal marshal undercover. The titular character is a sharpshooter who is out for revenge against the wretch who killed her mother in cold blood and tried to kill her, too. The romance between her and William Talman's character was terribly contrived, but romance in movies often is, so I just ignored the awful set-up and squeed over them getting together. It was certainly interesting to see William Talman as a romantic lead in something! There was a lot of action, suspense, and intensity, and really, for 70 minutes long it's better than some other B-grade movies I can think of. (Paratroop Command, for one. What a dud that is.)

I also suddenly realized that a movie I've remembered off and on concerning Edmond O'Brien and a psychotic hitchhiker is, indeed, The Hitchhiker, arguably William's most famous movie role. I even remember Dad exclaiming as we watched, "Isn't that the guy from Perry Mason?!" It was such a suspenseful, frightening, and exciting movie. I've thought about it sometimes and wondered what the name was, but I didn't bother to go dig it out of the bookcase and see. (I also remember a fly kept bothering us and finally landed on the carpet, and we had to pause the movie to catch it.) Now Mom and I are both highly curious to watch it again.

I also think I remember that after we watched it, I was very happy to see William playing good old Hamilton Burger again.

Actually, it's been open since Sunday, but the last couple of days have been such a whirlwind with unforeseen difficulties that I haven't been able to promote the site as much yet as I had intended.

But without further interruption, here is the link: http://sites.google.com/site/unofficialsimonoaklandtribute/ Please enjoy what we have up so far! More updates are just on the horizon.

I also got up a short post at the blog (which is linked on the site) in memory of Simon on the anniversary of his death yesterday. Today I need to get a post up at my Perry blog concerning the anniversary of William Talman's death.

So many things right in a row....