January

One of my goals for 2012 was to write more. So welcome to my first blog post of 2012. My only post in December was a cute short story, which I hope people liked.

I’m seeing another doctor Tuesday regarding my back issues. Out of kindness to the doctor I saw in December, I shall refrain from mentioning his name or practice. The doctor I’ve been referred to this time is very well regarded. I’ll leave it at that for now.

It has been a lousy period for a number of people in my family. Injuries, illnesses, etc. I find that when my pain level is high I either can’t write or my writing is related to the pain. Frankly, I don’t want to write much more about my pain than I’ve already done. I’d rather discuss other things. And then I can’t think about them when I’m up to writing. Look at this article – 1 hour work so far and 2 paragraphs are pain related.

I’ll see if I can write something more interesting later this week.

Benjamin Elliott – One Man From Manassas

January 30, 2012

String Theory

String Theory

By Benjamin F Elliott

Jack the kitten wobbled along the floor, visiting his empire.

He could see the red ball that he ruled on Mondays after playtime.

He could see the chair and table legs that he could run around.

He could see the carpet that he could use as a scratching post.

Well, he could scratch the carpet as long as Mommy and the Humans did not see him.

Then Jack saw something new!

A piece of string was floating in air just above the ground!

Jack was amazed.

Jack had never seen string in person before.

String was more beautiful than Mommy had described.

Jack could see the beautiful texture on the string.

The string was orange, just like Jack.

Jack did not care how the string was floating.

Jack wanted the string.

Jack was a few weeks old and just two mice tall.

The string ended far over his head.

Jack stretched his head.

Jack’s head did not reach the string.

Jack jumped at the string.

Jack could not jump high enough to reach the string.

Jack decided to get on his hind legs for the first time so he could reach the string.

Jack tried the first time.

Jack slipped to the right.

Jack tried a second time.

Jack slipped to the left.

Jack tried a third time.

Jack did it!

Jack was sitting up!

Now the string was just almost in reach of his teeth.

Jack made a few practice neck stretches.

Finally, Jack reached up and closed his mouth around the string.

Jack had the string in his mouth!

Jack was the mighty hunter.

 

Jack got back on his four legs.

Jack proudly marched backwards and forwards holding his string.

Jack had more control over his legs than he remembered.

Jack noticed that the string was getting longer and looser.

Jack almost tripped a few times over the growing amount of string on the floor.

The sky was getting darker.

The light from above was fading.

In place of the light was a floating ocean of string.

The string was held together by a sleeve of paper.

Jack was excited to see all this string.

Jack saw that it stretched off the table high in the sky.

It came down and down.

It was Jack’s string!

All of this string was Jack’s.

Jack looked amused as the ocean of string fell off the table and came towards him.

All of Jack’s dreams had come true.

Jack had more string than he could possibly imagine.

Jack got ready to play with the string.

Jack cleaned his fur.

Just before Jack could play, Jack felt himself being pulled into the air.

Mommy had picked Jack up by the scruff of his neck.

Mommy was taking Jack away from his string.

Jack wanted to resist.

Jack wanted his string.

Mommy put Jack down in the basket with his five brothers and sisters.

Mommy purred that it was naptime.

Jack started to meow a protest.

“I’m not tired, mom … zzzzzzzzz”

Jack is sleeping right now.

Jack is dreaming about more adventures with the string.

THE END

 

Copyright 2011 – One Man From Manassas productions

Little Back Update

If you’ve been waiting a week for the rest of the Manassas walking tour, it is coming. I have several ideas for future blog posts that will hopefully come together soon.

I’ve mentioned here before that I have ongoing back pain. For most of the fall, my condition was improving. The physical therapist I was seeing resolved most of the muscle spasms I had, bringing the pain level down. It was reminiscent of the work a very good Chiropractor did last fall (Dr Joe in the Davis Ford Shopping Center – pretty sure he doesn’t have a website to link to) – I had improved motion and reduced pain. We are in the process of getting a piece of equipment similar to one the therapist had to help with doing various exercises at home.

Apparently my pain did not reduce at the level anticipated by the physical therapist, so I am being advised to see a specialist again. The specialist I saw this Summer told me post MRI and other tests that I was essentially fine – though his notes as interpreted by my physical therapist aren’t quite as cheerful. I told the therapist that I was happy to see a spine specialist. But I did not want to see the person who told me I was fine when I was in a fair amount of pain and indicated I did not need to come back.

My therapist and my primary doctor advise me to go to – the exact spine care office I was at this summer. It is the office they work with. Is there only one spine office in Manassas, I kept myself from asking – somehow. No, I’m not posting a web link to the spine care office in the blog. Having  finally changed primary doctors’ offices after many problems with my former primary care people, I’m trying to find a way to deal with the spine care place that left me feeling miserable 4 months ago. My solution – there are 2 specialists working at that office. 1 specialist told me I was fine and sent me off in pain with no idea what to do – so I’ll see the other one, even though it delays my appointment by weeks.

The pain is increasing again. It started right at Thanksgiving. I doubt the walk around Old Town Manassas caused it – an isolated incident of over-activity would have resolved itself by now. But I’ve been hurting significantly more since then, getting less relief from medicine, and losing focus more easily than usual. The pain saps energy, making you feel tired. The pain keeps you awake or wakes you up, reducing sleep, making you feel tired. Hello, vicious cycle. It is not as bad as it was at its worst.

At the end of the day, I still think progress is being made. I know when and how my original injury happened. I’m in better shape now than I would have been without seeing a chiropractor and a physical therapist. And we’ve eliminated my joints, my muscles, and my brain as the underlying problems for the pain.

This isn’t meant to be a pity party. It’s an explanation of why I am not as prolific writing on this blog as I want to be. Why I haven’t spent more time scouring this site to learn the tricks to categorize and tag everything (if posts have been categorized and tagged when you read this – well, I wanted to do it months before I got around to it).

Time to get ready for the Manassas Christmas Parade. Watching it instead of walking in it this year. Hopefully that will be a future blog post, right behind more of the Manassas Walking Tour and the review of the Doctor Who Series 6 DVD set.

Benjamin Elliott – One Man From Manassas

December 3, 2011

Manassas Walking Tour Part 1

Manassas Walking Tour Part 1, by Benjamin Elliott

I’ve lived in or near Manassas all my life. But I’ve never taken a tour of my home city before, even though I’ve toured other cities in various countries. This is a common realization of people who live in the same city for many years. I decided to use my day off after Thanksgiving to attempt to tour my home town. What follows is the story of my attempt.

10:15AM – I visit the Manassas Visitor Center http://www.visitmanassas.org/visitor/ inside the Train Depot. They have a Walking Tour and a Driving Tour. Quickly I must lower my expectations. These xerox sheets look terrible. Assuming you can read them, you see that they just lead you to locations – not show you any method to experience them. And I probably only understand the directions because I have been here for 33 years. It is warm enough to try the Walking Tour.

10:18AM – The Amtrak 176 http://www.amtrak.com towards DC pulls away from the station, allowing me to cross the train tracks at Battle Street heading northward.

10:19AM – On the right hand (east) side of Battle, we have The Candy Factory building, which is on the walking tour. These days The Candy Factory is the headquarters of the Center For The Arts http://www.center-for-the-arts.org/ , a City department promoting the arts. The Center For The Arts is closed this weekend, so I don’t know if there is any tour of the old “Candy Factory” available. Fun fact – in 1998 the Center For The Arts failed to adequately de-ice the sidewalk in front of their old location at Center and Zebedee Streets. My 20 year old self fell on that ice and broke my elbow, leaving me unable to do my volunteer shift at the city owned Manassas Museum http://www.manassasmuseum.org that day. I hope they do better at snow/ice removal now – many more people walk over this bit of sidewalk.

On the left (west) side of Battle is the popular City Square Cafe http://www.citysquarecafe.com/ , which is not open at this hour. A sign indicates that Old Town Manassas has free wifi available. My laptop is at home and my cell phone did not detect the wifi – no idea if the sign is correct or not. If you follow a sidewalk along the railroad tracks towards West Street, you find Abby’s Lane http://www.abbyslane.com/ (a children’s clothing store – closed at this hour) and the Manassas branch of Foster’s Grille http://www.fostersgrille.com/ (if at work, mute computer before clicking that link).

10:23AM. Walking north on Battle Street towards Manassas. On the left (west) side, there is a Manassas office of the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com , and two of only four parking spaces left in this stretch after the road was made one way. On the right (east) side – public parking, designed to make you give up and park in the big parking deck a few blocks away. Surprise – it is not full.

10:25AM. On the left (west) side of Battle, we have New Method Cleaners, a long established local merchant who was petrified that turning the road one way and removing parking spaces would force him to go out of business. His business closed forever on September 2nd. There is still a healthy plant growing inside and many pieces of laundry waiting to be picked up. Very eerie. Jump to the other side of the street and you have two shops unlikely sitting next to each other, both closed for the holiday weekend. Manassas Mart is a newspaper and food snack store, aimed at train commuters in the morning. KK’s Temptations is an adult oriented store that opened amid controversy. It is very important to go in the correct door for the products you are looking for. If you’re under 18, best to avoid both of them.

10:26AM – we are at the intersection of Battle and Center Streets. On the Southwest Corner – Ameriprise Financial. On the Southest Corner – Historically Yours Antiques (703) 680-5945 (closed at this hour). On the Northeast Corner – Carmello’s http://www.carmellos.com - fancy restaurant opened evenings and weekends and largely credited with the push to make Battle Street one way, helping them provide outside seating. On the Northwest Corner – Okra’s Cajun Creole http://www.okras.com/ - the restaurant with the crocodile in the sign. I eventually decide to cross at a cross-walk, timing it carefully to avoid getting flattened by Center Street traffic.

10:30AM. The next stop on the walking tour is the Conner Opera House. There is no sign saying Conner Opera House, but there is a big building that matches the terrible picture on the walking tour map, with a sign at the end calling a driveway Opera Alley. Most of the Conner Opera House is being turned into a store called The Things I Love http://www.thethingsilovemanassas.com/ . It will open next Friday December 2nd, taking advantage of the Christmas events in town that weekend. There is also the Creative Brush Studio Gallery http://www.creativebrush.com/ , closed at this hour. I look at the other side of the street and see a few shops that maybe I’ll look at later, maybe not – Curves Hair Studio, Royal Cuts Barber Shop – (703) 586-8703, Persnickety Cakes http://persnicketycakes.net/ (in the old Manasseh Masonic Lodge building http://www.manassehlodge182.org/ - a hobby shop was here for years), Old Towne Barber Shop (703) 369-6111 , a payroll service, and a branch of The Fauquier Bank http://www.thefauquierbank.com .

As I approach Main Street on the Opera House side of the block, I pass a store I have never seen – Dublin Of Old Town – no website, phone is (703) 368-3820. It is only open Friday afternoons, Saturdays, and Sundays, so it will be a bit longer till I visit. At the actual intersection with Main Street, we have longtime store Whimsical Galerie (replaced 1st Virginia Bank in the 1990s). Whimsical Galerie is open and I’ve been walking for a while. Time to shop in a store.

Whimsical Galerie http://www.whimsicalgalerie.com lives up to the name. The theme of the store seems to be to provide “fun” items for people to enjoy. Local items include Manassas magnets, Manassas post cards, and Redskins memorabilia. A toy department is upstairs – you must bring a parent if you are under 18. Big wind chimes plead with you to buy them, even as you know you have no room. There are scented candles, but why buy a scented candle when you could get Scent Chips? These tiny candle pieces will provide fragrance for 5 years if you don’t light them up, and work for a long time if you do light them up. You can make your own Scent Chip batch or buy arrangements. There is a clear effort in the store to lead you to the Chips. You are assured that the chips are non-toxic – very important if a cat, dog, or young child decides to explore and eat these bits of candle. At the far end of the store is the old 1st Virginia Bank Vault – now dubbed “The Man Cave (est 2008)”. The Man Cave began when the original owner sold Whimsical Galerie to the current owner – Ms. Christine Finnie. And their website will happily sell much of what is in the store.

The ladies running Whimsical Galerie are very friendly and eager to chat. The owner (an employee under the original management) takes part in the Manassas Christmas Parade (1st Saturday of December) each year, sometimes driving a member of Historic Manassas in a car, last year bringing on in the sidecar of her motorcycle. BTW, many of the Old Town Manassas stores are selling chocolate bars as a fundraiser. If you buy one, check it to see if you have a Golden Ticket to ride with Santa in the Christmas Parade next week. The store no longer opens early for Black Friday because the crazy Black Friday business tends to go to big chain stores, and their main business comes a bit later. I bought a couple of items from Whimsical Galerie and continued on the tour.

Hmm. I’m going to have to break this into multiple parts. Next time – Benjamin finds a historic registry location with no one home, poetry recitals are threatened, and the question of how long you can park at the Visitor Center before you get ticked gets raised.

Benjamin Elliott – One Man From Manassas

November 25, 2011

Upcoming Trip

I expect the next couple of blog entries will be on the road.

My grandparents’ ashes are being buried in their final resting place in Mississippi this Saturday. Since you never know how the TSA will handle odd objects going on a plane, my parents and I are driving down starting Thursday, while most of the other relatives are flying down Friday. All of us are flying back Saturday evening.

For those who remember my series on VRE, I explored the option of our going by train. Amtrak’s trip planner sends you through Chicago, IL to get to Jackson, Mississippi, hundreds of miles out of our way and adding an unneeded travel day. You should at least be able to take the train through Atlanta, but the trip planner didn’t consider it, so the car won out.

It is weird planning a trip around a burial. It is weirder that not everyone in the family can go. My wife Lisa and one of my brothers have obligations that will keep them up here (which is good for cat care, I guess – I’ll miss them and other relatives who want to come but can’t). And I still have back problems. I’ve driven the two day one way trip to Mississippi – it is challenging with a good back. Flying isn’t fun either, but the two flights are short.

I’ve been to Mississippi twice. Adam (oldest younger brother) and I drove Grandmother down on long vacations in 1999 and 2000. You could see an extra sparkle in her on the trips, seeing some places from her childhood, reconnecting with people from her past, and solving many family history mysteries. We also did a fair amount of research for the Christian Observer magazine tied into Grandmother’s work, visiting many Presbyterian Churches. We explored some of the historical sites. Oh - the Cactus Plantation is a must see if you are at all interested in plants. We’ve been to the site where she and Grandfather will be buried. We almost made it to New Orleans, Louisiana at one point, but opted to put it off.

I pray for safe travel for all of us heading from Northern Virginia (and other parts of the country) to Mississippi later this week. And for our return home afterwards.

Benjamin Elliott – One Man From Manassas

October 15, 2011

A Doctor Who Movie?

Well, yesterday the internet was ablaze from a report by Variety that director Harry Yates from the Harry Potter films was in talks with BBC Worldwide Productions in Los Angeles of the BBC to do a Doctor Who theatrical film that would be a reboot, outside of the TV series continuity. Here are the main links that fed Monday’s fire:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118046098

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15730665

First, let me just say – I have not been approached to write a Doctor Who script – neither in movie, TV, book, or audio format. I’m interested, but I doubt I am in the top tier. Also – if there is a movie, it is not going to bring me back to This Week In Doctor Who – if you think TV listings are challenging, just imagine movie theater listings. Finally – the stories indicate that there are talks. Talks are not a movie.

Now, could Doctor Who work as a movie in the theaters divorced from the TV series? Well, it happened twice already. “Dr Who and the Daleks” and “Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150A.D.” came out in the 1960s as big, flashy remakes of the first two TV Dalek stories, with Peter Cushing playing human scientist Dr. Who. There were supposed to be 3 films, but the second one did not perform well in UK cinemas, although many people consider it to be a better movie. The movies were made while the TV series was still running and the only impact on the TV show was that the movie Dalek props did get used on the TV show at some point to save money.

This past Friday Lisa and I saw The Green Lantern (2011). By the way, the one disc Redbox rental version had more trailers than I had ever seen in a row outside HDNet’s “Nothing But Trailers”. One of the trailers was for a Green Lantern TV series that should be on the air now. Lisa enjoyed the movie, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if we stumbled across the TV series now. I knew about Green Lantern as a comic franchise that my brother had mentioned and that Fringe had played with (the alternate universe of Fringe has Red Lantern). The movie probably served as a gateway drug for people to discover the decades of comic books and TV shows and other versions of the franchise.

Make no mistake – Doctor Who is a franchise. It’ll be 48 years old next week. Doctor Who has been TV shows, theatrical films, novels, audios, and indeed comic books. One of the features of franchises is that you get different versions of the story. While most Doctor Who incarnations have tried to connect up and use the same continuity, the 1965 movie was already the 3rd alternate timeline of a show that began in November 1963. The 1964 David Whittaker novel “Doctor Who In An Exciting Adventure With The Daleks” (later retitled “Doctor Who and the Daleks”) is a novelization of the first Dalek story, but the story of Ian and Barbara meeting the Doctor has completely changed. A weekly comic strip version of Doctor Who was running by early 1965, and the Doctor was travelling with his grandchildren John and Gillian. There is an “official” history of Doctor Who, but there are many alternate versions that have popped up. Alternate versions were numerous in fandom from 1990 to 2005, when the TV series was over. If a movie comes along with its own version of the character that does not match the 5 decades of “history” we have, it will not be a problem.

Doctor Who is the story of a man who set out to explore time and space in his fantastic machine. A (mostly) good man who (always) gets into crazy adventures. A man who can’t just sit back and let the universe get along without him. Everything else is window dressing and optional. Regeneration, being a Time Lord, the TARDIS being a 1960s UK Police Public Call Box in looks, the Doctor being different from human - optional! We all appreciate that the 2005 revival of the TV show did a great job of connecting with the continuity of the 1963 show, to the point that they get treated as the same storyline. But we cannot assume that alternate versions of Doctor Who will do the same thing.

Since the year 2000, the Superman franchise has had multiple competing animated TV shows, the 10 year lasting drama Smallville, and the theatrical film Superman Returns. None of them match up with each other, nor do they match up with the comic book versions (where Superman came from in the first place). Each version gets treated on its merits. Superman Returns did not result in Smallville getting cancelled. Go to Batman, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and arguably Star Trek – multiple timelines in multiple media, each one getting an audience and succeeding/failing on its own merits.

If a deal actually gets made and that Harry Potter director gets to do a Doctor Who film, that’s great. I hope I like it. I like that I won’t have to like it. My imagination loves the idea of a mysterious trailer before a blockbuster film revealing itself to be the first completed Doctor Who footage. I love the idea that Doctor Who could be a true mainstream film in the USA if marketed well. I love the idea of my favorite TV show getting a Midnight premiere. I love the idea of many people who never considered Doctor Who revisiting the show via repeats or DVDs in the near future, especially since almost all of classic era Who has been restored and released on DVD (all of the complete surviving stories will be out by the end of 2013). If no deal is struck and no film happens, that is fine as well. Many Doctor Who films have been announced over the years, but nothing has reached the silver screen since 1966, and the only “TV Movie” was the one for FOX in 1996.

If we get a film, what would make me unhappy is if all or parts of the TV show get hidden away, to make people focus only on the film. Comic Books adapted as movies don’t need to hide the source materials – the source materials feed the interest. It was bad enough when Doctor Who (1963) virtually disappeared from TV when Doctor Who (2005) turned up and the old novels went out of print. If a movie resulted in Doctor Who DVDs going out of print, or the current Doctor Who TV series going out of production (or even out of repeats), etc – that would be unacceptable. And unlikely. Doctor Who is a big money maker for the BBC right now. They would want to keep the current money flowing.

Whoever decided to get the current story to Variety yesterday was clever. It should help sales of the full season boxset of this year’s Doctor Who stories. It keeps Doctor Who being talked about. If a movie does not come out of these talks, they will be forgotten like so many others. And then we’ll all be surprised when the next director or production company reveals they are in talks with a branch of the BBC about Doctor Who. The story goes on and on.

PS – Hugh Laurie would be an excellent 1st Doctor for a movie reboot. His TV show House will probably end next year due to the ratio of ratings to costs and Laurie’s contract ending, so he’ll be available.

Benjamin Elliott – One Man From Manassas

November 15, 2011

Manassas Cinemas Revisit

Manassas 4 Cinemas

8890 Mathis Avenue

Manassas, VA 20110

Matinee and Senior tickets $6, Adult tickets (5PM or later) $8

(703) 330-3538

http://www.manassas4cinemas.com

manassas4@cox.net

What can I say? I like our small, local movie theater that reopened this Spring, even if I don’t make it to movies there very week. I have a blog. We’ll keep revisiting this place till they’re a success. And it’s a Manassas theme. Yay.

This time, Lisa and I (and Lisa’s parents) saw a Friday matinee showing of Puss In Boots. It was Veterans Day, the start of the film’s 3rd weekend of release.

It has to be good news for Manassas 4 Cinemas (if bad news for me) that I had to put a little thought into parking this time. There were enough cars in the lot that I had to drive over the speed bumps instead of around them. I found a good parking space, but it had clearly opened up a few minutes ago due to cars parked further away. And the cars were focused towards the theater, not focused moving away from the Put-Put Golf Course that shares the parking lot.

The ticket prices have gone down a bit. A movie theater has lowered its price. Before 5PM, adults pay $6 a ticket. After 5PM, adults pay $8. Seniors pay $6 all day. I think Children pay around the Senior rate, but I didn’t spot that detail specifically. There is also a notice on the door – Manassas 4 Cinemas is trying to get a Liquor license. I’ll assume that license is to raise profits and not a commentary on what you need to survive many current movies. The theater still has 4 screens (they would need to build an addition to have more). All showings are still 2D – I’m sure they would like to have the money for a 3D projector, but for now if you prefer 2D, you have found a good theater.

We hadn’t seen a movie on the big screen in a little while due to our move. We originally were interested in seeing The Immortals, a film Manassas Cinemas did not pick up (amazing how 4 screens results in fewer movies playing). But the listings for Regal Manassas 14 Imax indicate that they were not showing The Immortals in 2D either. Just 3D. On opening weekend. We found theaters showing The Immortals in 2D, but we decided – we haven’t seen Puss In Boots yet, and we can keep our money in Manassas while still making a point to Regal. I tweeted what we were doing to make sure Regal would eventually know that someone had SKIPPED their theater because a film was not offered in 2D.

Puss In Boots is another one of these “prequel” films featuring a supporting character from a movie franchise that is now too expensive to make sequels of. Antonio Banderas is reprising Puss In Boots, as seen in Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, and Shrek Forever After. Puss In Boots is also a famous literary character, which is why the Shrek franchise used him in the first place. This movie uses Shrek storytelling styles, but is clearly set in a different part of the world and does not require anyone to even think about Shrek. It doesn’t use the literary Puss storyline either – it is a new script.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, and not just because we spent less on the movie tickets than we planned. It was very much an action comedy. At times the comedy was actually subtle. I liked the focus on a smaller number of characters. At some point in the process of “cashing in on an existing franchise” someone took the time to write a fun movie. That does not always happen.

Manassas Cinemas is still going through growing pains. I’m guessing there was a large crowd for Jack and Jill or the previous showing of Puss In Boots, because they needed to do a little cleaning in the front room and the extra butter machine was broken. The staff was on the small side yesterday, forcing the people there to rush around a bit. Theater 1 (where Puss was playing) had a sound problem at the start of the trailers and had a breakdown during another trailer – it worked flawlessly during the actual movie. The place may be a victim of partial success. It is easy to keep a place organized when you have no customers. It is easy to hire enough people to keep a place organized when you have lots of customers. Not so easy in between. And they still don’t have their film listings up with most othe theaters’ listings, so you really have to use their website, drive by the place, or call them to clarify the films that are available – you won’t be dancing the Fandango just yet.

The website I linked to is Manassas 4 Cinemas’ official website. http://www.manassas4cinemas.com if you don’t want to scroll back. The website has their phone number, e-mail address, an up to date list of the films playing (5 this week – 1 screen is splitting time between 2 films), and a nice listing of the Cafe items. Many of the cafe items are cooked on site. The website has 2 major issues at the moment. 1 – I can’t find the physical address for the theater (8890 Mathis Avenue) on the site or directions to find the place. First time customers, take Mathis Avenue west from Liberia Avenue one block to Reb Yank Drive, turn right, go half a block to the entrance by the shopping center, then drive to the other side of the shopping center (the quicker ways are more dangerous and should not be attempted till you’ve been there before). 2 – the ticket prices shown are the old higher prices, not reflecting the new decrease.

I’ll be back to Manassas 4 Cinemas soon. There are several films I’m looking forward to this fall/winter, some of which they’ll carry.

Benjamin Elliott – One Man From Manassas

November 12, 2011