Out there in the multiverse
Okay, it’s Monday. I will apologize now for taking this blog off into a bit of a different direction today. Well… off in a whole slew of different directions all at the same time.
Join me as we take that big first step into the Multiverse. Any way you turn, your influence on what happens is unique.
Oddly enough some scientific minds think there is enough evidence to consider if this or real and not just good fiction. And of course, there are scientific minds who pooh pooh the whole concept as simple fantasy.
It’s an interesting concept when you think about it. Just imagine that for every time you turned one way or the other, the alternatives all actually existed in some plane of reality. Did you go right, go left, forward or backwards? Each choice you might have made would have provided a different impact. Perhaps taking a later train, you may not have met someone who played a big role in your life. A basic bit of physics in that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
We all have those moments in our lives when a decision leads us down one path. But what if you had taken another one instead? What might have been? Sure, you could have bought that lucky lottery winning ticket, but you chose not to make the purchase instead and never took the chance.
I’ve mentioned before in this space that I am a fan or speculative, a.k.a. “what if”, fiction. Things like what if the South had won the Civil War. With so many entertainment franchises looking to reboot, the possibilities are endless. A good example of how this has worked is how the Star Trek world had seen the Gene Roddenberry universe become the J.J. Abrams universe with the splitting of timelines leading to things being different. Everything from technology to relationships familiar yet new and different. The characters of James Kirk, Spock and Leonard McCoy audiences came to love the first time around have an entirely new series of stories to live through and entertain audiences all over again.
The concept of the Multiverse is alluring yet frightening at the same time. On one hand, everything goes right, where we got the flying cars and transporters to get us from place to place. And yet, the other side of the coin is likely to offer a post apocalyptic dystopia with the survivors of nuclear war barely alive and fighting for every day of life. If you can imagine it, there is probably some scenario where it all comes to pass. That’s the beauty of the concept, there is no right or wrong. No prime universe, just alternatives that don’t stop offering choices.
One of the best bits of the Multiverse in popular culture right now is “The Man In The High Castle”. The television series is based on the 1962 novel by Phillip K. Dick of the same name. With enough of the familiar, people can see that things might have turned out that way, had the US lost World War II. That, “what if” captures the imagination of audiences who want to learn more.
Yes, I know, time travel paradoxes make for good head aches as well as good stories. But haven’t you had that moment of wonder, that indecision leading your steps along a path?
So what will it be? Coffee, black or with cream and sugar? Or maybe a cup of tea?
See you out there somewhere on the road to the Multiverse. Or maybe not… you decide.
Life goes on.
This may come as a shock to some folks, but life goes on outside of Orange County. Both in Anaheim and Orlando.
Yes, people still come to visit the theme parks, stay in hotels, shop for souvenirs and enjoy meals and beverages at the many themed locations. The surprise, however, may be that there are plenty of other places where the same also happens.
In the days when Walt Disney first wanted his little park surrounded by a train, I doubt he could have imagined that such an enterprise would have inspired millions of guests to visit similar parks around the world. The tale is told that after Disneyland opened, he was asked by one of the high level management where they should put the next Disneyland. His response was that this would be the only Disneyland. Even with all of the parks that make up the Walt Disney World resort, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai, there still is only one Disneyland that Walt brought to life, in Anaheim.
From what folks in the know have said, Walt liked to be out and about Disneyland seeing guests enjoy it all. As well, I am sure he enjoyed the fact that another of his ideas had become a proven success, too. Even though no one says so, one has to believe that Walt enjoyed it being profitable too. Those profits allowed the completion of more attractions and more additions to the Park.
For many people, a visit to a Disney theme park may be truly a once in a lifetime experience. First, it is not inexpensive nor was it, even back in 1955. Plenty of those mythical families of 2 parents and 3.4 children made the pilgrimage from all around the world. They still do today. Maybe they stay with family or friends somewhere in the LA Basin or further afield. Maybe they stay a few nights in one of the motels or hotels anywhere from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Travel by air or rail or even still by automobile for many miles there and back again.
Those of us Disney fans lucky enough to enjoy the Annual Pass in some form see the Park differently than that mythical family. We get to visit more often than once in a lifetime. Some folks go as often as possible, making Anaheim a second home. Like the family that used to head off for weekends at the lake, enjoying cabin life. No, these pass holders congregate and take in the Disney life as their own on a frequent basis. I won’t dive deep into the psychological as to why, but it could make for a fascinating doctoral thesis, on the subject of why the pass holders are so dedicated a bunch.
Off and on over the years since Disneyland first offered the Annual Pass, I have enjoyed my share of them. Currently not, I once visited Disneyland (before California Adventure) 31 times in a year. That was during a promotion where they offered prizes at the main gate and I think there were more than a few times when a visit was a few minutes. I know one was all of 30 seconds in and out.
Don’t get me wrong. I still enjoy visiting the Park. A lot of great memories with family and friends come along on each visit. Especially with some folks who are no longer with us. But the real story here? Even with all of the new Star Wars land waiting to be explored, if I never visited Disneyland again, ti would not be the end of the world. Life would still go on.
Sure, there is something about that moment when I enter through the turnstile at the Main Gate, with the Main Street Station sitting above the Mickey floral display, as a steam locomotive brings it’s train to a stop. It’s good show and I get sentimental watching it unfold again and again.
Yet I get a similar feeling stepping out of a BART station onto Market Street in San Francisco. The sounds of the City all play their part in grabbing my emotions. Everything from the slap of the cable in the slot as cable cars climb the hills at all of 9 miles per hour, the honk of auto horns, the hum of electric motors as streetcars head outbound for the Castro. The hustle and bustle of life in the City.
Or how about coming out onto a porch on a fall morning as the wind rustles through the pines, the smell of evergreens in the morning dew as life on Lake Tahoe begins another day. That’s magical indeed.
The moral of these ramblings? If you need one, I guess it all comes down to what you make of what you have. Something as simple as a good cup of coffee can be worth the moment you find your self in.
Yes, sir… life goes on. Get out there and live it.
Somewhere along the way…
Amtrak’s California Zephyr, coming into Truckee, CA on a sunny Sunday morning in October of 2017.
Odd as it seems, things have gone a bit sideways of late. And that has, in it’s own inimitable way, taken a toll when it comes to finding time to scribe a page entry here.
I find myself back almost where I started almost 40 years ago. Hopefully, that is only a temporary stop as I seek better use of my time and more gainful employment. So along in that vein, I hope to be able drop in on a more or less regular basis to share some bits here.
The call of the open road beckons at the same time I explore the 40 hour work week again. The need to get out and see things again seems stronger, even though I find the leash shorter. Call it a healthy desire to leave home behind as time and finances permit. The Disneyland Annual Pass has once again lapsed and I don’t miss it much. Heading off in other directions than mouse-ward seems worthwhile.
Fear not! I plan to share some of these adventures with you. To start with, if you find yourself in the area of San Francisco’s Fort Mason, I heartily recommend a stop for a bit of gustatory revival at Radhaus. A good portion of German “bier” to match the food is worth the trip. Especially as they have products from the Andechs Brewery on tap here; in particular, the Andechs Doppplebock Dunkel. Visiting Munich and Germany in September of 2001, that was the best bier we enjoyed. Glad to find it available here.
Thanks for stopping by. Always glad to share with you.
Entertainment here we come.
It’s a funny thing, this need for people to be entertained.
Think about it. We work to pay the bills, keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, keep the kids happy, etcetera… For the most part, that manages to take up most of the time.
Or it used to. Count me as one of those outside the box. While I don’t have children, there is a fairly demanding pair of cats to be kept in kibble. And they also demand attention along with amusement. Much like a fair number of people I know, they get bored. Easily bored…
Sure, the same going day in and day out is monotonous. Nothing new under the sun there. In the 1890’s, my great grandfather worked as a vaquero at a series of ranches in central Nevada. It was life on the back of a horse, dull, seven days a week and pretty much the same every day. Free time was something of a non existent concept. You worked through the day and slept when you were done.
A yearly occasion was the round up of wild horses out on the land around the ranches for shipment east by rail. A rear amusement during that time was for someone to try and ride a wild horse for a pot of cash put together by the ranch hands. That glorious sum? Maybe all of six bits, say around 37 cents.
So, when you look at today, the wonder of the age is that we all have free time to enjoy. And with the electronic wonders at hand, there are plenty of things to take up that time, without even venturing beyond our own doorways. Not to mention movies, games, television, hobbies, sports or the watching there of, collecting and on and on… How we decide which diversion to fall into is something of a mystery.
Let’s face it, we humans like to be entertained. We have ever since the first of our ancestors stood up at a fire and told a tale. Something to stir imagination, a tale of a successful conquest or a prosperous hunt.
Give props to that guy or gal who was brave enough to stand up and share. They probably took a portion of grief and skepticism for doing so. Yet perseverance paid off. And all who came after, from pulp novels to music halls and vaudeville through radio, television, motion pictures and more all carry on that tradition of sharing the story, keeping the audience entertained.
Not a bad profession. It pays off, hopefully in many ways, including paying the bills and keeping everyone in kibble, too.
PS: It’s an interesting time for me right now. So, I’m going to try and keep writing for a bit of set and centered as it were. Hope you will enjoy what comes from the keyboard.
Best Laid Plans
Well…
As you may have read in this space, my intentions were to blog every day in July.
The real world has a funny way of changing intentions such as those. Long story short, other more important things got in the way. So, here I am early on a Sunday morning, iPad at the ready as I tell the tale to fill this space.
Had a chance to head back to the summer of 1970, when my family made the change from, as my mom called it, “a Charlie Brown” tract house neighborhood where we knew most of the people in Mountain View to the other side of the San Francisco Bay and the rural living in Walnut Creek. A brand new house in an area without streetlights or sidewalks in unincorporated Contra Costa County.
Today the tract house we have such fond memories of is just one of many with concrete replacing the front lawn and a conversion to house a large family under one roof. The trees have prospered along the streets that were safe and secure in the neighborhood. But all the families we knew are gone now, the last member having left for a board and care facility two years ago. Now she too has passed and a well remembered part of those wonder years becomes a treasured memory.
As I type this, I am listening to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong sing some of the best tunes from those years ago. Yes, another case of terminal nostalgia comes to rest…
in retrospect, that tract of homes may have been sheltered from things going on elsewhere in the world. But young parents of that time tended to have their own worlds to focus on. Young children created their own brand of challenges. School, sports, Scouting for girls and boys, church and all of the things that made up life. Working mothers were making their starts while dads brought home the bacon after the 40-hour work week and the daily commute.
it wasn’t that the issues of the day were not important, but dealing with the latest visit from the measles, come home from school and visiting all family members at the same time were of greater import.
Courtesy of the US Army, my parents saw how life in the late 50’s Alabama differed from that of California. Segregation was the way of life to the point that young soldiers had to be reminded not get involved in things they may have seen as wrong. It would take time and the passage of Federal laws to see things change and begrudgingly for many.
Looking back on those days, I can see how the parents of those days helped shape the young men and women we were to become. The basic respect for each other was not just a simple platitude, it was expected and not out of the ordinary. I honestly can say that I never once heard a deragatory term for anyone from the parents in that neighborhood.
Civility today is something that has been in the minds of many. From the top down, it is indeed something I don’t understand. Either as a way to excite others or draw attention to the differences between us all, no one should have an expectation that civility should not be an expectation in society around the world.
As a child of the mass media age, I have always believed in a simple concept that came from a 1960’s television show – infinite diversity in infinite combinations. In that we should all celebrate what makes us different from one another is what makes us all the same. People, living on a planet, small and alone in the Milky Way galaxy, all trying to get through today, in search of tomorrow. Some days may be harder than others, but by respecting those differences, we see how we are more alike than not. Each one as deserving to be here as the other.
The lesson that came from that neighborhood so many years ago, it still rings true today. The people in this country still believe and treasure the words that declared our freedom in the summer of 1776.
“… We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. … “
Okay, that’s enough from the soapbox. Time to step down and move forward.
Back with more of the usual as the days come along.