It was still light outside. An old man sat in a shadowed spot on the padded bench that ran the length of the restaurant’s interior wall. Three diners sat together at a table in the center of the room. Two heralds of the evening entertainment set up the sound system on the small stage. A […]
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Scimitars: Tasting Wine in Monterey by J. Hamilton Ocean bays that face westward onto open seas exercise a strong fascination. My ancestors left such bays to travel to the New World, and as a youth I found my way across the country to Monterey Bay. The bay and its city opened before me like a […]
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Joy, Sorrow, and Wine by J. Hamilton It shouldn’t seem odd that the old man went on a drunk. His life’s work finished; the old world wiped out like it never existed; the new world a scraggly landscape of bushy, young trees, the oldest living creature being Noah himself — and then his vines produced […]
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The “Mexican” Standoff: A Meditation by J. Hamilton “Bang.” “Bang.” “Tap, tap, tap.” As far as I can tell, that’s what a real “Mexican Standoff” would sound like — the sound of two guys dying and one walking away. Let’s look at the mechanics: The classic standoff requires three individuals who are physically near one another […]
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After the Show by J. Hamilton I watched To Kill a Mockingbird three times last week — once at a theater. There can be no comparison. My wife had never seen the movie in a theater before. She was amazed. “So many things came clear for the first time,” she said. Thanks to Fathom Events […]
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Of Men and Mockingbirds by J. Hamilton I saw To Kill a Mockingbird at the Waco Theater in Waco, Texas, in January, 1963. Clueless at the time — I hadn’t heard of the book by Harper Lee, and didn’t know a thing about the movie, but I accompanied the boys from Kokernot (my dormitory at […]
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Theaters I Have Known by J. Hamilton In 1931 my father saw Frankenstein at the Seminole theater in Seminole, Oklahoma. Four years later, he watched Bride of Frankenstein at the same location. The Seminole passed for a “theater palace” in that small town, but Main Street had two other theaters as well: the Rialto, and […]
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Larger Than Larger Than Life by J. Hamilton OK, we’re getting pretty tired of this whole ‘sparkly vampire’ thing. This year RedFence is nominating the OTHER mopey, dark-eyed monster hero with girl problems and a persecution complex. You know, the BIG guy. Lucky for us Turner Classic Movies had the same idea. This Wednesday at […]
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But there is a picture of my father standing in front of the Christmas tree playing his new violin; my teddy bear is pushed up against the tree behind him.
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I looked upon him with expressionless eyes while I previewed the scenario: We are being over-run. I presume the enemy is trying to blow its way through our steel door into the radio room. I am at the cul-de-sac end of the radio room, standing between two red-phosphorous slab grenades, and I am going to commit suicide by pulling the pins to the grenades. The sergeant assumed I would.
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