An Aid To Memory

Last week, Jennifer, Jonathan, Carmel, and I visited Mount Airy, North Carolina, the birthplace of Andy Griffith. The fictional town of Mayberry seems to be based on Mount Airy, although there are obvious differences between the two. Mount Airy plays up the connection to Mayberry, and has regular “Mayberry Days” festivals. Many of the businesses are named after Andy Griffith Show characters or places. I thoroughly enjoy the Andy Griffith Show (I own all the DVDs), and I found Mount Airy fascinating because of the connection, although it stands out as a nice, little town in its own right. Many of the locals seem to like the connection to the show, although some prefer to emphasize the historic Mount Airy (home to the first “Siamese” twins, among other things). Here are some photos I took on our trip (with explanations):

This image is a replica of Wally’s Service Station, where Gomer and Goober Pyle (as well as Goober’s gal, Flora) worked.

This is a photo of Jennifer and I sitting at Sheriff Taylor’s desk, in the replica of the Mayberry Courthouse.

This is the Blue Bird Diner, started in the 1990s, and named after the diner mentioned in the show where Barney’s occasional love-interest Juanita works. I asked our waitress how often customers ask for Juanita. She said, “oh, about every other customer” in a wearied voice.

This is the Snappy Lunch, mentioned in a first season episode on the show. Andy visited this restaurant as a boy. The owner, Charles Dowell, is still around today. We met him when we visited. They are famous for their pork chop sandwich: deep fried pork chop, slaw, chili, onions, mustard, and tomato!

This wall showcases Mt. Airy attractions.

This is a view of the outlying, newly-developed, areas of Mount Airy. Perhaps Mayberry would have a modern area like this, if it were a real town.

North Carolina is seeing many new vineyards and wineries spring up, especially as the importance of tobacco declines. This image is from the Shelton Vineyard, outside of Mount Airy.

This is a cell in the actual (old) jail of Mount Airy. They no longer use it today. It just isn’t quite the same as Mayberry, and I can’t imagine Otis actually enjoying his stay here!

Yes, there is a bed and breakfast that is entirely modeled after the Taylor home in the Andy Griffith Show, just in case you were wondering.

It is the Taylor Home Bed and Breakfast in Wisconsin.

I wonder if I can head down to the Junction Cafe and say a few words to Juanita? Or fill my car up at Wally’s and have a pop? Maybe that is too much to ask.

I have been getting into “I Love Lucy” lately. I used to kind of like the show, but never watched it much. When we met, Jennifer said she didn’t like it. Then she started watching it during her lunch hour since it comes after “The Andy Griffith Show.” She started liking it, and when I was home during the summer, I watched it with her. I came to really appreciate it.

So before I moved to start my new job I ordered three “I Love Lucy” DVD sets, and I really have been enjoying them (especially before I got net access). I also like it because it is from a time when Hollywood released fairly wholesome stuff. “I Love Lucy” and “The Andy Griffith Show” make people laugh, even modern young people, without resorting to profantity or sexual humor. I am not a puritan or anything, and I enjoy modern shows like the Simpsons (in fact it is near the top of my favorite shows), but can you imagine a primetime show making people laugh without using any crude humor? I don’t think modern TV writers could even do it if they tried.

However, when you like old shows it can be sad when you go and research the actors. Most of them have passed away. Desi Arnaz died from lung cancer, a result of smoking the cigarettes of the show’s sponsor, Philip Morris.

There is not much of a point to this post, just that like many before me, “I Love Lucy.”

Fifth and Sixth century Christian theologian Boethius was rotting in prison, and what provided him consolation through his suffering? Was it his faith? Was it the holy Trinity, about which he wrote extensively? No. It was Philosophy. Boethius wrote his famous The Consolations of Philosophy while in prison, and the work shows little, if any, Christian influence. This has led some to speculate that Boethius gave up his Christian faith in prison.

So how does this relate to Andy Griffith and me? Well, I have not been rotting in prison, and I make no claim that my situation is even remotely close Boethius’ (or that I am even close to as smart as he was). Yesterday I was down for a variety of reasons. One is that the job outlook for next fall is not looking too great. Granted, I haven’t applied to many places (because of location issues), but I don’t want to sub next year, period. So what cheered me up? Was it my faith? Was it all my theology books and knowledge? Nope. It was eating Coconut Popsicles (which Jennifer bought for me) and watching episodes from the 6th season of the Andy Griffith Show, which is the first color season, the first without Don Knotts, and ultimately not my favorite. Still, it worked. Oh well, whatever works I guess. Of course, the sacramental theologian in me knows that God can use his creation anyway, whether the Bible, a DVD, or coconut popsicle!

Two Getting Angry at Zoe Movie Part 1

Two Getting Angry at Zoe Movie Part 2

These are videos of me holding my cat (while my other cat walks by). The orange cat (Angel "two") does not like the black and white cat (Zoe). While Two would never hurt Zoe (and they often play together), she does get a little mouthy when Zoe is around. Zoe just likes to play and gives Two a look like "what is her problem?" in Part 2.

Jennifer is recording using my Digital Camera, and offers some commentary. Just so you know, Zoe is not hiding behind the fan in part 2, but rather playing. Zoe is oblivious to Two’s anger, lol. Anyway, I am putting these videos up for a limited time. I thought they were funny. The video was taken with a regular digital camera, not a digital video recorder, so the quality is not TV quality. No cats were hurt in this video, but a human (me) was bitten lightly, lol. I am only leaving them up for a little bit because of bandwidth issues.

I rarely watch Hollywood dramas. However, since I frequent Episcopal blogs (and used to be an Episcopalian), I just had to watch "Book of Daniel" about an Episcopal priest, at least just once. Well, I did last night. Some Christian groups have vilified the show, while a progressive  Episcopal Diocese is actually promoting it by establishing a blog about the show. So I figured my review would fall somewhere in the middle.

Let me give a brief summary of the first one hour episode. Keep this length in mind, because a lot was going on in such a brief show. As you read, look for as many Hollywood stereotypes and pet issues as possible.

The show is about Daniel Webster (Aidan Quinn), an Episcopal priest addicted to pills. He talks to Jesus, who is a sort of weird best-buddy meets Dr. Phil figure, although I think they did portray Jesus respectfully. The show starts with Webster giving a sermon about how unrealistic it is to try to fight temptation. He is married to an alcoholic wife named Judith who drops plates to get attention in the household and drinks in the afternoon. His son Peter is gay, and is pursuing his dream of cancer research despite his father wanting him to be a doctor. Oh yeah, the reason for his change is that his brother died from Leukemia. Rev. and Mrs. Webster take an active interest in their gay son’s love life.

The rest of the family consists of a daughter Grace and an adopted Chinese son Adam. Grace was arrested for selling drugs to fund her budding anime (Manga) ambitions. At the end Webster finally sees her art and agrees to fund it other ways besides through selling drugs. Adam is dating the daughter of the rich, white, local country-club going church member, portrayed as a semi-bigot, who says "I really don’t mind that he is Japanese." Adam always gets in late (and feels his girlfriend up in the priest’s garage), and Webster seems indifferent to all of this, except to kind of laugh about it.

Webster’s bishop is a tough, conservative lady named Beatrice Congreve, who is romantically involved with a married bishop from New England, Webster’s father. Both are conservatives and both are portrayed as hypocritical, because Webster’s mother (as we learn in a future episode) has Alzheimer’s. Of course, those who are in the Episcopal church know that there is no real true conservative female bishop, or a true conservative bishop from New England…but you have to have somebody conservative to bounce Webster’s ideas off of I guess.

It turns out (keep in mind we are in the same episode) that Webster’s brother-in-law Charlie embezzled church money and then takes off, eventually ending up dead. Webster doesn’t want to go to the police, so he goes to someone who has underworld mob contacts, and guess who he goes to? The local Catholic priest! The Catholic priest assures Webster that his secret is safe with him, even though all the nuns do is pray and gossip all day. The brother-in-law turns up dead, with items shoved up his rectum ("did they find the money" his wife asks, to which Webster replies, "no, but they did search everywhere."). The Catholic priest tells Webster all of this while sitting in an Italian restaurant and bar with mobsters.

Whew! So much jammed into one show. So many perfect Hollywood characters and stereotypes. While I enjoyed parts of the show, including some of the humor, and some of what Jesus had to say, the premise is just too Hollywood. Sure it shows a real-life, human priest, which is good, but I just can’t handle watching so many cliches in one hour, especially when applied to religion. All that is missing is the daughter being Wiccan.  Maybe in a future episode. One last thought: Would Hollywood portray any other religious groups like this or just Christians? I can’t imagine an Muslim imam being portrayed like this. I can’t imagine that when Webster wants underworld contacts the show writers would have him visit a Muslim cleric with Al-Qaida connections!

I guess I don’t quite object to the show in the way some Christians do. I don’t think it should be banned or anything. Heck, I even had a good laugh at the Catholic stereotypes, after all, we can’t take ourselves too seriously. I just think it is a silly cliched show.  Of course, I almost always think this when Hollywood gets a hold of religion. Any opinions?