The Sansei Shooter

                                                   The Sansei Shooter

Hordes of malcontents leaving tax-payer supplied resort. That's gratitude for ya!

      While working at the pistol range in Powell Ohio back in the 90s, I would often avail myself of conversation with the various clientele. One interesting fellow comes to mind. The only Japanese redneck I've ever met.

      He worked in the offices of a gravel quarry in southwest Columbus. In his late fifties/early sixties, wearing (Depending on the weather.) a worn blue jacket or a ratty t-shirt, he'd come in once a week smoking one of those big cigars of his, to "shoot the bull".

      We always got a charge out of this guy (Sadly, he's no longer with us. Damn cancer.). He'd regal us with tales of the bad ole days of living in the OSU area during the sixties (The National Guard was called out on various occasions, not because of political "activism" but because THE BUCKEYES! won/lost a game. Nowadays it's just 12th Ave. going up in smoke.), or the drawbacks & merits of the various models of Harley & Triumph bikes.

      Invariably the discussion got to politics, particularly gun control. We of course all agreed it was a matter of putting the second round through the hole the first one made & not the lofty non-solutions as proposed by the starry eyed, self appointed, would be saviors of our souls. One quote of his I'll never forget:

      "They say waiting periods (For gun purchases.) are for cooling you down. Bulls--t! I've been divorced from my ex-wife for over twenty years & I still wanta' kill her!"

      On another occasion, I asked why he owned guns. He gave an answer that's stuck with me to this day:

      "I was born in a concentration camp at Tule Lake in northern California. This was where they sent 'troublemakers'. My mom was there because she wouldn't sign a loyalty oath. She said she was an American & didn't have to sign so they sent her there. I may not remember much of it at all but they 'did it' to me before, they're not going to 'do it' to me again. That's why I own guns."

Hey! It's the gummint wot determines who/what's
American, not you pal. Now that we got THAT straight .....

Enjoying tax-payer funded meals. Darn freeloaders!

      This was in sharp contrast to the reaction I got from a regular customer from Yokohama who was in the U.S. for his company. He was a bit aghast when I stated that any of the internees had the perfect right to shoot anyone taking them to a "relocation center". That "go with the flow" mentality I'll never understand.

      Things are different everywhere.

Article copyright © 3-22-2012 Jay Agan

Makes me PROUD to be an Amurikan. An iffen yew don'
think so mebbe yew awtta go someplace lahk Rooshia!

Propaganda film extolling the benefits of "internment" here. The gummint only had the best of intentions & their welfare in mind.

George "Mr. Sulu" Takei puts to rest any misgivings about "internment" here. He has nothing but praise for it.

Pat Morita talks about "internment"s' joys & wonders here.

Ruth Voorhies talks about her stay in a gummint furnished vacation wonderland here.

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VHS Vignette

                                                                  VHS Vignette

                                                                          by

                                                                            Jay Agan

     I remember Media Play. Back in the heyday of VHS tapes, it was THE place in central Ohio to go for movies. The three branch stores in Columbus had a fantastic selection of flicks as well as books & CDs. If they hadn't closed down a few years back one could only imagine what they would be like now.

     One day, in my late 30s, I'm rooting around the bargain rack of the west end store when a fit of "depression" hit me. I was not the success I wanted to be & the prospects of romance seemed quite dim.

     I'm thinking, "here I am in my thirties, not even married, blah, blah, blah. Geez. I'm such a loser, etc."

     I dwelt on this for a few minutes, the melancholy making me feel lower by the second. Just as I was about to "down" myself for the umpteenth time, a young couple walked by.

     She: "We always get what you wanna watch! We never get anything I like!"

     He: "All right ----it! We'll get something you wanna watch!"

     The two continued past in sullen silence, not even looking at one another.

     I stopped feeling down on myself for quite some time after.

                                                  Article copyright © Jay Agan

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I Meet Someone Famous

                            

Ray Harryhausen contemplates skeleton model for his film,
The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. Columbia Pictures, 1958.

                                           I Meet Someone Famous

                                                             by

                                                                Jay Agan

      
      It happened to me during MARCON at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio last Memorial Day weekend. He was attending the H.P. Lovecraft seminar. Most of the seminar went by interestingly enough before I noticed him. The presentation/discussion drifted to the authors' well known love of cats.

      Across the aisle, to my right a few rows ahead, a very distinctive voice made some comments. My mind went into overdrive (transmission slipping, gears grinding) trying to place it. It resolved itself as I remembered those stentorian tones from interviews on various dvds.

      He worked from behind the camera. Many of you have seen his films. Though he wasn't producer/director he might as well have been as his works were the center of the films they appeared in. He's still active today in regard to the marketing and enhancement of his & others movies. I had to meet this guy!

      The seminar over, I approached. As I did so, I heard a couple others mention his name. He was sitting there reading, as I introduced myself.

      "Excuse me sir." He looked up. "You have a very distinctive voice," I paused and, "are you who I think you are?"

      I then noticed his name tag to bear a different moniker.

      "I'm sorry. I see by your tag you're not the one I thought you were."

      "Actually, I am someone else," he replied in that unforgettable voice.

      "I understand sir. It was good to meet you." I left the room. He wanted his privacy. I can respect that.

      I don't think he had an event or seminar at the con. Was he in central Ohio on business? Visiting relatives? Who knows? Outside, I ran into one of the seminars' speakers.

      "Do you know who that was you were talking to a few rows back?"

      "No, who?" Replying with some concern.

      "--- -----------."

      "Really? You sure?"

      Another attendee walked up confirming what I said. She recalled he was sitting behind her when the speaker mentioned some work in a Lovecraft related film wasn't as good as --- ------------s. She said she heard him say, "Oh, he gave me a plug."

      I really wish I could tell you who he was. Yeah, frustrating. For all you know, I'm just making this up and I don't blame you for thinking so. At best, you're thinking he was mistaken for someone else. If it wasn't him, it had to have been his twin.

      He wanted his privacy & to be left alone. I have to leave it at that.

                                                Article copyright © Jay Agan


Addendum: As he passed away on May 7, 2013, I can now reveal that it may have been Ray Harryhausen I had inadvertantly met. If it wasn't, it sure looked & sounded like him! Needless to say, I find it interesting that he may have been an H.P. Lovecraft fan.

Photo & links added 5-9-13


Ray Harryhausen: Farewell To A Master here.

Night At The Drive In (One Million Years BC) here.


Go to Jays' Tee Vee blog main page here.　

Darn Tribbles, Darn Troubles

Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Darn Tribbles, Darn Troubles

by

Jay Agan

    
School days. Ah memories. I'll treasure them always. Not! Only the overachievers, jocks, and social butterflies will ever be fond of the high school pressure cooker. Any good memories of that time was from not being there.

One set of good times involved Star Trek (tos). I'd become aquainted with it during its initial network run in the late 60s. In military school, the nuns would (grudgingly) let us watch it ("Cadets don't whistle, chew gum, read comic books, watch cool stuff on tv, have fun, etc.").

I recall the "ruckus" that came up when it got cancelled. Not having been a full bore Trek weenie, I didn't experience the crippling depression afflicting believers. Some disappointment, yes, as it was (then) novel and different. There was so little intelligent sci-fi on tv, (still that way), and if the nuns didn't like it, it had to be good.

Thanks to the zeal and enthusiasm of the fans, stations across the country aired it a lot through syndication in the 70s. WLWC (now WCMH) ch. 4 was the central Ohio Trek pioneer. The time slot was (I think.) 5-6 PM. It didn't matter if it was a school night, (We weren't allowed to watch tv mon-thur.), I'd sneak down the celler and tune in on our older set. I'll always be grateful to the staff of 4 for including Trek in their programming (well into the 80s). A good daily dose of Trek helped in recovery from the indoctrination of several hours before. Usually but not always.

There was, however, an annoying glitch in 4s' Trek scheduling. A glaring defect, sharply curtailing my enjoyment of the show. A nuisance, so vexing, it drove me to obsessive distraction: The Trouble With Tribbles.

On first seeing it in the late 60s, I sorta' liked it. Cutsey, funny, not all that great though. Little was I to know TWT would later become the very fuel powering the ch. 4 Star Trek machine. I understand the station showing the more popular eps more often. Ad revenue and all. But ..... The Trouble with Tribbles? Every other day? Yeah, I exaggerate. It only seemed that way. It could have been once a week, or at least twice a month. Aw what the heck! It was on too dang often!

There I'd be on the bus home. Mixed feelings at conflict in my brain."Star Trek! Oh boy! Oh boy! Yeah! Trek! Please no TWT! Oh golly! Oh yeah! No TWT! Please! Please! PLEASE!"

And seemingly, more often than not. After a particularly depressing day of scholastic brainwashing, there it was, in all its fuzzy non-glory, The Trouble With Tribbles. (Aghh! That's it! I'm doing my homework!)

Why? Why this one? "All the time?" They played the other "top 20" to death too, but not seemingly every time I turned around. Arena, The Changeling, The Doomsday Machine, etc. These I could understand. They were great. But TWT? What a nauseatingly, sickeningly saccharine, piece of crud! It got to the point where I'd be ecstatic to see Miri, Turnabout Intruder, The Empath, or any of the other of the least popular ones.

I've no proof but I suspect there was a group of 5 or 6 Trek weenies in Columbus, constantly calling the station & urging them on (Ooo! Ooo! Can we see TWT again?! Huh? Please?! TWT! Ooo! Ooo!"). I recall a particularly annoying one (who shall remain nameless) showing up at wargame gatherings bugging the crap out of everyone over Trek. (Claimed he was a rear admiral in Starfleet in charge of research.) He had to have been the ringleader.

At a place I worked at in the 90s, we had a tv. 4 had a Trek marathon one Sunday, 8AM-8PM. The top 12 of all time. Naturally, we enjoyed ourselves as we went about our tasks. An older fellow I worked with (left the scene due to cancer) was a sci-fi fan as well. I was pretty much down on Trek weenies and he would kid me a lot about me being a "trekkie" as I knew more about the show than I cared to. (I like the show a lot. It's not my reason for being, however.) I found his word for word co-recital of Celia Lovskys' lines from the duel in the Amok Time episode to be quite amusing.

Things got a little tense as the marathon wore on. We knew TWT was in there somewhere. (He hated it too.) We KNEW an hour long bout of hypoglycemic, pseudo-cuteness was approaching .There were a few tense moments during the "A Piece of the Action" ep. (He didn't like that one either. I always did. Criminals as politicians? Never happen!)

As it turned out, TWT was the last one, thus the best "voted". As we were prepping to close that hour, we didn't care. Still don't.

I'll always have a place in my heart for Star Trek (tos), but not for "The Trouble With Tribbles". Those in love with TWT are TWiTs!

                                                 
Article copyright © Jay Agan


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