The Last Hurrah – Castle End

Castle with the 12th Precinct detectives.

Lets start out with a warning to anyone that watches and enjoys the TV show Castle, but hasn’t seen the last episode. Spoiler Alert! Warning! Don’t read past this point if you’re still planning on seeing the last episode and don’t want to know anything about it – including the end.

Now that’s out-of-the-way, I have to assume you want to continue to read my observations & comments. If you’re already a member of WordPress, you can add your comments below. WordPress wants to know who you are, even if you’re hiding behind an alias. No, spies don’t come here to gain access to the latest government secrets, but some Castle fans do…

Castle & Beckett disarmed a bomb in NY

Overall, last nights episode did bring some closure to the series. I must say, as a fan I was more than a little disappointed by the abbreviated ending. Clearly the last few seconds of episode 22, season 8, were rushed. It was a way of creating an ending which should have developed in several more episodes of Castle. It appeared to me they had a cliffhanger final in mind, then had to tack on the final seconds showing Beckett, Castle and children, all smiling perhaps even laughing at a dinner table together.

Beckett & Castle working together

The season 8 writers were up against three intractable challenges. The first problem was the entire eighth season story arc revolved around a powerful shadow organization, secretly behind a prior longer story arc about the death of Kate Beckett’s mother which ran for 6 seasons. By creating this all-encompassing theme from the beginning, it obligated them to continue with it, and form a conclusion for that plot line. What they couldn’t plan on was the second big problem. Problem number two was the announcement by ABC studios, that Stana Katic and Tamala Jones wouldn’t be returning to Castle if there was a ninth season. This meant they had to write an episode explaining to the audience the reason(s) why Kate Beckett and everyone’s favorite Medical Examiner were no longer around. What could they do?

1. Have Kate Beckett resign and leave Castle?
2. Have a need for Kate to take time off and temporarily be away from Castle? (They sorta did that already)
3. Have Kate Beckett appear to die in the last episode, leaving an opening for Castle to continue without her?

There just didn’t seem to be a satisfactory way to remove Kate Beckett from the series without severe repercussions and this brings us to the final challenge. The network under a lot of pressure from the fans, announced last Thursday, May 12th, there wouldn’t be a ninth season. Do I believe the fans influenced this decision? Does the Pope reside in the Vatican? The Twitter feeds were tweeting faster and louder than Angry Birds on steroids. They were tweeting, “No Stana – No Castle!“, A petition was created to cancel the show at the end of season 8, and instructions were published throughout social media as to who should be contacted along with their business address.

For a few weeks Castle fans were doing the American public a favor. They created a fire storm and were calling attention to a media phenomenon other than the U.S. Presidential bake-off. No need to thank us America, just doing our part to create a distraction from election news.

ABC had a PR nightmare on their hands which might have rolled over to other properties. The only thing at this point which they could have done to make it worse, end season 8 with Kate Beckett killed and have her on the M.E.’s table in season 9. Oh wait… they couldn’t have done that because they were getting rid of  Dr. Lanie Parish too.

If ever script writers were on the horns of a dilemma, this was that time. The writers were given 1 more hour to create an ending for the show wrapping up, LokSat and what happens to Caskett. C’mon, 1 hour?!  Well, that’s what they did. For that hour we had at least 3 episodes compressed into 1.

Beckett: I need a miracle, guys.
Ryan: Okay, you got it.
Esposito: One miracle coming up.

The episodes I’m referring to were; In the Belly of the Beast, Veritas and The Time of Our Lives. Each of them had dramatic stories with pivotal outcome.

• In the Belly of the Beast – Beckett is recruited for a dangerous undercover operation with the aim of stopping a near-mythical drug baron.
• Veritas – Beckett carries out an off-the-books investigation attempting to connect drug baron Vulcan Simmons to presidential candidate William Bracken
• Time of Our Lives – Beckett and Castle marry in the Hamptons.

 

But it was a Hollywood promise; not worth a damn. ~ Rick Castle

These were the problems in a nutshell, which the writers of this last episode of Castle needed to package together in a satisfactory bundle.

Were they successful? In my opinion, they did about as good of a job as you can ask for in approximately 43 minutes of normal run time. I have to say, I’m happy overall with what they did, but the last-minute of the show was so hurried, I’m not sure if I was looking at a dream sequence, a thought compression for the next set of books, or did they really get the happy ending we thought we saw?

— What do you think?

Some moments we loved during Castle – all rights by owner (not me)

 

Addicted to Malice

I’ve read a few articles concerning Phillip Hoffman who died of a heroin overdose. He reminded me of some of my relatives who struggled with their addictions. As I’ve gotten older my tolerance for understanding has increased markedly.  It was difficult for me to understand alcoholism because it was my own fathers problem. He was essentially taken out of the equation of life through this addiction. I too saw alcoholics in the worst possible light and drug addicts no better. If nothing else, I can use my prior intolerance, which I believe typifies society. That is to say, anyone that has a drug or alcohol addiction is someone who is considered defective and deserving of scorn. Perhaps that’s too harsh, but our laws reflect this thinking.

Rather than figure out ways to assist the individual addict, we expect somehow they will manage on their own to seek and find help. Even if they find it, possession of an unlawful substance means you’re likely to end as a criminal and tossed aside in a prison where there’s even less hope for you.

When you think about it, the reality for most addicts are a life of hell and then death. Of course it also affects friends and family. I know this painful truth first hand. I examined my own life’s course at an early age and designed my own intervention, I enlisted in the Marines. Of course that was no guarantee of a release from habitual drinking, but it did serve it’s purpose. 13 weeks of boot camp were enough to get my head on straight and find an alternative. Other people can’t solve it so readily.

What are we going to do about addicts? Do we let this reminder of the personal tragedy which so many of us either have or find in close family or friends, slip away into another faceless statistic? Is it appropriate or sensible in the 21st century to continue to look at people with addictions as if we still live in the middle ages? Maybe we think we’ve advanced ourselves from witch trials and stockades, but in effect we are still public shaming people who need our help. Instead of finding new slogans to say no, or another cruel punishment, can we insist our legislators review how ineffective our present laws are and abolish the current methods of substance and addict control.

Believe me, the addiction is enough punishment. Let’s find another way.

Related Articles

• Addiction, Mental Health – A Society that fails both (DeBie Hive blog)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman is another victim of bad drug laws (Russell Brand – Guardian UK)
• Russell Brand: my life without drugs (Guardian UK)
• The Shape I’M In – The Band

 

The Amy Winehouse Inexperience

Chris Barfoot
July 23, 2011 at 3:25pm

I once met Amy Jade Winehouse. It was in the Green Room of the Jonathan Ross show back in 2004. Ian Cunningham and I had been invited onto the show, because they had requested the short movie we’d shot starring Shane Richie and Andrew Sachs called ‘Dead Clean’.

They wanted to show Shane in an acting role which preceded and instigated his career shift from Television game-show host to charismatic movie/TV player. Shane had just found new worth and very welcomed fame as Alfie Moon in the BBC’s flagship drama series (though horrid like ghastly Marmite to me) East Enders… and so, Ian and I accepted their hospitality.

Back then, Amy wasn’t widely known, but for those that did know of her, it was for her music, not the awful destructive sleazy drug induced daze that we all came to know. She was clean of all that, she was a fresh, chubby, cheeky/bubbly yet slightly nervous and very polite little Jewish girl from North London. I liked her. We shook hands, I coiffed upon champagne while she sipped on bottled water. A stark contrast to what she later became. We were all witness to the very public humiliation and gradual demise of this young lady, we watched as her innocence was stripped away until all that remained was the grime and the sublime.

People blame the dealers, because it’s easier to handle, than the truth… Do you remember that first cigarette, the peer pressure? My first cigarette came from my best friend at the time… just think about it, dealers represent supply and demand, who gave you your first smoke, your first snort, your first needle?

Bye Amy, I’ll just think about you, the way you were.
Way back when…

Note: Amy wasn’t a friend, but she represents that pain… to a wider, slightly wiser audience.

 

In Memoriam

2 January 2014 BBC 13:45 GMT Waltham Chase crash:

A motorcyclist has died in a collision with a car in Hampshire. Timothy Barfoot, 41, from Eastleigh, was riding along the B2177 Winchester Road in Waltham Chase when he collided with a BMW at about 13:45 GMT. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The car driver, a 23-year-old woman, was treated for shock but was not otherwise injured.

Tim & Michelle Barfoot

These few factual descriptive words broadcast over the Internet into the homes and business of many, are the words no parent, wife, child, brother, sister or friend want to see. It sends a chill up the spine and immediate sadness to all once so closely connected to someone now gone from their lives. When Chris made this announcement to those of us scattered around the world it felt as though each of us lost a brother or son.

Our youngest brother Timmy – Father to Molly, Toby and Harry, Uncle to Bianca, Son to Eileen and John, Brother to Paul and myself, Husband of Michelle – was involved in motor accident today and pronounced dead at the scene.

My thoughts are with our folks, his children and Michelle, Sarah and Sue too.

I gave him a kiss over Christmas, so glad I did. Love you Tim. RIP Little brother. XXXXXX

Tim Barfoot never forgotten created using @flipagram ♫ Music: AWOLNATION – Sail

In Memoriam
by Lord Alfred Tennyson
(with apologies to Tennyson for the edit)

O Sorrow, wilt thou live with me
No casual mistress, but a wife,
My bosom-friend and half of life;
As I confess it needs must be;

O Sorrow, wilt thou rule my blood,
Be sometimes lovely like a bride,
And put thy harsher moods aside,
If thou wilt have me wise and good.

My centred passion cannot move,
Nor will it lessen from to-day;
But I’ll have leave at times to play
As with the creature of my love;

And set thee forth, for thou art mine,
With so much hope for years to come,
That, howsoe’er I know thee, some
Could hardly tell what name were thine.

Sweet soul, do with me as thou wilt;
I lull a fancy trouble-tost
With “Love’s too precious to be lost,
A little grain shall not be spilt.”

And in that solace can I sing,
Till out of painful phases wrought
There flutters up a happy thought,
Self-balanced on a lightsome wing:

Since we deserved the name of friends,
And thine effect so lives in me,
A part of mine may live in thee
And move thee on to noble ends.

So many worlds, so much to do,
So little done, such things to be,
How know I what had need of thee,
For thou wert strong as thou wert true?

The fame is quench’d that I foresaw,
The head hath miss’d an earthly wreath:
I curse not nature, no, nor death;
For nothing is that errs from law.

Tim supervised rigging for microwave tower structures

We pass; the path that each man trod
Is dim, or will be dim, with weeds:
What fame is left for human deeds
In endless age? It rests with God.

O hollow wraith of dying fame,
Fade wholly, while the soul exults,
And self-infolds the large results
Of force that would have forged a name.

This truth came borne with bier and pall
I felt it, when I sorrow’d most,
‘Tis better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all —

O true in word, and tried in deed,
Demanding, so to bring relief
To this which is our common grief,
What kind of life is that I lead;
And whether trust in things above
Be dimm’d of sorrow, or sustain’d;

And whether love for him have drain’d
My capabilities of love;
The great Intelligences fair
That range above our mortal state,
In circle round the blessed gate,
Received and gave him welcome there;

And led him thro’ the blissful climes,
And show’d him in the fountain fresh
All knowledge that the sons of flesh
Shall gather in the cycled times.

But I remain’d, whose hopes were dim,
Whose life, whose thoughts were little worth,
To wander on a darken’d earth,
Where all things round me breathed of him. ‘

O friendship, equal-poised control,
O heart, with kindliest motion warm,
O sacred essence, other form,
O solemn ghost, O crowned soul!

Yet none could better know than I,
How much of act at human hands
The sense of human will demands
By which we dare to live or die.

And so my passion hath not swerved
To works of weakness, but I find
An image comforting the mind,
And in my grief a strength reserved.

Now looking to some settled end,
That these things pass, and I shall prove
A meeting somewhere, love with love,
I crave your pardon, O my friend;
‘Tis held that sorrow makes us wise;

Yet how much wisdom sleeps with thee
Which not alone had guided me,
But served the seasons that may rise;

For can I doubt, who knew thee keen
In intellect, with force and skill
To strive, to fashion, to fulfil —

With thousand shocks that come and go,
With agonies, with energies,
With overthrowings, and with cries
And undulations to and fro.

O days and hours, your work is this
To hold me from my proper place,
A little while from his embrace,
For fuller gain of after bliss:

That out of distance might ensue
Desire of nearness doubly sweet;
And unto meeting when we meet,
Delight a hundredfold accrue,
For every grain of sand that runs,
And every span of shade that steals,
And every kiss of toothed wheels,
And all the courses of the suns.

But in my spirit will I dwell,
And dream my dream, and hold it true;
For tho’ my lips may breathe adieu,
I cannot think the thing farewell.

O living will that shalt endure
When all that seems shall suffer shock,
Rise in the spiritual rock,

Flow thro’ our deeds and make them pure,
That we may lift from out of dust
A voice as unto him that hears,
A cry above the conquer’d years
To one that with us works, and trust,
With faith that comes of self-control,

The truths that never can be proved
Until we close with all we loved,
And all we flow from, soul in soul.

Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:
Thou madest man, he knows not why,
He thinks he was not made to die;
And thou hast made him: thou art just.

Knockin On Heavens Door – Gun’s N’ Roses

Whereof the man, that with me trod
This planet, was a noble type
Appearing ere the times were ripe,
That friend of mine who lives in God,
That God, which ever lives and loves,

One God, one law, one element,
And one far-off divine event,
To which the whole creation moves.

 

Fast and Furious Actor Dies in Car Crash

‘Fast and Furious’ actor Paul Walker dies in car crash.

Paul Walker IV, known for his starring role in The Fast and the Furious beginning in 2001, helped launch a franchise that has begun shooting its 7th production in the film series. Paul Walker started as a youth actor. He became well-known in the Fast & Furious franchise as Detective Brian O’Connor, an action driven crime drama genre involving street racing.

Click on this image to go to Facebook page

On Friday, a message went out that he died, later dispelled as a hoax. Unfortunately on Saturday afternoon while at a charity event for his organization, Reach Out Worldwide in Santa Clarita, California, Paul Walker lost his life in a crash riding as a passenger in a friend’s car. Both he and his friend lost their lives. Mr. Walker was 40 years old and is survived by a 15-year-old daughter.

Further information can be found on his Facebook page. Above video displays location of car crash.

As a continuing show of support, follow this link to ROWW to aid the victims in the Philippines. Their nation was hit by a mammoth Typhoon. In addition to this catastrophe, Illinois was ravaged recently by a series of tornadoes destroying several towns in the path. These disasters, and others like it are all receiving assistance in recovery by Reach Out World Wide.

This is posted a week after the accident, however I think it’s worthwhile to hear from his father.

Related articles

Paul Walker passenger in car crash

• Paul Walker of ‘Fast & Furious’ fame dies in car crash (BBC News)
• Star of Fast and Furious movies dies at 40 in car crash (theglobeandmail.com)
• Paul Walker dies in fiery Valencia car crash (LA Times)
• Paul Walker- Hoax happened one day before actor’s actual death (The Examiner)
• Haunting lines spoken by Paul Walker and co-star in Fast & Furious (DailyMail)

 

Top Twenty Movies of All Time (the envelope please)

We posted a scary Halloween movie list and a request that had as many active replies as thank you cards to Bernie Madoff. Not one to rest on our laurels, if only we knew what laurels looked like, we will post this as another trial balloon.

Name your top 20 movies. Movies that over time have become your favorites.  If you say National Velvet, Bambi or Old Yeller, I’m going to mail a dehydrated gorilla to your residence. Once you break open the package, a vial of water is opened and will spill all over the dried gorilla and he will emerge from the package and stomp you into tiny bits. Got that?

Where were you on the night of the 14th?

There will be no cheating on this one because I’m not going to include my favorites until way off in some far distant future… Maybe in a week or two but meanwhile, it’s up to you. How about it people? Click on the Reply Button below and type your top 20 or at least 10.

Chris, you of all people should be able to name at least 10…. If not… Wir haben Wege für den Umgang mit solchen Dingen. Ah huh! Now I have your attention.

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NAME YOUR TOP 20 FANTASTIC ✧ FABULOUS ✧ FUNNY ✧ DRAMATIC ✧ SPINE TINGLING ✧ HEART WARMING ✧ GLORIOUS MOVIES OF ALL TIME.
(or at least for now)

 

JFK Assassination: New films

JFK assassination: Parkland is a new film that tells a story mostly on the reactions of those caught up in those moments. A film to be released in early October 2013.  The title of the film comes from the name of the hospital where Kennedy was taken after the shooting. This film describes the story from the observer’s perspective; those people caught up in the events of the day. After all the books and films we’ve had on this assassination, the creators and producers found a different angle to tell this story on-screen.

JFK Motorcade Dallas TX Nov. 22, 1963

Peter Landesman, a former journalist, said he wanted to show what happened to the doctors, nurses, secret service agents, police and everyday people like Zapruder who were there on November 22, 1963 for an event that changed their lives forever. Conspiracy theories, which have been rampant since the assassination, do not figure in “Parkland“, Landesman said. “For 50 years…the conspiracy speculation mythology has occupied a lot of emotion and intellectual real estate. That’s there, that conversation is being had and always being had, it will never end. Our focus was really on the emotions, truths and survival.”

This is a topic of great sensitivity to someone who lived and remembers the event in vivid detail. Almost anyone that lived during that time and old enough to be aware, knows where they were and what they were doing. It is an indelible moment in our collective personal history. It was shocking for everyone even if you weren’t in Dallas near the motorcade. Things ground to a halt for most of us as we listened or watched the news just after the first announcement that Kennedy had been shot. The immediate reaction by most is this wouldn’t end up the way it did. Many of us didn’t want to believe it even after his death was announced.

Oswald shot by Jack Ruby Nov. 24, 1963

The next 48 hours after the JFK assassination were almost as eventful and were observed as if it were a continuation of a macabre play.

Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard recently published a book “Killing Kennedy” which has spawned a movie to be televised by National Geographic, scheduled to air on Nov 10th, the 50th anniversary of the assassination. Killing Kennedy will be released globally in 171 countries, in 48 languages. It stars Rob Lowe as John F. Kennedy and Ginnifer Goodwin as Jacqueline Kennedy.

How well these films are received are yet to be determined. Years later many of us ‘want all the facts’ surrounding this assassination of Kennedy and Oswald and think the real questions as to motive and killer(s) haven’t been adequately answered.

Related articles

• Venice: ‘Parkland’ Helmer Peter Landesman On Conspiracy-Free JFK Assassination Pic (deadline.com)
• JFK Assassination Movie ‘Parkland’ to be released Oct. 4 (Variety)
• A conversation with ‘Killing Kennedy’ star Jack Noseworthy
• Top 5 JFK files Brennan should make public
• President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection

 

Someone Bring the Shades?

Sons of Anarchy cast  – click to watch video

There are science fiction fans and there are those who are fans of a particular book, TV show or movie. I became interested in Sci-fi once I started reading Isaac Asimov, later Arthur C. Clarke. They both did their homework before putting pen to paper. As much as I loved their work, whenever a storyline is developed around motorcycles, I’m interested. Sci-fi takes a back seat to bikes and those that live within the culture.

Sons of Anarchy, written by Kurt Sutter, is about an outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, California. A fictional town in Central Valley. The show involves the wheeling and dealing of a 1% club that survives by close-knit camaraderie while doing just about anything it wants illegally. For awhile, the club managed to keep a good public relations profile within the host community. Their principal message was, we keep rampant criminality and street drugs out. Along with that they enhanced their public image by doing under the table deals with the local town police. Things often don’t go as planned when rival motorcycle clubs, drug gangs, gun runners and various law enforcement become involved.

Sons of Anarchy original cast – click for G+ meet

The one thing that keeps me watching the TV show is the feel of authenticity. Sutter seems to understand the inner workings of an MC to a degree which doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination. It’s there in front of you to either follow or walk away from. There are many fine actors in roles which are written that allow them to portray a depth and feel which many in the industry couldn’t bring to the table.

The central protagonist, Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam), starts out as club vice president. Early on he discovers a diary written by his deceased father, one of the founding members and President of the original club. He begins questioning his own choices and his own life in the club just as his father had before him. None of the choices he has to make are easy. Loyalty to the club and it’s members are paramount but as new people enter his life as well as others, things get complicated. He becomes a family man and begins to consider those implications against the back drop of an outlaw life.

In addition to the role of Jax we have his step-father Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) as club president and his mother, Gemma Teller Morrow (Katey Sagal), who we fondly remember as a completely different mother in the long running comedy, Married… with Children. There’s screen interaction along with all of the other club members is a story filled with the intrigue similar to Hamlet with a bit of Macbeth. Clearly the resemblance may be there but those unacquainted with Shakespeare won’t miss anything by not knowing those early 17th century scripts.

Charlie Hunnam has become an actor with a far-reaching arc beyond the SOA. He has been announced to have the lead role in a movie based on the book Fifty Shades of Grey. One in a trilogy, the future box office success will determine whether more will be made either with or without Mr. Hunnam. Having seen him in the SOA as well as in the lead of a recent Sci-fi movie, Pacific Rim, I’m quite sure his acting career will be anything but grey.

One thing is certain for me, I’m a fan of Kurt Sutter’s writing. It’s not for the faint of heart or those which find comfort in shallow simple plots.

Related articles

• Charlie Hunnam gets called ‘fifty shades of fantastic’ by co-star (Photos) (examiner.com)
• ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Rolls Out ‘Anarchy Afterward’ Web Show (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)
• Katey Sagal’s revved for final ‘Sons of Anarchy’ ride (nydailynews.com)
• FX’s Sons of Anarchy To Launch “Anarchy Afterword” Web Show (scifiandtvtalk.typepad.com)