Promises to Keep

So the Robin Williams' movie "Hook" is one of my favorites.  If you've read the original Peter Pan by Sir James Barrie, it's actually a really good sequel.  It stays true to the old tale.

One of the things that Peter says is that his word is his  I can remember learning the hard way that a promise is something you keep, and that breaking a promise is a terrible thing to do.

In Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, a promise made by a wizard is something that they can make be true by acting on it before they even make it.  Jennifer and I have enhanced promises by calling them "wizard's promises".  They are guaranteed in our minds.

I have a few other promises out there:

When we became roommates, John and I promised never to pull pranks on each other.  We also vowed never to talk politics in order to maintain our friendship.

To a girlfriend in college, I promised that if I ever got to Paris, I would contemplate Notre Dame and write a poem.

The hardest promise I have to keep is one to another girlfriend.  When I was told that my feelings were too much for her, I said I wouldn't contact her unless she contacted me first.

I hold to that that promise like I do all of the ones I have given.  All of them are important and I intend to keep my word no matter how difficult doing that may become.

Wizard's promise...

The Pain of Chapter 2

I won't expound on the title beyond saying that if you have not yet read Terry Pratchett's The Shepherd's Crown, then make sure someone you love is in the room with you when you do.

I started reading this book this morning.  It's been difficult emotionally.  I read some more this evening, and it hasn't gotten much easier.

While I was laying in bed trying to sleep and the tears kept coming, a thought came to me that while many famous people, important people in my fandom, have died that it all means something more to me.

Robin Williams taking his own life was a life ending much too soon.  It was depriving me (and us) of someone who has been entertaining me since "Mork & Mindy".  He had made me laugh through multiple comedy albums and movies.  And now, he's gone.

Leonard Nimoy died, and while it hurt and I thought it was sad, I thought more of the people close to him who were hurting the most: his family and, of course, William Shatner, who had lost a very close friend.

And then Terry Pratchett died and I was without my favorite author.  He was an writer whose books I have been reading for almost 30 years.  He was sick at the end, fighting a disease with no cure.  And now I'm reading possibly the last work of his that the world will ever see.

And what else has happened in this last year?  

Friends have gotten divorces.  Other friendships that were so amazing and fulfilling have been cut off.

And then there's the big news that most of you already know.  A little less than a year ago, my mom was been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  She's beaten the odds so far and looks to break through the one year mark when she had been given only six months.  But we're still afraid, and we're still sad.

And so I come to this book, and this chapter, and I am devastated.  Because of all that has come before, and all that lays before me, and all that is happening now.

Tribute Reading

When Robin Williams died, I listened to his old works.  It felt good to hear his voice again, and chuckle, laugh, and giggle at all the bits that marked me as a kid.

Last week, I decided it was time to re-read Terry Pratchett.  I'm going to save the Discworld for last.  I'm going to read his other work first starting with the best collaboration I've ever read: Good Omens.

Neil hasn't been able to write anything about his friend of thirty years, but apparently he had an appearance last week that turned into a remembrance of Sir Terry.



And there's been an article out about Neil's daughter Rhianna as well.

Adn then there's this from the Daily Telegraph:

Farewell, Grand Jester

Last night while Jennifer was doing some work, I read that Robin Williams had died.

We were fortunate enough to get to see him live three times at Bimbo's, but he affected us so much more than that.

I'm not a fan of Garp or the Nights at the Museum, but "Hook" is one of my favorite movies.  And I watched "Mork & Mindy" regularly when I was growing up.

But what I will remember the most about Robin Williams are his stand-up albums.  I got a cassette copy of an album from a friend in high school, and then another from friends at church.  I know now that one of those would have been "Reality, What a Concept" and the other was "An Evening with Robin Williams" (that's the video, the album was "Throbbing Python of Love").  These became much like the early works of Bill Cosby: only a few people my age knew about them before the big album came out.  Everyone knew about "Bill Cosby: Himself" and everyone knew about "A Night at the Met".  And then there was a drought of stand-up albums aside from Comic Relief.

The times I saw him live, he was "Working on Material..." were in preparation for "Live on Broadway" and "Weapons of Self Destruction".

Jennifer and I thoroughly enjoyed "The Crazy Ones", his latest TV show, and could see the joy his cast had working with him.  I have to wonder if the cancellation of the show contributed to his depression.

Memories of him will always bring me back to some of the more joyful parts of my life as I laughed alone, with my friends, and with my wife at the antics, wizardry, and occasional genius of Robin Williams.

I will certainly feel the loss.

I wish I could go tomorrow night too...

Last night, Jennifer and I got to see Robin Williams at Bimbo's in San Francisco. I actually got to sit in the same seat that I sat in the last time I saw him. They kept the venue cooler this time; Robin's entire shirt didn't change color with sweat, and it wasn't dripping off of him during the show.

You could tell it was new material since he kept switching accents without logic. Okay, even less logic than normal, but I was thoroughly entertained. He started off by catching someone attempting to video his performance, and going off on them. Something we all appreciated.

Then he got into the swing of things, and took off. He hit on the Chinese, the Olympic Torch, the Japanese, the Canadians, the English, India, the Devil, and various politicians in America. And went on for an hour and a half. Then he came back out and did a little true improv. He had attacked the woman sitting next to me who looked thoroughly bored, and asked her for her name. She said, "Jenny Sue," and he almost lost it laughing. He immediately backed off, saying that it was bad enough that she had two names. He also got on people who had brought their own food. Then he found a lawyer:

Robin: So you're a lawyer? What company do you work for?

Lawyer: For a law firm in the city.

Robin: Oh really? Let me guess, you work in a building, right?

Jennifer and I had a great time, and it helped us get our minds off of today... And getting our taxes done.

I came home halfway through the day, and buckled down to get them done. It's just intimidating, and I couldn't bring myself to sit down and work on them before now. We did get them done, and got them to the post office around 7:30. And this is much better than a couple years ago when it was actually closing in on midnight when we dropped them off.

The bummer was that this year there were no Libertarians outside the post office. That time were were so late taking them in, there was a group handing out lollipops and asking, "So, do you feel like a sucker today?"

But tomorrow things will return to relative normal, and we can all feel like we're working for ourselves, and not Sam the Oiloholic.

Laugh, Clown, Laugh

Today at 2 minutes after noon, I bought a ticket for my wife and I to see Robin Williams "Working on Material" this Monday at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco.

They were sold out by 5 minutes after noon.

It's the primary reason I'm on their e-mail list for upcoming events. It's about the only way I would ever hear about it. We saw him live for the first time in mid-2002. He did some phone interviews on KLLC and KFOG, and we made the plan to go get in line that Saturday when they went on sale. It was his first time doing it, and Bimbo's was not prepared for the demand. Or the scalpers.

Now you can only buy tickets on Ticketweb, and are lmited to two tickets per credit card and the person usign the card has to pick up the tickets at the box office the day of the show.

That Saturday morning, the line went all the way across the front of the club, and around the corner, up the hill. I think the limit then was 8 tickets per person. He was doing a show that Saturday night and a show Sunday. We had just gotten around the corner to the front when they announced the two shows were sold out. The collective groans and sighs traveled down the line, and then they told us they were asking Robin if he would consider doing more shows. The guy acted like he was on the phone to Robin (probably only his agent), and then there was loud begging and pleading for more shows.

Jennifer and I were starving, but we didn't want to leave the line. Then they announced two additional shows, and a four ticket per person limit. By the time we got to ticket office, the second Saturday show had sold out, but we managed to get two tickets for the 10:30 PM show Sunday night.

We made the plan to be there as soon as we were allowed to line up, and so Sunday afternoon we were back in line outside. We chatted with people who were going to see the 8:00 show, and one guy who had seen both shows Saturday, was in line for the 8 and was hoping to get back out and in line with someone he knew to see the 10:30. After finally seeing Robin, I don't think my face could have handled laughing that much in 36 hours.

What we saw was his work in progress for the 2002 tour which he recorded on Broadway.

We have seen him two more times at Bimbo's and each time has been amazing. I am extremely excited about Monday night. Jennifer and I will be waiting in line early (the door's open at 6:30), and hopefully we will get a front row table again.

This, more than skiing or surfing, is what makes California, and more specifically the San Francisco Bay Area, great. The chance to see someone as funny and entertaining as Robin Williams up so close that you can see the sweat on his face.