DOWNTON MADNESS.

Against all my better instincts, I drove up to Avery to pick up my friend Paul for lunch since we missed an earlier Christmas lunch date because of the snow. He told me it was clear. On the high sunny ridge where he lives, it was. But, getting there on the uphill curves with shaded areas and heavy ice and snow, made me nervous.  But all turned out well and I brought him back safely. He ordered ribs at Alchemy, and if you like them, everyone says they are delicious.


Since it was Sunday, and I suffer from Downton Madness, I wore my Downton Abbey shirt.  Two people took notice enough to mention it.

I tell everyone,  "Don't Call Me" during Downton Abbey.  Is that madness?
Ordinarily, not much of a television watcher,  I've become addicted to the most popular program on PBS in their history, so I'm not alone. I bought a set of the disks for my sister and got her addicted.


And she bought me the T-shirt with a picture of the three sisters on the back.


And, I'm A Mary, on the front.

Virginia and Cedric don't own a television set, but I got Virginia addicted as well. My daughter Kristanne owns a television set, but no programming. They use Redbox if they want to watch a movie. She said, "No, I don't want to become addicted. I have enough to take care of with a blind dog, and my  own pack and an active kid."  Where did I go wrong?

The last season is #7 and will start in January. They've decided to end the series and not let it run on and on for years like a soap opera. I'll be glued to the set for the first time in my life where everything stops for a television program.  Oh, it is madness.

FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME

In the 1950′s, Andy Warhol made the prediction: “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.”  It is one of his better known and oft used quotes and resonated with the public.  I think everyone feels they deserve “their 15 minutes of fame”, or attention or fun in the sun at some point in their lives.  Real fame is a double-edged sword anyway, as famous people will tell you. Better to have your fifteen minutes, which, in a round about way,  brings me to Jim and Ginnie Palumbo, friends from New Jersey,  I met through my partner, Jim. Last night they appeared on the Dr. Oz Show. I am not a television watcher but was alerted ahead of time and managed to catch a glimpse of them with Dr. Oz.

What Oz did was pass out test tube tasters of an unnamed “sports drink” and then asked audience members if it gave them the expected energetic lift. Ginnie agreed that it had, but also commented, “well it tasted a little like seltzer.” The power of suggestion, of course, is very powerful in a setting like this.

Oz hugged her and said, “I’m glad you said that because that is what you are drinking is seltzer.”  The whole point of that particular segment was to make people aware of what they are swigging, mega amounts of sugar and caffeine and  many marketing lies, just like he “lied” because  his seltzer was not really a sports drink.  Diabetes is epidemic in this country as is obesity. Sports drinks are major contributors.  So, if you are hooked on them, watch out. They give you a high and then drop you like a yo-yo. Dr. Oz claimed he decided to look into them when he noticed severe interruptions in his sleep patterns after trying sports drinks.

So Ginnie got part of her fifteen minutes on the National Dr. Oz show. Her husband Jim was across the aisle from her, but each time the camera picked him up, it zipped by so quickly, I couldn’t get in a shot with my camera.  But, I thought the show was fun. It was a delight to see someone I knew on the show and I  enjoyed the show to the end, learning not only about sports drinks, but vitamin b, winter’s affect on your skin, healthful anti-aging foods and foods that counter belly fat. Dr. Oz, about whom I know nothing, seems interested in  naturally healthful foods, using this one show as a predictor.   I enjoyed the show.
As for Warhol, He eventually got tired of that quote in the 70′s and then said, “I don’t use that line anymore. My new line is: “In fifteen minutes everybody will be famous.” He also said, “I’m so superficial.”  A telling line for someone who was quirky and famous for getting away with anything in the snobbish art world. His own quote, “Art is anything you can get away with.”

JAMESTOWN STEAMTRAIN

It tickles me how much the locals love their old locomotive steam train here in Jamestown, an old gold rush conclave four miles west of Sonora. Free to locals for opening weekend, we were entertained by a fiddler and regaled with wonderful gold fever stories told by a docent conductor. The huge nugget at Kautz winery was pulled from Jamestown, or Jimtown, as it is lovingly knicknamed. The train was loaded and the locals don't care that they have to stop at crossroads for the slow moving engine. They don't mind the two long, one short and one long blast of the screaming steam whistle as it warns its approach to the crossings and wakes up the whole town. The kids on board were delighted and recognized that this ride is something different, something special. Right out of the movies, in fact. Over 200 movies and/or television episodes were filmed here in part, using the train and environs. We decided to watch "The Unforgiven" , after spending the day in Jimtown and riding this special attraction. The working steam train and round house, are the only ones that exist west of the Mississippi River. Don't miss it.