Think I'll Nitpick a TV Show Episode

In the recent past I watched a rerun of Bewitched on TV Land. Bewitched has always been a perennial favorite of mine, and like many other shows, I don't mind seeing the same episode more than a couple of times.

Now I feel like I want to nitpick this episode just for the fun of it (it is Episode #7 of the first season). In one particular scene, Samantha is with three of her aunts: Bertha, Mary, and Clara (witches all, of course, played by Reta Shaw, Madge Blake, and Marion Lorne) having tea at Samantha's house. Aunt Clara is the witch who has difficulty with her powers because of her advancing years thrown in with a bit of neglect. Bertha decides she'd like a cup of tea, so she levitates the cup of tea from the table over to her by reciting the incantation: "Zolda, pranken, kopek, lum!" Mary does likewise, reciting the same incantation word for word. Then comes Aunt Clara's turn. She, of course, fumbles through the words and doesn't get them exactly right. Her cup levitates about half-way towards her, shakes and rattles a bit in mid-levitation, then crashes to the floor into a thousand pieces.

Bertha, a bit embarrassed for Clara, says something like "Oh, Aunt Clara, really!" She waves her hand over the broken pieces and spilled liquid, and everything re-assembles into a perfectly whole cup of tea back in mid-air whereupon Bertha then has it float cautiously over to Clara (or something like that).

My nitpick is this: Why is it, if you want to levitate an object across the room, it requires an incantation of no fewer than four words (zolda, pranken, kopek, lum)? But if you want to re-integrate the broken pieces of an inaminate object, all that is required is a simple hand gesture. Let's compare: which task is more difficult? Levitation or re-integration? Granted, no mere mortal can do either, but if I had to assign levels of difficulty to both, I'd say that re-integration requires more skill and more work. And that said, a longer incantation.

This particular nitpick ought to extend to a much later color episode (having a different Darrin, of course) in which Maurice gives Darrin a magic pocketwatch enabling him to perform witchcraft in conjunction with speaking the words (you guessed it) zolda, pranken, kopek, lum. But I will forgive the writers for this continuity problem because of the large amount of time between episodes.

My latest musical composition

If you go here:

http://homepage.mac.com/ernesto1956/Palatino.mp3

You can hear my latest musical composition. This is an original orchestration and, in fact, an original piece. It is not just an arrangement; I wrote every single note.

For those who do not already know, in addition to being a fine artist, I also dabble in composing.

What is this piece of music, exactly?

My first novel, Palatino's Pets, was written in 1994. Ever since I wrote that novel, I've imagined what it would be like to have it developed into a motion picture. So imagine, if you will, that the book is now a film. And the film, of course, has music. This piece of music is the title theme of the film, containing melodies, themes, and motifs which I consider appropriate for such a sci-fi thriller type of movie.

So imagine you are in the movie theater. You've watched the coming attractions. The feature presentation has started. Still images and credits dissolve into each other on the screen as you hear the music begin. At some point the words Palatino's Pets appear, among others as you listen. The string section swells and pulsates rhythmically. The woodwinds and brass describe a melody. You are drawn within.

I actually composed all of this music within a single day, but spent probably six hours on it (for about two minutes' worth of music). It is still a work in progress, but it requires only some minor tweaking. Anyway, I just wanted to share it with you, and I hope you enjoy it.