The Conical Glass: A post from the plane

Monday, September 22, 2008

A post from the plane

I am blogging from the plane, about halfway between Albuquerque and Oakland. It's turbulent and the pilot came on the PA and asked the flight attendants to please take their seats. I know this isn't supposed to bother me anymore, but I must admit that it kind of does. I might need to be re-hypnotized before I fly again (probably in January, to visit my parents in Florida). Or maybe I'll just take the whole month of January off, pack up Bibi, and go on a road trip to Florida! Woo hoo -- road trip! Put a little Skynyrd on the car stereo and drive through the South! (OK, technically Bibi wouldn't be allowed to stay in my parents' condo, but she's small and could be easily concealed, right?)

As everyone knows, Southwest flights are kind of like Greyhound buses of the sky -- they fly from city to city, dropping and picking up passengers en route. This plane is going to Portland and Spokane after it stops in Oakland, and I think it was in Kansas City before it came to Albuquerque. There are certain routes where you seem more likely to encounter "rough air" and the ones where you fly over mountains -- Denver also comes to mind -- definitely seem more turbulent. I always wonder how airline staff deal with it? In his Ask the Pilot book and column, Patrick Smith wrote that pilots don't worry about turbulence, except for the fact that it tends to make passengers uncomfortable and therefore they try to avoid it if at all possible. They want us to be happy and enjoy a nice smooth flight, without our drinks spilling onto our trays. It doesn't bother them at all! Not one bit! It's just like when I'm driving my car over a rough road -- that's all. No danger. Anyway, once you read this, you'll know everything is fine, because I'm in my house and all is right with the world.

I am pretty sure that the reason I am bothered by turbulence is because it is like a constant reminder that I am on a plane. If it's smooth, I can just immerse myself in a book or podcast or crossword -- just like I do on the ground! But when the plane is shaking, you can't help but be aware of the fact that you're over 30,000 feet up in the air.

At the gate for my flight to Oakland, I ran into the Bay Area's own "Czar of Noir" Eddie Muller and his wife Kathleen Milne. They live a few blocks away from me. I wasn't surprised to see them, as I'd spotted an ad in a local alt weekly for the Santa Fe Noir Festival, and it said Eddie would be there presenting the wonderful short film that he directed, "The Grand Inquisitor." (They, on the other hand, looked surprised to see me!) I've blogged in the past about San Francisco's annual Noir City festival, which is the biggest in the nation. Eddie told me that if they're lucky, they usually get about 100 people at the Santa Fe screenings, and for one of their shows they only had about 8 paid attendees. (Of course, their struggles brought to mind ¡Globalquerque!) Maybe people in New Mexico aren't interested in spending hot, sunny fall days sitting in the dark watching old B&W films? Anyway, if I'd had time, I would have certainly popped up to Santa Fe (about an hour north of Albuquerque) to check it out.

Instead, I went to the Guild Cinema to see "Man on Wire," which I'd just attempted to see in Berkeley -- Joe and I went to the Shattuck Theater on Wednesday night, after double-checking the Landmark web site to make sure of the time, and there was a sign up in the box office saying the screening was canceled because of a special sneak preview of "Choke." Isn't there someone at Landmark who can make sure their web site is updated? Phooey. Anyway, the Guild is a nice little single screen art house and it was fun to have the opportunity to see something there. "Man on Wire" certainly tells a remarkable story and Philippe Petit, who managed to string and walk across a high wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center back in the mid-70s, is an incredible character. One of the main reasons I wanted to see the film is because I wanted to know how he got the wire up in the first place. Answer: a lot of luck, advance preparation, and willing accomplices. To learn the details, you'll have to see the film. I suspect part of the reason for the movie's popularity is its look back at a more innocent time, when people snuck into the World Trade Center laden with equipment for the sake of an innocent prank instead of something far more sinister.

Last night, I finally had the opportunity to attend one of Jeff and Neal's famous house concerts, which helped launch Neal's career as a promoter. They hosted 100 of them before calling it quits, but Jeff decided to make it 101 when he had the opportunity to welcome the magical Wendy Rule, a veteran house concert performer, back. She is an Australian singer-songwriter who has one of the most beautiful voices you'll ever hear. She mentioned that this was her 40th trip to the U.S.! Now there's someone who doesn't mind flying. Of course, Wendy is a Wiccan so maybe she knows how cast a spell to ensure a particularly pleasant journey. She certainly enchanted the audience of about 40 people in Jeff's living room. I took a photo afterward, and Jeff made some comment about it ending up on my blog. I certainly don't want to disappoint, so here you go!

posted by 125records @ 6:49 PM

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