Aug. 20, 2007 - 21:01 MDT

GUILTY

There are times that I have to admit to myself that I am hooked on something. This is one of those times. Heather and I have been watching reruns of Northern Exposure for quite some time on PBS. Takes me back to the time when I could still hear fairly well and I got to catch up on MASH, I had missed so many episodes while I was working.

Heather and I seemed to fit into the scene of Cicely, Alaska which in acutality was filmed in Roslyn, Washington. We seemed to be doubles of some of the characters in the picture. To my self I seemed to merge into Chris Stevens, the philosophical radio voice of Cicely. And of course fell in love with that feisty Maggie O�Connell the flying beauty, with a soft spot in my heart for Shelley, Holly's lady. There were times I felt kinship with Holly the owner of the Brick.

Heather and I came through Roslyn one summer while Northern Exposure was still being filmed there. Ruth Anne�s store and KBear were taped off �hot sets.� But it was for us like coming home, we seemed to know our way around and spending one afternoon and early evening there and sleeping in a motel at Cle Elum which is nearby and going back the next morning and spending the day nosing around we truly fell in love with that old mining town.

Now Northern Exposure episodes seemed to have died out for a time, but they are back on again � with a bonus for me. Tonight's episode was the one where Maggie�s Mom set Maggie�s cabin on fire (which showed some superb acting by Maggie) along with that Chris Stevens was on one of his philosophical highs and planning on �flinging a cow� and was busy building the apparatus to do so and had acquired a cow as well.

Chris much like myself was totally downcast when he found out that Monty Python had already �flung a cow,� which brought his artistic endeavor down in flames it seemed. While he was nursing a giant bottle of beer Maurice Minnifield gave him a super pep talk and ended up telling Chris to �fling something.�

The house fire was well done and exciting. Next day or so Chris, poking around the ashes of Maggies cabin in a glum mood, saw Maggies charred piano and asked her for it. She more or less said, �Be my guest.� Scene ended with Chris plunking �As Time Goes By� on the out of tune piano.

The super scene was when Chris in his showman�s operation had a crowd gathered round and gave a spiel finally unveiling Maggie�s Piano all hooked up to the sling. After making his usual show of flowery speech he gave Ed the signal, and Marilyn tugged the cord that released the piano to be flung. Ed put the machinery in high gear and the gigantic apparatus went into action, the piano on the end of a cable flying high in the air above the machinery and breaking loose high in the air. The trajectory was amazing and the filming astounding and the piano went to ground with a grand crash.

I sat with my ear next to the TV and was able to hear most of the audio and appreciate all the actions by everyone.

The Northern Exposure bunch were a wacky bunch, each one a distinct individual, I had lived by, and worked with people who were somewhat clonish of the cast. Humanity laid bare, more or less.

Criminy, I could even see myself in some of the cast and situations in �Soap� where Billy Crystal first showed up. And �All In The Family� with Carol O�Connor seemed to feature people like some I knew.

When it comes to stuff like that, when asked how do I plead to the charges of addiction, my answer of course is GUILTY . . . . . . . . . .

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