Dejah Thoris is a name I have often used as a pseudonym, ever since I first read the 1912 novel, A Princess of Mars… the basis for the 2012 film, John Carter. It was in the 1970’s that I first discovered Barsoom (as the natives call Mars), and was swept away by the high adventure and romance of the world created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

I couldn’t get enough of it.  I read all of Burroughs 86 books and short stories several times.   The prolific author transported me to Venus, Mars, Pellucidar, Africa, even the Wild West, as he wove his epic tales, which have sold over 100 million books in 56 different languages.

What I would have given to be able to see these spectacular vistas, sumptuous architecture, and remarkable characters on the big screen.

We have certainly seen the films that were inspired by John Carter of Mars:  Superman, Flash Gordon, Star Wars, Dune, Avatar, etc. etc. etc., but how wonderful it would be to see the original, the first action hero, John Carter himself !!

Alas, Burroughs books are so complex that every effort to re-create them failed miserably.  Think Tarzan…

Oh, yes, everyone loves Tarzan, (89 Tarzan films were made between 1918 and 2008, not to mention television shows, etc.) but there is so much more to him than the movies portray….

The 1996 TV series, Tarzan the Epic Adventures came the closest to the real Tarzan, but still fell far short of the novels.

…. all in twenty-six novels, which take the multi-lingual aristocrat on journeys through worlds that exist only in our imagination.  And what an imagination Burroughs had !!

Disney’s John Carter is the film that seems to break the Burroughs movie curse.   21^st century technology was needed to bring his story, and Barsoom to us.  Of course, there is still too much going on in the books, therefore  there are some alterations, as is always the case with Hollywood.  However, this film captures the essence of A Princess of Mars, and we are taken on a magnificent thrill ride.

While the story closely follows the first book of Burrough’s Martian series, a few changes have been made to appeal to a modern audience.  I think it works that the Therns are more powerful, however, I am not crazy about an addition to John Carter’s back story which changes the dynamic of his love story with the “incomparable Dejah Thoris.”

While it is true that Hollywood  movies always change the books they film, Harry Potter proved that you actually can film exactly what is written in popular novels, and make a lot of money in the process.  But the wildly successful Harry Potter book/film series is the exception to the rule.

Modern audiences may think that this film is anachronistic, and unrealistic, but they must remember that it was written 100 years ago.  I mean, no one criticized War of the Worlds, which is completely implausable.

Besides, sword fighting is fun, as are air ships with oars, which use the 8^th Barsoomian ray to stay aloft.  And who is to say that there are not underground cities on Mars like Horz, where ancient civilizations, like the Orovars,  have been living since the seas dried up.

I also was wary about the choice of Taylor Kitsch for role of John Carter.  His looks are a bit boyish for my taste.  However, when he began to speak in that deep, manly voice, he won me over.  Kitsch really became Dotar Sojat, as the Tharks dubbed Carter.

A Princess of Mars had been in development longer than any movie in history.  Attempts to produce the film began in 1931.   It almost came to pass in the 1990’s, and at the time, I was hoping that someone like Adrian Paul (the Highlander) would have gotten the role, so closely did he fit my image of the Warlord of Mars.

However, as I said, Taylor Kitsch has won me over, and, with each viewing of John Carter (of Mars), I love the film more and more.  I really hope they make sequels.  I would so love to see the Kaldanes and Rykors !!

Plus, there was talk of making a Carson of Venus (Amtor) film.

And then there is my favorite Burroughs book, Beyond Thirty aka Lost Continent.  Written in 1915, the story deals with the Pan-American Federation’s refusal to get involved in World War I.  They set up a military patrol at the 30^th parallel, effectively cutting off all contact with the eastern hemisphere.

Over a century later, an accident causes one of the patrol ships to venture into European territory, where our hero discovers what has become of the Old World.

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ grandson, the late Danton Burroughs, gave me a copy of that book when I thought I had lost my original copy.  On a whim I visited the ERB offices in Tarzana, California (the town named after Burrough’s most famous character), and had the privilege of meeting Danton.

The office was full of books and memorabilia.  The writer’s grandson was a big fan, and was pleased to tell me stories of his grand-dad, and show me around the Burroughs estate.  It is sad that he did not live to see the triumph that is the film, John Carter.   However his daughters, Dejah and Llana Jane, named after characters in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books, were there at the Hollywood premiere of the film in 2012.

ERB’s great-granddaughters, Llana Jane Burroughs and Dejah Burroughs, along with Taylor Kitsch at the premiere of John Carter.

My dream of a film about Barsoom and the epic adventures of Dejah Thoris and John Carter has come true.   The film is not perfect, but it comes close, and I love it !!

The Moral of the Story is: if you don’t understand what the big deal is with the film, John Carter, then read the 11 books in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoomian series.

Then, go and see the film or get the DVD !

Though Disney politics shot down John Carter in the U.S.,  it was a solid # 1 at the Box Office Internationally where Burroughs’ books are very popular !!

P.S. Did you know that the reason we think Martians are Green is because of the Tharks !!

I love Eureka!!  I wish I could live there, but alas, it is only a TV show. In fact, it is my favorite TV show.  I like it better than Doctor Who, NCIS, Gilmore Girls, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.  (Ok, the 1957 Zorro TV series with Guy Williams is still too close to my heart to be topped, but you get the idea.)

“Eureka” (aka “A Town Called Eureka”) is what most would call a Sci-Fi show, but really, it is a Science show…. set in a town full of geniuses and scientists, most of whom work for a government funded research facility… Global Dynamics.  Even the school kids are geniuses, doing science fair projects dealing with particle theory and quantum physics.

That means there is plenty of adventure. Things always go wrong with someone’s project or experiment, and disaster looms.  It is usually Sheriff Carter, a regular guy, who saves the day, by either using logic, or by being the guy who has to risk his life to fix something.

Mostly, Eureka is about relationships… whether it involves romance, or family, or holidays, or lunch at Café Diem, the local diner.  That is what hooks you into this interesting town.  Plus, there is plenty of laugh-out-loud comedy.  After all, geniuses usually have personality quirks.

However, lest we get complaisant with the heartwarming aspects of this little town, hidden away in the Oregonian wilderness, it is the excitement and intrigue that takes center stage with each episode.

To that end, the show went through a transformation in its 4^th season, when 5 of the main characters accidentally traveled back in time, to 1947, when Eureka was just a military base.   Fortunately the reluctant travelers returned home, but the home they returned to was not quite the one they left.  While most of the town was essentially the same, some of the people had different jobs or had developed different relationships, adding yet another layer to this complex town.

The scientific aspect of the show, meanwhile, remained unchanged. For example, in one episode, we learned about the effects a Higgs field has on gravity, when a Higgs Field disruptor caused the local bank to float away, giving new meaning to the phrase, “bank robbery.”

The current story arc concerns a NASA grant for GD to build a space ship to go to Saturn’s moon, Titan.    We saw some scientists train for the Astraeus mission, and others develope technology to insure the mission’s success, while workers at GD constructed the vehicle.

We also saw AI, Deputy Andy stranded on Titan, far away from Sarah, the Smart Home that he loves.  When you can get emotionally involved in a storyline like that, you know that you are watching a quality program.

Naturally, the mission goes awry when an outside force diverts control of the spacecraft, sending it and the crew to…. who knows where???

So, we wait anxiously for the 5^th season, which, unfortunately will be the last.  In the meantime, however, we have been treated to a Christmas episode of Eureka, “Do You See What I See?”  While the story wasn’t as entertaining as last year’s “O Little Town”,

the concept for Do You See was, (ok, I’ll say it…) pure genius !!

The characters in the town become animated, going from live action, through 4 animated forms:

CGI,

Hanna-Barbera style,

Claymation,

and Anime,

with the characters acting as they would in those types of cartoons; as well as 4 other styles quickly thrown in for good measure (Peanuts, The Simpsons, South Park, and Scooby-Doo).

Plus there are a few guest stars, including the guy whom we met last year, who just may be the real Santa Claus.

Of course this all results from a combination of a child’s holo-game using the wrong kind of power source, and an effort to use a super proton generator to create artificial snow for Christmas.

Typical Eureka!!

The Moral of the Story is: Eureka is not Greek for ‘this bath is too hot.’

The Black Dirt Region, known as the Onion Capital of the World, still has it’s annual Onion Harvest Festival, but it is pretty much like all the other the festivals in the northeast.

In the past, it was so much more: A Woodstock-like outdoor celebration,  beginning with a float Parade; the crowning of a Queen and her court; a Mass; presentation of the wreath to the Lord and Lady of the Manor; Polka dancing; Polish cuisine; and more than 250 locals, young and old, dressed in home-made Polish costumes, performing traditional Polish folk songs and dances.

The Orange County Onion Harvest Festival began in 1939, and was held every two years or so, on a farm in Pine Island. It took all that time for the community to prepare. There was, however, a long gap between the 1964 festival (attended by over 30,000 people),  and the next one in 1983, when the tradition began again… and was bigger and better than ever! I was originally planning to dance in that festival, but ended up doing a news report on it instead:

1989 marked the 50th anniversary of the Onion Harvest Festival.

1999 was the Onion Harvest Festival’s 60th anniversary, and featured some dancers from an actual Polish folk dance ensemble mixed in with the locals.

The Moral of the Story is that, while these days, the festival lasts just one day,  it is still great fun, as are all the Dożynki Festivals!!  After all, they feature:  performances by Polish Folk Dance troupes, mixed in with polka dancing and great Polish cuisine!!

Traveling with some of my best friends, people I met in Cambodia eight years earlier, I marveled at the way people can bond so easily.  The love of travel, of learning, of history, of beauty, and a sense of adventure is something that we have in common, but our friendship goes beyond that.

It was not luck that brought us together, but fate, and now we were embarking on another adventure in Greece and its islands.

The people here are the most beautiful I have ever seen.  Each woman a goddess, each man an Adonis !!

One of the many things I learned on this trip was that the Greek alphabet is the same, Cyrillic alphabet used by the Russians.  That is because of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and the Eastern Orthodox religion.

It was in Greece that I finally got to try the mythical drink, Absinthe !! Unfortunately I was unaware at the time that it should be poured over sugar and mixed with water. We drank it straight !!!  Or, rather we had a few sips.  It was quite strong.  Not sure how many brain cells died that day.

There I was, sitting in the shadow of the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill, gazing out over the Wisła River, and eating pierogi.  It just doesn’t get any better than this!!!

I was in Kraków for the city’s 750th anniversary celebration, and, as always, PAT Tours booked for me a hotel at this wonderful location.  A nice walk to the Rynek put me in the center of the celebration.

Most of this trip, however, was spent around Warsaw, visiting friends, including former dancers from the Mazowsze Polish Folk Song and Dance Ensemble.  I also was privileged to travel with Mazowsze to see two of their performances outside of Warsaw.  As always, their concerts touched my heart.

See also: Poland 1, Poland 2, Poland 3, Poland 4, Poland 5.

A Roman Catholic country with an Arabic sounding language,  Malta’s charm is its beautiful people, its magnificent architecture, and its sandy beaches.

What luck, then, that I had met a wonderful Maltese couple on a previous trip to Poland. They generously took time off from their jobs in order to proudly show us the wonders of their idyllic homeland.

As we watched the glass-blower create intricate patterns, we wondered, where in the world is Yvette?  After all, it was Yvette’s idea to come to the Island of Morano.  Sure enough, after visiting every shop on the island in search of the glass jewelry Yvette so desperately wanted, she was the only one who did not buy anything (other than gelato, of course.)

And now, having missed our boat back to Venice, we boarded the “local”, which got us back just in time for the darkened skies to unleash a torrent of cold rain.  Dressed for a hot, sunny day, the three of us crowded under one umbrella, and made yet another error in judgment.  We allowed Yvette to guide us through the maze that was Venice.

We should have known right from the beginning of the trip, when we discovered a TV remote tucked safely away in Yvette’s handbag.

On the other hand, we did do a lot of things right.  We visited the Ufizzi Gallery and the Academia in Florence, half hour before closing times.  This way we did not have to spend hours in line to see Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, and Michelangelo’s David.  Also, at the Vatican, first visiting the tomb of  Pope St. John Paul the Great, got us into St. Peter’s Basilica quicker.

The smartest thing, however, riding trains between cities.  Much more civilized than air travel.  If I lived in Europe, I would never fly.  Too bad the railway system in the U.S.A. is not very efficient.

See also: Italy 1

Turns out the “ties” were half-sized railroad ties that you had to navigate in order to cross deep chasms or creeks.  They were usually slippery wet, and there were no barriers or anything to hold on to!!! Yikes!!!  After being assisted by my fellow hikers across a couple of these so called “bridges”, I realized that I could not turn back.  I had to stay with the group, so I proceeded.

One of our stops later in the day was at a local market, where I discovered that they sold Absinthe !!!  I have always been fascinated by this drink, but alas, I was not going to get the chance to try it because we were about to cross the border into Poland, where Absinthe was illegal.   That experience would have to wait for another time.

Having identified the restaurant with the best pierogi, and having located a booth with incredible placki (potato pancakes), I was still being challenged in the search for my favorite ice cream, Advocaat likier jajeczny.  That’s because all the ice cream stands changed their selection every day.

Of course, the real reason I was spending 11 days in Zakopane was the International Highland Music Festival.  There were musicians and dancers from Mongolia and Montenegro, Slovakia, and Switzerland, and everywhere else you can imagine, but I was mostly interested in the performers from the Polish highlands. I love to hear them sing in “white voice”, playing their fiddles and cellos, and I love listening to them speak in the dialect of the Górale subculture.

See also: Poland 1, Poland 2, Poland 3, Poland 4, Poland 6.

The area around Amarna had been off limits to tourists for years, due to problems at El Minya, but now we were headed there.  Even though the four of us were traveling on our own, not part of a tour, we still had a police escort, which changed as we entered new territories.  But when we neared Assyut, we were shocked to see our escort was a Tank !!!  Yikes !!!

Of course we were assured that the only reason for the tank was because that was all that was available. And so, after escorting us to our hotel, they allowed us to climb inside and check it out.  Not your usual tourist fare.

This trip, too, was not on the usual tourist path.  From Port Said, through Bubastis and Tanis, to Meidum (where we saw Senefru’s collapsed pyramid) and Fayoum, out into the desert, then  down to Abydos, and finally to Luxor for shopping and Amelia Peabody’s favorite walk over the hill from the Valley of the Kings to Queen Hapshetsut’s temple.

See also: Egypt 1, Egypt 2, & Egypt 3.

There I was, on top of the world !!  Well, it wasn’t exactly Mt. Everest, but I was at 17,121 feet (5,220 meters) atop the “Ocean Pass” high in the Himalayas.

You had to be part of a tour group in order to get into Tibet, so the 3 of us joined a small group of 7 international travelers, and we were off.

Beginning in Lhasa, the site of the Potala palace, we traveled upward every day, visiting monasteries, and farms, until only the nomads and their yaks could be found.

Only 16 of the original 6,000 Buddhist monasteries in Tibet remain, but some 2,000 have since been rebuilt.  The Tibetan form of Buddhism incorporates many of the older local religions, and, thus there are many deities and demons, buddahs, and bhodisatvas.  However the basic Buddhist tenants still apply: “If you have compassion and wisdom, anything is possible.”  And I was happy it was possible to be there.

One of the interesting sites were the cow patties which decorated the exterior of homes.  In winter they provided insulation, and were later burned as fuel.

Though I always learn the language of the countries I visit, occasionally, as with Tibetan, my vocabulary was limited.  I tried, however, not to fall back too much on Mandarin, by making sure that I remembered the important words, like ‘chicken’, and ‘ice cream’.

Our stay in this Himalayan kingdom was brief.  Unrest was brewing.  But we had a few days for sight-seeing and shopping in this impoverished country.

No beggars or children looking for hand-outs, either.  The only request I received was from two school girls attending a Bhuddhist festival. They wanted my address so that they could write to me.  We have kept up that correspondence ever since, as those little girls have grown into beautiful, capable young ladies.

Also, see my blog: Listen to the Mockingbird, for information on the Black Neck Crane of the Phobjikha Valley.

Tashi Delek !!

I returned to my room in the tower of Krasiczyn Castle following a performance of the Magnificent Mazowsze at the giant sports arena in Rzeszów.   Filled to capacity, including the floor of the arena, the audience began cheering wildly as soon as the orchestra walked out.  It was like being at a rock concert or sporting event, for among the attendees were performers from 30 dance groups from around the world, and they all idolized the Mazowsze Polish Folk Song and Dance Ensemble.

They were there for a week-long festival where dance troupes from  countries like: France, Australia, USA, Belgium, England, Switzerland,  Brazil, etc. performed Polish folk dances.

A few days earlier I had been at Karolin, Mazowsze’s headquarters, watching them rehearse.  Choreographer, Witold Zapała directing the dancers, Conductor Jan Grabia directing the orchestra,  and Soloist Stanisław Jopek singing to me !!!  Well, I was the audience there in the old rehearsal hall.  Joining me later was an opera singer, who was also a fan.

This was a multi-cultural musical trip for me.  Among the festivals I attended was an Old Music Festival in Kraków, where I got to see the Hungarian Gypsy Band, Szászcsávás Band
from Transylvania.  Then there was the Tydzień Kultury Beskidziej in Wisła, which featured not only song and dance troupes from the Silesian Mountain regions of Poland, but ensembles from all over the world, including Turkey, Belarus, Croatia, and Italy.

As an added bonus, there was the Mazowszacy z Karolinie, entertaining tourists at hotel in Warsaw.  Made up of members of Mazowsze, they encouraged a few of us to get up and perform with them, and then they delighted the Japanese tourists by singing a Polish folk song in Japanese.

See also: Poland 1, Poland 2, Poland 3, Poland 5, Poland 6.

We were about 100 miles from Afghanistan, when the president of the USA talked about bombing that country.  Up until now we believed that China was the safest place to be in the days following 9/11.  The Beijing hotel where we stayed that fateful day, had given all the Americans letters of condolence.  As we traveled westward towards Kashgar, the news reports were all in Mandarin, but the images were unmistakable.

During my first trip to China 5 years earlier I had discovered that there were a myriad of ethnic groups living in that country, and longed to visit as many as I could.  I became obsessed with the idea of traveling  the Silk Road, and began that journey with travels through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

The Chinese portion of the Silk Road took me to the Buddhist caves of Dunhuang, through the Taklamakan Desert, and into Xinjiang, the home of the Muslim Uyghers, whose language I found was nearly identical to Uzbek.

See also “The Road I Traveled” for more from the Silk Road and Heavenly Lake.
See also China 1, and Tibet.