I wonder if...

Mississippi Notes
· Superstition is the lack of ability to trust trends in coincidence.

· Megapenthes in latin means ‘Great Sorrow’. Star Trek V : The Undiscovered Country had a name for a prison – ‘UraPenthe’. I think that is latin for ‘Ultimate Sorrow’.

· Proteus was Homer’s ‘Old Man Of The Sea’. Hemingway’s ‘Old Man And The Sea’ could be considered to be a counter, a foil, or an accompaniment to Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’? I don’t think it’s ever been looked at that way before. Hemingway did admire Joyce and how well he wrote. Wonder if he won the Pulitzer for it thanks to Joyce’s inspiration?

· Writing a phonetically correct story harkens back to an Elizabethan and Middle Age literary tradition. Ever read Mallory in the original old English? You know – Le Morte D’Arthur? That’s phonetic English. Buy it or take it out of the library (or borrow my copy – it’s a big book) and read it out loud and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

· Odysseus strapping timbers to make a raft after a thunderbolt of Zeus’s shatters his ship. Castaway? If Tom Hanks’s Castaway is The Odyssey then who is Hanks’s Circe?

· Father and son return home in disguise with a mind for bloody revenge.

· Kill Bill’s Beatrice is Elektra. Think Sophocles.

· A Telemachian sneeze. Classic image of a scene changing gears with a small, simple natural sound. Even funnier if you consider Finnegans Wake has an image of thunder signifying a change of scene plus when man falls down – which is a classic theme through mythology and history.

· Contrari Venti means ‘thwarted winds’ in latin and Dante uses the phrase in The Inferno. When you think about thwarted winds and the context the latin is being used in, he is actually referring to farts. Funny stuff. What about an asshole character by the name of ‘Connie’?

Opening Scene of a Movie

Large family restaurant. Italian. Jitoni tables. Old style black letter menu board – slotted so the symbols slide along. Slovenly young men in expensive clothes drink grappa, play cards, eat rich food, laugh and cajole with Greek music played over scratchy sounding speakers.
One harried, overworked old man bleats orders to two cooks in the kitchen.
One despondent young boy serves the customers in the restaurant.
A woman with long black hair tends to an empty cash register. There’s a pair knitting needles and a ball of yarn next to the register.
The sound of thunder rattles the tables and cutlery and the slovenly men get up and go to the window to see what the noise is.
A close up shot of a parking spot
The grille of a black 1975 Ford Thunderbird sedan pulls into the spot and the insignia for the Thunderbird is the center of the shot. Shot remains there while you hear the sound of a huge and heavy car door opening then slamming shut.
An androgynous male in a tan suit, white, wide collared dress shirt, soft blue bow tie, tan fedora (at a rakish angle), brown brogue dress shoes, wearing stylish wrap around shades and carrying a gold tipped walking stick walks away from the Tbird and towards the door. He smiles as he walks.
The camera stays where it is. Synchronized with the man’s walk to the door, the Tbird backs out of the parking spot, does a three point turn then backs into the parking spot, all with no one at the wheel and just the hint of a smile on the man’s face.
The ginos all return to their seats and resume their festivities but all with an ear for the jingle of the bells when the door opens.
The bells jingle. The door opens. The ginos turn. The man walks right up to the boy taking orders. He has a soft accent, like he talks the way someone would write calligraphy.

Man

Table. For one, please.

Boy
Anywhere you want, sir.

Man
Thank you.

(He nods. Takes a seat in a booth across from the cash register.)
(Takes off his hat and places it on the table to reveal a thick head of wavy blonde hair.)
(Camera goes to the woman tending to the register and she does not even notice that the man is there)

Boy takes out his pad from his apron and a pen from behind his ear and approaches the Man

Boy
Can I get you anything to drink, sir?

Man
Do you have wine? White wine?

Boy
(nods)
Of course. I can grab the wine list for you.

Man
(before the boy can get away)
Methemnaos.

Boy
(stops and looks over his shoulder)
Methemnaos? Right.

Man
(holds up a hand to get the boy’s attention)
A bottle, please.

Boy
(nods and goes to the kitchen to get the bottle)

Man
(sits and turns his head to looks the boys who are carrying on and the woman who doesn’t seem the notice. The restaurant has returned to what it was before The Man came into it. Even the old man in the kitchen returns to his yelling)

The sound of a table falling over and glasses and bottle being smashed followed by the whoops and laughter of the Ginos in the corner.

Connie (one of the ginos)
Fuckin bottle came with a hole in it. Aggie! We want a refund!

(all of the Gino’s are laughing now. Including Connie, there are 12 of them)

Man
(Mutters something. Barely audible. Loud enough for Connie to hear it.)

Connie
(Stands up)
What was that? I didn’t hear you.
(Take a few steps towards the man)

Man
(Remains seated. Doesn’t even turn around. His back is to Connie)
Do you intend to pay for the damages, sir?

Connie
What’s it to you?
(Takes another step closer)

Man
A man has to make a living.

Connie
I own this fuckin place, man. Getthefuckouttahere.

Man
(Slides out the booth and stands up. He smoothes his jacket to make sure that it isn’t wrinkled and leaves his hat on the table. He still has his glasses on. He takes his walking stick and stands with it, holding the tip with one hand. Connie doesn’t move)
I’m afraid you can’t do that. I don’t think you own this place.

Connie
What’s this?
(He looks over his shoulder at the other eleven ginos)
Jedi fucking mind trick, or what?
(Laughs with his head over his shoulder.)
(Turns to face The Man and takes another step towards him. Connie is about five feet away.)

Man
I think you will pay for the damages and I think you owe an apology.

Boy
(Camera goes to him standing at the counter, next to his mother, with a bottle of wine and a glass on a black serving tray. He has watched the entire exchange wide eyed. His mother, the dark haired lady at the register, has watched the whole scene too, but it nonplussed by it all)

Action
The old man’s complaining has stopped in the background. No one has said a word for several seconds after The Man made his challenge to Connie.

Boy
It’s okay, mister. I’ll take care of it.

Connie
(Takes a few more steps forward. Is now only two steps away from The Man)
Yeah. He’ll take care of it.
(He takes the final step forward)
So fuck off.

Man
This will not do.

(goes into action)

...Sorry...that’s all I got so far...

Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: Paging system at work and a Southern twang in my head

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