.The Jericho Local
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20080922
20080921
Going... Going...
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I just stopped by Trish Kates TV Talk to learn that she too has reached the end of her Jericho blogging road.
Great Job Trish! I liked your blog, it was smart and informative and I consider its loss to be yet another sad occasion for the Jericho Fandom.
I do not know why Trish Kate left us but I did watch on at least one occasion as she got into hot water with some over her opinions. To which I say that it is part of a bloggers job to put themselves out there and post their opinions.
If the bloggers say what they think needs to be said and the readers are willing to hang in there, post comments and make their voices heard and all of this is done in a respectful manner then a blog can become a place of real dialogue for a fandom. Bloggers may not have to play by the same rules of neutrality as a paid reporter but I think most bloggers feel an obligation to the truth. Sometimes this truth reveals itself to us in dialogue and sometimes that dialogue is best served by being kept off of the message boards where the new fans turn up. It is difficult, when writing repeatedly about a subject to not interject our own beliefs but one thing is for certain; if a blogger is willing to risk the ire of their readers to make a point then it is fair to say it is a point that is most probably on the minds of others as well and at least worth discussing. But all parties must be willing to keep coming to the table with the attitude that not one of us holds a copyright on the truth. A fandom is a community and no community can exist without communication. This lately, our communication in the Jericho fandom is down and like a flame deprived of oxygen we are gasping for breath.
In our community many have left and moved on and many of those who remain have given up on one another.
This is the truth as I see it.
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20080920
Parenting on the edge of apocalypse
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”Hi Dale, Sorry I didn’t call sooner angel but we decided to stay in the city an extra couple of days”.
These words spoken by Dale Turners mother hold such deep clues about the troubled teen. The fact that she did not call sooner, that she calls him “angel” and that she and her companion have chosen to stay in the city longer without informing Dale all are relevant to Dale’s character. What a bold choice to imply that the mother is so flawed in such an ordinary way. You can almost hear the Jericho town gossips volleying versions of “That boy thinks the world of her while she is out gallivanting all over Hell and Creation with the flavor of the week.”
Why would I say that? Well, I think it is fascinating how in the six or so lines of the phone message left by Dale’s mom we get such a clear vision of who she was. She went away and apparently was due back but decided to stay in Atlanta with a man she seems to barely know. I say this because the man is so clueless to Dale’s mothers (Let’s call her Evelyn) situation. Evelyn has to tell (We’ll call him Bob) Bob to hush when he loudly proclaims she should come back to bed. Evelyn tells Bob she is on the phone with her kid. To me this says that Dale has never met Bob. She did not say: “I am on the phone with Dale”. The wording in this short tragic phone message blows me away.
Of all of the possible pet names a mother could have for a child the one Evelyn chooses for Dale is Angel. Angels are symbols of highest good and in this case I believe she calls Dale angel in order to emphasize that between the two of them she feels Dale is the good one. It is amazing how our actions eat us up inside and it is amazing too how we often will indirectly communicate that.
I know someone who grew up with a single parent who put their needs before the child. That person’s life was changed when a stepfather entered the scene and brought with him stability. There is no telling the particulars of Evelyn’s situation. Dale never mentions a father so for some reason it seems he is out of the picture. Was Evelyn Turner a selfish woman? Was she hoping to find a father figure for Dale, happiness for herself and someone to help pay the bills? Was she an escapist seeking to slip through the shackles of reality, if only for a couple of days? Whoever she was Dale loved her very much and as a viewer I love Evelyn Turner too. Because in her brief appearance in the Jericho story she helped build a foundation of believability appropriate to a show whose title is the name of a town. She is an anchor of reality in what is to become a really fantastic story. She is part of what keeps Jericho honest.
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Evelyn's choice to stay in Atlanta an extra couple of days proved fatal in the end but I choose not to let this detail sprout wings and fly off to the mythic realm of symbolism. Rather, I will let it stand as a reminder that life is fragile, unpredictable, complicated and sometimes very,very sad.
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20080917
Page Turner
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The moment I knew I had never seen a show like Jericho was when Dale Turner crossed the cluttered side street to the double wide he shares with his single mom and opens the door to the world they share. A world so there it dares you doubt it; an environment so complex it feels both familiar and foreign. Familiar because it speaks to the intimacy of home and foreign because that intimacy has been so adroitly captured that we almost feel as though we are trespassing. On the counter in the middle of everything there is an answering machine with the red new message light flashing slowly on and off in time like a cursor.
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It is later that evening. Dale is slumped at the counter. The sun has gone down. He plays the message.
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Dale’s Mother:”Hi Dale, Sorry I didn’t call sooner angel but we decided to stay in the city an extra couple of days”.
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Mans Voice: “Put down the phone and come to bed”.
Dale’s Mother:” Honey stop that, it’s my kid…Baby what are you staring at out the window?”
Mans voice: “Get over here and look at this”!
Dale’s Mother: “What is that? Oh my god… Oh my god…”
The message ends with shattering glass cut short.
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And our understanding of Dale Turner has increased by tenfold.
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Video By holyhobbits
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20080915
7 Trumpets of Jericho
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In the Bible seven trumpets are employed to help bring down the walls of Jericho.
In the Jericho fandom we have trumpets as well. These trumpets help to rebuild Jericho. They sound out our accomplishments and goals. They connect us with the people who make the show and bring its characters to life for further adventures. They tear down the walls between us and keep us all on track, involved and entertained. I give you 7 Trumpets of Jericho:
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In the Jericho fandom we have trumpets as well. These trumpets help to rebuild Jericho. They sound out our accomplishments and goals. They connect us with the people who make the show and bring its characters to life for further adventures. They tear down the walls between us and keep us all on track, involved and entertained. I give you 7 Trumpets of Jericho:
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Save Jericho Again
Future Traditions
The Jericho Telegraph
Jericho Townhall
Blackjack Fairgrounds
Jericho 4 Kids
Jericho Fan Fiction
Future Traditions
The Jericho Telegraph
Jericho Townhall
Blackjack Fairgrounds
Jericho 4 Kids
Jericho Fan Fiction
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20080913
Jericho - The One that got away
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Too skinny for Jimmy and too tall for Bill... .
The title above may read a little differently than I mean it and that is intentional. This post is dedicated to those moments in Jericho that for one reason or another simply did not work for me:
Item: When Stanley says “No ones been around for five years” referring to Jakes absence. The way the line is said it could just as easily mean no one has been present for five years. Sometimes this type of thing is the actors fault and sometimes it is the writers. In this case I would say the line could have been written better.
Item: When Hawkins tells the sheriff to consider using black spray paint to cover the word Jericho on the side of his car. I get Hawkins’s reason for saying it but it feels entirely like a line which was thrown in for effect to me.
Item: When Johnston trails off after telling Jake what he put the family through in their first meeting after Jakes return. This is one of those dot, dot, dot lines meaning an ellipsis is at the end of the line in a script. These are truly up to the actor to make work and I did not get the sense of history the line was meant to convey.
Item: John Smith’s miraculous escape from Jake who had the element of surprise and was standing practically at point blank range. Much of “Patriots and Tyrants” felt rushed and silly to me but that moment was just terrible. It is probably my least favorite moment in Jericho.
Item: The way that Jimmy and Bills uniforms somehow managed to perfectly fit the two convicts who stole them in Fallout.
Item: The bizarre guitar music during the shoot out with the fake cops mentioned above. Just a moment after this we see the first drops of rain turn into a deluge on the storm cellar door in a brilliant shot emphasizing how Jericho could be a completely different show at any given moment.
These were just off the top of my head. It is interesting that what I tend to remember as bad is either in the beginning of the series when the show is finding itself or in the end when it is trying to quickly wrap the story up. Does anyone out there have any moments that got away for them? Care to add them to the list?
Item: When Stanley says “No ones been around for five years” referring to Jakes absence. The way the line is said it could just as easily mean no one has been present for five years. Sometimes this type of thing is the actors fault and sometimes it is the writers. In this case I would say the line could have been written better.
Item: When Hawkins tells the sheriff to consider using black spray paint to cover the word Jericho on the side of his car. I get Hawkins’s reason for saying it but it feels entirely like a line which was thrown in for effect to me.
Item: When Johnston trails off after telling Jake what he put the family through in their first meeting after Jakes return. This is one of those dot, dot, dot lines meaning an ellipsis is at the end of the line in a script. These are truly up to the actor to make work and I did not get the sense of history the line was meant to convey.
Item: John Smith’s miraculous escape from Jake who had the element of surprise and was standing practically at point blank range. Much of “Patriots and Tyrants” felt rushed and silly to me but that moment was just terrible. It is probably my least favorite moment in Jericho.
Item: The way that Jimmy and Bills uniforms somehow managed to perfectly fit the two convicts who stole them in Fallout.
Item: The bizarre guitar music during the shoot out with the fake cops mentioned above. Just a moment after this we see the first drops of rain turn into a deluge on the storm cellar door in a brilliant shot emphasizing how Jericho could be a completely different show at any given moment.
These were just off the top of my head. It is interesting that what I tend to remember as bad is either in the beginning of the series when the show is finding itself or in the end when it is trying to quickly wrap the story up. Does anyone out there have any moments that got away for them? Care to add them to the list?
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20080911
20080909
1,455 subscribers
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What has become of Jericho Times?
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Does anyone out there have any information on the status of this valuable networking tool for the Jericho Community? I know that Jason, who published the times, went thru bouts where he was feeling overwhelmed by a combination of real life and the demands of the newsletter and I remember several months ago he asked for help with the newsletter and did not recieve much of a response. Since that time Jason's 2 jericho based blogs and the Jericho Times home page have stood still. Did Jason Get burned or burnt out? Do we know? Do we care?
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20080907
Welcome Future Traditions!
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For those of you who have not heard, there is a new Jericho podcast in town and I highly recommend it. It is called Future Traditions and its thought provoking name hints at the exploratory nature of the shows content. Despite some minimal first show jitters the hosts, Larissa, Heidi and Suzanne (Hope I spelled those right) have a great time discussing the Jericho Pilot in depth. They each bring something different to the conversation and their individual insights serve to spur one another on to further topics of discussion. So much so that when they say they have exhausted the topic of the Jericho Pilot I do not really believe them.
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Heidi’s Jericho News segment is delivered in a warmly traditional news anchor fashion. In all but a few moments she commands her material admirably and speaks with an authority which says “I can be trusted”. She has a nice voice for news.
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A Fan fiction reading by Suzanne is also included in this first episode. Suzanne mentions her students at one point and it made me wonder if she is not used to reading aloud. She settles into the short story by Piratescribe nicely. The story itself is a study of interactions within the Richmond family. Several times I caught myself thinking a remark or gesture was completely in character; Very well done.
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The format of Future Traditions seems loose enough so as to have some room to grow. The host’s encourage participation by the fan community in the form of feedback and ideas for the show. I am really looking forward to seeing how this will evolve over time.
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You can download episode 1 and subsequent episodes at the link below:
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http://futuretraditions.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=368942
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or visit the Future Traditions forum at:
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http://jerichopodcast.informe.com/forum/
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20080905
Jonah and the Whale
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In the back room of the Body Shop, behind a desk, sits the Boss. His name is Jonah A. Prowse or Jonah E. Prowse depending on who you talk to and if he had any idea I was up here writing about him he would hurt me in some way. Don’t get me wrong, he is no Tony Soprano, he would not take a meat cleaver to my fingers but he is not afraid to scar you to make his point. The Boss likes to control his image. He’s a smiling man but he reserves the right to go all straight faced on you at any moment and to fix those eyes of his so you cannot look away.
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In the Body Shop there is a hierarchy. There are those who know and those who do. I do. Sounds like I am at a wedding, I know but joining Jonahs gang is a little like getting married. And just like in a marriage you do not get to know how deep you are in the shit until it is too late. Still, I have no desire to leave. Truth is, most of us here are either orphans for real or by choice. Jonah is smart to take in the lost boys but I never feel like I am taken for granted. Hell, even Mitch Cafferty, who is a first class ass, knew Jonah would come over and bail him out of Jericho. We are not allowed to mention Mitch now. Jonah said he left the family and opened the floor for questions. No one asked any and Jonah said we had had our chance and now he did not want to hear another word about old M.C. I am glad he is gone. I hope he doesn’t come back.
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Jonah is the smartest man I know. He can tell you something about anything. He is not book smart really but just smart at figuring out the way things work. He had that Major Beck who has taken over Jericho pegged almost immediately. I heard him tell Nate that Beck would show up one day to shake his hand and damn if he didn’t drive right up in a hummer and put his hand out. We were all there. Beck said he had heard a lot about Jonah and wanted to meet the man behind the legend. Then the two of them talked real civil in that nudge, wink, we all know what is goin’ on here way. Beck told Jonah that he had declared amnesty for anyone involved in the New Bern / Jericho War and Jonah said “If I see anyone who was involved I will let them know.” Jonah played it real cool all right, like he had never pulled the trigger out there in that field and took the life of a wounded man, like his daughter hadn’t been watching and like he hadn’t gotten all sad and melancholy afterward.
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The boss can be a really sad guy. Sometimes you will see him go stand by the chain link fence and stare over toward Jericho. I mentioned his daughter and that is where she lives. Sometimes I think he shot that guy for her benefit. To say “Look at this war you are determined to fight. Look at what it can turn people into!” Jonah doesn’t make love or war he just makes do. I think that is why he dropped the whole Jericho/ New Bern thing like a hot potato. I think he believes that change is just an opportunity to use your wits and survive. I think change is his religion with reaction to change being sort of a communion. That whole war was too much action and good versus evil for Jonah. He is smart enough to know all of them labels are overated.
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20080901
Effect
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The online world is a strange place full of all kinds of temptations. Today I would like to address the temptation to spy on one another. It is so easy to do if you have a site of your own. Simply check your site statistics. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about site statistics are various details about the visitors to your site provided in different categories such as:
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Location – This tells from whence the visitor came it is usually the location of their internet provider’s service.
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Referrals – This tells where the visitor came from on the web. It could be a link to your site on Google or on another search engine or perhaps a link on the web somewhere like for example if someone came to the Junction through the Save Jericho Again site I would be able to tell that.
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Out Clicks – This tells where the visitor went after leaving you.
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There are many more but I think you get the picture. Site Statistic programs for your blog or website are available for free and their intended use is for a webmaster to be able to gauge whether or not their site is reaching its intended audience. But I think you can see how they have an enormous potential for spying.
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When I installed a site meter on the Junction I had no real intention of letting the statistics get the better of me. At first it was simply interesting to see where in the world all the people who were interested in Jericho were coming from. But I have to admit that after some time I was able to recognize many of you. It got to the point with the Junction that I would come home and check for comments on the blog and then I would immediately check to see where my visitors of that day had come from. It was turning into a very unhealthy obsession. I did not like the effect it was having on me.
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The Apology
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I am sorry to each and every one of you whose privacy I violated by spying upon you. I sincerely hope you will believe me when I say that all Meters and Counters have been removed from the Junction. I have learned a valuable lesson about respecting others privacy online and even if these programs allow spying to become standard practice for some; I say to you that it is something that I will not henceforth participate in. You have my word.
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