Four of 24

This is a yearbook picture of my dad, Leon, taken when he was in prep school, circa 1936, which would have made him about 15 or 16. He looks very mature for his age, but some of that is because in those days teenagers weren't a separate breed of human like they are today. The clothes they wore were cut down adult wear, not a completely different wardrobe with matching hairstyles, piercings and accoutrements.

My dad's cousin, Lorna, gave me a print of this picture which I re-photographed some years ago. The details are a little murky but you can see right off that dad was a handsome guy.

Years later, when I first joined the school district where I've worked for the past 30 ½ years, I met a lady named Enid. She recognized my name and said she was from my dad's home town. She told me, "Your dad's family was well off compared to the rest of us. We barely made it through the Depression but your dad and his sisters seemed to have everything they wanted. Your dad even went to a private school."

She added, "That Leon, he was the most handsome guy. I used to think he was the handsomest guy in town."

I waited for her to say, "…and you take after your dad." But she didn't. And I don't.

*******

I watched the first four hours of this season's 24 with Kiefer Sutherland. I watch the show--not always, but occasionally--for different reasons than the usual 24 fans. I think it's more like a comedy. The plots are so overcooked, the characters are so earnest, the bad guys so bad, the good guy (Jack Bauer, played by Sutherland) almost as bad, that it makes for caricature rather than character.

This time out they're chasing Arab terrorists who have suitcase nuclear devices. As episode four ended, one of the suitcase nukes had gone off in Los Angeles, and we could see the mushroom cloud rising over the city in the distance. Oboy. What happens next? Tune in next Monday.

I admit that during the last hour my attention started to drift. There's so much activity on screen that my mind starts looking for relief. I pick up a newspaper or magazine to read while the characters are running around, shouting, racing in cars.

Something I've noticed about 24: The cell phones they use (which they are constantly using) always work. There are no drop outs, no dead areas with no reception. The person they're calling is always able to pick up the phone and talk; no voice mail, no missed calls. They are on the road when no one else is out there. In these episodes they were able to follow a terrorist without traffic problems, then switch over surveillance to a satellite. It can be made to swing over from its position in space and look right down on the terrorist's car with just a few keystrokes on a computer somewhere at hq in Washington. Somehow Jack managed to do all that and still get back to rescue a hostage, all within the hour timetable of the show.

There are so many plot elements like that piling up in the episodes that it adds to the surreal atmosphere. I also like that Jack, who has been tortured by Chinese for 20 months but never talked (according to the Chinese, who gave up this information to the Americans without even being asked!) has had his conscience tweaked, so when he tortures a suspect he feels bad. Of course, sometimes that's hard to tell because Kiefer Sutherland has one expression he uses throughout the show. Except when he's yelling, which he does quite a bit.

In one of the episodes (I can't remember which; sorry, they all start running together in my mind), a guy crashes through a glass coffee table and has a big shard of glass sticking out of his leg. A guy gets shot in the leg. Someone is tied up and gets stabbed in the knee as torture. The writers need some new ideas of which body parts to attack.

In 24 no one seems to ever have to stop for a pee break, or to eat a sandwich or have a cup of coffee. I guess when you're saving the world (or at least, the good ol' U.S. of A.) you don't have time for breaks. Personally, I think it would be better if on the episodes where Jack says, "This takes place between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.," he would tell someone, "We need to stop at Starbucks and get a cup. Jeez, I'm gonna drop if I don't get some caffeine."

Ciao for now.