A special birthday. · 2:40am Jan 30th, 2021
So, it's been a while. I'd love to talk about me, but honestly at this point I'm a mess, so I wanna focus on other things than that.
I'm a day behind, and I wanted to make this blog post yesterday but I was so busy at work I couldn't get to it.
January 28th marked the birthday of a very important person to me, Alan Alda.
As many of you have, and can, see, my Fimmy Fic page is covered in all sorts of M*A*S*H images and gif's, because while I love MLP, MASH was, and still is, my all time favorite television show. Honestly, I'd been watching it since I was little. It was a big deal to see every episode, and until the early 2000's I had never seen every episode, so what a treat that was to finally save up enough money to buy the entire DVD box set.
But lets take a step back a moment, Alan Alda. Following his father's foot steps, Alan had gone into acting, and long story short, did okay, but it was MASH (the show, not the movie) that really sold his fame in Hollywood. After MASH (not to be confused with the actual show called such) he went on to do more movies, but his calling was being a director and writer, and honestly, as the MASH show would attest, was a very wise thing. Alan wrote and directed some of the best later season episodes (only because Gene wasn't there) and while I'd love to sit here and gush about them... I don't know many people who actually watched the show (at least, in my age bracket).
To change it up and actually talk about me, if you're read my fic An Even Worse Self Insert, then you know that I myself am lost/stuck in the past. I do not adjust or change well, and I'm more comfortable with what's old and true versus new and exciting. Growing up, even as far as into my late 20's, there were almost no one around that I looked up to, or inspired by, that were still alive.
Excpet... Alan Alda.
He's one of the last, true people that if I could be a sick kid and get that make a wish, it would be "to shake Alan Alda's hand and thank him." Morbid, but it's true! That's how serious it is! MASH, as well as many other pre-1980's television shows, are what I grew up with, and were what heavily influenced me as a young child trying to grow up to be like his alcoholic father (my father, idk about Alan's it's not my business).
Of course, you might ask me, "why just meet him? Don't you want an autograph?" Well, it's a simple answer really. None of us knows what happens when we die, and I for one just assume it's a big black pit of nothingness. But, if I could believe for just a moment, it's not about material items like autographs or memorabilia, but it's about experiences, and touch, feeling. The very idea of something personal like shaking someone's hand, and thanking them, especially a celebrity who I looked up to decades after the show was over, means a lot to me.
I show this at conventions. While I'm a big guy, I'm very personal about personal space, and as such, hugging to me is for more close friends and family. I don't just hug someone because "it feels right" or "because they want it", it's because to me, that person is important in my life. I might now show it in the best of ways, or at all, but that's really what it is! And even as simple of a thing as shaking someone's hand, that means a lot to me. I'm old school, and regardless of your grip, the fact you'd shake as well means you're there and trying. Fighting, and above all else, doing something.
Shit I got off topic a little. Point is, that Alan Alda is 85 years young, and one of the only people I still look up to as a middle aged adult. It's important to me, to remember him, and be inspired by his acting and writing, and I hope that for those of you who can look into the past and enjoy such things like MASH, that you'd learn to appreciate him too.
So the tl;dr, is happeh burfday Alan Alda, and thank you. Thank you.
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So, I wanted to send this off with one of my favorite Hawkeye lines, because I do so much quoting of MASH, but I realized something... there's really no single quote of dialogue that can sum up what a fictional character can mean to me, or has done for me. So, here is Alan Alda himself, talking about MASH... I'll leave it to you, to do your own research and homework, and decide if you like it or not.
(PS: My favorite episode is Tuttle)
Tuttle was a wonderful officer. A part of us went into everything he did. As a matter of fact, you could say we all made up Tuttle...
I think MASH was something that appealed to a lot of people in the Seventies. My uncle, who had been in the service, and was nobody's idea of a right-winger, ended up bonding with the whole thing beyond anything I had expected, and then formed this odd friendship with Jamie Farr when he went to Toledo to run the local paper...
I like Adam’s Ribs myself 🤣
Oh, I love MASH. My own boxed sets have the option to remove the laugh track.
5444339
Oh that has to be an odd change.
Could I put my boyfriend in contact with you? He loves M*A*S*H and would love someone he could talk about it with. When he was out here in California last we actually tried to visit where it was filmed but it was closed.
5444375
I can't watch it on television anymore. Its so distracting.
Hue.
The show isn't something I'm very familiar with, but I'm glad it, and he, brought you joy and inspiration.
5444390
That sounds like a bad move then. I apparently really liked MASH as a kid. Like 3-7'ish. Especially the end credits.
The beauty of M.A.S.H. was the way they were able to tell you the story about something terrible (war) and cleverly disguise it inside the costume of entertainment and comedy. You didn't go into watching it expecting a harrowing, gory documentary about the horrors of war. You let your guard down, and kept your eyes, mind and heart open to the lessons they would hide inside. It showed that in these darkest times (during warfare) the best of us, the best of humanity, the goodness of people shine brightest.
5444438
Oh, no. I always hated the laugh track and found it to be distracting. Thanks to those boxed sets I can really enjoy the episodes.