Opinion

Heroes old and new

Sunday, July 2, 2006

Hi neighbors. I've been in Iowa for not quite two weeks and it rained almost every day! When I got home today I discovered we hadn't gotten much rain here.

Of course rain or the lack of it never dissuades a true genealogist from their appointed nosiness into old books, census sheets, web sites and new emails.

While I was in Iowa I ran into my friend and fellow researcher Cindy. She is a member of her local historical society and genealogy society -- which in her town is one and the same.

She has some ancestors here in southwest Missouri and I had a few ancestors who ended up in Iowa so we exchange what information we find on our common surname Earp.

As it always happens, while I was gone, there were visiting family genealogists who had come from a distance and wanted to stop by and compare notes on their way to somewhere else. Of course I missed seeing them by only a few hours. They emailed me to say they would be back in a couple of months so hopefully I can meet up with them then.

Isn't that how it always happens? You go for a long time with no company then as soon as you are unavailable, people pop in out of the woodwork it seems.

Since I have a computer program to keep track of genealogy information I put everything I find out in my computer. That's handy, and it keeps the information all sorted and easy to find. However, without the ability to carry the data base around with me, I find myself a real deadhead when I'm trying to remember some needed fact that I have in the computer data base.

Have you been to the theater lately? Bill said the new Superman movie is really good. I plan on seeing it myself as soon as possible. I have really enjoyed the Superman mythos since I was a child. I remember the boys always wanted to be Superman, and who could blame them? Superman was someone who always knew the right thing to do and the right words to say. He always knew how to fix things that were broken.

Ok you baby boomer babes -- confess! How many of you secretly resented Lois Lane for being Superman's girlfriend? Our only consolation was she was obviously too dumb to realize Clark Kent was Superman wearing a dorky pair of glasses.

The television series "Smallville" is pretty good. But in the attempt to capture the younger audience it just gives we baby boomers a new character to resent. Lana Lang was always the girl Superboy dated and was old news by the time Superman showed up. Now here she is again! My son can't understand the roles Krypto (Superboy's super dog) and Supergirl played in the comic books. He argues it just isn't logical that a chunk of a planet flew around in space for a couple of decades supporting life. Even less likely, he insists, is one person -- super or not -- making it off the planetoid and onto Earth.

Well, in the comic books, she was Superman's cousin and had a super cat. Guess that was to appease the females and feline lovers who were by then also considered comic book buyers.

Because I don't have her name in my genealogy database, I can't recall what it was right now. I'm sure my son would remember though. Logical presence on Earth or not, the actress who played her in the 'Supergirl' movie was really 'cute,' in Bill's words.

From the previews I've seen on television, Lois and Superman have had a breakup and we see the makeup. Seems Superman went off in space searching for his home planet. Can our hero be just another man gone on a lengthy walkabout to 'find himself?' Superman! Say it isn't so! We'll hardly have time to get over our motion sickness from flying with Superman before we try to get out land legs to watch the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

If Superman's flying doesn't make us dizzy, Captain Jack Sparrow's walk undoubtedly will.

They both are good movies so I've heard and I can't wait to see them both.

Let's see -- we've had Batman, Superman, the Invisible Man, X-Men and the Incredible Hulk come back from the past with new adventures. What superhero can be next seen on the big screen? Maybe Wonder Woman? Oh why not? Until the next time friends remember, whether you are remembering ancestors or old heroes, stay focused on today and your own abilities to be a "superhero" to those who count on you.