Cold by Chipka
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Description
Q: What’s the best way to cure water on the brain?
A: A tap on the head.
I first heard that joke decades ago. I was glued to the television, watching an episode of the British Science Fiction series, Blake’s Seven on PBS. This was during the time when the only science fiction you could see on Chicago television came from the UK. Oh, there was the classic Star Trek but it was old hat and you didn’t have to actually watch it because you knew every plot, line of dialogue, and commercial break by heart. Blake’s Seven was something new. It was anti Star Trek. The Federation was run by a stunningly sexy woman who also happened to be a megalomaniacal sociopath. The good guys were all thieves, political dissidents, and ruffian rogues of stunning variety. They never pretended to be friends and were always willing to sacrifice their fellows if it saved their own lives. And the Federation itself was a lot worse. To this day a drop-dead gorgeous cold-blooded killer named Servalan is the only villain who can get away with wearing a feather-ruffed evening gown and high heels on the command deck of a battle cruiser. I still get chills when I recall a scene in which she seductively strokes the face of the anti-hero protagonist with a gun, while cooing ,as only she could: “I’m going to send your friends a corpse.”
Villains with British accents are always incredibly effective, especially in high heels with a gun that looks as if it's made of silver-tinted cardboard.
Many episodes of Blake’s Seven came to mind as I visited with Corey and his roommate Neil a few weeks ago. I think it’s because of the positively ancient fixtures in the apartment. Neil is an older gentleman who has no need for many of the “modern conveniences” that we take for granted. There was no microwave oven in the apartment until Corey bought one. The entire place looks and feels like a grandmother’s house. It’s comforting. And somehow, Blake’s Seven became a part of a recent visit there. I think it was because of the sink tap. As I photographed it, I thought of the joke one of the series protagonists told to a super computer who sounds suspiciously like Doctor Who’s “tin dog” companion K-9. (K-9 and the super-computer ORAC are voiced by the same actor…he must be older than God’s grandmother now, and apparently he’s still alive. It’s because of him that at least one computer in the Science Fiction genre sounds like a foppish dandy.)
I went around that entire day thinking to myself: What’s the best way to cure water on the brain? And so in honor of a joke first heard in a science fiction series with really bad special effects, I captured a tap…unfortunately not on anyone’s head. Not just any tap, but an old one showing signs of its age.
Now, as I contemplate Chicago’s current weather, this tap takes on extra significance. I must admit that it’s warmer than before, but March is still a long way off, and we always get surprisingly cold temperatures just before the end of winter. And so now…I look at COLD etched into metal and I think that somewhere, someone has spun that tap to full-open position….
…And left it there.
***
As always, thank you for viewing and reading and commenting. It always means so much, and in terms of this simple image, it's best to zoom for detail.
Comments (19)
TwoPynts
Looks like the head of a Raven, or perhaps a duck. Great shot and thoughts on classic sci-fi.
myrrhluz
One thing I remember about taps when I lived in England, was that they were on the wrong side. Well, wrong by my reckoning. In Stow Longa,UK I lived in a home where both taps said they were cold. One wasn't, but for the life of me I could never remember which one. This could be bad if we had the coal oven going and the water was boiling in the pipes. That tap does look familiar to me. Probably from my grandmother's house many years ago. Her house is no longer. The graveyard across the street swallowed it up. I seem to be rambling a bit. Your words often make me think about all kinds of things. Wonderful the way you melded together a joke, science fiction, old fixtures, cold and a lot of other things I've left out, into a thoroughly enjoyable read. I always looks forward to your work!
geirla
Blake's 7, now that's something I miss. Always was a big fan of Avon. Must be a DVD set out there I can get... Thanks for reminding me.
romanceworks
Wonderful photo and dialogue. Last week it went to 10 below one night and some of our pipes in the bathrooms froze. First time I've experienced this and it was not fun turning on the cold water and see nothing come out. Now it's all flowing again. CC
koosievantutte
good shot and story. never saw a tap like that before and i know next to nothing about science fiction, very enlightening.
bmac62
Old and cold...shiver...shake. Chip, I've missed something. I have never seen even one episode of Blake's Seven. I've got something now to look forward to:) Here our PBS fare was all the British comedies and detective series.
auntietk
This is a bit of a departure for you, and yet it's wholly Chip at the same time. Did you take a picture of this tap with Kafka propped up behind it?
psyoshida
I was drawn in by the intriguing photo and to my surprise I also received a wonderful joke and story. Glad I stopped in. Thanks.
beachzz
I have a faucet that looks much like this one, not quite as rusty, but it was the cheapest thing that could be found, so it got installed. Your joke is too funny, I'm gonna try and remember it. As for Blake's Seven, that's a new one on me, too. Something else to watch for!1
mbz2662
Enjoyable read, and that tap looks like it has been around a good long while :)
helanker
LOL ! That was funny :-D And I like the capture too :-)
Meisiekind
I must admit that Blake's Seven also passed me by but I was a huge Star Trek fan... And yeah - eventually also knowing the dialogue!!! What a story this rather worn tap can tell??? Great capture and to pull that back to the winter and the cold - well - masterly!!! You did it again! :))
durleybeachbum
The Master story teller makes a great yarn out of an ancient bit of plumbing furniture! If you get to visit my house you will collect a novel full of resource material, I warn you. I never saw a Blakes seven, but I did't have a TV till late in life.
prutzworks
cool find and I did enjoy Blake7 series and offcorse the Doctor
MrsRatbag
Only Chip could turn a beat up faucet into an engrossing read...well done, Chip!
kgb224
Outstanding capture and story.
faroutsider
As a fan of Blake's Seven and Battlestar Galactica, I'm sure you also enjoy Red Dwarf, that other British anti-Star Trek series...? Thanks for the tap on the head, I feel much better now! (fades to black...)
kwami
the best wishes for 2010, for you
EBSPhotographic
Very cool!