Thursday, 3/27

Yes, he was a real person.

As I was writing yesterday, I've been spending a lot of time with my laptop going through pictures.The laptop also has a bunch of old radio shows on it, and for a reason I can't remember, one of those is an episode of “The Lone Ranger”. I don't know why; I was never a fan of the show, and I can't ever recall listening to it.

But there it sits.

In fact, the only thing that might interest me about the show is its iconic theme, taken from Rossini's “William Tell Overture”. And when I saw that I had the episode, I started to think...which, as we all know, can be a dangerous thing.

Especially when it causes me to fall down a rabbit hole on the internet.

I really didn't know the story of William Tell beyond the basics—he was the guy who defied authority a thousand years ago, had to shoot an apple off of his son's head to stay alive, used the same arrow to kill the king whose authority he was defying, became a folk hero to the new country of Switzerland in the process, inspired an opera by Rossini six or seven hundred years later, and then because of the finale of that opera single-handedly made the Lone Ranger the icon that he is today.

And also provided the spark to make me head down that rabbit hole.

It's actually a fascinating story, and that's why the trip down the rabbit hole was a total waste. Aside from the apple and the Overture, I had no idea who William Tell really was. And the story's quite interesting; like I mentioned before, he's now venerated in Switzerland. You can stop and pay visits to all these places at which he supposedly did things, including where he shot the apple off his son's head.. I didn't know that. I didn't know he was a national folk hero to one of the oldest countries in Europe.

But now I do. And because of all this I have to ask one simple yet profound question—what DID we do before Google and Wikipedia existed?

8-)

So anyway, that's what happens when you comb the dark recesses of your laptop for pictures. I'm loathe to think what else I might find on there that could lead me into yet another bizarre search. But I'm sure I WILL find that out soon, right?

Now, to stick it in your head...

Think of it this way. Getting stuck in your brain IS better than getting an apple shot off your head... right?

(jim@wmqt.com)