Set Your DVR to "Paladin"

(photo by Gary from the TV, credit to Encore Westerns)

Reminder that tomorrow morning, Wednesday 21 July, 6:30 (that's EDT...not sure if this'll vary in other time zones) the cable channel Encore Westerns will air an episode of Have Gun Will Travel in which Paladin reveals how he became a gunfighter.  I have not seen the episode and am only relying on the Comcast channel guide info, but I am excited about it.

Have Gun Will Travel is a show from my youth, and I recall that it was dark and with some moral ambiguity relating to the fact that the protagonist dresses in black, is a gunfighter, and an antihero to boot.  I can't wait to see this episode.

See here for a previous post I did on the subject.

Also, yesterday I posted on my C + O Canal run and how tough it was.  Today when I ran on the perimeter with my work buddies, I also had a tough run.  It was only 6 miles, but my mutual consent we took 2 brief walking breaks.  Getting old, I guess.

One thing I forgot to mention, that was a plus of the run yesterday, relates to what I'd call the "smugness factor."  Williamsport, MD is a central Mecca for Canal usage--good parking, easy access, etc., so many people park there to use the Canal.  My route was such that I parked at Williamsport but did not start out on the Canal. 

Typically runs on the Canal have to be out-n-backs, but I find that psychologically difficult.  I much prefer a loop course.  So I began my run along the roads east from Williamsport in the downstream direction (Potomac River), in effect running the end road miles of the JFK 50 Miler in reverse.  I then cut over on other roads to intersect the Canal towpath, and then run upstream to return to Williamsport.

By starting at dawn I was returning along the towpath to Williamsport around 8:00 am.  As I approached the town I encountered more and more people coming the other direction (i.e., downstream from Williamsport), people who had just started their run or bike.  And I was just about done, and I secretly had to smile knowing that fact. 

Yup, I was smug.  And I liked it.

 

Byronic Heros and Antiheros

I love REFDESK as my home page. Once, long ago, when I still respected Colin Powell, I read that he uses it as his home page. I figured that if a busy person such as he relied upon it, REFDESK was probably worthwhile.

And it is worthwhile, big time. Basically it’s a gateway to hundreds of other informational sites. You should just go take a look.

Tuesday’s gem on REFDESK is a section called “ARTICLE OF THE DAY: provided by The Free Dictionary” where the featured article was The Byronic Hero.

The Byronic hero is an idealized, but flawed character exemplified in the life and writings of Lord Byron, characterized by his ex-lover Lady Caroline Lamb as being "mad, bad and dangerous to know". The Byronic hero first appears in Byron's semi-autobiographical epic narrative poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812-18). The Byronic hero has the following characteristics:

--highly intelligent and perceptive

--cunning and adaptive

--often sophisticated and highly educated

--self-critical and introspective

--mysterious, magnetic and appealing

--struggles with integrity

--seductive and sexually attractive (sleeps with many women, claims them as his own, etc.)

--dominant: in sexual relationships and interaction with people

--conflicting emotions bipolar tendencies, or moodiness

--a distaste for social institutions and social norms

--being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw

--has "dark" attributes not normally associated with heroes

--a lack of respect for rank and privilege

--a troubled past

--being cynical, demanding, and/or arrogant

--often self-destructive

--loner, often rejected from society

The Byronic hero is also featured in many different contemporary novels, and it is clear that Lord Byron's work continues to influence modern literature as the precursor of a commonly encountered type of anti-hero.

I'm clearly not a Byronic Hero…but it might be sorta fun!

Oh, the ultrarunning connection: I can’t think of a single ultrarunning acquaintance who embodies enough of these characteristics to say it’s a good fit. I guess we (mostly) tend to be more laid back.

And (for anyone still with me!), there seems to be a slight distinction between the Byronic hero and the antihero:

It has been argued that the continuing popularity of the anti-hero in modern literature and popular culture may be based on the recognition that a person is fraught with human frailties, unlike the archetypes of the white-hatted cowboy and the noble warrior, and is therefore more accessible to readers and viewers. This popularity may also be symptomatic of the rejection by the avant-garde of traditional values after the counter-culture revolution of the 1960s.

In the postmodern era, traditionally defined heroic qualities, akin to the classic "knight in shining armor" type, have given way to the "gritty truth" of life, and authority in general is being questioned.

So although I'm not a Byronic hero, looks like I could still qualify as an antihero.  Good thing, because I love Have Gun Will Travel (see my post on Paladin as an antihero, here).

Oh, and I still love trails.