As one or two of you figured out from my recent posting rhythm here, I have been outta town: In Muncie, Indiana where the principal export is Garfield comic strips. I was back for meetings on The Garfield Show, where I have the title of Supervising Producer. This means I write, rewrite and direct the voices. I have just about nothing to do with the actual animation so I'm not bragging when I say that what I've seen of Season Four is stunning and amazing. I'll tell you more about it when I know when those episodes will begin airing in America. At the moment, I don't.
I flew back to Indianapolis last Tuesday and had to change planes in Memphis, Tennessee. There are two things you should know about the airport in Memphis. One is that if you're changing planes — and this isn't the first time this has happened to me there — the gate where your first plane arrives is situated as far as humanly possible from the gate where your second flight takes off. I am not sure of the exact size of Memphis International Airport but I have walked its entire diameter every time I've been there.
Second thing you should know about the airport in Memphis: They have a stand there in their food court — Jim Neely's Interstate BBQ. The proprietors have two real restaurants in Memphis and one at the airport. As we all know, cuisine at airports is notoriously sub-par, especially at the kind of "fast food" places you need to rely on when you have a short stopover, plus you have to walk the entire length of the #@!%!# airport to get from one Delta flight to another. In the Indianapolis Airport, where I've logged many an hour awaiting Boarding Time, the best place I've found for quick chow is — I'm not kidding about this — McDonald's. Mr. Neely's little Memphis business is a glorious exception.
I have found great BBQ in many unexpected places but did not imagine I'd ever find it in an airport. From now on, whenever I fly across country and I have to change planes and I have a choice, I'm stopping in Memphis. But I'm also bringing a pair of roller skates.
When I got to Indianapolis, I went to pick up a rental car. Hertz upgraded me from the full-sized car I'd reserved to a Toyota 4Runner. I think every time in my life I've rented from Hertz, I ask for a full-sized and get an SUV. This 4Runner was fine but for the fact that its brakes were adjusted to a feather touch and it was impossible to gently brake. If I exhaled too forcefully, the whole truck screeched to a halt and once, on wet streets, I skidded badly — fortunately, not near anyone else or anything hittable. It got me (barely) to my hotel but Wednesday morn before heading to Muncie, I went back to the airport and exchanged the Rose Bowl Float for a Toyota Corolla. It nicely served my primary need, which was to not get into an accident.
I had a nice stay in Muncie. On my way to Garfield Central, I saw one thing that amused me greatly and I'll post a photo of it later along with any other anecdotes from the week that come to mind. Now, I gotta go unpack. I just wrote this first because it feels so good to be back in my office chair using my full-sized keyboard.