Now we  know! Now we know what happened after the screen went to black in the final episode of the greatest show in the history of television, The Sopranos.

Tony was not killed by the guy in the Members Only jacket. And right now, he is apparently in the Witness Protection Program with his wife Carmela. And he’s grown a beard.

How do we know this? We know this thanks to NBA star LeBron James.

I’m not a follower of sports, but apparently, the Knicks really want LeBron to play for them and somehow convinced James Gandolfini and Edie Falco (who played Tony and Carmela Soprano) to bring back their characters for a video presentation for LeBron. In the video, Tony is in Witness Protection and is trying to find a place to stay for a good friend of his who is coming to town. Carmela suggests Madison Square Garden and tells Tony that the place is ready and waiting for LeBron.

For Sopranos fans, this is huge news. My thinking is that David Chase had to have approved usage of his characters, Gandolfini and Falco had to agree to revisit their iconic roles, and everyone had to agree to the storyline.

This would seem to resolve the matter once and for all, don't you think? All the interpretation and analysis that many put forth to “prove” Tony was assassinated now seem to be moot. Plus, we know with certainty that Sylvio Dante, who was in a coma when the series ended, is alive (thanks to Stevie Van Zandt revealing this tidbit and stating that it came from Daivd Chase himself). And Paulie and the rest of the Tony's immediate family are still alive. Sounds to me like there’s plenty there for a movie, doesn’t it?

We can only hope.

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I recently learned that I died on RMS Titanic.

My name was William Gilbert and I was traveling alone on Titanic from Cornwall, England to Butte, Montana, where I had worked for several years as a miner with my father and in a joinery shop. My ticket number was 30769.

I had spent the last three months in England on vacation visiting my mother and brother and my plans upon my return were to live with my sister in Butte, where she ran a boarding house for Cornish miners. I had originally planned on returning to Montana in March 1912, but I purposely delayed my trip a month so I could sail on Titanic, which everyone was saying was the greatest ship ever built.

I was a Second Class passenger, and when the Captain ordered us to abandon ship, I wasn’t able to find a seat in one of the lifeboats. I ended up in the water when the ship broke in two and I died sometime around 3:00 A.M. on April 15, 1912. My body was never recovered. Twenty-four days after the sinking, my brother’s wife Annie gave birth to a son. They named my nephew William in my honor.

I believe I didn’t make it because I was only Second Class. Only 43% of Second Class passengers survived the sinking of Titanic. 63% of First Class passengers survived. Only 25% of Third Class steerage passengers survived.

•••

No, this is not some kind of past-life regression. I, Stephen, “became” William Gilbert when I was handed a Boarding Pass at the Titanic Artifacts Exhibition, which we recently attended at the Foxwoods Hotel and Casino in Connecticut. Each visitor, as part of the tour, is given a Boarding Pass which includes the name of a real Titanic passenger and a brief story of how he or she ended up on Titanic. At the end of the tour, you visit the dimly-lit Memorial Room where you learn if your passenger lived or died. My passenger, William Gilbert, didn’t make it.

April 15, 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. I am currently updating my book, The Complete Titanic, and we visited the Artifacts Exhibition as research for the new edition. We were granted special permission to take photos inside the Exhibition for inclusion in the book.

Artifacts we saw included an actual porthole from the ship (with a giant crack through its glass), a leather purse with a satin lining that looked as new as the day it was made, dishes, letters, parts of the ship’s engine, and a man’s grey hounds tooth suit. We also saw the giant model of the wreck that James Cameron borrowed to use in his movie version of the Titanic story, 1997’s Titanic.

The Exhibition also has an ice wall shaped like the iceberg that sunk the Titanic. The helpful attendants at the Exhibition tell everyone, “Be sure you touch the iceberg.” This gives one a sense of the temperatures of the water that night when there was no moon, and the “unsinkable” Titanic sank.

The Exhibition we visited is one of seven touring Titanic Artifact Exhibitions. The largest one is the permanent Exhibition at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. That one has the “Big Piece” (a piece of the ship’s hull) on display, as well as an actual size reproduction of the Grand Staircase, corridors, and staterooms.

I’m adding eight new chapters to my book and updating a dozen more. We’re also adding close to 100 new photos for The Complete Titanic: The Centennial Edition, which I tried to make the definitive historical account of the sinking.

I’ll be posting Titanic news and the updated Table of Contents here at some point as we get nearer to publication.

In the meantime, I can’t help but reflect on 47-year-old William Gilbert — did his friends call him Bill? Or Billy? Or Will? — and how excited he must have been to set foot on Titanic. Sure, he could only afford a Second Class ticket, but Second Class on Titanic was almost as good as First Class on some other ships. I wonder how long did it take for his sister to get the news that he wouldn’t be coming home to Butte?

The story of Titanic is very sad. Twenty lifeboats, capable of carrying 1,178 people, for a ship carrying over 1,500 people? Today, that would be unconscionable, yet when Titanic was built there was more concern as to how the decks would look instead of the safety issues. The 32 lifeboats Titanic could have carried would have made the decks look “cluttered.” This was the prevailing opinion; thus, twenty lifeboats was deemed enough. And what makes it even worse is that the lifeboat boarding procedure was grandly screwed up: lifeboats were launched with far fewer people than their capacity.  An additional 500 people could have fit in the lifeboats. People died needlessly.
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One of my favorite West Wing scenes.


10:00 am, Election Day. People on Jed Bartlet’s staff are acting and talking like they’ve already won.  

SAM:  We won. We don't have to pander.
TOBY:  Please don't say that. I'm not kidding.
CJ:  What are you babbling about?
TOBY:  We haven't won anything yet.
CJ: The speech is done.
TOBY:  Two speeches are done.
CJ:  What's the second?
TOBY:  I've got a speech if he wins. I've got a speech if he doesn't.
SAM:  You wrote a concession?
TOBY:  Of course I wrote a concession. You want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing?
SAM:  No …
TOBY:  Then go outside, turn around three times, and spit. What the hell’s the matter with you?
SAM:  It's, like, 25 degrees outside.
TOBY:  Go!

Sam sits down. Josh enters.

JOSH:  Hello.
CJ (mockingly):  Oh, Mr. Lyman, I see your picture in the magazine. Tell me, if I swallow my ballot …
JOSH:  A little Election Day humor. That’s great. I enjoyed that.
SAM:  He wrote a concession speech.
JOSH:  Of course, he wrote a concession speech. Why wouldn't he? What possible reason would he have for not writing a concession speech?
SAM:  The wrath from high atop the thing.
TOBY:  He up and said we were gonna …
JOSH:  No! You gotta go outside, turn around three times, and curse.
TOBY:  Spit.
JOSH:  Spit and curse.
TOBY:  Do everything. Go!
JOSH:  Go!

Sam flees to go outside.  After a few minutes he returns.

CJ:  You can't be too careful.
SAM:  I think you can.


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These two guys, Sam Tsui and Kurt Schnedier go to Yale. They record covers of songs and post them on YouTube. Some of them have to be seen to be believed, especially the a capella Michael Jackson medley. And their cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" brings back memories of the last episode of The Sopranos, doesn't it? :)

Don't Stop Believing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIoSTbPt_PI&feature=channel

Michael Jackson medly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R12QVtuB0_Q&NR=1

Lady Gaga acoustic medley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoNdr0AbttI
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Candy 01/05/2010
 
I heard about the death of an old friend today. Rest in peace, Candy.


I AM NOT HERE  

Don't stand by my grave and weep,
For I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint of snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning, hush.
For I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circle flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die.

Hopi Grief Song
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A new chapter from "635 Things I Learned from The Sopranos" is now up on the site. It's the "Crime, the Cops, and legal Matters" chapter. Hope you like it!
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Nurse Jackie 01/04/2010
 
I'm a fan of the Showtime series Nurse Jackie, starring Edie Falco. I think it's a smart, dark comedy and that Jackie Peyton is a worthy successor to Carmela Soprano for Edie Falco. Not too crazy about the opening credits, though.
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Photo Corners 01/03/2010
 
Photo corners come in packages of 24, in 4 designs. There are 6 corners in each design. This means that you can do one photo using 4 corners from each design, and then you have 2 left over.

The reason for this? To make you buy 2 packages.
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Tony: "Well, I am improving. I mean, you gotta participate joyfully in the suffering of the world...."
Dr. Melfi: "Your thoughts have kind of an Eastern flavor to them."
Tony:  "Well... I've lived in Jersey my whole life."
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This is for my Spring 2010 E110 students at the University of New Haven. Every semester, I offer a list of books to read and write a report on for Extra Credit.

This semester, it's an "All Stephen King" list. You can pick one book from the following list and you have until Friday, April 23, 2010, to read it and write a 500-word analytical review. Remember, as always, I don't want just a synopsis. I want the book analyzed based on its literary elements as learned in class.

Carrie
Cell
Christine
Cujo
The Dead Zone
Dolores Claiborne
Everything's Eventual (must write about 5 stories)
Eyes of the Dragon
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
The Long Walk
Misery
Nightmares and Dreamscapes (must write about 5 stories)
Pet Sematary
Skeleton Crew (must write about 5 stories)
Thinner


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