It’s crazy windy today and, because my office is situated directly across from a brick building that is separated by a narrow walkway, that breeze is howling through the eaves. Sounds like a congregation of tortured souls screaming for mercy.
Yikes. Too much Ted Bundy for me.
I’m referring to the Netflix series, Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, that began live-streaming on the 30th anniversary of his execution last week. I have long been fascinated with the notorious serial killer and remember watching the television miniseries about Bundy, The Deliberate Stranger starring Mark Harmon, back in 1986. I think it’s the idea that somebody so intelligent, witty, articulate, and unassuming can commit such depravity. Then again, I also closely followed the Green River Killer case and Gary Ridgway is the complete opposite of Ted Bundy, so maybe it’s just an overall lurid interest in true crime. I am a self-admitted Dateline NBC addict, after all.
In any case, I devoured the four-part special over the weekend and paid for it in my dreams last night. Not a nightmare per se, but a strange narrative in which a nameless and faceless “they” were trying to strap me to equipment and kill me and I kept trying to escape, eventually finding freedom by simply walking out the front door. Pretty easy to match up that symbolism with the Netflix doc I’d just watched (the electric chair/Bundy’s escape out a window). The psyche is a powerful thing.
All I know is, I need to watch Mary Poppins or something equally wholesome tonight.
Aside from watching documentaries about psychotic bipolar killers, our weekend was fairly low-key. Spent most of Saturday at the Journey Museum and Learning Center, the perfect way to while away a 37-degree day that was spitting snow. Regular admission is $12 but they were selling movie tickets for $10 that included free museum admission. We could have bought the movie tix, skipped the film, and still come out ahead, but we decided to check it out – and were glad we did! “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” is a drama adopted from an acclaimed novel and is about…
A white author who is summoned by a Lakota Elder who asks him to write a book about his perspective. After a blundering false start, he is all but kidnapped and sucked into a road trip through the heart of the contemporary Native American landscape.
Cutting and pasting was easier than explaining in my own words. It’s not like I’m a writer or anything! Oh, wait…
In any case, we enjoyed the film quite a bit. It’s poignant, emotional, and humorous. And very much a South Dakota movie, filmed on location at the Pine Ridge reservation. The book has 4.3 stars on Goodreads and is the first in a series, so I may need to pick it up sometime.
Afterwards, we grabbed an early dinner at Sickie’s Garage, a small regional chain that boasts over 50 burgers. After much deliberation, we chose the following:
Both were excellent.
Sunday was super warm; the temperature approached 60 before gusty winds kicked in. A few hours later, it was snowing. So typical of this area! It will be 13 degrees on Tuesday and 48 on Friday.
At least there’s plenty of variety as the temperature swings between kinda cold, cold, and cold AF.
Mark My Words 
Mark, I too have long been fascinated with Ted Bundy and what made him tick. I’ve not seen this Netflix series yet, but over the years I’ve watched many taped interviews with him while on trial and also in prison. I saw the final interview he gave right before he was executed. I was also still living in Florida on the day he was executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison. I will always remember that day because I was at work and we all watched it on the news on the television we had in the break room.
The whole “Ted Bundy” thing is so utterly chilling to me because on the outside he looked like a totally normal, good-looking guy.
“Sunday was super warm; the temperature approached 60 before gusty winds kicked in. A few hours later, it was snowing. So typical of this area! It will be 13 degrees on Tuesday and 48 on Friday.”
We’ve had the same bipolar weather. However, I am soooooooo happy that this week the temps will be FREEZING. Thursday (on my day off) it will be single digits. YAHOO!
Have a great week, my friend!
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What struck me most about Bundy’s execution was the mob mentality of the crowds gathered across from the prison. They were even selling t-shirts (“Tuesday is Fry Day”). I have never been opposed to the death penalty, but that all left a bad taste in my mouth.
Glad you’re getting some cold weather finally. Enjoy, my friend!
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We are supposed to be below zero all day tomorrow, with wind chills at -35. The city is emailing and leaving voicemails about no garbage pick up or other city services, which never happens. And now I see 50 degrees on Monday. Lol!
I can’t handle watching any of those true crime shows because I will have nightmares. But I am interested in the psychology aspect. Did something happen in his childhood?
Sickie’s is just a weird name!
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We’re on the western fringes of the “polar plunge” so other than one slightly below-zero morning, we shouldn’t be too bad. Hope you stay warm!
Bundy grew up thinking his mother was his sister and was told his grandparents were his parents, something he believed until he found his birth certificate and learned he was illegitimate. Definitely a lot for a child to process. Not that any of it is an excuse, of course.
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Not an excuse, but I’m fascinated with the nature vs nurture aspect.
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