I am 77, and my vision and physical condition make me damned near UNEMPLOYABLE. Other than a few donations from friends, who have literally KEPT ME ALIVE, my SOLE income is from Social Security.
My assets amount to an apartment full of junk (SOME of which no longer even WORKS, but is difficult for me to take downstairs to the dumpster in my condition) that is WORTHLESS to anyone who would choose to SEIZE it ... and a 19 yr old used car that is UNDRIVEABLE and would take several thousand dollars to fix (I'd HOPED that the VA could fix my eyes well enough for me to be able to WORK again and start putting my LIFE back together; but THAT was NOT TO BE).
If you choose to haul me into court, there is NOTHING in that process that will magically conjure up money THAT DOES NOT EXIST.
I am ALREADY being sued by ANOTHER collector, for a much smaller amount that is EQUALLY IMPOSSIBLE for me to pay. That process might well succeed in KILLING me via stroke or heart failure, but it won't PROFIT them in the least.
When things started GOING TO HELL two years ago (eye problems I thought were cataracts (but included permanent optic nerve damage from glaucoma) costing me the part-time grocery cashier income supplementing my Social Security) I stopped using my credit cards, DESTROYED them, and STOPPED PAYING ON THEM (as I simply COULDN'T).
For a LOOOONG time, I received emails and voicemails about this, from the creditors, and THEN from various collectors, but THAT was ALL.
I honestly DOUBTED they would REALLY do ANYTHING else; I may have LOTS of various opinions about creditors and collectors, but STUPID ain't one of them.
So, before hauling me into court, I hereby URGE you to INVESTIGATE the Hell out of me. If those investigators are worth even a fraction of what you'll pay them, they'll advise AGAINST pouring time and money into THAT rathole. I have absolutely NOTHING that is WORTH A DAMN to you; and THEY will CONFIRM that!!!
FYI
Paul Gordon
3433 West Dallas St, Apt 1102, Houston, Texas 77019
email: gordonp@airmail.net
2307
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Showing posts with label Opinions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Opinions. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Saturday, November 09, 2019
To ALL Veterans ... with LOVE ;-)
Paul Gordon - Ex United States AIR FORCE. ;-)
NOTE: I was BORN Paul Gordon Binkley (Legally changing it to Paul Gordon on 26 OCT 1966) and THAT is how I was known to buddies in the USAF ...
(Originally posted late November 2018;
and reposted 2254 CDT 04 MAY 2019)
and reposted 2254 CDT 04 MAY 2019)
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Tuesday, August 06, 2019
.44 Special ...
06 AUG 2019 UPDATE - After its seizure (noted in I'm sorry. We're closing now) - GOT it BACK!!!
In October of 2000, fearing a possible Al Gore victory over George W. Bush (Gore being a gun-control fanatic), and preferring something without a paper trail associated with it, I acquired THIS ...
That is an old model Charter Arms Bulldog 5-shot revolver, with a 3" barrel, in .44 S&W Special caliber.
That target shows the first five rounds I put through it, at ten yards, firing double-action (a misnomer actually, but it's commonly used to describe firing a revolver without cocking it first; just using a long pull of the trigger*).
That flyer (the one furthest from the rest of the group) was the fifth one. With a .44 Special in such a light gun, the recoil is a very sharp slap that will sting the palm of your hand; not a fun gun to shoot. But it satisfied me that it should certainly get the job done.
As for my ammunition of choice, I favor ...
from smith-wessonforum.com
... because it's reliable, accurate, and falls into the "will get the job done" category.
And before anyone warns me that "lots of indoor ranges ban the use of Blazer ammunition as unsafe, blows up guns (often showing spectacular pictures of blown-up revolvers)", well know this ...
A lot of police departments throughout the country use this ammunition, for budgetary reasons. While the quality of their rangemasters may vary quite a bit, I suspect that most of those departments are very knowledgeable on lawsuits. That they keep using it is to me a pretty good sign.
I think that what indoor shooting ranges really hate about Blazer is that they sweep up the fired cartridge cases and reload them. The Blazer rounds use aluminum cases, which don't re-size as well as the brass used by most other manufacturers. They also use Berdan primers (needing a special two-pronged decapping tool) instead of the more commonly used (over here) Boxer primer that can use a single pin though a center hole for removing the old primer.
All that trouble probably keeps them from making a profit on reloading the Blazer cartridges.
I've never encountered an outdoor shooting range that had any problem with shooters using the Blazer ammunition. They probably don't collect and reload the cases because it may be more trouble than it's worth to separate and clean them from the dirt, rocks and other debris on the ground there.)
(* - Ok, then. What does "double-action" really mean? It means there are two ways to fire the weapon.
One: Cock the hammer first, allowing you to fire it with a light pull of the trigger, usually more accurate.
Two: Use a long (usually heavy and rough, although it varies greatly among different weapons) pull of the trigger, to raise the hammer and then release it in one motion. This is fastest, but not always very accurate. Mileage varies greatly among different weapons. Some Smith & Wesson models have very good and smooth trigger pulls when used this way, as does that Charter Arms Bulldog of mine.
So, one of the greatest misnomers is a weapon described as DAO (Double Action Only) when it in fact has just a single mode of being fired: by pulling the trigger to cock and release the hammer.
Ain't semantics wonderful? :-)
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Thursday, July 25, 2019
"... Time to die."
On January 23, 1944 in Breukelen, Utrecht, Netherlands, was born Rutger Hauer: an amazing actor, once referred to as "a Dutch Paul Newman".
His IMDb page (linked to his name above) shows 173 credits, but it was Paul Verhoeven's Soldier of Orange (1977), about the Dutch Resistance in WW2, that introduced him to me ...
In The Hitcher (1986) he was a chilling psychopath (more of an elemental force than a man), who seemed to have stepped right out of a Stephen King novel. HIGHLY Recommended ...
But MY favorite of his many roles is the replicant Roy Batty, in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) ...
Although an adversary (NOT a villain), he is nothing less than the heart and soul of this movie about a soulless future; facing his (ENGINEERED) demise thusly ...
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time ... like tears in rain ... Time to die."
27 JUL 2019 - Piece of trivia found on IMDb ...
Rutger Hauer came up with many inventive ideas for his characterization, like the moment where he grabs and fondles a dove. He also improvised the now-iconic line "All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain". He later chose "All those moments" as the title of his autobiography.
He left us on July 19, 2019 (age 75) in Beetsterzwaag, Netherlands.
RIP Sir; you WILL be missed! :(
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His IMDb page (linked to his name above) shows 173 credits, but it was Paul Verhoeven's Soldier of Orange (1977), about the Dutch Resistance in WW2, that introduced him to me ...
Cropped from image at https://www.filmlinc.org/films/soldier-of-orange/
In The Hitcher (1986) he was a chilling psychopath (more of an elemental force than a man), who seemed to have stepped right out of a Stephen King novel. HIGHLY Recommended ...
But MY favorite of his many roles is the replicant Roy Batty, in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) ...
27 JUL 2019 - Piece of trivia found on IMDb ...
Rutger Hauer came up with many inventive ideas for his characterization, like the moment where he grabs and fondles a dove. He also improvised the now-iconic line "All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain". He later chose "All those moments" as the title of his autobiography.
RIP Sir; you WILL be missed! :(
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Sunday, May 05, 2019
Shaking our tree.
- 04 Oct 1957 - SPUTNIK!!!
This little dingbat scared the Hell out of many of us then ...
Nothing but a polished metal sphere of 585 mm (23 inches) diameter with a mass of 83.6 kilograms (184 lb) and carrying only a radio transmitter, it definitely got our attention.
THEY got there FIRST! Oh, Man!!!
You see, those were the thrilling days of yesteryear when the Soviet Union was ruled by Nikita "We will bury you" Khrushchev who, just the year before, had sent columns of tanks into Hungary to crush a rebellion there (just his way of stating "THAT is a NO-NO!").
The days of "Duck and cover" drills in public schools (not at all insane; if a nuke hit several miles away instead of on top of you, that could make the difference between surviving versus being shredded by glass blown in by the shock wave if all you did was just stand there and gawk at the explosion. Nukes are powerful, but not infinitely powerful. They can be survived, and have been. See reports of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for hard evidence. (Although, in an essay on civil defense, Robert A. Heinlein advocated situational awareness (paying attention to what's going on in the world) and summed up surviving the bomb in seven words: "Don't BE there, when it goes off!" ))
That innocent looking thing was placed into orbit by ...
... the R-7 launcher (for a long time referred to as T-3), which evolved from an ICBM whose primary purpose was to transport a thermonuclear bomb from Point A (somewhere in the Soviet Union) to Point B (somewhere in the USA).
The local newspapers ...
... published times of when to see it in the morning or evening, when it would be brightly lit by the sun.
To read or hear about the Soviets (listening to the radio when they were stomping on the rebellion in Hungary was heart-wrenching) while they were on the other side of the world was bad enough, but a bit abstract.
To walk out into your back yard and actually see this bright little silver dot in the sky slowly moving overhead, and realizing there they are; well, that's a whole 'nother story.
(Originally published 1239 CST, 03 OCT 2012)
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This little dingbat scared the Hell out of many of us then ...
from citizenship typepad.com
Nothing but a polished metal sphere of 585 mm (23 inches) diameter with a mass of 83.6 kilograms (184 lb) and carrying only a radio transmitter, it definitely got our attention.
THEY got there FIRST! Oh, Man!!!
You see, those were the thrilling days of yesteryear when the Soviet Union was ruled by Nikita "We will bury you" Khrushchev who, just the year before, had sent columns of tanks into Hungary to crush a rebellion there (just his way of stating "THAT is a NO-NO!").
The days of "Duck and cover" drills in public schools (not at all insane; if a nuke hit several miles away instead of on top of you, that could make the difference between surviving versus being shredded by glass blown in by the shock wave if all you did was just stand there and gawk at the explosion. Nukes are powerful, but not infinitely powerful. They can be survived, and have been. See reports of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for hard evidence. (Although, in an essay on civil defense, Robert A. Heinlein advocated situational awareness (paying attention to what's going on in the world) and summed up surviving the bomb in seven words: "Don't BE there, when it goes off!" ))
That innocent looking thing was placed into orbit by ...
from on6wj-sputnik.blogspot.com
... the R-7 launcher (for a long time referred to as T-3), which evolved from an ICBM whose primary purpose was to transport a thermonuclear bomb from Point A (somewhere in the Soviet Union) to Point B (somewhere in the USA).
The local newspapers ...
San Antonio Light, 05 Oct 1957 - from newspaperarchive.com
... published times of when to see it in the morning or evening, when it would be brightly lit by the sun.
To read or hear about the Soviets (listening to the radio when they were stomping on the rebellion in Hungary was heart-wrenching) while they were on the other side of the world was bad enough, but a bit abstract.
To walk out into your back yard and actually see this bright little silver dot in the sky slowly moving overhead, and realizing there they are; well, that's a whole 'nother story.
(Originally published 1239 CST, 03 OCT 2012)
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Saturday, March 23, 2019
Financial Perspective ...
When I was a kid in the 1950s, BEFORE drug lords, middle-eastern dictators, and Russian oligarchs, one of the richest men on earth was Dallas oilman J. Paul Getty. Supposedly, some newsman asked him if he was REALLY worth a BILLION dollars; to which he supposedly replied, "That's probably true. BUT, you have to keep in mind that a billion doesn't go as far as it USED to. "
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Friday, March 22, 2019
A Matter of Scale - UK vs Texas ...
I LOVE this pic I found online, EXCEPT for the Irish rotation (which I NOTED on the pic) ...
Of course, it all depends on PERSPECTIVE.
Scotland looks so small HERE (and on most maps), BUT. seen up close, or as shown in the James Bond film Skyfall (2012), it just seems to go on FOREVER.
All a matter of perspective. ;-)
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Of course, it all depends on PERSPECTIVE.
Scotland looks so small HERE (and on most maps), BUT. seen up close, or as shown in the James Bond film Skyfall (2012), it just seems to go on FOREVER.
All a matter of perspective. ;-)
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Sunday, February 17, 2019
PHISHING:
noun
the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers. "an email that is likely a phishing scam"
You probably get some (maybe a LOT) of THESE in your email ...
NOT many WORDS this time; what's ABOVE is probably OBVIOUS to MOST of you.
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Thursday, November 15, 2018
A Roundel ...
... for folks who just DON'T take themselves all THAT seriously. ;-)
From the Royal Australian Air Force ( https://www.airforce.gov.au/about-us/your-air-force/roundel ) ...
I think it takes SOME VERY COOL GUYS to adopt something like THIS to go on their warbirds; guys who just DON'T take themselves all THAT seriously. ;-)
From the Royal Australian Air Force ( https://www.airforce.gov.au/about-us/your-air-force/roundel ) ...
A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. In order to identify aircraft, the Royal Australian Air Force initially adopted the Royal Air Force's red, white and blue roundel.
During World War II, when an 11 Squadron Catalina was mistaken for a Japanese aircraft by a United States Navy Wildcat, the red inner circle was removed, but re-introduced after the war.
On 2 July 1956, the red kangaroo ‘in motion' was chosen as the most popular centrepiece from a range of other options (including the Southern Cross, a boomerang and a sprig of wattle). It has been displayed with pride, not only on aircraft, but on various promotional material since 1982.
The kangaroo within the Air Force Roundel always faces to the left except when used on aircraft or vehicles, when the kangaroo should always face the front of the aircraft or vehicle.
Copyright
Copyright restrictions apply to the use of any Royal Australian Air Force logo. They are protected nationally and internationally by the Defence Act 1903, Trade Marks Act 1995 and the Chester Herald Act 1939.
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Thursday, January 14, 2016
"... and call off Christmas!!!" - (R.I.P. Alan Rickman - 14 JAN 2016)
There actually was something really good in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991).
That something was Alan Rickman, as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
In a previous post, I kinda dumped on The Syfy Channel a bit, for the inclusion of distinctly non-science fiction items in its lineup, including that movie.
(In a conversation with a clerk at Barnes & Noble, I learned that a writer, asking one of the people running The Syfy Channel about why they had changed their name from The "Sci-Fi Channel", was told that "Sci-Fi" is considered shorthand for "Science-Fiction", implying that would be the content; whereas "Syfy" is in fact just a totally meaningless bit of noise, and gives them license to schedule whatever they wish. Okay ... )
Back to Alan then.
Of all the people in this movie, he alone appears to be actually having fun, being so deliciously nasty.
After the Sheriff has said he'll cut out Robin Hood's heart with a spoon ...
Guy of Gisborne: "Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?"
Sheriff: "Because it's DULL, you twit. It'll hurt more."
(Said with a sneer that only Alan Rickman can manage; he has an absolute lock on that.)
Sheriff: (to a wench) "You. My room. 10:30 tonight."
Sheriff: (to another wench) "You. 10:45 ... And bring a friend."
Upon hearing from a scribe about the relationship Robin Hood has with the people...
Sheriff: "Just a minute. Robin Hood steals money from my pocket, forcing me to hurt the public, -- and they love him for it?"
The scribe nods.
Sheriff: "That's it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, -- and call off Christmas!!!"
One thing I'll always wonder: Was that last parting shot scripted?
Or, was Rickman on a roll at that time and he just ad-libbed it?
At times, he seems to be in an entirely different movie than the rest of the cast is, and almost succeeds in making this bloated epic truly watchable. Unfortunately, as with Ian McShane in the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, he can't do the job all by himself.
What put him on the map was his role as Hans Gruber (one of the all-time great villains) in Die Hard (1988), opposite Bruce Willis...
Problem with getting on the map that way is the danger of typecasting. In Quigly Down Under (1990), opposite Tom Selleck, he played a villain with a mustache almost fit for twirling. He seemed to be at the top of any list for playing a back-stabbing, conniving SOB, and got quite a bit of work as such.
But, that's not the only side to him. Right after "Quigly", he appeared in Truly Madly Deeply (1990), wherein he was a ghost hanging around his girlfriend who really needed to get on with her life, but found it a bit difficult with him and his ghost friends around all the time, watching videos (what else do you do with all that time in the afterlife?) It was a sweet, warm role totally unexpected for the guy who played Hans Gruber.
His latest work has been as Professor Severus Snape, the "Darth Vader" of the Harry Potter series...
He's actually the most tragic figure in the story, very multi-layered (Yes! I'm quite aware that I use that phrase a lot; I'm drawn to characters that rate it). Rickman succeeds in the challenge of taking a character you've learned to hate, and making you almost weep for him near the end of the last movie.
What can I say? The man is simply so damned good.
(Originally published 2102 CST 08 AUG 2011)
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UPDATE Thursday, 14 JAN 2016: I've just learned that Alan Rickman has left us today...
... FAR TOO SOON. Rest in peace, Sir. :-(
For his LAST performance in a live-action film ...
A FINE way to go out!
frown emoticon
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That something was Alan Rickman, as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
from www.fanpop.com
In a previous post, I kinda dumped on The Syfy Channel a bit, for the inclusion of distinctly non-science fiction items in its lineup, including that movie.
(In a conversation with a clerk at Barnes & Noble, I learned that a writer, asking one of the people running The Syfy Channel about why they had changed their name from The "Sci-Fi Channel", was told that "Sci-Fi" is considered shorthand for "Science-Fiction", implying that would be the content; whereas "Syfy" is in fact just a totally meaningless bit of noise, and gives them license to schedule whatever they wish. Okay ... )
Back to Alan then.
Of all the people in this movie, he alone appears to be actually having fun, being so deliciously nasty.
After the Sheriff has said he'll cut out Robin Hood's heart with a spoon ...
Guy of Gisborne: "Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?"
Sheriff: "Because it's DULL, you twit. It'll hurt more."
(Said with a sneer that only Alan Rickman can manage; he has an absolute lock on that.)
Sheriff: (to a wench) "You. My room. 10:30 tonight."
Sheriff: (to another wench) "You. 10:45 ... And bring a friend."
Upon hearing from a scribe about the relationship Robin Hood has with the people...
Sheriff: "Just a minute. Robin Hood steals money from my pocket, forcing me to hurt the public, -- and they love him for it?"
The scribe nods.
Sheriff: "That's it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, -- and call off Christmas!!!"
One thing I'll always wonder: Was that last parting shot scripted?
Or, was Rickman on a roll at that time and he just ad-libbed it?
At times, he seems to be in an entirely different movie than the rest of the cast is, and almost succeeds in making this bloated epic truly watchable. Unfortunately, as with Ian McShane in the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, he can't do the job all by himself.
What put him on the map was his role as Hans Gruber (one of the all-time great villains) in Die Hard (1988), opposite Bruce Willis...
from aveleyman.com
Problem with getting on the map that way is the danger of typecasting. In Quigly Down Under (1990), opposite Tom Selleck, he played a villain with a mustache almost fit for twirling. He seemed to be at the top of any list for playing a back-stabbing, conniving SOB, and got quite a bit of work as such.
But, that's not the only side to him. Right after "Quigly", he appeared in Truly Madly Deeply (1990), wherein he was a ghost hanging around his girlfriend who really needed to get on with her life, but found it a bit difficult with him and his ghost friends around all the time, watching videos (what else do you do with all that time in the afterlife?) It was a sweet, warm role totally unexpected for the guy who played Hans Gruber.
His latest work has been as Professor Severus Snape, the "Darth Vader" of the Harry Potter series...
from www.examiner.com
He's actually the most tragic figure in the story, very multi-layered (Yes! I'm quite aware that I use that phrase a lot; I'm drawn to characters that rate it). Rickman succeeds in the challenge of taking a character you've learned to hate, and making you almost weep for him near the end of the last movie.
What can I say? The man is simply so damned good.
(Originally published 2102 CST 08 AUG 2011)
-
UPDATE Thursday, 14 JAN 2016: I've just learned that Alan Rickman has left us today...
... FAR TOO SOON. Rest in peace, Sir. :-(
For his LAST performance in a live-action film ...
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
"NEVER tell a soldier ... (Updated 28 JUN 2016)
... that he does not know the cost of war."
~Alan Rickman as Lt. General Frank Benson in Eye in the Sky (2015)
~Alan Rickman as Lt. General Frank Benson in Eye in the Sky (2015)
frown emoticon
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Monday, September 14, 2015
THIS you can trust.
... the philosophy of movie director John Milius.
The director of Dillinger (1973), Conan the Barbarian (1982) and The Wind and The Lion (1975) also wrote the screenplays for these, plus Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) and bits of Jaws (1975) and Apocalypse Now (1979) .
He was a great believer in taking care of things yourself.
Conan the Barbarian opens with the casting, forging and tempering of Conan's father's sword, and concludes with the father telling a very young Conan ...
"Fire and wind come from the sky,"from the Gods of the sky.
"But Crom is your God,
"Crom, and he lives in the Earth."
"Once giants lived in the Earth, Conan.
"And in the darkness of chaos...
"they fooled Crom,
"and they took from him the enigma of steel."
"Crom was angered,
"and the Earth shook.
"And fire and wind struck down those giants,
"and they threw their bodies into the waters."
"But in their rage,
"the Gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield."
"And we who found it...
"are just men.
"Not Gods. Not giants.
"Just men."
"And the secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery."
"You must learn its riddle, Conan.
"You must learn its discipline."
"For no one,
"no one in this world can you trust;
"not men, not women, not beasts."
(Pointing to his sword):
"THIS you can trust."
The script for Conan is credited to Milius AND to Oliver Stone, but what I've seen of his movies tells me that speech above is pure John Milius, and describes perfectly his philosophy of life,
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Friday, July 11, 2014
Memorial
Found THIS in a tumblr porn blog, of all places ...
In my earlier engineering career (1964-1984), one of my co-workers had a coffee cup I wanted very much, but I could never find one like it.
I wanted it because of a quote that was on it; a quote I later learned came from the Peanuts comic strip, by Linus van Pelt (Lucy's kid brother; the one with the security blanket):
"I love mankind; it's people I can't stand."
That sentiment seemed to perfectly fit that co-worker, it fit ME at times, and I suspect the subject of that memorial was on the same page with both of us. :-)
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In my earlier engineering career (1964-1984), one of my co-workers had a coffee cup I wanted very much, but I could never find one like it.
I wanted it because of a quote that was on it; a quote I later learned came from the Peanuts comic strip, by Linus van Pelt (Lucy's kid brother; the one with the security blanket):
"I love mankind; it's people I can't stand."
That sentiment seemed to perfectly fit that co-worker, it fit ME at times, and I suspect the subject of that memorial was on the same page with both of us. :-)
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Monday, December 23, 2013
"Bah. Humbug!" :-)
There are three absolutely perfect movies for Christmas. This is about one of them.
First, of course, is Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946), starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a bank officer who attempts suicide in desperation after losing a large sum of money entrusted to him. He is saved by Clarence, a guardian angel tasked with convincing George that the world would not really be better off without him.
Clarence: "We don't have money in Heaven."
George: "Well, it comes in mighty handy down here, Bub."
Second is Bob Clark's A Christmas Story (1983), about Ralphie's desperate quest to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, against all obstacles ("You'll shoot your eye out!").
And then, I found this at Walmart, on their $5.00 shelf ...
A Christmas Carol (1984), a made for TV movie that I saw when it was broadcast in 1984, and which I recalled as being pretty damned good, with George C. Scott just maybe being the finest incarnation of Ebeneezer Scrooge that I ever saw.
That recollection was validated when I watched this DVD. I love it when I get occasional reassurance that my memory is just fine. :-)
Although temporarily upstaged by Edward Woodward as The Ghost of Christmas Present ...
First, of course, is Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946), starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a bank officer who attempts suicide in desperation after losing a large sum of money entrusted to him. He is saved by Clarence, a guardian angel tasked with convincing George that the world would not really be better off without him.
Clarence: "We don't have money in Heaven."
George: "Well, it comes in mighty handy down here, Bub."
Second is Bob Clark's A Christmas Story (1983), about Ralphie's desperate quest to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, against all obstacles ("You'll shoot your eye out!").
And then, I found this at Walmart, on their $5.00 shelf ...
A Christmas Carol (1984), a made for TV movie that I saw when it was broadcast in 1984, and which I recalled as being pretty damned good, with George C. Scott just maybe being the finest incarnation of Ebeneezer Scrooge that I ever saw.
That recollection was validated when I watched this DVD. I love it when I get occasional reassurance that my memory is just fine. :-)
Although temporarily upstaged by Edward Woodward as The Ghost of Christmas Present ...
Original photo from thomasorourkeactor.blogspot.com,
but considerably brightened by me
... this is George C. Scott's movie, and he is at his best. ...
From www.cedmagic.com
Find it, and give it a look.
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Tuesday, December 10, 2013
And that's all she wrote ...
Ever wonder how that phrase came to mean "It's over!" ?
No? Never?!!! Well, tough. I'm gonna tell you anyway.
It's from a Hank Williams song of late 1950 or early 1951 (Dear John), and each verse ended with that phrase and a chorus of 'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'.
To me, that's the big mystery of the song. 'I've sent your saddle home' is perfectly clear English. At 71, I just haven't been around long enough to understand its use here. I have searched and searched (and searched). In this matter, google is not your friend. All I've ever been able to accomplish is to verify that those are the actual lyrics. If any of you can answer, I'd love to hear from you.
As for "That's all she wrote" becoming synonymous with "It's over!", I think the verses make it pretty clear how. Especially the last one. :-)
Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)
Written by Aubrey Gass and Tex Ritter
Recorded by Hank Williams 12/21/1950
Well when I woke up this mornin'
There was a note upon my door
Said, 'Don't make me no coffee, babe
'Cause I won't be back no more'
And that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'
Now Jonah got along in the belly of the whale
Daniel in the lions' den
But I know a guy that didn't try to get along
And he won't get a chance again
And that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've fetched your saddle home)'
Now she didn't forward no address
Nor she didn't say goodbye
All she said was if you get blue
Just hang your little head and cry
An' that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'
Now my gal's short and stubby
She's strong as she can be
But if that little old gal of mine
Ever gets a hold of me
That's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'
Now Jonah got along in the belly of the whale
Daniel in the lions den
But I know a man that didn't try to get along
And he won't get a chance again
And that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've fetched your saddle home)'
Now I went down to the bank this morning
The cashier said with a grin
"I feel so sorry for you Hank
But your wife has done been in"
And that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'
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No? Never?!!! Well, tough. I'm gonna tell you anyway.
It's from a Hank Williams song of late 1950 or early 1951 (Dear John), and each verse ended with that phrase and a chorus of 'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'.
To me, that's the big mystery of the song. 'I've sent your saddle home' is perfectly clear English. At 71, I just haven't been around long enough to understand its use here. I have searched and searched (and searched). In this matter, google is not your friend. All I've ever been able to accomplish is to verify that those are the actual lyrics. If any of you can answer, I'd love to hear from you.
As for "That's all she wrote" becoming synonymous with "It's over!", I think the verses make it pretty clear how. Especially the last one. :-)
Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)
Written by Aubrey Gass and Tex Ritter
Recorded by Hank Williams 12/21/1950
Well when I woke up this mornin'
There was a note upon my door
Said, 'Don't make me no coffee, babe
'Cause I won't be back no more'
And that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'
Now Jonah got along in the belly of the whale
Daniel in the lions' den
But I know a guy that didn't try to get along
And he won't get a chance again
And that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've fetched your saddle home)'
Now she didn't forward no address
Nor she didn't say goodbye
All she said was if you get blue
Just hang your little head and cry
An' that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'
Now my gal's short and stubby
She's strong as she can be
But if that little old gal of mine
Ever gets a hold of me
That's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'
Now Jonah got along in the belly of the whale
Daniel in the lions den
But I know a man that didn't try to get along
And he won't get a chance again
And that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've fetched your saddle home)'
Now I went down to the bank this morning
The cashier said with a grin
"I feel so sorry for you Hank
But your wife has done been in"
And that's all she wrote
'Dear John (I've sent your saddle home)'
-
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Hamlet - (Corrected 01 SEP 2019)
I know, I KNOW! Someone has already written about this guy. So? :-)
Method in the Madness ...
Some of you have probably come across that phrase and wondered where it came from (or not).
Well, it comes from Hamlet, wherein Hamlet is a young prince of Denmark whose father (the King) has recently died. Uncle Claudius has ascended to the throne and married his mother (Queen Gertrude).
As Shakespeare's play opens, some friends of Hamlet tell him that the guards of the night watch have reported seeing an apparition, a ghost "very like the late King", wandering the battlements of Elsinore Castle in the wee hours before the dawn.
Hamlet goes to see, and the specter beckons him away from his friends and tells him that his death was not natural, that it was "MURDER, most foul" and that Claudius had poisoned him.
Hamlet vows bloody vengeance. He wants it to be so complete, that when he finds Claudius alone one night (unaware of Hamlet's presence because he's in the midst of meditation and prayer) Hamlet draws back, fearing that if he struck now, Claudius would be sent straight to Heaven. He not only wants the bastard DEAD; he wants him IN HELL!!!
But, Hamlet is not a kamikaze. Regicide carries some pretty stiff penalties. They come up with some pretty awful ways of doing you in; not out of mindless brutality, but out of very thoughtful deterrence meant to make it crystal that THAT is very definitely a NO-NO!
However, even in those medieval times, there had developed the idea that a person "not in his right mind" may not be responsible for his actions. So, Hamlet begins laying what would amount to an insanity defense by acting peculiar and going about muttering gibberish and nonsense.
(Now, I seriously doubt that, if he killed the King in that state, they would just let him go. I suspect that he would spend the rest of his days in a medieval version of an asylum, not very different from the worst cells in the dungeon, and might soon wish they had just killed him and gotten it over with. But, if he didn't think it all the way through, he wouldn't be the first.)
King Claudius has asked his adviser Polonius to keep an eye on Hamlet. He finds Hamlet buried in a book, and when he asks him what he is reading, Hamlet (who knows what Polonius is up to) tells him, "It says that old men ... (but I don't believe this) ...", openly mocking Polonius while pretending not to do so. Now, while Polonius often appears to only be full of platitudes (to his son, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be.", "To thine own self be true."), he is not stupid. Recognizing the mockery that Hamlet is pulling, he casts this aside to the audience, "Though this be madness, yet there is method in it."
The old boy smells a rat and is not completely sold on Hamlet's madness.
The old boy smells a rat and is not completely sold on Hamlet's madness.
Anyway, that's where the term comes from.
The "Lost" Hamlet ...
The first time I ever saw the play performed was in the mid 1960s, when I saw Hamlet at Elsinore (1964) broadcast on the local NET (National Education Television - precursor to PBS) station (Channel 8 in Houston).
It was a made for BBC Television production, filmed at the actual location the play is set in (Elsinore Castle, in Denmark) on black and white film. That choice was made because a lot of the location shots depended on whatever existing light there was, and black and white film was the only type fast enough to do the job. (It was a decade later before Stanley Kubrick could do something similar with color film when shooting Barry Lyndon. By then, color film speed had greatly improved, and he rented a hideously expensive camera lens from NASA that had a HUGE aperture in order to pull that off.) - See Correction - 01 SEP 2019 below.
This version of Hamlet had the absolutely finest performances of the two lead characters; Christopher Plummer as Hamlet and Robert Shaw as Claudius.
Plummer played the Dane as if he was genuinely mad, and Shaw as Claudius was sexy, charming, and dangerous as Hell. You could easily imagine Gertrude falling for him, much more than you would believe that for others who had that role.
After seeing it that time, I never even heard of it again for a long time. I looked all over when videos and DVDs came out, but to no avail. The movie was shot on film and transferred to videotape (in those days (before Beta and VHS), videotape was 35mm film stock, with a magnetic recording layer in place of film emulsion). Also, in those days, the BBC had a horrid habit of re-using those tapes; recording new material over whatever was there before.
Correction - 01 SEP 2019 - Some of that is WRONG. Don't recall original source of info but have learned, "This programme was recorded and edited on video tape (2" quadruplex) and not 'filmed'." The part about the BBC re-using the tapes IS correct; and THEY weren't the ONLY ones.
Correction - 01 SEP 2019 - Some of that is WRONG. Don't recall original source of info but have learned, "This programme was recorded and edited on video tape (2" quadruplex) and not 'filmed'." The part about the BBC re-using the tapes IS correct; and THEY weren't the ONLY ones.
Movies meant for theatrical release usually have hundreds (more often thousands) of copies made for distribution to theaters, greatly improving the chances that people can restore an old movie later on.
As this was a production meant for a showing on television, it was all too possible that not a single copy existed and that it was gone forever.
Found ...
After writing that, I searched on google for information and whatever images I could find, and came across this ...
I'm guessing that the original negative was available, or that a few 16mm prints may have been made (for schools). However they pulled it off, the BBC was able to remaster this movie, in time for a film festival in Sarasota, Florida, and then they issued a DVD in October 2011, which I now have.
Correction - 01 SEP 2019 - Steve Says:
February 19th, 2012 at 12:32 am
Correction - 01 SEP 2019 - Steve Says:
February 19th, 2012 at 12:32 am
The good news is that the BBC is releasing a lot of their vintage material on DVD, whatever they have in their archives after dumping or erasing a good percentage of it at the time (or so I’ve read). The even better news is that HAMLET AT ELSINORE is one of the productions that survived, and it was released on DVD last October.
I've now confirmed my 47 year old memory of how great those performances were, and you can too. Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, even some Walmarts have this.
Christopher Plummer as Hamlet -
from filmsworthwatching.blogspot.com
Robert Shaw as Claudius - from the DVD cover.
Enjoy! :-)
-
-
Saturday, June 01, 2013
Slim
"Target in sight! Where in Hell is Major Kong?" ...
Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece Dr. Strangelove (1964) is loaded with first-rate performances, from Peter Sellers (in three roles), Sterling Hayden, and George C. Scott.
But, the most iconic moment in the movie is owned by Slim Pickens riding that H-bomb to the target and into eternity.
How on earth did he even get there? By a combination of serendipity and pure accident.
Rodeo Days ...
Once upon a time, 12-year old Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. wanted to become a rodeo performer.
As he was born June 29, 1919, in Kingsburg, California (a bit south of Fresno), that time was probably 1931. Child Protective Services didn't even exist, child labor laws were different then and many children of that age worked for wages on farms and ranches so this was not at all unusual.
He told a manager of a rodeo that he had his father's permission as long as he didn't use his real name.
Supposedly, the manager told him that he might as well call himself "Slim Pickins" as that was all he could look forward to in wages on the rodeo circuit. Louis said that was just fine with him. The manager wrote down the name, spelling the last name with an "e" near the end instead of the "i", and thus came Slim Pickens into our world.
He did pretty well on the rodeo circuit, and became a rodeo clown; perhaps the most dangerous job in the profession. When a bull rider gets thrown, that bull may decide to wheel around and finish the job. If you are the clown, your duty is to get that bull's attention, draw him away from the thrown rider (to you instead), and Oh, by the way, because of that word "clown", try to entertain the crowd while running for your life.
He did that for almost twenty years, when his distinctive Oklahoma-Texas drawl (although he was pure Californian*), his height (6'-3") and general appearance got him in a role in Rocky Mountain (1950) starring Errol Flynn.
(* 01 DEC 2018 - Found THIS at https://truewestmagazine.com/slim-pickens/ : His father, Louis Sr., was from Texas, and his mother, Sally Mosher Turk, hailed from Missouri, which altogether explained his drawl. ;-)
The Days of the "Singing Cowboy" ...
Nope, I'm not aware of Slim ever singing, but that might have been interesting. In the 30's thru the 50's we had the likes of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, (even John Wayne went through this with other people dubbing in the singing (as he couldn't sing) and the guitar (as he couldn't play one either)).
In those times, the hero usually had a comic sidekick; often a bit murderous - The Cisco Kid (not even remotely like the cold eyed killer that O. Henry wrote of in "The Caballero's Way", from which the TV show claimed origin) had Pancho, whom the Kid had to keep from shooting anyone with whom they came in conflict, and Roy Rogers had George "Gabby" Hayes, who was equally ready to commit murder on occasion.
Among the ranks of the Singing Cowboys was Rex Allen, ...
... and Slim became his sidekick. While not so ready to ventilate people as the other sidekicks, if you wanted to make a new window in a saloon wall by putting someone through that wall, Slim (kinda slim in those days, with shoulders like a bull) was always willing to oblige. He did dozens of these and other comic roles until ...
"Calm down, Slim. There's someone I want you to meet" ...
Marlon Brando got involved with a western, One-Eyed Jacks (1961), he eventually went on to direct. I'm not going to spend much of this post on that movie, except for the essential parts that led to Strangelove.
There's a story, I've had no luck at all in confirming, that when Slim was called in to read for the part of Deputy Lon Dedrick, while waiting for the interview a cowboy type next to him began ragging him in various and insulting ways until Slim finally stood up and invited him outside to settle things; at which point Brando walked up, laughing, and told him, "Calm down, Slim. There's someone I want you to meet". That cowboy was one of the stuntmen and Brando was trying to see if Slim could be convincing as Dedrick (a cowardly bully and one mean son-of-a-bitch; quite a departure from his earlier roles). As Slim got the role, apparently he passed.
Part of the serendipity mentioned above was that Stanley Kubrick was originally set to direct, before he decided that he simply couldn't work with Brando and his (costly and time-consuming) quirks, and left the production. Kubrick had met Slim, seen him at work and would later remember him.
"Stay on the bomb run, boys. I'm gonna get those bomb-bay doors open if it hare-lips everybody in Bear Creek!" ...
I mentioned above that among the performances in Dr. Strangelove were three by Peter Sellers: RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (who's trying to deal with Sterling Hayden's General Jack D. Ripper), President of the United States Merkin Muffley, and Dr. Strangelove himself.
Sellers was also meant to play the B-52 pilot USAF Major T. J. "King" Kong. During the shoot, Sellers fell and badly sprained his ankle, making it very difficult (almost impossible) to work within the confined sets of various parts of the B-52.
Remembering Slim from his aborted One-Eyed Jacks experience, Kubrick thought he would be perfect and gave him a call. Slim responded by flying to London, only to discover that, OOPS!, he didn't even have a passport. Slight delay while the U.S. Embassy sorted that out. A lot of the Brits weren't quite sure what to make of him, thinking that his habit of going around in jeans and a cowboy hat was "method". Nope, that was just "Slim". :-) ...
After the experience with Strangelove, Slim noted that "the parts, the dressing rooms, and the paychecks all started getting bigger. It's amazing what a difference a single movie can sometimes make."
"What did you do before becoming a stock detective, Mr. Beige?"
"I was a horse thief."
"Why'd you quit?"
"I got caught." ...
That's from a very laid-back modern day western set in Montana, Rancho Deluxe (1975) in which Jack McKee (Jeff Bridges) and Cecil Colson (Sam Waterston, who much later played District Attorney Jack McCoy on "Law and Order") are low-grade cattle rustlers, poaching an occasional steer from a wealthy rancher and selling the meat.
When that rancher has had more than enough, he hires legendary former-rustler-turned-stock-detective Henry Beige (Slim) to deal with it. This is Slim's best role since Strangelove and is the main reason to give this one a look.
Slim left us on Dec 8, 1983 (after a long battle with a brain tumor), in Modesto, California. He was 64.
"When that man died, they broke the God-Damned mold."
That's from the movie Lone Star (1996), about someone else, but it sure applies here. As does this from the same movie ...
"Never be another like him!"
-
From thescoopblog.dallasnews.com
Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece Dr. Strangelove (1964) is loaded with first-rate performances, from Peter Sellers (in three roles), Sterling Hayden, and George C. Scott.
But, the most iconic moment in the movie is owned by Slim Pickens riding that H-bomb to the target and into eternity.
How on earth did he even get there? By a combination of serendipity and pure accident.
Rodeo Days ...
Once upon a time, 12-year old Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. wanted to become a rodeo performer.
As he was born June 29, 1919, in Kingsburg, California (a bit south of Fresno), that time was probably 1931. Child Protective Services didn't even exist, child labor laws were different then and many children of that age worked for wages on farms and ranches so this was not at all unusual.
He told a manager of a rodeo that he had his father's permission as long as he didn't use his real name.
Supposedly, the manager told him that he might as well call himself "Slim Pickins" as that was all he could look forward to in wages on the rodeo circuit. Louis said that was just fine with him. The manager wrote down the name, spelling the last name with an "e" near the end instead of the "i", and thus came Slim Pickens into our world.
He did pretty well on the rodeo circuit, and became a rodeo clown; perhaps the most dangerous job in the profession. When a bull rider gets thrown, that bull may decide to wheel around and finish the job. If you are the clown, your duty is to get that bull's attention, draw him away from the thrown rider (to you instead), and Oh, by the way, because of that word "clown", try to entertain the crowd while running for your life.
He did that for almost twenty years, when his distinctive Oklahoma-Texas drawl (although he was pure Californian*), his height (6'-3") and general appearance got him in a role in Rocky Mountain (1950) starring Errol Flynn.
(* 01 DEC 2018 - Found THIS at https://truewestmagazine.com/slim-pickens/ : His father, Louis Sr., was from Texas, and his mother, Sally Mosher Turk, hailed from Missouri, which altogether explained his drawl. ;-)
The Days of the "Singing Cowboy" ...
Nope, I'm not aware of Slim ever singing, but that might have been interesting. In the 30's thru the 50's we had the likes of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, (even John Wayne went through this with other people dubbing in the singing (as he couldn't sing) and the guitar (as he couldn't play one either)).
In those times, the hero usually had a comic sidekick; often a bit murderous - The Cisco Kid (not even remotely like the cold eyed killer that O. Henry wrote of in "The Caballero's Way", from which the TV show claimed origin) had Pancho, whom the Kid had to keep from shooting anyone with whom they came in conflict, and Roy Rogers had George "Gabby" Hayes, who was equally ready to commit murder on occasion.
Among the ranks of the Singing Cowboys was Rex Allen, ...
Slim Pickens and Rex Allen - from bobnolan-sop.net
... and Slim became his sidekick. While not so ready to ventilate people as the other sidekicks, if you wanted to make a new window in a saloon wall by putting someone through that wall, Slim (kinda slim in those days, with shoulders like a bull) was always willing to oblige. He did dozens of these and other comic roles until ...
"Calm down, Slim. There's someone I want you to meet" ...
As Deputy Lon Dedrick - enlarged from thelin.net
Marlon Brando got involved with a western, One-Eyed Jacks (1961), he eventually went on to direct. I'm not going to spend much of this post on that movie, except for the essential parts that led to Strangelove.
There's a story, I've had no luck at all in confirming, that when Slim was called in to read for the part of Deputy Lon Dedrick, while waiting for the interview a cowboy type next to him began ragging him in various and insulting ways until Slim finally stood up and invited him outside to settle things; at which point Brando walked up, laughing, and told him, "Calm down, Slim. There's someone I want you to meet". That cowboy was one of the stuntmen and Brando was trying to see if Slim could be convincing as Dedrick (a cowardly bully and one mean son-of-a-bitch; quite a departure from his earlier roles). As Slim got the role, apparently he passed.
Part of the serendipity mentioned above was that Stanley Kubrick was originally set to direct, before he decided that he simply couldn't work with Brando and his (costly and time-consuming) quirks, and left the production. Kubrick had met Slim, seen him at work and would later remember him.
"Stay on the bomb run, boys. I'm gonna get those bomb-bay doors open if it hare-lips everybody in Bear Creek!" ...
I mentioned above that among the performances in Dr. Strangelove were three by Peter Sellers: RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (who's trying to deal with Sterling Hayden's General Jack D. Ripper), President of the United States Merkin Muffley, and Dr. Strangelove himself.
Sellers was also meant to play the B-52 pilot USAF Major T. J. "King" Kong. During the shoot, Sellers fell and badly sprained his ankle, making it very difficult (almost impossible) to work within the confined sets of various parts of the B-52.
Remembering Slim from his aborted One-Eyed Jacks experience, Kubrick thought he would be perfect and gave him a call. Slim responded by flying to London, only to discover that, OOPS!, he didn't even have a passport. Slight delay while the U.S. Embassy sorted that out. A lot of the Brits weren't quite sure what to make of him, thinking that his habit of going around in jeans and a cowboy hat was "method". Nope, that was just "Slim". :-) ...
After the experience with Strangelove, Slim noted that "the parts, the dressing rooms, and the paychecks all started getting bigger. It's amazing what a difference a single movie can sometimes make."
"What did you do before becoming a stock detective, Mr. Beige?"
"I was a horse thief."
"Why'd you quit?"
"I got caught." ...
As Henry Beige - screencap from DVD
That's from a very laid-back modern day western set in Montana, Rancho Deluxe (1975) in which Jack McKee (Jeff Bridges) and Cecil Colson (Sam Waterston, who much later played District Attorney Jack McCoy on "Law and Order") are low-grade cattle rustlers, poaching an occasional steer from a wealthy rancher and selling the meat.
When that rancher has had more than enough, he hires legendary former-rustler-turned-stock-detective Henry Beige (Slim) to deal with it. This is Slim's best role since Strangelove and is the main reason to give this one a look.
Slim left us on Dec 8, 1983 (after a long battle with a brain tumor), in Modesto, California. He was 64.
"When that man died, they broke the God-Damned mold."
That's from the movie Lone Star (1996), about someone else, but it sure applies here. As does this from the same movie ...
"Never be another like him!"
-
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