Too bad he didn't have a gub to go with his bom.
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Hal Kanter, R. I. P.
latimes.com: Hal Kanter, an Emmy Award-winning comedy writer, and a director and producer whose career included writing for Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, directing Elvis Presley and creating a landmark 1960s TV series starring Diahann Carroll, has died. He was 92.
Joe Frazier, R. I. P.
People.com: Joe Frazier, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, died after a battle with liver cancer. He was 67.
Frazier, whose death was confirmed Monday by his family, had been in a Philadelphia-area hospice.
Known for his famous "Thrilla in Manila" fight in 1975 against Muhammad Ali, whom he fought three times, "Smokin' Joe" Frazier is an inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
In all, Frazier – at 5'11" and 205 lbs., considered small for a heavywieght – won 32 fights: 27 by knockouts, losing four times (twice to Ali and also to George Foreman). Another fight ended in a draw.
Frazier, whose death was confirmed Monday by his family, had been in a Philadelphia-area hospice.
Known for his famous "Thrilla in Manila" fight in 1975 against Muhammad Ali, whom he fought three times, "Smokin' Joe" Frazier is an inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
In all, Frazier – at 5'11" and 205 lbs., considered small for a heavywieght – won 32 fights: 27 by knockouts, losing four times (twice to Ali and also to George Foreman). Another fight ended in a draw.
Overlooked Films -- Mr. Brooks
Here's another one of those movies that nobody seemed to like except me, but I liked it a lot. Kevin Costner is Mr. Brooks, his town's Citizen of the Year. Little does everyone know that while his presents an outward facade of good will and friendliness, he harbors a dark side, a really dark side, represented my William Hurt as Marshall. Soon enough, the killings begin, and if you don't think Demi Moore can act, take a look at her performance as a cop in this one. Excellent work, but then Kostner and Hurt are just as good, and so is Dane Cook as a guy who would like to be Mr. Brooks. Not the good one. The other one.
Some great dialogue, some amusing moments, and an entertaining picture as a whole. It was clearly set up to be the first of a series, but like some other movies I've enjoyed, it didn't make enough money to interest anyone in a follow-up. Too bad, from my point of view.
Monday, November 07, 2011
And Keep Off Her Lawn!
The Smoking Gun: -Convinced that her 88-year-old husband was having an affair with her hairdresser, a Missouri woman, 87, shot her spouse in the arm with his own gun, police report.
Sid Melton, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Sid Melton, a jug-eared character actor best known for his regular roles in the television shows “Make Room for Daddy” and “Green Acres,” and for his unflagging reliability as the comic relief in many science fiction and noir films of the 1950s, died on Wednesday in Burbank, Calif. He was 94.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Night Circus -- Erin Morgenstern
Now and then a book that might be published as a big fat fantasy without anybody quibbling about it manages to avoid that label and get published as a mainstream novel to great acclaim. That's what happened with Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, which is about two old magicians who decide to bet on which of their pupils can get the better of the other. Will it be the one who has inherited magical powers or the one who's been carefully taught?Make no mistake here. The magic is real, though the magicians have to pretend it's just legerdemain in order not to frighten the public. With real magic, anything is possible, so we get a story of escalating marvels. And since the pupils are male and female, we get a love story, too.
The Night Circus is full of characters and incident, but Morgenstern's style is clear, and the story flows in short chapters. My friend George Kelley found this book tough going, but I found it fairly entertaining. Even at that, I'm not sure why it's getting such a big push when I find other fantasy novels (like just about any fantasy by Jack Vance) that are more compelling are shoved off into the genre ghetto. I guess that's just the way of the world.
Reese Palmer, R. I. P.
The Washington Post: Reese Palmer, the leader of the Washington-based doo-wop group the Marquees, which in the late 1950s featured singer Marvin Gaye and accompanied Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Billy Stewart on records, died Oct. 27 at Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton. He lived in Temple Hills.
The War on the Apostrophe
Fun Facts (and Fiction) about Pikes Peak: In the early days, it was called (and spelled) “Pike’s Peak.” However, in 1891, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names recommended against the use of apostrophes in geographic names, and the possessive apostrophe was removed from all official references. If that wasn't enough, the Colorado state legislature passed a law in 1978 requiring the use of “Pikes Peak.”
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