A Legend Passes...

I was saddened by news of the passing of Tony Curtis, screen legend of my youth.

Born Bernard Schwartz and raised in the Bronx, New York, Curtis began his acting career after leaving the US Navy after World War II, starring in minor roles until breaking into the mainstream with a part in Winchester '73, headlined by James Stewart.

Other roles followed, in pictures such as The Black Shield of Falworth, before he made his name with roles alongside Burt Lancaster in 'The Sweet Smell of Success' and 'Trapeze', and with Kirk Douglas in 'Spartacus' and 'The Vikings'.

For me, however, it was his appearances in comedies such as 'Operation Petticoat' (opposite Cary Grant), as the conniving yet good-hearted Lt. Holden, and as Joe/Josephine/Shell Oil, Jr., in Billy Wilder's 'Some Like It Hot' that I'll remember him for.

However, his role as Leslie Gallant III, aka 'The Great Leslie' in Blake Edwards' 'The Great Race' opposite Jack Lemmon (his co-star in 'Some Like It Hot') as Professor Fate, cemented that movie as one of my all-time favourites.

Here's a classic scene, also featuring the lovely Natalie Wood, the not-so-lovely Keenan Wynn, and the positively dastardly Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk:



It's six-and-a-half minutes long, but worth it...

 Tony Curtis (1925-2010)

...

This is the flag of my country:

It's a flag of which I'm very proud, and I get to see it flying over my workplace seven days a week.

What you may not be aware of is the fact that here I'm displaying it upside-down, in the manner indicating distress.

A clever design on the part of our Founding Fathers then, ensuring that we keep our nation's problems to ourselves and say nothing, lest the neighbours gossip.

"What's that, Mrs. O'Leary? Father Murphy did what to young Jimmy? I think he's been telling stories, hasn't he, sure and begorrah the priests would never do a thing like that now would they? Beat some sense into the lad - for his own good, of course - and send him to confession..."

"What's that, Mr. O'Brien? Corruption in government, you say? Sure and didn't you elect them? And you wouldn't vote for crooks, now would ye? Go 'way now, begob, and don't be causing trouble, or I'm sure the Revenue would love to give you an aul' audit..."

"The house I built is falling down around your ears, Mrs. O'Sullivan? Sue me..."

"Banks taking liberties with the economy, you say, Mr. Delaney? Keep your mouth shut and keep paying or we'll take your house."

I think the neighbours have all seen our dirty linen by now, haven't they?

We are a financially bankrupt nation, run by the morally and ethically bankrupt - and I fear things will only get worse.

Some hero, huh?

It Probably Is...

Let's take a minute to enjoy this without further comment from me...

While You Were Out...

I know, it's been a couple of months for you, but it's only been about two or three days for me. I had to do something with the timestream, but everything's fine now, as can be shown from the fact that we once more have French Fries, a 26-letter alphabet and, unfortunately, taxes (you'll thank me later).

Oh, and the Pope was supposed to be a respected member of an obscure Australian Trappist order, but I just couldn't get it all to hang together (the letter J was a particular nightmare).

So, in your timestream, what's been happening?

Well, my sister got married, for a start, just over a month ago. Her husband, Stephen, is a great guy and they've known each other for a number of years, so they're both very happy, and so is Mitchel (my nephew).

Here's a sneaky video of their first dance, courtesy of YouTube:



The wedding day itself went like clockwork, and a most excellent time was had by all, to the extent that the party was still in progress at 5:30 the following morning and had been joined by guests from a wedding party of the previous day who found themselves in the Residents' Bar in the hotel when the festivities moved there from the main function room. The fact that the groom plays in a 12-piece swing orchestra (who played the reception), meant that the music continued into the early hours.

Sore heads and good memories.

In other news, I'm learning to play golf.

Maybe it's my age, maybe it's just time, but after a round with my dad, organised as part of Steve's stag weekend, I decided I'm going to give it a go. It's kind of weird to me - I'm about as coordinated as a very clumsy person (secret identity thing) and it's embarrassing how I seem to miss the ball more often than I hit it - but I'm improving and should be certified for actual golf course play reasonably soon...

And then there's the Italian lessons.

I signed up for a course in beginners Italian - 14 week course, Monday evenings. I don't know why, except that I like languages and wanted to do something that would get me out of the house of an evening. I already know the basics - 'Si', 'Grazie' and 'Questa é la sua valigia?', so that's a start.

We'll see how I get on...

Red? Interesting...

Adapted from the graphic novel of the same name written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Cully Hamner (which I must make a point of reading), I knew nothing of either work  until this very morning.

In addition to those appearing in the trailer, the movie also apparently features Richard Dreyfuss and the evidently-still-alive Ernest Borgnine.

A not-so-Over-the-Hill Gang movie, coming soon to a cinema near you.

Has It Been A Year Already?

Damn...

I had a phone call this afternoon, from a young lady who said she was calling on behalf of somebody called Online PC Care about the problems I was having with my PC.

I enquired as to the nature of her call and asked how she obtained my phone number, at which point she hung up.

Curiously, a colleague of mine reported last week that he had had a similar call, only the individual had suggested they were associated with Microsoft. He strung out the call for a few minutes before deciding it was a scam of some sort, made his excuses and hung up.

I did a bit of Googling after my caller departed, and found that this is something that has been encountered in the UK, Ireland and Australia, the originators using the names 'Online PC Care' or 'Online PC Doctors' or similar.

I'm sure I don't have to remind bloggers and the tech-savvy to be wary of this kind of thing, but it might be worth warning family members and friends who may not be as aware in case they get calls like this one.

As you were...

What? Has It Really Been That Long? Er...

I blame Facebook.

170 different privacy settings - W, as they say, TF is up with that???

I opened an account last month, having finally succumbed to peer pressure, and have spent the intervening time tweaking settings so that I don't accidentally leave any personal information in the hands of potential enemies.

And then there's the games - I've been playing Mahjongg and that Scrabble thing where they put in words that don't exist so you never get past the second round and Kingdoms of Camelot (fail) and other things so insidiously addictive that I've come to believe the whole thing is a creation of Lex Luthor or the League of Super-Criminals or something to keep me distracted as they go about their various misdeeds like setting fire to the Sun and such.


Then, right? Then they go and change all the privacy stuff so I have to review the whole thing all over again...


Evil, I tell you - just plain evil...

And Now, For Paul, This:...*

*May one do that? I mean, add an ellipsis after a question mark? Answers on a postcard or comment to the usual address...

I Love This Show...

For any of you who may be unaware, there's a show on Disney called Phineas & Ferb, regarding the adventures of two (step)brothers who use their imaginations to fill in the long days of summer vacation, to the annoyance of their sister Candace and the occasional frustration of Perry, their pet platypus.

It starts like this:



and is well worth a look...

Where Are They Now?...

Anybody who has seen John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank will understand how I felt about the prospect of attending my 30-year high school reunion last week.

To wit: "I just honestly don't know what I have in common with those people anymore... or with anyone, really. I mean, they'll all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they'll have made themselves a part of something, and they can talk about what they do. And what am I going to say? "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How have you been?" I just think it'll be depressing."

Okay, so maybe I didn't think it would be that bad, but a certain amount of trepidation was very much the carte du jour.

But, in my idiom*, I went. And it wasn't so bad after all.

The reunion was organised by the Templogue College Past Pupils Union, and was aimed at a number of graduating years, but as the 30-year men, we were the so-called 'feature year'. I half expected we'd have to lecture the younger lads on life and such, because our former teachers were not averse to putting one on the spot from time to time, but it was not the case, and we spent an enjoyable evening catching up.

One of the lads has made a successful career as an artist, and he trotted out a bunch of statistics about how a group such as ours might be demographically divided; x% married, x% divorced, x% gay, x% in prison, x% dead, etc.

And while I can think of one or two individuals from my year who could perhaps have been expected to end up behind bars, I guess it was that last statistic that got us thinking - at least three of our graduating class are no longer with us. Gary died as a result of a brain aneurysm while on holiday; Eoin was tragically killed in a fall; and our friend Finbar fell victim to, we believe, an inoperable brain tumour barely two years ago. Some of the lads hadn't heard about Finny - it came as something of a shock.

It's a sobering thing to be faced with the prospect of mortality - in school we have our lives ahead of us, every day's another day and summer's just around the corner. I guess thirty years on, you have to just stop for a minute and look around at what your life's become.

That being said, everyone enthused about their kids, moaned about their bosses, laughed about past sporting successes and sang the school song, and we resolved to get back together more regularly.


I can live with that.

*Mightiest of Men