More Characters

RIP John Ashton, 76, master of tough, gruff, no-nonsense characters, who succumbed to cancer. Born in Massachusetts, he made his professional stage debut at 14 in a small role in Othello. He earned a degree in Theater Arts from USC. He did summer stock and toured Europe. He received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award three times. There are 96 titles under his name at IMDb, screen career spanning 1973 to the present, two works to be released posthumously. He did six episodes of Dallas, 18 of Hardball and made numerous guest shots on popular primetime fare such as Columbo and M*A*S*H. On the big screen he was in Breaking Away (1979), Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and its sequel, Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), awesome as Marvin in Midnight Run (1988) and Gone Baby Gone (2007), to name a few. His motto, taken from his high school drama teacher, was “Think Big, Work Hard, Have a Dream, and Make a Difference.” Married and divorce twice, he was a father of two. Great run, Sir. Thank you. Photo from Google Images:

I added more to a couple of stories in the By the Numbers Word file. The other day I checked the Google Docs file, to which I’d forgotten to add the recently completed Number One Grandson. The additions bring the manuscript a lot closer to an adequate print copy than I’d thought, 24,500 words. Another piece should do the trick, but I can’t force it. I have to let it come naturally, as this morning’s stuff did.

The weather remains gloomy and misty. There’s no sense complaining, as it was preceded by at least five weeks of stellar conditions. I set up the Anti-Inflation Book Shop at the nearby viaduct. My thanks to the woman who bought Testament of Youth: Witnessing the Tumult of War and Resilience by Vera Brittain, Mark Bostridge, et al.; and to the gentleman who purchased three coloring books for his lovely little girl; and to the one who took home a Three Stooges DVD and a CD compilation of ‘60s-’70s hits. Here are a couple of facts about the beloved comedy trio culled from an MSM.com article by Colorado Zedd: “…in the 24 years that they were under contract with Columbia Pictures, not even one of the Three Stooges ever got a raise… Moe made sure that there was a statement that gave them the rights to receive all of the profits for their personal appearances.” Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Photo from GI:

And the smokin’ hot Gina (Gallego) wants in. Seinfeld, S3.E15, The Suicide, aired Jan 29, 1992. Photo from GI:

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