Mourn, Marvel, Laugh, Thank
The madness worldwide continues as Japan’s former PM, Shinzo Abe, 67, was murdered, shot, while delivering a speech. Denmark recently suffered a rare mass shooting. Ukraine is a bloodbath. On many days America seems a shooting gallery. Maybe it’s naive to believe life was ever sacred. It certainly isn’t at the moment. The arts have glorified violence for decades. Has that finally created a boiling point that will never cool? Or is it a blip that will eventually pass?
On 7/3 an ex-Marine flying a single-engine plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a North Carolina highway. Kudos. Photo from Google Images:
RIP actor Larry Storch, 99, whose screen career spanned 1951–2010. Born in NYC, he dropped out of high school and did stand up, then went on to vaudeville. He served on a submarine during WWII, shipmate of Tony Curtis. The two were lifelong friends and appeared in eight movies together. A master at impersonation and voices, Storch did stage work, including a national tour of Some Like It Hot. In an awesome bit of trivia, he is credited with the “Judy, Judy, Judy” tag attributed erroneously to Cary Grant. Storch was imitating the Hollywood legend during his act and greeted Judy Garland when she entered, and others picked up on it. He was also the opening night club act for Lucy & Desi. There are 249 titles under his name at IMDb, but that doesn’t tell the full story. He did voiceovers on 70 episodes of Tennessee Tuxedo, and starred in 65 of the zany F Troop, for which he was nominated for an Emmy in 1967 and will no doubt be most remembered. He did countless other voice-overs and made guest appearances on many popular prime-time shows, multiple appearances on several. Here’s a quote attributed to him: “The most money I ever made was on a McDonald’s hamburger commercial.” He was married more than 40 years when cancer took his wife in 2003. He is a father of two. Awesome run, sir — thank you. Here he is as Corporal Agarn. Photo from GI:
The floating book shop had put a nice dent in its inventory this week, only to be bombarded today. As fine as the titles were, I was a bit discouraged, especially when I noticed the tree in one of the parking spots I use has been cut down, all but eliminating it from action. Fortunately, the weather has been benign, far from hot, so I’ve been able to display the full monty almost daily, as tiring as it is. As luck would have it, the outgoing exceeded the incoming by the end of today’s session, at least in weight. My thanks to those who donated, swapped and bought. Here’s what sold: a large print hardcover version of The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, Royal by Danielle Steel, Naked Heat by Tom Straw writing as Richard Castle, three books in Russian, four DVDs, five kids’ books, and the coup de gras as I was packing up — a massive two-volume dictionary in pristine condition. That was sweet. I am blessed.
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