World of Hurt

RIP four-time Oscar nominee William Hurt, 71, who succumbed to cancer. Born in DC, he honed his craft on the stage, which led to film work and a Tony nomination for Best Actor in 1985 for Hurlyburly. He received an Academy Award for his performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), and was nominated for two Emmys. There are 106 titles under his name at IMDb in a career spanning 1977 to the present. Here are three films of his I enjoyed most: Altered States (1980), Body Heat (1981) and A History of Violence (2005). He was an expert at narration, reading on radio and doing audio books such as The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. Here’s a quote attributed to him: “I am a character actor in a leading man’s body.” Well done, sir. Thank you.

There’s a lot of speculation about Putin’s mental health. Here’s more, headline from nypost.com: “Does Putin have ‘roid rage?’ Sources believe health could explain despot’s behavior.” Would so-called experts have looked for the root cause of the mass murders perpetrated by Hitler, Mao and Stalin?

Amusing headline from newsmax.com: “Americans Now Getting Gas in Mexico.” It’s still less much less than four bucks a gallon south of the border.

It was a perfect day for doing business curbside. My thanks to Amigo, who delivered half a shopping cart of books, and to the woman who donated three paperbacks in Russian; and to the one who bought five classical CDs; and to Steve, the Poet Laureate of Sheepshead Bay, who purchased one; and to the young woman who selected textbooks on psychology and sociology, and Introduction to African Civilizations by John G. Jackson, John Henrik Clarke, et al.; and to the woman who took home a thriller in Russian; and to Arthur, who put the cap on the session by choosing Max by James Patterson. My thanks also to another Steve, who enlightened me about locks in a long discourse. He says he can pick any ever made. He furnished many buildings in Manhattan and even did work for Leona Helmsley when one day his employee didn’t show. She berated him, a mere worker, for using the lobby. Not knowing who she was he, he told her off and walked out. He later received a call from a building manager begging him to send anyone but himself to fix the problem. He did. Remember the Queen of Mean?

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