Funny on Friday

Date:                             Friday. September 17th. 2010
Word of the Day:           quaggy; marshy. boggy; sort of flabby
Weight:                          224 pounds
Goal:                             lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:              92 pounds
Waist Size:                    51 inches
Rowing Duration:          on vacation for four days

I'm back in the city, at least for awhile, look out Toronto!  How appropriate (for me,) is that word of the day?

Zac and I both plan to get our hair cut today, we are both overdue.  We had tried to get our hair cut in May, June, or July, I forget which one exactly,  but when we went to the barber, he was on holiday, and we don't like anyone else to cut our hair.  It is our hair that we're talking about people, you can't just let anyone touch it.

Well like I predicted, I awakened shortly after one o'clock am., and have almost nothing to do, there is television,  but how many times can you watch episodes of "The Golden Girls?"  The answer is many times, I never get sick of watching Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia.

Late yesterday afternoon Zac and I attended dear old Uncle Mario's 85th birthday party, and it was a wonderful affair, both Zac and I each had a great time,  and I would personally like to thank Edna May for remembering to extend us an invitation.  It was so good to see family and friends that we have not seen for far too long.

I especially enjoyed seeing my dear "Samuel."  Sam and I used to be very close, we grew up together as boys, our relationship is about forty-seven years young and if I had to say who my best friend was, well, of course it would be Samuel.  Yup, we go way back!!

As it happens in life,  Samuel and I lead different lives and we found different paths to explore.  We never had a fight or anything quite so dramatic, but Samuel and I just sort of lost touch, which is a little sad but happens all too frequently.   I know had either of us ever really needed the other, well, we would have done anything, to help each other, fortunately, there was no need, or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint.

It would be lovely to think that now that Sam and I re-connected, we will stay in touch regularly, but that was never our relationship, we were never great at communicating with each other,  nor do I expect we ever shall be, but I will continue to wish Samuel the very best in life, I'm so glad he has found new love and happiness,  and I know he is happy for the life I lead.

  As I've told you before, I am the luckiest man in the world, I have everything and more that I shall ever need,  and I am now in the point of my life that I can give back to all those people that have given me so vey much.  I am such a blessed man and I thank God daily for all of his blessings.  Sorry, if that seems corny to you but that is the type of hairpin that I am.

I gotta share with you that my friend Marta sent me the most wonderful jokes (I love jokes but I can never remember them anymore,) which includes little anecdotes on life, (or funny stories/comments,) and I shall forward them all on to my friends whose email address I have, when you get them, say a quiet thank you to my friend Marta, she really is a jewel.

Jewel, however, is not how I would describe my friend Edna May, I seem to recall the words "sick bitch," whenever I think of her, sorry folks, I'm just joking, Edna May really is a jewel,  we have similar senses of humour, and I love her like a sister, she means everything to me, but I tell you, you never want to get on Edna May's bad side because you will be there forever, she is, after all,  Italian, did the lights just go out?

I know that in life you can't please everyone,  and I do so much want to please one of my more loyal readers who provides me with great input and insight, but, I can't help this one, its a timely thing, last night I watched the musical movie, "Good-bye, Mr. Chips," which stars the incredible Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark.  Wow, talk about run-on sentences!, whatever would Miss Collett and Miss Silver say to me!

I first saw the movie, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips,"   in 1969 at the Uptown Theatre which was located at Yonge and Bloor Streets and is now torn down, I think it actually fell down.  "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," was the very first movie shown at the Uptown Theatre, in the main cinema (Cinema One) to be exact.  I do believe that the first two movies shown in the other two cinemas of the main house were "Joe," which I could not see as this was a restricted movie, and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" which I never saw because I don't like westerns.

I'm just pulling your legs people, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is not a western, it is a very big drama with a fantastic performance by Miss Jane Fonda, but thats another story for another day. 

 Once when I was in grade nine at  Central High School of Commerce,  the high school would now and then run movies that also played at the theatre,  and the school, just like the theatre, would hang movie cards of the movie being shown in the main lobby.  I remember one day glancing at the pictures for "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" when I overheard a girl ask her friend if she was going to see the movie,  and the friend replied, "NO, I don't like Westerns!"   I lost it people, as I did frequently in those days, "All you have to do you silly bitch is look at the pictures and you know that that movie could not possibly be a western!"  I was not popular.

Okay, back (finally,) to "Good-bye, Mr. Chips!"  This was the very first movie directed by Herbert Ross, of "Steel Magnolias"  fame.  The movie is based on the novel of the same name by James Hilton and tells the story of a much beloved schoolteacher named Mr. Chipping and his long tenure at a school named Brookfield, a fictional public boys boarding school.  Mr. Chipping conquers his inability to connect with students when he marries Katherine, a young woman whom he meets on holiday,  and who quickly picks up by calling him by his nickname "Chips."

I think that the casting of Petula Clark in this movie was inspirational.  Petula Clark was not only a delight to hear sing, but Ms.Clark had acting chops and she and Mr. O'Toole had chemistry  and that is something you can't fake in a movie,  as audiences are quick to pick up,  and I'm even quicker, even at fourteen years old, I was such a delightful child.

This version of "Good-bye, Mr. Chips was a kind of remake, (the original was not a musical,) it had been done in 1939,  and starred Greer Garson and Robert Donat, who did win the Academy Award for best actor for his performance in this movie. 

The 1939 movie was the original movie and is the more popular of the two versions, but it is the 1969 version that pleases me the most.  I will watch Peter O'Toole in anything, he is such a gifted actor and deserves to win an Oscar, he never has won one, John Wayne has won one, but Peter O'Toole has been given an honorary Academy Award.

It is suggested that while James Hilton went to Leys School,  his inspiration for Chips,  the protagonist of the novel and movie,  was based on many people, including his father who was a headmaster at Chapel End School.

Chips is likely to have been based on W. H. Balgarnie who was one of the masters at the Leys School and was in charge of the Leys Fortnightly in which Hilton's first short stories and essays were published. Also, like Chips, Balgarnie was a strict disciplinarian, but would also invite boys over for tea and biscuits, something a male teacher would never do in today's world.  Balgarnie had mutton chops and was called "Chops," which is likely where the name Chips was derived.  How about that?, see what you can learn from the blog of Efrem!!

Topics coming soon:

Sex
Travel
Twins