Who2 now has a profile of the Japanese-Engish novelist Kazuo Ishiguro.
He’s the guy who wrote The Remains of the Day, one of the most heart-breaking books I’ve ever read. It’s good. I’ve never seen the movie all the way through, however, because I’m not one for those kinds of movies, the ones about stuffy English manners and unrequited love.
I can thoroughly enjoy books like that, but when it comes to movies, I have an automatic Homer Simpson reaction: BOR-RING!!
“He can be talking throughout a play, the play can be actually running and he could be talking to you. He is on top of it. I remember a play we had and he was talking to me during the play and he had the ball in his hands, he was about to throw and he was talking to me about something that was going on.””…Sometimes a play might be designed for me to stay and block but he might tell me to ‘go ahead on and go,’ so, I go [out for a pass].”
“Pete taught for a brief period at my (convent!) school in Manchester. He
was quite uncomfortable at times to be surrounded by hormonal teenage
girls, but we all adored him! We all wrote ‘I love Pete Pos’ on our
white gym shoes.”The BBC has posted fans’ warm reminiscences of actor Peter Postlethwaite, who has died of testicular cancer at age 64.
Zsa Zsa Gabor is losing a leg.
Jeepers, Jim Bakker.The disgraced TV evangelist turns 71 today. He’s been back on the air since 2006 with a religious show based in Branson, Missouri.
And she’s not snowboarding, either.
Happy New Year from Who2! And an early ‘happy birthday’ to these famous people who celebrate landmark birthdays in 2011.300 YearsPhilosopher DAVID HUME was born on April 26th, 1711. He wrangled with Rousseau and argued that experience and observation must be the foundation of human knowledge. 200 Years
Billy the Kid will not receive a pardon from Gov. Bill Richardson on Richardson’s last day in office.The New Mexico governor made his decision public today, after much outside speculation and derision. (The full text of his announcement is reprinted below.) Money quote:
Tell me this dog isn’t cute. Heidi became the latest St. Bernard “in residence” at Oregon’s Timberline Lodge in September. My cousin, Kristin Garrett, is the wrangler.
Paul Bowles, noted expatriate and author of The Sheltering Sky, was born on this day 100 years ago.Fans have been celebrating all year.Paul Bowles lived to be nearly 89 and stayed in Morocco ’til the bitter end, as this 1998 interview shows.
Dr. J and Larry Bird (and Magic Johnson too!) love their Chuck Taylors. Not actually chewable, but definitely gumball-colored. Official shoe of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, y’know.
She’s no longer 97 going on 98.Sorry, couldn’t resist. The sad truth is, Agathe von Trapp has died at age 97 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Philosopher Jeremy Bentham is a longtime star of our loop Oddly Preserved, thanks to his unusual demand that his body should be saved, dressed up, and displayed to friends and followers.Here Professor Philip Schofield of University College London tells the story, as Jeremy Bentham’s corpse looks on.
Enough! Enough of these endless headlines about a maybe-pardon for Billy the Kid. Since nobody has explained to my satisfaction why we’re even talking about it in 2010, I’ve done the research. Here are the answers to your eight burning questions about Billy the Kid and the Great Dopey Pardon Scandal of 2010.
Here’s our big list. It starts with feminist Mary Daly on January 3rd, and ends (so far) with JFK advisor Ted Sorensen on October 31st.Who was the most famous person to die in 2010? Tthere’s no real standout there. I give the nod either to Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger, or to Hollywood icon Tony Curtis.
If Marlene Dietrich were still alive, she’d be 109 years old today.
My guess is we’d still be reading about her exploits in Hollywood — suggestive rumors about her “close” relationships with Jesse McCartney and, say, Lady GaGa.
And still making visits to the troops overseas, singing a dubstep version of “Falling in Love Again (Can’t Help It)” (remixed by Kanye and available on iTunes).
Over at HistoryNet.com this month, there’s a terrific piece by author William Secrest titled “The Calamities of Calamity Jane.”
Born Martha Jane Cannary in Missouri around 1852, she became a notorious resident of Deadwood in the Dakotas during the Gold Rush of the 1870s. By the 1880s, the legend of “Calamity Jane” had spread to the east coast in the form of dime novels, newspaper accounts and stage plays.
Kudos and thumbs up to True Grit, the 2010 reboot of the 1969 film that won John Wayne his first Oscar. It’s a great holiday flick.
[ Update, June 2011: Wait, the wedding is off! ]”When I gave Crystal the ring, she burst into tears. This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory.”
Last December I wrote an encomium to Christmas in Connecticut, the most delightful Christmas movie ever made. Here’s what I had to say about veteran character actor S.Z. Sakall: