that red headed jewish girl

September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999

I was and always will be a fan of the late Madeline Kahn.  A classic beauty, an incredible actress, singer and dancer...Madeline could do it all.  She remains one of my all time favorite comedians. You could've taken that talent of hers and dropped it anywhere in the Hollywood timeline and she would've risen to the top.  Her best work was with Mel Brooks, who tapped into her comedic genius.  Brooks literally had to gag his film crew every time Madeline was in front of the camera, she was that funny.  Yet Madeline never thought herself to be a funny person, she said that she had to work hard at comedy.  You'd never know it to watch her.  Oh how I wished she were still around entertaining today.

no easy horses

Me on my two-wheeled chariot, a long time ago.

Learning to ride a bike is as easy as falling off a bike.

Kelsey is eleven years old.  It's past time that she learns to ride a bike.  I need the exercise, and I want to ride bikes with her before school starts.  My girls, like a lot of kids today, are indoor creatures.  They read, play video games and forage for food in the fridge.

Today I beckoned Kelsey out to the garage.  I oiled up the chains to Gina's old Schwinn an got Kelsey to fill the tires with the foot pump.  I made some adjustments to the handlebar and seat and commenced to teach her how to ride a bike.

She's compliant to instruction, but she had the look as though she had rather be inside playing Minecraft on her Kindle Fire.  Kelsey has spent enough of her short Summer in her room playing Minecraft or creating stuff with her Legos.  She needs to get out, move around, feel the wind in her hair.

I don't remember when I learned to ride a bike.  I was pretty young.  No one taught me how to ride.  The only way I was going to keep up with my older siblings was to jump on that thing and learn.  I remember falling a lot. I don't remember getting frustrated.  I wanted to learn it right then and there and I don't recall it taking me that long to learn.  The secret to riding a bike is not falling off.

There are two steps to successful bike riding; (1) motion (2) balance.  Kelsey seemed to get the balance down pretty quick. She's still having trouble getting her foot on that peddle for that initial thrust.  She'll get it, not today, but soon, and for the rest of her life.  You go girl!

¡Viva la muerte... tua!

I stumbled across an Spaghetti Western made back in 1971 that starred Eli Wallach and Frano Nero.  It's a quirky film which has similarities in plot to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.  Wallach once again plays a bandito character and Franco who's character is a Russian Prince.  Both characters, like in Leone's masterpiece, are two men who don't like each other but both after a buried gold treasure.  Sound familiar?

Both Wallach and Nero play well off each other in this strange Western action adventure comedy. There's plenty of action and adventure and the story doesn't drag like many substandard Italian Westerns often do.  The comedy aspect falls flat in this picture.  It's a shame the script and production are weak.  I watched this movie because of the late Eli Wallach.  I'm a fan.  He's always entertaining to watch, but he didn't have the choice lines, nor were his scenes framed very well.  The story had potential, but just wasn't carried through as well as it could've been.  It's still though enjoyable movie to watch.

¡Viva la muerte... tua! is the original title, English translation is Long Live Your Death.  Eli Wallach didn't like the title so he insisted on Don't Turn The Other Cheek for the American release.  You'll understand the title as the story unfolds.

three amigos

I never got enough of these guys.  They were so incredible in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, I had hopes that Leone would throw them together somewhere down the trail. That was never to be.  Eli Wallach only appeared in one of Leone's Dollar films.  He was brilliant. Van Cleef was in the first and last of the trilogy.  His career was revived after those films.  Eastwood's rise never stopped.

Leone did offer Eastwood and Wallach roles in Duck You Sucker (aka: Fistful of Dynamite).  Eastwood declined because he felt the role was too close to his Man With No Name character in the Dollar films.  James Coburn picked up Eastwood's part and Rod Steiger ended up with the part written for Wallach.  That would've been interesting to watch.  Coburn did a great job, but the film seemed hollow without Wallach playing the bandit. 

Leone originally intended an opening farewell at the beginning of Once Upon A Time in The West.  Leone wanted to kill off his three Dollar stars at the beginning of his new Western trilogy. Sergio intended to have Eastwood, Wallach and Van Cleef to be the three gunmen waiting at the train station at the first of Once Upon A Time In The West.  Wallach and Van Cleef agreed to do it, but Eastwood refused. 

I wonder how many other young men like me waited and hoped that Eastwood, Wallach, and Van Cleef would one day be in a Western together again.  It was a secret hope of mine.  Sergio Leone was an admirer of John Ford.  John Ford had what people referred to as his 'stock company'.  Wouldn't it have been nice if Leone had picked up on that idea from Ford.  Leone did use actors over again, but why dust his boots off of these three amigos?

Chuck paints a ceiling

Tonight I watched THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY (1965) with Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison.  I've had this movie on my 'to watch list' on Netflix for about three months and didn't even know if I had the interest to finish it once I started.  I vaguely remember seeing this movie many years ago, and only remembered a continuous argument between a pope and a painter.  I didn't recall anything else about it, but wanted to revisit it in my adulthood, as someone with more of an attention span and interest for such arguments.

I was really fascinated at how great this movie really is.  To me, this is Charlton Heston's greatest piece of acting.  I realize that Charlton work is shadowed by his role as Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and as Judah Ben Hur in BEN HUR, but dog-gone it, his Michelangelo is his masterpiece.  I've always enjoyed movies with Chuck, from Moses to the Omega Man, but I always thought of his acting as a little stiff ~ a little lofty.  I'll admit it's been my misperception all along, because the man had a face that could've been chiseled and smoothed by Michelangelo himself.  Maybe I placed him in my mind as more the big movie star rather than that of a great actor.   Now that I've seen The Agony and the Ecstasy as an adult, I have completely changed my view of him.  This man was a great actor!

Heston wasn't stiff, or lofty, no striding in this film.  Chuck's Michelangelo seemed more like a blue collar worker who was passionate about his craft, demanded pay for his work, and didn't mind giving his employer a piece of his mind if he felt the quality of his work was compromised...even if his employer was The Pope.

Kudos also to Rex Harrison who played Pope Julius II.  Harrison has played many memorable characters throughout his career, but this Pope peering up to Michelangelo peering down from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were incredible film moments.  Iron sharpens iron, and these two great actors delivered brilliant sparks flashing against each other throughout this film. They were just wonderful together.

Now that I've revisited and enjoyed the ecstasy of The Agony and the Ecstasy, I am going to have to revisit another one of Irving Stone's book to movie LUST FOR LIFE that starred Kirk Douglas as Vincent Van Gogh.  I remember it being a great movie.  I must watch it again after having not seen it in over thirty years.  I'll get back to you.