Monday, September 10, 2012

The Story of Funny Faces

I only saw my father cry twice.

He was crippled up with Progressive Supra-Nuclear Palsy both times. The worst kind of Parkinsonism you can get. That wasn’t why he was crying though. Muhammed Ali’s neurologist said my father’s PSP had two features worse than just regular PSP. Most people with that severe PSP don’t survive for more than a year. My Dad lasted eight.

He could take that. The first time he really cried was when his best friend’s son died in a plane crash. He cried so hard. He was so upset it really startled me. It made me think of how much more he would cry if I had died. That is when I knew, really knew that my father loved me.

The second time I saw him really break down was about two months after September 11, 2001. He had read a story in a magazine about a little girl whose father died in the towers. She said she would never see his funny face again.

When I spoke about all this in his eulogy after he died in 2003, I told about how much my Dad loved to make Funny Faces with his kids. It was his favorite thing to do. The last thing I said was that he was the “The King of Funny Faces.”

Sometime around 2008, I realized this:  

The King is Dead! Long live the King of Funny Faces!



Sunday, September 2, 2012

Saturday, June 23, 2012

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #16

Just saw the German film Antibodies.





Norman Reedus is the very first character in the very first scene. Apparently he understands German, but he has no lines at all. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would think it was some kind of plot to get the attention of Boondock Saints and Walking Dead fans. He is only in that one scene. Anyone looking for more of him will be disappointed, if that's all they are looking for.


The film itself is absolutely incredible. It will not disappoint anyone with any sensible interest in psychological thrillers. Some will compare this film to Silence of the Lambs. A cop questions the most prolific serial killer in "the united Fatherland" for help with an unsolved case.

I will go so far as to say it is an improvement on Anthony Hopkins' masterpiece.

So sayeth the King of Funny Faces.

Friday Night News Dump


Stillwater stabbing victim accused of keeping box of child pornography in basement
Published: Friday, June 22, 2012, 8:30 PM     Updated: Friday, June 22, 2012, 11:47 PM
By Seth Augenstein and Amy Ellis Nutt/The Star-Ledger 
STILLWATER — As murder victim Dennis Pegg was laid to rest at St. Joseph’s cemetery in Newton today, across town a defense lawyer for one of the accused filed an affidavit seeking to preserve Pegg’s belongings — including an alleged box of child pornography.
The request, submitted by attorney Daniel Perez, specifically cited a box containing "numerous Polaroid photographs of nude children and/or children involved in sexual acts."
Clark Fredericks, 46, has been charged with first-degree murder and two of his relatives claim he was molested by Pegg years ago when he was a Boy Scout and Pegg a troop leader. Robert Reynolds, 47, friend of Fredericks, has been charged with helping him kill Pegg and hiding evidence.
Perez’s request, according to the affidavit, was based on information provided to police after Pegg’s death by an unnamed individual (called "John Doe 1" in the legal notice), who says he, too, was molested by Pegg when he was a child.
More at NJ.com

This happened too....