dual personalities

Tag: Robin Williams

July 21, 2021

“You’d never know it but buddy I’m a kind of poet/ And I’ve got a lot of things to say”

by chuckofish

The Hibiscus is blooming! Huzzah!

You will recall that years ago I planted seeds given to me by my assistant (harvested from her yard) and they grew and bloomed once. Since then the plants have grown but never bloomed. Either they were cut down by accident, eaten by deer (?) or whatever. But, hallelujah, they have bloomed again! This brings me joy. You can see, too, that the Tiger Lilies are still going strong (all over our flyover town). I guess they like all the rain we’ve had.

Meanwhile I have been reading Horseman, Pass By by Larry McMurtry. It is a good first novel, but not great. As I figured, it is told from the perspective of the boy, Lonnie, and Hud has only a small, incidental part. Someone in Hollywood must have had the idea that the ornery, bad guy would make a better subject for a movie, and they were probably right. They changed a lot in the book. I wonder what McMurtry thought.

“I just wonder, when it’s all said and done,” he went on, “who ends up with the most in this scramble. Them that go in for big shows and big prizes and end up takin’ a bustin’, or them that plug along at what they can kinda handle. Home folks or show folks. They’s a lot a difference in ’em.”

Here is Paul Zahl’s list of movies on TCM in July (Part II). As usual, we are on the same page. What he says about Bonnie and Clyde is right on.

Some good thoughts here and here.

Today is the birthday of Robin Williams. Maybe I’ll watch Awakenings (1990) or Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), my favorite RW movies. Or maybe I’ll watch RV (2006)–who knows? Just remember ol’ Robin and go for the gusto, or at the very least, reach out to someone with a smile. It might go a long way.

And here’s a toast to Don Knotts on his birthday: Just a little lower, Barney.

*Johnny Mercer, “One For my Baby”

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August 13, 2014

“Fame you’ll be famous, as famous as can be, with everyone watching you win on TV, Except when they don’t because sometimes they won’t…”*

by chuckofish

Read the newspaper. What does it say? All bad. It’s all bad. People have forgotten what life is all about. They’ve forgotten what it is to be alive. They need to be reminded. They need to be reminded of what they have and what they can lose. What I feel is the joy of life, the gift of life, the freedom of life, the wonderment of life!

Leonard Lowe, Awakenings (1990)

Well, I am very sad about the suicide of Robin Williams earlier in the week. He seems to have succumbed to despair.

Robin and I go a long way back–all the way to “Mork and Mindy” which I watched when I was a graduate student in 1979. I thought he was hilarious.

I have written before about the kinship I always felt with him, of how he was my brother’s doppelganger, born weeks apart in 1951. Years would go by when I wouldn’t see my own brother, but I would see Robin. And then he played “Mrs. Doubtfire” and reminded me of my mother! It was that inner Scotsman, I guess, full of melancholy and sweetness. Indeed, he was like kin and so his death seems not so much like the death of a movie star, but like a brother. Perhaps you think that is silly, but it is how I feel. It is possible to feel very close to writers, poets, and yes, even movie stars.

I watched Awakenings last night–this movie is pure gold–and it is all about appreciating Life and reminding oneself often of the great gift that it is. So it is doubly heart-breaking to know that Robin Williams had lost sight of this.

 

“Does anything in nature despair except man? An animal with a foot caught in a trap does not seem to despair. It is too busy trying to survive. It is all closed in, to a kind of still, intense waiting. Is this a key? Keep busy with survival. Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.”

–May Sarton, Journal of Solitude

May Sarton is right. Hang in there.

*Dr. Seuss

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April 29, 2013

“You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don’t help.”

by chuckofish

I had a bad day on Friday and it carried into my weekend. I’m afraid I am not spiritually advanced enough to power through those bad days. I disappoint myself, but it’s the truth.

It takes some work you know. I won’t go into all the details, but I finally had a breakthrough when I watched Awakenings (1990) on Saturday night.

No, that is not Robert De Niro in the car with my brother! That's Robin WIlliams.

No, that is not my brother in the car with Robert De Niro! That’s Robin Williams.

Leonard Lowe, De Niro’s character, who has been “awakened” from a 30-year catatonic state, tells us:

Read the newspaper. What does it say? All bad. It’s all bad. People have forgotten what life is all about. They’ve forgotten what it is to be alive. They need to be reminded. They need to be reminded of what they have and what they can lose. What I feel is the joy of life, the gift of life, the freedom of life, the wonderment of life!

It is important to be reminded of this frequently. I highly recommend this wonderful movie, although be prepared to cry off-and-on for two hours. This also is a good thing (see here.)

I went to church on Sunday and was under-whelmed by the service and the sermon, but was gladdened by the display of new spring growth evident in the church grounds.

2stfran

stfran

There was plenty of spring bounty at the grocery store as well.

dierb1

dierb2

Back in my yard, there is plenty of work to be done already.

violets

ivy

But I’m feeling better already. Aren’t you?

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And for you doubters out there who don’t believe that Robin Williams is my brother’s doppelganger…here’s proof!

Here he is (on the right obviously) in 1989 with his bro-in-law.

Here he is (on the right obviously) in 1989 with his bro-in-law.

Born a few weeks apart in 1951, the only way to tell them apart is that Robin is a LOT more hairy.

Have a great week!

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May 4, 2012

Friday movie pick

by chuckofish

I don’t know why The Best of Times (1986) was not a commercial success when it was first released, because it is one of my favorites. I think it’s funny, and it appeals to me on a nostalgic level. Robin Williams plays Jack Dundee, a thirty-ish banker who cannot let go of his failure to catch a pass in “the big game” back in 1972, a move which (in his mind) made him the goat forever. His best friend Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell), the quarterback and high school hero, wrecked his knee in the game and ended his football career. They live in a crestfallen, has-been town. Then Dundee hits on the idea of re-playing the game and regaining their self-esteem.

Kurt Russell and Robin Williams are in top form. I like them both very much and Robin always reminds me of my brother (especially in this movie). It endears him to me. This movie even boasts a 15-year-old Kirk Cameron as Kurt’s son.

The movie is funny and sweet and there is very little vulgarity. The literary reference in the title infers that high school was also the worst of times, which we all know is true. And most of us can relate to Robin’s character: “I’m not a has-been, I’m a never-was. I aspire to be a has-been.”

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