RIP Terence Stamp

From Christopher McQuarrie’s foreword to Rare Stamps:

Terence has a deceptive face. And while this can be said about a great many actors, the deception often masks a disappointment—a revelation that an icon is merely human or, in certain cases, even less. Terence, however, has a face that hides his true nature. It is a lion’s face—forged to communicate cool indifference. In truth, Terence is indifferent to being cool. At our first meeting, he arrived wearing shorts, a casual cotton shirt and pink rubber crocs. He was carrying several bags, having stopped to do some essential shopping on the way. My partners and I were prepared to meet Billy Budd, the Collector, the Limey, Zod—yet here we were, opposite someone who appeared to have almost forgotten the appointment. Within five minutes it became clear, however, that the aforementioned roles were mere facets of the man. He controlled the meeting from the outset—evading nothing while asking more questions than he answered. He was not auditioning for anything. We were.

A sample of the man’s own writing (and lifelong reflections):

[J]ust before I got to see the film of Priscilla for the very first time – a midnight screening at the Cannes Film Festival – I received a telephone call from the Director of Photography. He was mumbling and seemed to be apologising to me for his lighting job on my character, Bernadette, during the film.

‘You didn’t do well by me – why?’

‘It was Steph’, he explained. ‘I told him “he’s gotta face for camera. Will only need a little front light”. “No”, he said, “I don’t want him looking good.” I’m really sorry, Terence.’

So there I was, dressed to the nines for my first midnight premiere at Cannes. The lights dimmed. The curtain went up; the film began; I was about to view my creation, Bernadette, my androgynous inspiration, a woman trapped inside the body of a man.

I took a luxurious breath in anticipation of the filmic results of my emotional rollercoaster, inspired by the wonderful females who had enriched my life: Christie, Shrimpton, Mangano, Princess Diana – any and all of whom I would be happy to be in a female incarnation, but no, up there on the giant silver screen looking back at me was an old tomcat. By royal appointment of Stephan Elliott.

Vanity, thy name is Terence.

From The Limey (1999):
  - ‘Tell him I'm coming!’
  - ‘Bide your time’

‘A Canny Courtroom Showman in Buckskin’

Excerpts from The New York Times obit of American trial lawyer Gerry Spence:

Gerry Spence, the buckskinned legal maverick who called himself America’s best trial lawyer and dramatized that claim with a white Stetson, a dazzling courtroom record and a score of books that gunned down his opponents all over again, died on Wednesday at his home in Montecito, Calif. He was 96.

Mr. Spence often boasted that he had never lost a criminal case with a jury trial, as either a defense lawyer or a prosecutor, and that he had not lost a civil case since 1969. That was not actually true, but it was not far off. He was known to lose now and then, and several of his notable civil verdicts were overturned on appeal.

But in the tradition of Perry Mason, he seemed unbeatable…

He sometimes poked fun at his own cowboy imagery — the snakeskin boots and 10-gallon hat, the long silvery-blond hair and buckskin-fringed jackets that conjured Buffalo Bill Cody.

But he exploited it all, often in seemingly hopeless criminal cases.

A man who shot his former wife in front of eight witnesses: Not guilty. The white supremacist charged with killing a federal agent at Ruby Ridge in Idaho: Not guilty. Imelda Marcos, the widow of President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, accused of looting the Philippine treasury of $200 million for a lifestyle that included thousands of pairs of shoes and real estate in Manhattan: Not guilty.

Mr. Spence was big, loud, swaggering and outrageous in court. He once clapped his hands in the face of a drowsy prosecutor and thundered, “Wake up!” He barked at judges.

In a corn-pone drawl, he once told a jury, “You’ve got to get the hogs out of the spring if you want to get the water cleared up.”

He always put on a good show, with tricks and stunts to go with the fine arts of cross-examination and jury persuasion. But behind the courtroom magic lay extensive investigations and meticulous research, techniques he detailed in books and in five-week seminars that he gave annually at the Trial Lawyers College he founded at his 220-acre ranch near Dubois, Wyo., southeast of Yellowstone National Park.

‘Appropriate embarrassment’ saves driver from criminal charge

To quote from a report out of Canada:

A driver who was pulled over while leaving an electronic music festival in B.C. was let off with a warning after he demonstrated “appropriate embarrassment” for the reason why, according to authorities.

The B.C. Highway Patrol posted a photo of the offending vehicle on social media Monday, saying the driver was “angry” when he was first stopped by police leaving Shambala last month.

However, when the officer pointed out he had a gas nozzle and hose hanging out of the side of the SUV he quickly became “apologetic.”

Spokesperson Cpl. Michael McLaughlin told CTV News, in an email, the consequences for this could have included a $109 fine under the Motor Vehicle Act, under a section that prohibits having a “sharp or ragged” projection from one’s vehicle. Refusal to return the hose could have resulted in a criminal charge for possession of stolen property, according to McLaughlin.

“In this case, the police officer was definitely on the lookout for potential impairment or distraction. However, the driver was not impaired or speeding, so when he offered to return the nozzle and felt appropriate embarrassment, the officer let him go with a warning,” McLaughlin’s statement said.

Singing Trouble

Excerpts from a social media post by a search and rescue non-profit that operates in parts of British Columbia, Canada:

Thursday night, COSAR [Central Okanagan Search & Rescue] responded to reports of someone yelling for help near the Boulderfields, a popular climbing spot off the Kettle Valley Railway. Two concerned hikers called 911 after hearing repeated cries.

Early responders even heard faint yelling—but couldn’t make out what was being said. Was it “help”? Or worse, Nickelback?

Then we found him: a lone camper, singing his heart out to the trees, blissfully unaware that the acoustics of the Boulderfields had turned his tent-side concert into an accidental distress signal.

“He wasn’t in trouble,” said COSAR Search Manager Duane Tresnich. “Unless you count his singing.”

And remember, our services are always free. And the money you save could be spent on singing lessons.

Malört tastes like…

The notorious wormwood-based schnapps is a challenge to drink, and its undefinable unsavoriness is an even greater challenge to communicate.

That’s from a piece in Chicago magazine a few years ago that compiled a list of things that various people had said about the taste of Jeppson’s Malört liqueur.  It included noteworthy opinions such as these:

It tastes like pencil shavings and heartbreak.

It tastes like someone vomited up their gin and now you're drinking it from a shoe.

It’s like swallowing a burnt condom full of gas.

Well, the brand is now formally inviting descriptions that may well  be used on its label.  To set the ball rolling, it has put out a campaign with some very NSFW comparisons.

Auto-corrected drug

An excerpt from a social media post by the Polk County Sheriff’s office in Florida, of a recent arrest:

[The suspect] was found to be in possession of marijuana and a drug called methylprednisolone which requires a prescription and auto-correct just to be able to spell it correctly.

McNapping McFelony

A Facebook post by a local police department in Pennsylvania:

RONALD MCDONALD IS MISSING!

Yesterday, a few unidentified suspects waltzed into McDonald’s and walked out with RONALD McDONALD himself.

We’re not clowning around. This was a full-blown McNapping.

Ronald was last seen smiling, as usual, unaware of the betrayal. Witnesses say he didn’t even put up a fight.

To the suspects:

We get it — times are tough, and therapy is expensive. But kidnapping a plastic icon of joy? That’s a McFelony.

To the public:

If you see Ronald out in the wild — maybe at a party, passenger seat of a car, or sitting awkwardly in someone’s yard — please call us at 570-669-9111.

In all seriousness, we are looking to identify these individuals. Please contact the Nesquehoning Police Department if you have any information. Thank you.

RIP Michael Madsen

To quote from one tribute, “always embodying various degrees of laconic.”

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
  - ‘That woman deserves her revenge’

‘A very New York experience’

An excerpt from a New York Post profile piece of Suzanne Reisman, leader of the Garbage & Rats in NYC walking tour.

Clad in fuzzy, faux rat ears like a bizarro Mouseketeer, the varmint savant takes guests through some of the city’s most rat-infested sites while spilling retch-worthy facts on the critters’ habits, à la a sanitation history lesson meets an urban wildlife safari.

“Rats love to go up to the poop!” she enthused to entranced rodent tourists during a recent tour as she discussed the delicacy of canine excrement.

“They’ll kick through it, find the undigested kibble,” she explained to the curious crowd. “I mean, dog poop is disgusting, but anyway, I do not ever pass by dog poop anymore without thinking, ‘Oh, it’s a rat snack.’”

The piece also quoted a “rat tourist” from Boston who attended a tour:

We saw live rats. We saw a pancake [squashed flat] rat. We saw a guy throwing up in a gutter. It was a very New York experience overall that my kids don’t get to always see in the Massachusetts suburbs.

‘Sounds like he was a good guy’

A social media post on American singer and 1960s teen idol Bobby Sherman, soon after the news of his passing was reported:

Sad to read that #BobbySherman has passed away. He was my 1st TV star boyfriend & I still loved him even though he had the nerve to get married to someone other than me. I was 13...but he could have waited.☺️ Sounds like he was a good guy. Condolences to his family & fans. #RIP..more

As an aside, his first wife divorced him to marry his TV bro David Soul. For the record, I would have never left him for David Soul.

‘Watering’ the weeds

An excerpt from another amusing social media post by the Polk County Sheriff’s office (PCSO) in Florida, of a recent arrest:

The PCSO night shift was just underway, and nobody ever knows what the night holds for them. Especially when there’s a full moon. IYKYK.

Deputy Ford was on patrol in Lakeland near Ariana Street and Plateau Avenue.

That’s when he saw Doug… a man on the go. Or rather, a man who really had to go.

Doug was on the road, watering the weeds without a watering can. His pants were half-down. Unless you’re more of an optimist, then his pants were half-up.

Doug saw Deputy Ford, and Deputy Ford saw more of Doug than he cared to see.

PS: Alongside the report, there’s a comic book style illustration of the crime scene that’s worth checking out

Man breaks into house… to avoid facing wife at home

The incident aside, it is the little details of what happened, as well as the manner in which it was reported by the Polk County Sheriff’s office (PCSO) in Florida, that make it very noteworthy:

The following story is kind of like a Polk County version of “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears,” but since there aren’t too many bears in Polk County, we’re just going to work around that in our own way. So, bear with us.

Our story begins at a residence bearing north of the city of Davenport.

The homeowner wasn’t going to be around for a while, so he asked his neighbor to bear the responsibility of watching over the house. That neighbor did a fantastic job too.

One night, the neighbor saw lights going on and off within the house, so he called the homeowner, who in turn contacted the PCSO.

Do you think the deputies found someone inside the house? Well, does a bear sit in the woods?

Deputies went to the residence and found Joe inside, cooking, and he had just finished filling the tub for a bath. We assume the bath temperature was not too hot, nor too cold, but juuuuust right.

Joe identified himself, and admitted that not only did he not have permission to be there, he also had no idea who owned the house.

Joe told deputies that he had gotten in a fight with his wife, and he didn’t want to go home, so he chose to burgle someone else’s home instead. It’s one of those things where you just have to grin and bear it.

There… we made it through the story and you barely even noticed the lack of bears.

RIP Harris Yulin

Prolific bio writer Gary Brumburgh wrote this about him in his IMDb bio:

Another one of those frustratingly nameless but omnipresent and talented faces of stage, film and TV, chameleon-like player Harris Yulin avoided the severe stereotyping lost to many a prolific actor. Benign, balding and often bearded, Yulin off camera was a stark contrast to the tough, unsympathetic men he presented on camera.

He [was] the possessor of an intriguingly solemn, autocratic-looking mug, and his glowering intensity usually invites suspicion, scorn or skepticism... or all three.

He could always be counted on to play a maniacal genius or the embodiment of white-collar corruption in a career piled with genuinely unsympathetic characters.

Training Day (2001)
  - Peanut Butter

‘Offender with Scaly Intentions’

From an Instagram post, put out 3 days ago, by a local police department in North Carolina:

BREAKING: Onslow County Deputies Nab offender with "Scaly Intentions"

On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, deputies in Onslow County and officers with NC Wildlife Resources Commission wrangled this prehistoric perp off the pavement today after he was caught loitering near the double yellow line on Old 30 Road. Witnesses say he was just chilling and snapping, clearly ignoring the "no loitering or lounging on roadways" sign.

Pepe the Gator, 350-400 lbs, and almost 10 feet in length, has been cited for Suspicion of Being a Dinosaur Without Proper Papers, Public Loitering with Intent to Sunbathe, and Obstructing Traffic.

Deputies reported no injuries, unless you count his pride when the gator refused to be cuffed.

We’re told the gator has been safely relocated — and no, he didn’t get to ride shotgun.

RIP James Foley

From Roger Ebert’s 2005 ‘Great Movies’ review of the 1990 movie, After Dark, My Sweet:

The movie was directed by James Foley, born 1953, a USC film school graduate, and one of the most underappreciated filmmakers of his generation. His “At Close Range” (1986) contained career-defining performances by Sean Penn and Christopher Walken; his “Glengarry Glen Ross” (1992) was the powerful adaptation of David Mamet’s play about real estate salesmen, with its electric performances by Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin; his “Confidence” (2003) had that unforgettable Dustin Hoffman performance as a hyperactive strip-club operator.

“After Dark, My Sweet” is the movie that eluded audiences; it grossed less than $3 million, has been almost forgotten, and remains one of the purest and most uncompromising of modern films noir.

Gerard Depardieu’s defence

Excerpts from reports of what he said this week, during his trial for alleged sexual assault.

As reported by the BBC:

“Knowing the vulgarity of the old world, today I try to avoid being listened to by the new world – so that I don't come across as detestable,” he told the court.

“I am not very much at ease with this new society... I think my time is done.”

But he denies being a sexual abuser.

“I don’t see how it could be fun feeling up a woman, her buttocks, her breasts. I am not a metro-train groper,” he said.

As reported by Variety:

Asked about the obscene comment he allegedly made, Depardieu said, “What do you mean, raunchy? Is it to say ‘pussy’? Pussy, but I say it all the time, even to myself, I find it funny!”

As per AP News:

He acknowledged to the court that his behavior can be boorish.

“I’ve always been told I have a Russian nature, I don’t know if it’s because of the drinking or the vulgarity,” he said. “I have said in black and white that I am a disgusting slob.”

But he said he “never, ever” would have pincered a woman between his legs against her will.

“I’m not like that,” he said.

As reported by The Daily Express US:

Regarding the claim brought forth by the 54-year-old set designer, Depardieu stated he had no memory of any inappropriate contact, insisting, “There was no physical contact.”

He conceded that he might have held her hips but solely to maintain his balance and prevent falling. When confronted with an allegation from a witness who said she saw him trapping the set designer between his legs, the actor refuted: “I would never put anything between my thighs.

“With the belly I have, I can't put anything between my thighs.”

RIP George Foreman

From a 2023 interview with Boxing News:

Q: What was the favourite stage of your career? Being a heavyweight wrecking ball in the 1970s, or when you came back in the 80s and 90s?

A: In the 10 years out of the ring [1977-1987] I became a minister. Sometimes my car would need a booster, and a stranger would stop by to help me out. I asked how much I owed him. He said, ‘Get out of here, big ‘un.’ He didn’t even realise I was once heavyweight champion of the world but he was so kind to me. Everyone was so kind to me and I used to think, ‘I wish I could be champion again because I should have been nicer to people.’ When I came back I built my profile up again and I repaid all the people I had been unkind to. The comeback was my way of saying sorry for being so unkind the first time round. That was the best time of my whole boxing career, when I came back because I gave back. When I was in Reno, Nevada I couldn’t sign autographs or shake people’s hand because I had sprained my hand, so I just sat by a post and let anyone come over and talk, or take a picture. They did. I was there for three hours, and it was the nicest time of my life as a boxer. Nothing compared to that moment – not even beating Frazier, or being with Ali in Zaire.

From a CBS News remembrance:

What he leaves is a legacy of rumbles, redemptions, and ribs.

Illinois Governor marvellously trolls Trump

The world’s finest geographers, experts who study the Earth’s natural environment, have concluded a decades long council and determined that a Great Lake deserves to be named after a great state. So today I’m issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter, Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois. The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change.

In addition, the recent announcement that to protect the homeland, the United States will be purchasing Greenland. Illinois will now be annexing Green Bay to protect itself against enemies, foreign and domestic.

Link to video

A Car Plant with a Poop Problem

An alleged memo to employees at a Stellantis engine plant in Indiana was making news last week.  To quote:

Is it unfortunate for us all to have to deal with an employee(s) that continues to create situations that are both unsanitary and certainly disturbing. Wiping feces on the bathroom walls, the disability handle bars, door latches, sinks handles, and the piles being left on the floor does nothing other than subject our facility and SBM teams to potentially dangerous biohazards that are completely avoidable. NOTHING. So, it begs the question for us to ask “WHY?” What is it accomplishing to perform such careless and disgusting act?

Effective immediately, SBM has been directed not to cleanup after such events. With the exception being the front locker rooms, each bathroom found in this grotesque state, will be immediately locked and taken out of service until further notice. There will be folks that have some complaints and concerns about this process, but we will no longer ask our SBM staff to clean up these types of events until a detailed investigation is complete. If needed, alternate methods may be used to help pinpoint the culprit.

Whatever you think about the authenticity of the  memo and, if authentic, the  strategy laid out, various news reports have confirmed this statement from the company:

Stellantis is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for its employees. The Company is currently investigating disturbing incidents at its Kokomo Engine Plant that have left bathroom facilities in an unsanitary condition. While the investigation is ongoing, the plant will ensure that bathroom facilities are regularly cleaned and sanitized and remain accessible to employees. Those responsible for these intentional acts will be held accountable.

Also of note is this ‘appeal’ excerpted from a report on The Autopian website:

If the shit-smearer is actually reading this right now, please, buddy, you need to reconsider pretty much everything. I’m not sure what’s going on in your life to lead you to think smearing shit all over everything is an answer, but I’m pretty certain it’s not.

You may have valid concerns, but if there’s ever been a situation where smearing shit all over something has solved it – outside of a mushroom farm – I’m not aware of what that may be. Someone may have wronged the shit-smearer at some point, but I’m pretty sure all of the other workers just trying to build Jeep engines don’t deserve to have to deal with this human-shit.

Trump’s thoughts on air traffic control

From his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast, with reference to the recent mid-air collision over Washington DC:

We should have had the proper control.  We should have had better equipment.  We don’t.  We have obsolete equipment.  They were understaffed, for whatever reason.  I guess the helicopter was high, and we’ll find out exactly what happened.  But the odds, even if you had nothing — if you had nobody, the odds of that happening are extremely small.

It’s like, did you ever see — you go to a driving range in golf and you’re hitting balls, hundreds of balls, thousands of hours.  I never see a ball hit another ball.  Balls going up all over the place.  You never see them hit.

It was amazing that that could happen.  There was a lot of mistakes made, and it should have never happened.  But regardless of that, it’s amazing that it happened.

And I think that’s going to be used for good.  I think what is going to happen is we’re all going to sit down and do a great computerized system for our control towers, brand-new — not pieced together, obsolete, like it is — land-based — trying to hook up a land-based system to a satellite system.

And the first thing that some experts told me when this happened is you can’t hook up land to satellites, and you can’t hook up satellites to land.  It doesn’t work.  And we spent billions and billions of dollars trying to renovate an old, broken system, instead of just saying, “Cut it loose, and let’s spend less money and build a great system.”  Done by two or three companies — very s- — good companies, specialists.  That’s all it is.

They used 39 companies.  That means that 39 different hookups have to happen.  And I don’t know how many people of you are good in terms of all of the kind of things necessary for that — and it’s very complex stuff — but when you have 39 different companies working on hooking up different cities and different people — you need one company with one set of equipment.

And there are some countries that have unbelievable air controller systems, and they would have — bells would have gone off when that helicopter literally even hit the same height, because it traveled a long distance before it hit.  It was just like — just wouldn’t stop — you follow the line.  But bells and whistles would have gone off.  They have them where it actually could virtually turn the thing around.  It would have just never happened if we had the right equipment.

And one of the things that’s going to be — I’m going to be speaking to John and to Mike and to Chuck and to everybody.  We have to get together and just — as a single bill, just pass where we get the — the best control system.

When I land in my plane, privately, I use a system from another country, because my captain tells me — I’m landing in New York, and I’m using — I won’t tell you what country, but I use a system from another country, because the captain says, “This thing is so bad.  It’s so obsolete.”  And we can’t have that.

So, we’re going to have the best system and it’s a lot of money, but it’s not that much money.  And it’ll happen fast, and it’ll be done by total professionals.  And when it’s done, you’re not going to have accidents.  It’s just not — they’re not — they’re virtually not possible to have.