We Don't Walk Slow

30 Dec, 2013

Interpreting the James Holmes Poll

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-30T14:39:27-05:00December 30th, 2013|My Brain|0 Comments

Would you live in the old James Holmes apartment?

As of 12/30/13 2:05pm

I was browsing TMZ today (I have no original posts and work is completely dead) and came across this James Holmes story about his apartment being put back up for rent. My initial thought before I clicked on the result was that 95% of the people are going to say they definitely wouldn’t live there. To my surprise, most people say it’s not even a big deal that a mass murderer lived there previously. I truly believed that would be off putting to most people but a sample size of 48k is fairly conclusive. The more I thought about it, what are the landlords expected to do? Tearing the entire building down seems ridiculous and other than renovating it, it’s not like they have a whole lot of options in an investment property. Here is a quote from the families which give you an idea of their feeling on the subject matter.

[blockquote source=”TMZ”]”We spoke with a number of families after breaking the story that the apartment — which Holmes booby trapped with 30 grenades and 10 gallons of gasoline with the intent of killing cops — is on the market, and they feel victimized again and disrespected.”[/blockquote]

I’m not sure I side with the victims here because they are feeling “victimized again and disrespected?” If some other person wants to live in that apartment, are these victims going to feel some sort of uneasiness because of its past tenant? It really makes no sense whatsoever. What I concluded was that I personally would never live in that apartment but wouldn’t think it was weird if someone else wanted to. If I owned that apartment, I’m certainly not leaving it vacant or tearing my building down because some madmen rented it previously. Just a bad situation all around that you have to be practical about and not let a stigma ruin it.

27 Dec, 2013

Is It Still Blogging?

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-27T15:40:13-05:00December 27th, 2013|My Brain|2 Comments

I had a similar post in mind after reading Sam’s livejournal blog from 2010. His livejournal attempt was what I considering blogging. It’s a person who is keeping a journal of his life events haphazardly. Ideas are strewn around and almost unreadable without pictures or any thought to organization. Nevertheless, you get a good idea of how an 18 year old is living his life on a day to day basis which is pretty intriguing. The blog itself isn’t an interesting as the actual interpretation of how Sam is surviving. When the information being presented isn’t as interesting as the human being, we hit our basic level of blogging. Someone who is unable to get ideas across intelligently sums up what I consider blogging.

The post I wrote last night was inspired by Sam’s blog. I took a night of my life and documented it with exactly what happened. Now my thought in my mind was that I’m not only going to write about what happened, but I’m going to write about my thought processes behind everything that was happening. I thought it came out very well and hope when compared with the LiveJournal, a 30 year old telling a tale compared to an 18 year old is apparent. My purpose isn’t to put the Sam’s old blog down at all because I’m speaking to a part of his most recent post that I think is on point. You not only grow with the blog, the blog grows with you.

Back on May 2nd, 2009 I moved my blog from blogspot to its own domain name. If you read my old blog, you’ll see something very similar to Sam’s in that all I’m writing about are daily occurrences and random rants. No structure and it’s incredibly boring to anyone who doesn’t know me. Buying your own domain name is the first step to separate yourself from “blogging.” It shows that you are serious about managing a website and that you are willing to spend money to give yourself a more professional look. I installed WordPress and used a few of their template themes and I was off. 13 people visited that very first day. Over 500 will visit today.

As the years passed, a major part of maintaining a website is keeping up with a current look. This requires the purchasing of new themes which will keep you ahead of other cookie cutter templates. With the look in place, and I would think an upgrade every year or two is acceptable, the content becomes what is going to drive people to your site. My greatest successes have been focusing on people who other people care about. Interesting pictures is what tends to do the trick. Either way, the content shifts from whatever you are doing in your life, to whatever you are thinking about in your life. You ask yourself, what can I post about that people will read and say, “I enjoyed reading that.” That’s why I really liked the post last night because I thought I combined both parts of this with what I was doing and the message I was trying to convey about Philly bars and meeting new people. Each entry begins to take longer because you start thinking about what word perfectly describes what I was thinking. Or how a picture can be worth 1,000 words. The pictures I used in that entry were false on all accounts but they were far better than nothing as I put thought behind them even if they weren’t true. These are concepts that Sam and I weren’t using 4 years ago.

Sam grows with me and I refine my skills by what he is implementing. The websites grow together and we grow as people as we blog. He isn’t the same 18 year old boy anymore getting black out drunk on random Wednesdays. He’s a grown ass man who is able to use his website to tell stories and thoughts that he encounters throughout his life. My goal has always been to build a website that is far more than a blog. I want people to read my material because they like my frame of mind and how I publish my thoughts. This isn’t blogging anymore, this is building a site that produces ideas. I still haven’t been able to get the visitor interaction that I would like to see but I think it’s hard for people to want to take the time to comment on posts when it doesn’t fit their agenda. Once that part of this site comes together, you start to form a community and with more people, come more power. That’s what I’m trying to work towards because you can accomplish bigger thoughts with more brains working on them. A blog is for one person. A website is an engaging experience. This site is somewhere in between.

12/27/13 Analytics

26 Dec, 2013

Philly Bar Crawl 12/26/13

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-26T23:48:52-05:00December 26th, 2013|My Life|1 Comment

I joined a Philly bar crawl tonight an hour and a half in. I met up at bar 7 of 13 and missed the bright spot at Ladder 15 but was met with a whirlwind of flames at Nodding Head which is not a gay bar. I thought the name signified this but was mistaken. The beer selection was average and overpriced. For $5.50 ,I drank a 5.5% Tannenbaum which I’d rate as decent. The other beer choices I wasn’t even considering because they contained fruit and desserts. Which after writing that last sentence makes it sound like a gay bar. People were a tad drunker than I was but that’s somewhat of a rarity for me. I’m used to being there at the open and by the middle I’m the one falling over. This time I used a different strategy that involved getting there late which worked somewhat admirably as I was able to make some decent observations.

After 3 (Royal) Tannenbaums (a joke I was ready to use but couldn’t find the right time) at Nodding Head we traveled to Time. The Green Flash costs $6.50 but contains about 7% in a pint glass and is quite satisfying. At Time, there were two pilots who fly for Fed Ex and go from Philly to Germany on a regular basis who may be American contacts while I’m in Germany. They were interesting but talking to two random bros at a bar crawl is not a good look. I had 2 Green Flashes and a Jameson and Ginger as alcohol consumption. After Time was Bar and people were starting to get drunker. Bar missed the target because they try to serve good beer out of a can. It’s an OK idea but the beer just tastes better cold and out of a glass. So the 12oz $4 Red Betty IPA tastes worse than a $4 16oz Lager at a good bar. It was decent and the people controlled the jukebox which lead to hit or miss. Van Morrison was popular and there was a song playing that I can’t identify but have heard before.

At this point people were scattering and I had a decision to make. Was I going to sit there and keep drinking to fit in with people I’ve never met before or go home. I walked to City Hall, clicked a picture of City Hall (to the right), and went home. The taxi driver who drove me home was from Nigeria and saying how passionate he was about being a taxi driver. I asked him what he would do if he wasn’t a taxi driver and he didn’t have a good answer. Good intentions, hard world.

Below are some females talked to throughout the night and my honest opinion.

Girl 1– 9-12th grade teacher. Very attractive and the students must not be able to pay attention. Teaches the Philly school district. Kept trying to yank out her phone after 3+ minutes. Wasn’t into drinking (smart). Asked what I did.
Girl 2 – Defense job. Pretty, athletic. Didn’t offer much. Ready to leave. Did ask what I did.
Girl 3 – Used government words. Cute. Easy to talk to. Wasn’t into drinking.
Girl 4 – Fun loving. Gullible. Extremely nice. Boys 2 Men Fan.

24 Dec, 2013

The Power of the Tweet

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-24T13:41:04-05:00December 24th, 2013|My Brain, Sports|1 Comment

Here’s Lebron dunking on Paul Millsap last night:

Here is Millsaps’ Tweet:

Tough loss but I love the fight of our team. Word of advice "don't be in the wrong place at the wrong time" lol. #igotgot #GoHawks

— Paul Millsap (@Paulmillsap4) December 24, 2013

This example is why Twitter is so powerful. A player gets posterized and can respond to what happened in something other than an interview. The majority of the world would have no idea what is going through the mind of Paul Millsap after getting Lebron’s nut sack on his forehead. An interview is only watched by people who tune into sports stations. So unless you are watching Sportscenter, you probably aren’t realizing that Millsap got got. Twitter allows him to make this post and then have knuckleheads like me find his tweet, and snowball the tweet so everyone knows he got owned last night. This isn’t something that you can overlook.

Twitter holds legitimacy over Facebook and is quickly becoming the #1 social media for news and info. Facebook joined friends together and people are over having friends. Twitter brings relevant content and newsworthy pieces from people you care about together. Is Paul Millsap’s reaction to getting dunked on something I care about? Not exactly but on a slow news day, why not? Paul Millsap being able to speak out to the world about what happened in a form of media that isn’t sports television is my point. This idea is what is vaulting Twitter. Getting reactions from people on events all in one place. It’s a combined form of media that is unlike anything else. If you don’t have Twitter and you read this blog and don’t follow me, join year 2014 and the Twitter experience. I was anti-twitter at first but have come on board because it’s not very time consuming and much more interesting than Facebook. The better social media will rise to the top.

24 Dec, 2013

The Romo Ruse

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-24T12:39:26-05:00December 24th, 2013|Sports|0 Comments

He’s just a little guy,

I’m not sure how obvious this is but the first thing that I thought when the Cowboys announced that Romo was hurt on Monday was, “why on Earth are the Cowboys telling us this?” This isn’t the kind of information you share with the media to allow the team you are playing against to prepare for. You’d let the Eagles prepare for Romo and then at the last possible second, tell them Orton is playing. This would be the most likely situation if Romo were 100% not going to play. That’s not what happened though and as the situation developed, it has gotten even more confusing.

On 12/22, the reports were that Romo was done for the season. 2 days layer on 12/24, Jerry Jones isn’t ruling out the possibility he will play. So what happened? The Cowboys realized how incredibly stupid it was to disclose Romo’s status on Monday and are now trying to deceive the birds by saying he might play so they prepare for both QB’s even though THEY KNOW HE’S NOT PLAYING. Are the Cowboys that mindful about the psychological edge surrounding this game? Or, Romo may actually be able to play. Either way it’s pretty brilliant mind games by the Cowboys heading into the final week of the season. Surround all this attention on your QB situation that you take away from the down and dirty details of the game. Whether that works or not, I wouldn’t think so but it’s definitely worth a try if your starting QB can’t play the biggest game of the season. I never trust the media in situation like this because they are too easy to mess with. Best to just ignore it and prepare for THE COWBOYS, and now who is the QB.

Who doesn’t want this guy to play?

24 Dec, 2013

Funniest Christmas Scenes

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-24T12:42:49-05:00December 24th, 2013|Movies|0 Comments

Here are a few of the funniest Christmas scenes I came up with. Do you know any better?

Step Brothers Deleted Scene – Dale and Brennan Open Presents
“I’m going down to the Cheesecake Factory to have a drink.”
“Hulk Smash!”
“That doesn’t even count, I opened a box of shit.”
“I’m livid right now!”

Bad Santa – Boxing Scene
“You don’t drink, which is smart on your part.”
“I’m good in a fight because I can’t feel anything.”
“He’s a fucking retard.”

Home Alone – Go Easy On the Pepsi
Some incredible acting by youngsters. Those faces are genuine.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – It’s a Bit Nipply
“There is a nip in the air.”
“She’s history.”
“Can’t see the line, can ya, Russ?”

A Christmas Story – I Can’t Put My Arms Down
“My kid brother looked like a tick about to pop”
“Put your arms down when you get to school.”

24 Dec, 2013

4 Star Movies?

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-24T09:42:05-05:00December 24th, 2013|Movies|0 Comments

A 4 star movie is something that should be very rare. I expect more from a 4 star movie and hold it to the highest standard. When I’m watching a critically acclaimed movie, I’m comparing it to all the other 4 star movies I’ve seen in the past like Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption, and the Godfather. Movies that I’ve watched recently that have been reviewed as 4 stars by the Comcast system are letting me down. This leads my thought to believe that old time movies do not get re-ranked as they shouldn’t. If a movie came out in 1935 and was 4 stars, it’s still 4 stars. However, this doesn’t mean that I am watching this movie in 2013 and thinking it’s 4 stars. The thing about these 4 star movies though is that they leave a time stamp of cultural significance even if they are not the “best” movie. Here are few that fit this mold.

Dirty Harry (1971)

Clint Eastwood is Dirty Harry

Dirty Harry’s 4 stars drew me to watching it because I haven’t watched much Clint before and I knew the name Dirty Harry was well known. Whenever I think of the early 70’s, I think of Beatlemania and the Vietnam War so I also wanted to get some film culture of the time period. Clint plays a bad-ass cop, Dirty Harry Callaghan, who takes no shit and does whatever he wants. Numerous times through the movie he is asked why he’s called “Dirty”? “I get every dirty job that comes along” and he “always get the shit-end of the stick.”

The movie is not exactly filled with twists, turns, and stimulating thought which 4 star movies often bring. It tends to follow the path of Harry tailing Scorpio (the serial killer) throughout the whole movie. I noticed when Harry was firing shots in the opening scene he couldn’t miss and at the end it was like he was a Stormtrooper. His tagline of “Do you feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk?” is used throughout the movie and is worth remembering. My biggest complaint about Dirty Harry was the villain. His leg being hurt and his running was ridiculous and the school bus scene when he was hitting kids was trust bizarre. How that mental case was a mastermind serial killer did not seem realistic. This was a good movie and probably 4 stars in 1971 but it doesn’t hold up to expectations of today.

Rocky (1976)

Another 4 star review that I think is more like 3. The acting by Stallone was incredible. Playing a dumb fighter was done expertly by Stallone. I thought Adrian was deftly played and the pair fit like two peas in a pod. The Apollo Creed set up of the fight seemed secondary to the love story going which was aptly conveyed at the conclusion of the movie. Being from Philadelphia, I thought the screen shots of Kelly Drive, the Art Museum, and the Italian market were awesome because I’m able to compare them to today. I thought it was a very good movie but not very believable considering Rocky couldn’t run up the Art Museum steps without being winded at the beginning of his training and was somehow able to take on the Champ a few weeks later. Either way, great movie, but not 4 star caliber.

Casablanca (1942)

1942 Casablanca movie poster

Watching classic movies made 70+ years ago is truly a blast from the past. Humphrey Bogart was great as Rick in Casablanca. He had a cool sense to him and seemed like a man’s man which is amazingly what I thought of Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) in Gone with the Wind. Men were much manlier back then. Plus everyone in the movie is an alcoholic which seems realistic. The love story between Rick and Isla was pretty deep which is why this movie was 4 stars. The twist at the end also caught the viewers off guard which I’m sure in 42′ was unheard of. The movie brought the tag lines, “Here’s looking at you, kid” and “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Casablanca is a great movie that still holds up 70 years later. With this in mind, I understand it being 4 stars. However, it isn’t keeping me on the edge of my seat 4 stars. It’s 1942 4 stars.

Ted (2012)

The Movie Poster from Ted

I wrote this post back in July and want to update it a bit. Ted is growing on me. This is a movie that you can pick up at any point and find parts to laugh at. The Teddy Bruschi joke is a 10/10 and the way Mila Kunis throws around Martina Navatabruski is wonderful. I think another thing this movie does great is its cut scenes. They seem sped up and what it does is gets you laughing as you finish the last scene and immediately pop into the next. The Patrick Warburton scene of whether he’s gay or not is hilarious too because his dialogue is spot on. This movie is funnier than I thought and gets better with each watch. 4 stars is pushing it because the story isn’t that great but the thought put into the dialogue is A+.

23 Dec, 2013

Who Has The Most Spotify Followers of 2013?

By Tom Stortz|2014-02-18T09:38:42-05:00December 23rd, 2013|Music|5 Comments

An interesting measure of how popular an artist is can be looked at by Spotify followers. Spotify is replacing Pandora as the streaming music king and is a more relevant indicator. Here is a snapshot of the top 20 Spotify accounts as of 12/23/13. I’ve added the Twitter followers as well to see how the two numbers compare.

20. One Direction – 16.8 Million Twitter followers – Teen heartthrobs who should do very well in popularity with regards to Spotify and social media as they hit the “who uses it the most” target on the bulls eye.

1.6 million followers as of 12/23/13

19. Usher – 8.8 Million Twitter followers – Hasn’t had a CD since 12′ and maintains a strong presence with his 17 years of producing quality jams.

1.7 million followers as of 12/23/13

18. Justin Bieber – 47.8 Million Twitter followers – Not surprising to see the Biebs have a much stronger following on Twitter where it’s not all about the music.

1.8 million followers as of 12/23/13

17. Kanye West – 10.1 Million Twitter followers – For being the best (in his own mind), you’d think he’d have more followers.

1.8 million followers as of 12/23/13

16. Pitbull – 15.2 Million Twitter followers – His successful collaborations just don’t seem to end and he knocks them out of the park in the pop world.

1.8 million followers as of 12/23/13

15. Gotye – 410k Twitter followers – Probably hasn’t added a fan since 2012. Somebody That I Used To Know has 141 million plays currently

1.8 Million followers on Spotify as of 2/18/14

14. Mumford and Sons – 500k Twitter followers – Odd when your Twitter followers are less than your Spotify followers but I think that should speak to the fact that these guys are all about the music

1.9 million followers as of 12/23/13

13. Lana Del Rey – 13.1 Million Twitter followers – Shocker that Lana is this high. She must be hitting a market I’m unaware of like teen girls.

1.9 million followers as of 12/23/13

12. Adele – 18.9 Million Twitter followers – No CD since 2011 and I can’t imagine she’s been adding tons of fans which speaks volumes to how big she was when 21 was released.

1.9 million followers as of 2/18/14

11. Drake – 13.6 Million Twitter followers – Nothing Was The Same was released in September of this year and Drake’s fan base is continuing to grow as he’s solidified himself as one of the game’s best.

2 million followers as of 12/23/13

10. Nicki Minaj – 17.2 Million Twitter followers – Since American Idol she doesn’t seem as current and her new music isn’t hitting my radio airwaves. She always seems to chirp back up though. Loving the Spotify logo.

2.0 million followers as of 12/23/13

9. Eminem – 16.5 Million Twitter followers – The new album The Marshall Mathers LP2 has revived Eminem and I would think he will continue to gain (even more) popularity the more people listen to it.

2 million followers as of 12/23/13

8. Katy Perry – 48.7 Million Twitter followers – Another singer who is way better known on Twitter than on Spotify which shows how huge her fan base is. She doesn’t even care if her logo is done professionally which honestly boggles my mind. *Edit – I added her new logo once I saw it was finally changed.

2.2 Million Spotify followers as of 2/18/14

8. Aviici – 1.1 Million Twitter followers – Huge following on Spotify and the best Spotify intro picture I’ve seen. I’d expect him to continue to climb the ranks as EDM continues to grow on Spotify.

2.2 million Spotify followers as of 12/23/13

7. Fun. – 647k Twitter followers – No new record and not many new songs since “Some Nights”. I have a feeling that they have something in the pipeline that will propel them higher. Not done with Fun. yet

2.4 million Spotify followers as of 12/23/13

6. Coldplay – 11.6 Million Twitter followers – This is a major surprise to me because Coldplay hasn’t come out with an album in 2 years and they feel old. They have an incredibly successful catalog though and that’s why they generate so much interest and a following.

2.5 million Spotify followers as of 12/23/13

5. Skrillex – 3.2 Million Twitter followers – I’m not a huge EDM guy but Spotify is listened to all over the world and this fan base is bigger than the US. These figures will continue to soar.

2.5 million Spotify followers as of 12/23/13

4. Flo Rida – 5 Million Twitter followers – The king of a catchy beat and chorus. Shocking he could be this high as I put him in the Pitbull category of pop songs.

3.4 Million followers as of 12/23/13

3. Maroon 5 – 7.3 Million Twitter followers – Adam Levine is named Sexiest Man of 2013 and he’s doing good things on the Voice. A class example of how to promote yourself and band.

3.7 million followers as of 12/23/13

2. Rihanna – 33.3 Million Twitter followers – Huge following on Twitter and Spotify and it’s well deserved. She has a wonderful voice and performs with the top draws in the world. She is current music.

3.9 million followers as of 12/23/13

1. David Guetta – 13.6 Million Twitter followers – This following, a huge 1 million leg up on #2, should speak to what people on Spotify are gravitating too. It’s music where the beat builds and then drops. Drugs and teenagers play a huge role in this spike but it’s here to stay.

4.9 million followers as of 12/23/13

What About?

Lady Gaga – With 40.9 million Twitter followers this is an embarrassment. Get a goddamn logo Gaga. Your Monsters will be dying before you know it.

900k Followers as of 2/18/14

Taylor Swift – Feels bigger than she is.

1.4 million followers as of 12/23/13

Imagine Dragons – Awesome logo and I hope they continue to crush the alt world.

800k followers as of 12/23/13

21 Dec, 2013

Kanye and Sway – You Ain’t Got The Answers!

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-21T19:24:08-05:00December 21st, 2013|Celeb, Music|0 Comments

This Kanye West interview with Sway is easily one of the most fascinating interviews of the year. Kanye is on another level of thought which can be misconstrued as nuts. It’s hard to tell if he’s always on point because to people watching him he comes off as incredibly egotistical and thinks of himself as someone who is rising above. The title of his latest album is Yeezus. He’s not naming himself after Jesus which is a common misconception and would probably make people think he’s a bit full of himself. When broken down, Yeezus is Yee-is-us. I’m not sure if us is black people or a human being but he’s saying that he stands for the people. Knowing that Kanye thinks that everything Kanye does is higher level, I wanted to breakdown some of his answers with Sway and try to get into the mind of someone of this caliber.

[pullquote align=”right” background=”on”]I am Warhol! I am #1 most impactful artist of our generation. I am Shakespeare in the flesh. Walt Disney. Nike. Google – Kanye[/pullquote]

Kanye is one of the easiest people to interview because he has so much going through his head and can talk for minutes at a time uninterrupted. The first thing I noticed is that he has been playing ball with the bigger corporations in fashion and is finding the industry difficult to deal with. He’s upset with Nike and the way they are handling his sneaker the Red October’s. Nike has “marginalized” him and this bothers him. This poor relationship being described by Kanye and the corporations pushed Sway to ask why Kanye doesn’t do these types of deals himself? He calmly answered “you need proper production to bring something that has a certain value.” I thought this was a brilliant answer because you need Nike because they have the set up. Sure he could do it himself but it would take his time to make it happen the correct way and he’s always balancing time and money. When he’s working on his fashion, he isn’t working on his rapping. He then gives some wonderful business advice when he says when he’s not rapping, he’s losing relevance and relevance is power. He’s juggling so many balls that he can’t do everything himself.

This thought of him concentrating on his fashion and not rapping lead into a comment on how he is #7 behind Big Sean on the 2012 MTV’s Hottest MC list. You can tell he took this personally by his look in the interview. He made it a point to address this when he asked Sway “what do you think now” which was after Yeesus came out this year? Sway slyly says, your #1. It was even amazing when he asked who was hotter right now Kanye or Drake, Kanye answered Drake which I thought was incredible. Even behind his egotism, he still lives in some reality which is quite extraordinary.

Kim and Kanye getting cuddly.

The climax of the interview is at 17:23 where Kanye loses it. Sway again asks why don’t you do it yourself and Kanye started spazzing out that Sway doesn’t have the answers. He took it like Sway was telling him what to do and he started with the phrase, “You Ain’t Got The Answers!” He lost his cool which was quite amusing and entertaining. He even took a pot shot at Sway when he said, “What’s the name of your clothing line. We don’t know.” This came at about the same time where he paraded that he’s 13 million dollars in debt to his clothing line. The way he looks at money was strange too because he was saying how there are about 20 hot celebrities a year who have power but that it won’t last forever. Yet if you were a billionaire you could make the celebrity status last forever. The oddest part was when he said there are “1,470 billionaires in the world.” Who the fuck knows that specific of a number of how many billionaires there are unless you are someone who aspires to be one. Which there is nothing wrong with but it’s quite apparent money is on his mind.

To conclude the interview, Sway asks Kanye to rap a little bit for the audience. It starts here and it’s classic. Watching his face when the beat starts immediately makes me wonder what is going through his mind. Is he thinking of something to say? Is he getting into the groove? Then he starts rapping by not rhyming which is hilarious if you ask me. He’s using the higher level thought process that I read in a Steve Martin book that says that he would tell jokes without a punchline. I think the rapping at the end is someone who thinks incredibly hard at what their image is and what they are trying to produce. I have a lot of respect for Kanye even though he’s definitely bonkers. Don’t forget, he married and has a child with Kim Kardashian.

20 Dec, 2013

Are These Actors Dead Yet?

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-20T15:16:32-05:00December 20th, 2013|Celeb, My Brain|1 Comment

I watched Jackie Brown yesterday and noticed Robert Forester, who played Max Cherry, as a younger version of himself compared to the show I had just seen him in. Do you know what show? The 2nd to last episode of Breaking Bad. He was the man who stashed Walt away in Vermont and played cards at the end. Anyway, he looked a lot younger in 1997 and as time goes on, old people who you see in old movies will eventually pass. I came up with a few that I didn’t know if they were dead or not but after some research, came up with this list.

Living or Dead?

Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder has an unforgettable look to him.

How can you forget Willy from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? He was also in Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein which are Mel Brooks productions. He’s 80 years of age and is still getting roles. He continues to receive critical acclaim, and is regarded as one of the most appealing comedic actors of the second half of the 20th century.

[blockquote source=””]

Willy Wonka: But Charlie, don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted.
Charlie Bucket: What happened?
Willy Wonka: He lived happily ever after. [/blockquote]

Frances Bay

Frances passed in 2011 but will forever be remembered as Happy’s Grandma

She passed in 2011 and wasn’t known for as much as I would have assumed. Other than Happy Gilmore’s grandmother, she was in a Seinfeld episode “The Rye”, she played Mabel Choate, an irritable old woman from whom Jerry steals a loaf of marbled rye bread. She was actually my inspiration for this post.

[blockquote source=””]

Grandma: Sir, can I trouble you for a glass of warm milk? It helps me go to sleep.

Ben Stiller: You can trouble me for a warm glass of shut-the-hell-up! Now, you will go to sleep! Or I will PUT you to sleep. Check out the name tag. You’re in MY world now, grandma!

[/blockquote]

Roberts Blossom

Old Man Marley and Kevin talking in the Church. A touching scene reconnecting with his daughter at Kevin’s suggestion.

Everyone must remember him from Home Alone as the scary, then nice neighbor. Frankly he scared the shit out of me as a youngster. He was also Ezra Cobb in Deranged, a low-budget movie that has since become something of a cult film and is based on the life of Ed Gein. He passed in 2011 and will forever be remembered in Home Alone.

[blockquote source=””]Buzz: Check it out. Old man Marley. You ever heard of the South Bend Shovel Slayer? That’s him. In ’58 he murdered his whole family and half the people on his block… Been hiding out in this neighborhood ever since.”
Kevin: “If he’s the shovel slayer, how come the cops don’t arrest him?”
Buzz: “Not enough evidence to convict. They never found the bodies. Everyone around here knows he did it. It’ll just be a matter of time…”[/blockquote]

Darren McGavin

Mr. Parker from the Christmas Story

The Old Man in A Christmas Story was a perfect portrayal of fatherly figures all around the US. Let’s not forget he was also Billy Madison’s dad. He also won an Emmy for his role in Murphy Brown. He passed in 2006 but had an illustrious acting career starring in dozens of movies and plays.

[blockquote source=””]

Mr Parker : Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian.

Mrs. Parker : Uh, I think that says FRAGILE, dear.

Mr. Parker : Oh, yeah.

[/blockquote]

Alec Guinness

The Legendary Obi Wan Kenobi

Perhaps obvious to some since he passed in 2000 but Alec will never be forgotten for his portrayal of Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars films. He was also Fagin in Oliver Twist which should bring back some memories. Throughout the 50’s he was always one of the most popular British actors.

[blockquote source=””]

Darth Vader:Your powers are weak, old man.
Obi-Wan: You can’t win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.[/blockquote]

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