woolie t.

This is sad. Geoffrey Perkins died in a road accident yesterday. Father Ted is one of my favorite comedies ever, and its creator, Graham Linehan, shared a nice anecdote regarding Mr. Perkins’ contributions to its beginning.

Mr. Linehan had selected a theme song he felt to be perfect because of its silliness and because it would seem to be “subtly making fun” of the show. Geoffrey Perkins didn’t like it.

“Why do you want to make fun of your show?” said Geoffrey, finally, looking wounded and worried. “People will love these characters.”

I later realised that it was a fork in the road, that discussion, and if we had not travelled the way Geoffrey suggested, we’d have ended up lost…we may never have made it to series three. Without Geoffrey, ‘Father Ted’ would have been a cacophonous riot, and not nearly as loved as it is today. He gave the show a heart, and gave me–still very young, and unsure as to what type of person I should try to become– someone to model myself on.

Ten years ago, Dermont Morgan, the comedian who played the Father Ted character, also passed away unexpectedly. It’s a bit depressing to think that two people so connected to that show’s success are now gone.

Remember the Land of Confusion video? At the very end (~5:13), the Regan puppet inadvertently presses the “Nuke” button instead of the “Nurse” button (understandable mistake). It’s ridiculous because, of course, there wouldn’t actually have been a single button anyone could press that would launch nuclear missiles. Right? Actually, turns out, there was. Only it was in the Soviet Union.

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I saw a local news story today that actually got me a little riled (muttering words like ‘insane’ and ‘inane’ to myself). Apparently, it’s quite possible that both my name and signature, along with my social security number, are readily available at my county’s probate court website.

(Updated)

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Fairhope (some history), the small town located on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, recently cracked open a city safe that had been left unused since 1971. The city’s police department was apparently the last to make use of it, because inside the safe was a bunch of marijuana.

It looks like we found a whole lot of dope it what it looks like we found.

I was reading this story the other day in the paper. It’s about an 11 month old boy found 150 yards from the slab that used to be his house. A tornado ripped it apart and killed his mother. Miraculous and heartbreaking stuff. Even though I live in a part of the country where they are extremely rare, and have never personally had an experience with one, I’ve had nightmares about tornados. I think maybe four or five in all over the past maybe fifteen years. And so when reading that article, this description recounted by one survivor really stood out:

James Krueger, a 49-year-old electrician, opened the door to look out of the 100-year-old home he was restoring and the wind sucked the door from his hand. He dived onto the ground “as if I was sliding into first.” The house was pulled out from under him — and when it was over, he was on bare ground.

Can you imagine? I could only hope that if in the same situation, it all happens too fast for the fear to have time to take hold of me. And if later asked by a reporter how it all felt, I know my quote wouldn’t be nearly as enthralling as what this man provided:

“It was like God was holding my leg and beating the (expletive) out of me for everything I’ve done in my life,” said Krueger, of Lafayette. “Maybe I tried to question God too many times, but the bottom line is something kept me there.”

I wish I knew what the “expletive” was though. Regardless of how you feel about language like that, there are most definitely occasions where it’s called for, and I would love to have that quote exactly as it was given.

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Waxy links to the surreal story of Lewiston Tribune’s December 13th issue. The front page that Thursday featured two color photos. The first of a local man decorating a storefront window with some holiday artwork. The second picture is the surveillance camera image of a man who soon makes away with an unattended wallet. In the first picture, the local man is identified. In the second, his identity is sought. Funny thing is, the two men look remarkably similar.

Local police noticed the similarities, and quickly arrested the hapless criminal mastermind for felony second-degree theft.

How many residents of Lewiston, ID do you think sat down with their morning paper that day and actually noticed? I have to admit I probably wouldn’t have made the connection, even with the two photos sitting right next to each other. I tried finding the next day’s front page at Newseum but couldn’t. So I searched the Lewiston Tribune Online and found a match for what appears to be a follow-up story. Unfortunately you have to be a paid subscriber to access the story and the two Bugmenot entries for that site didn’t work. Anyway, the whole thing seems like the solution to some preteen mystery novel.