‘Father Ted’ Producer Passes Away

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.

Dear Identity Thief, Here you are! Have a nice day!

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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God was holding my leg and beating the (expletive) out of me

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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