DKoren asked: If you could cast Rudy in any modern movie, what would you like to see him in?
(Rudy = Rudolph Valentino, for those who don't know.) I would have him play Roux in Chocolat. Yes, Johnny Depp was creamy-dreamy in the role, but I can totally see Rudy as Roux. With his Italian accent he'd have that perfect flavor of slightly-other. Plus of course he'd have the handsomeness and the charm and the devil-may-care flair down pat. Kind of lost in imagining him in this now -- thanks :-9
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| Valentino vs. Depp |
Or, looked at another way, what role would you like to have seen him play?
If I could have him had make any story into a movie, back when he was actually making movies? Oh, why not have him as John Thornton in a silent version of North and South? Rudy could do haughty and offended so sweetly, and also wounded and tender and sad and hopeful and... yeah, that would have been amazing.
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| Particularly Thornton-ish shots of Rudy |
Which character in The Great Escape do you most relate to?
Sedgwick (James Coburn), I think. He's always making things and solving problems in creative ways.
Which is your favorite?
Hilts (Steve McQueen) and Danny (Charles Bronson) tie for my favorite. Hilts for his swagger, and Danny for his sadness. (Always with the sad characters, Hamlette! Yeesh!)
Jessica Prescott asked: Which is your favorite Star Wars character, and why?
Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Again with the swagger -- I like a guy with braggadocio, but only if he's 100% earned the right to it. Which Han has -- he's every bit as bad and cool and wonderful as he wants you to believe he is. (Also, I'm fascinated by smugglers.) (Also, Harrison Ford! Hubba hubba.)
Do you have a favorite song/singer/band?
Yes I do. His name is Bobby Darin, and I have loved his music since I was 16. I bought a cassette tape of his music because I wanted to hear his rendition of "Mack the Knife" (my favorite song ever since). I listened to it on my cassette player with my headphones in that night, lying in bed, and knew I was never going to be the same. I listened to both sides of the tape before I went to sleep, and listened to it right away again in the morning. His music has been with me ever since.
I do post about him fairly often -- you can read all my posts about him here if you want to know more about why I love him. He recorded music in every genre that existed in the '50s, '60s, and early '70s, and his versatility is pretty well unrivaled.
Besides being a consummate singer, songwriter, and live performer, Bobby was also a talented actor. He appeared in many popular TV shows, made quite a few movies, and was even nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in Captain Newman, MD (1963).
Did you read the Chronicles of Narnia as a kid? If so, which book was your favorite?
I read them as a teen. My favorite is The Horse and his Boy, which I've read probably 4 times, while the rest I've only read once. I used to go around saying, "The bolt of Tash falls from above!" at random moments.
Zoe asked: Have you ever participated in English Country Dancing, attended a masquerade ball, or danced The Laendler? If so, might you paint a word picture of your experience?
No to English Country Dancing (but I'd love to try it), and no to The Laendler. Sort of yes to the masquerade ball, in that my college had a Halloween dance every year, and my friends and I always went in costume. One year we all went as vampires dressed in costumes (so I was a vampire soldier, Cowboy was a vampire Ringo Starr, etc.). Another year, we all went Goth Glam. One year I was Rogue and Cowboy was Wolverine. So while we all knew who everyone was because we saw these people every day (very small college -- about 400 students at that time), it was still kind of a masquerade ball.
Wearing a costume to a dance, for me, was a way of shedding my inhibitions about "am I dancing weird?" and "do I look like a dork?" because with a costume on, of course I looked goofy! And that gave me freedom to bust out some moves I might not ordinarily try. Though to be honest, my friends and I have never been awesome dancers, but we have been joyful dancers, and we do things like The Monkey and The Twist that were popular long ago.
I also took ballroom dancing my freshman year of college. But there were more than twice as many girls as boys, so I ended up learning the boy steps to all the dances so I could dance with the only person I knew in the class and she could learn the girl steps.
So... none of those were quite what you were asking about, I'm afraid. I really want to try English Country Dancing one day! When I have time, lol.
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| (There's no good reason for this extra photo of Bobby Darin.) |
Thanks for the great questions, friends! I'll be answering Natalie's question next -- I have a feeling I'll be spending a whole post on it!
Look at all those lovely Bobby pictures! :-D Particularly love that last one.
ReplyDeleteOoooh, Valentino as Roux?? That would be way cool. As would a silent N&S, with him as Thornton. I can see that, cuz he does have all right emotions. Mmmm. I shouldn't ask questions about things that now I can't run out and buy to watch!
Cool answers.
Hee. Yeah, I couldn't decide on just one. Isn't that last one funny?
DeleteYes, you need to stop making me make up movies we can never see. Because I spent an awful lot of valuable story-contemplating time on imagining those Rudy movies yesterday.
I know exactly what you mean about how you could never be the same again after listening to Bobby Darin for the first time. I've felt like that several times myself, particularly after first hearing Celtic Thunder's songs "Heartland," "Always There," and "Mo Ghile Mear." Music is so awesome--or, at any rate, it CAN be. As Bertie Wooster would say, "It speaks to me, that song, Jeeves."
ReplyDeleteThe Horse and His Boy--yeah, that was my original favorite too, and then I switched to The Silver Chair because it "spoke" to me more, but I still love Aravis and Shasta/Cor, and Bree, and Hwin, and all the rest of them.
"The bolt of Tash falls from above!" YES.
Some music is just like that. Three dozen CDs and oodles of movies and TV show eps later... there's still no one like Bobby Darin for me.
DeleteI'm considering rereading Narnia, as I think my son could be about ready for it, but I can't remember it clearly enough anymore.
Oh, and... "Does it sometimes get stuck on a peg halfway down?"
DeleteYup. The other great quote from that book is "The sun is/ was/ will be dark in my eyes." I think if everybody went around using that line instead of some of the other things they DO say, the world would be a better place.
DeleteI'd forgotten that one!
DeleteHaha, oh my, now I really looking forward to your answer to my question! I had no idea you'd need a whole post to answer it. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd, as a side note, yes to your favorite Great Escape characters...especially Danny. :( I felt soooo bad for him. Sad or hurt characters always become a favorite of mine.
Well, I'm answering it more in depth, as you might imagine. People do ask me that a lot, you see, even people I know in "real life."
DeleteOoo, I've tried English Country Dancing! It's pretty fun, though I'd imagine it'd be most fun to do in period costumes. :D I prefer the more modern, more American version -- Contra Dancing. It's a blast. :D
ReplyDeleteHow cool! And I had no idea Contra Dancing was related -- in fact, I've always wondered what Contra Dancing was.
DeleteJust nominated you for a Liebster. Check out my blog for more details!
ReplyDeleteBetter yet, here's the link:
Deletehttps://nitrateglow.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/liebster-award/
Thanks! I have two other blog tags I need to finish and post right now too, so I'll add it to the queue :-)
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