Roy Scheider Passes On
Roy Scheider passed away yesterday in Little Rock, Arkansas at the age of 75. Doctors did not disclose the cause of death. I suspect it was acute boredom. I've been to Little Rock, Arkansas. Scheider is best known for playing Sheriff Brody in Jaws. I love Jaws, but to me, his best roles were in The French Connection in a supporting role and in one of my favorite movies, All That Jazz. All That Jazz is a semi-biographical film written and directed by Bob Fosse. Richard Dreyfuss was set to star in it, but he and Bob had "creative differences." And in spite of butting heads with Fosse, Dreyfuss did the cool thing of recommending someone he thought was better suited for the role, his friend Roy. And he was right. Scheider is perfect in that film. All That Jazz reminds you of all the stuff you love about theatre and it also reminds you of all the crazy stuff that gets packaged along with it.
ROBOWRITER ASSIGNMENT
Write a fairy tale. A previous assignment was to use a fairy tale as a starting point, either continuing the story or placing it in a different context. The assignment here is to write your own. Think about what some of the common elements of a fairy tale are - under dog that rises to the occasion or a victim that needs to be rescued, magic, monsters, witches, trolls, etc - and write your own. Place it in whatever time period you like.
CHANGES
Look for some changes to the BS website. We here at corporate headquarters have been having multiple meetings trying to balance a heavy writing and teaching schedule with blogging. This week, I am in the final race to prep everything for a corporate event in San Antonio. This means the only updates this week will probably be The News Quiz.
THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY
On Friday, I asked...
"The Grease Ball, Tommy Sneakers, Nike and One Eye are all nicknames for members of what?"
22% said "1928 Washington Senators"
- Are we talking baseball players or politicians? These nicknames are too polite for politicians.
12% said "Sha Na Na"
- No, but I could understand why members of Sha Na Na would want to use aliases.
No One went for "The Original Little Rascals"
66% got it right with "Gambino Crime Family"
According to The Smoking Gun, dozens of reputed Gambino crime family members and associates were named today in a racketeering indictment charging the New York-based Mafia family with most of the felonies covered in the United States Code (murder, narcotics distribution, robbery, extortion, loansharking, securities fraud, labor schemes, etc.). The charged hoodlums include "The Greaseball," "Bobby the Jew," "Tommy Sneakers," and "Mike the Electrician." Some arrestees, like Gambino captain Leonard DiMaria, even have multiple nicknames. DiMaria, the indictment notes, is known alternately as "L," "Lenny," "The Conductor," "Nike," "Uncle," and "Fatso." I've got a feeling "Fatso" wasn't his idea.
"Hey, call me 'The Conductor,' you know, like the leader of an orchestra."
"Sure thing, Fatso, whatever you say."
