As Alan Ludden would say: The password is friggatriskaidekaphobia. What is the meaning of this bizarre word? Answer below.
By now you've heard of the Marines who are accused of pissing on the bodies of dead terrorists. I think it was wrong, but it's hardly a crime. Let's not forget that those same terrorists gleefully kill women and children, even Muslims who in their eyes aren't sufficiently Muslim. They would mutilate, even kill women who do not behave as Sharia law dictates. The worst thing about the Marines' lapse of judgment is that it gives PR ammunition to the enemy and to those liberals in the U.S. who hate the military and would happily impugn its reputation.
On a lighter note, I watched Disc One of Man with a Camera, a TV series starring Charles Bronson that filmed 29 episodes over two seasons from '58-'60. The first four episodes were weak, the last two were good. The premise holds the promise of great variety, as a photographer is not restricted by genre. I'm surprised it hasn't been tried again. As usual with the old series, the greatest fun is seeing who pops up as guest stars. Tom Laughlin, who had incredible success in the Billy Jack film series, and the bodacious Ruta Lee, were lovers in the first. Lee is still working! To my surprise, she has piled up more than 170 credits, most in prime time. I remember her from Stump the Stars, a game show that ran in the '60's at 10:30 PM. I was so disappointed when she lit up a cigarette as the closing credits ran. In another episode, Robert Armstrong (King Kong) and Angie Dickinson were father and daughter. Grant Williams, who starred in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), and Norma Crane, who played the mother in the celluloid version of Fiddler on the Roof (1971), were betrothed in another. I always get a kick out of seeing Bronson's name in the credits of his earliest appearances, when he was still going by his real name, Buchinski.
I gave the floating bookshop a shot for an hour today, despite the gusty wind, hoping locals would be enticed by the novels in Russian I had on display. Alas, no luck. Hey, it is winter. And we're one day closer to spring.
Funny moment in Delmar - a woman popped in and asked if gluten-free pizza were available. Sacrilege!
Now playing on Martini in the Morning, Linda Ronstadt's beautiful take on a song made famous by Billie Holliday: "I Get Along Without You Very Well." I'm sure most of us relate to it.
Friggatriskaidekaphobia: fear of Friday the 13th. Then there's jasontriskaidekaphobia - fear that a new Friday the 13th movie is in the works.
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