"What We Got Heauh, is Failuh, t'Cmmunicate", those stinging words uttered by Strother Martin...........One of the other bloggers mentioned having that as the lead in to his answering machine message. I may well steal that one, though I hardly ever have to worry about a message since my cell is my only phone and I had it surgically attached. Doubt the office Nazis would find any humor in my making that phrase part of my Audix greeting.

Paul Newman, what can you say, besides rest in Peace, to a good, good, man. One who flew in the face of Hollyweird stereotypes. One who chose his roles, even taking out a newspaper ad apologizing for one of his early films that he thought not worthy. Newman's Own. What a benevolent person to even undertake such an endeavor. Married to the same woman for all of these years, in a sub-culture that looks at  marriage, as we look at socks. Beyond his strong family values, and his not for profit business, that earned so much for charity, was a man who had FUN in life. He lived my favorite saying: "you don't stop playing because you get old.....you get old because you stop playing".

Yeah, I liked the testoserone fueled, Buch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,.......a lot, but the scene of Mr. Newman's that sticks in my mind, is  of him - drunk and pissed, lopping the heads off of all those parking meters with the same pipe cutter I could take a couple of brasses to the Brown and Root tool shack at Carbide, and check out, Had Seadrift had parking meters, I would have found a way to get that pipe cutter in a lunch box.

The other scene was that of the late Strother Martin, playing the captain, mouthing the title to this blog, and then hearing it one last time by Luke, as he is fatally wounded in the neck, during a prison break. Good film. And anyone who has watched the credits roll after it, saw a who's who of quirky, but brilliant actors, and a few just plain journeyman as well: George Kennedy, Wayne Rodgers, Ralph Waite, and then there was Harry Dean Stanton and Dennis Hopper. I think I actually used this blog title here a couple of years ago.....I am sorry for the reason I had to choose it this time.

We lost a legend. A great actor, a good man, a good husband and father, a damn good race car driver, and just a good soul, who chose Connecticut to live out his life in, over Hollywood. That says a lot about him. Rest in peace Butch/Henry/Luke, and thank you Mr. Newman.