Averages, a Book and a Series

In a crowd of 100,000 people with Bill Gates in it, everyone is, on average, a millionaire.

I remember reading, in the late 70’s, that there were no billionaires. Hundreds of millions was all that was necessary to get on the list of 500 richest.

I reread Slaughterhouse-Five. I remembered nothing from my teenage reading of it, not even the catch phrase.

I am listening to an interview. “So it goes” he says. I had heard good things about the series he plays in. I learn that there is method to his acting.

I am reminded of the interview when the phrase appears in the series opener. His relationship to it is confirmed in the second episode with a shot that shows it tattooed on his shoulder. He’d said that the tattoos shown in the show were his own.

A few more episodes, a few more signs of his influence on the series. Two of his children guest star.

I question the limits of method acting; then I question my stereotypes. His physique, his movements, don’t match the character’s back story. I stop questioning my biases when the scene calls for the use of old skills.

And I smile when his gift of an album to a love interest reminds me Travis Bickle’s gift to Betsy. His insomnia makes me question whether the reference is deliberate but his relationship to the music lacks the intimacy of the true fan he is supposed to be.

Regardless, I am enjoying the series.

For my memory of the rankings to be accurate, it would have to be post Howard Hughes.

Quote of the Day

The speaker who has discovered that Juan and Quixote are not pronounced in Spain as he used to pronounce them as a boy is not content to keep so important a piece of information to himself; he must have the rest of us call them Hwan and Keehotay; at any rate he will give us the chance of mending our ignorant ways by doing so.

“The speaker who has discovered that Juan and Quixote are not pronounced in Spain as he used to pronounce them as a boy is not content to keep so important a piece of information to himself; he must have the rest of us call them Hwan and Keehotay; at any rate he will give us the chance of mending our ignorant ways by doing so.” — Henry Watson Fowler, A Dictionary Of Modern English Usage (Second Edition)