Who Says A Movie Can't Change Your Life, Or Why I Wrote 12,000 Words About The Marx Brothers

Now that you've slogged through all 12,000 words I wrote about the Marx Brothers, I'm sure the first question that leaps to your mind is "Why, Mr. Monkey, why? Why would you write a novella about the Marx Brothers and not about, say, Charlie Chaplin or Jean Harlow?"

To which I would reply, "I did write a novella about Charlie Chaplin and Jean Harlow. See? Look here and here." But I wrote even more about the Marx Brothers—more about them than about anybody else so far—so it's a fair question.

To give you a fair answer, we have to go back a ways, back to my salad days when I was a young lawyer looking for a job and not finding one. I was a good lawyer, or had the potential to be—top quarter of my class, an editor on the law review, a clerkship for the chief justice of a state supreme court. But in the law, it's not what you know, or even who you know, but how much business you can bring into the firm—they're not subtle about asking the question—and the answer in my case, a poor boy who put himself through law school, was "none at all."

While I was clerking for the judge, I spent months looking for a permanent job in my hometown to no avail and then decided to aim higher—Washington, D.C. I sent out 204 (!) resumes, worked the phones, set up a sackful of interviews and flew to the nation's capital to pound the pavement for ten days, determined to come back with a job or else. It was all very old school, Horatio Alger stuff and you couldn't do it now, I don't think, with all the automated internet-driven application processes everybody seems to use these days.

And I interviewed, lots of interviews, but the one I remember is the last one on the afternoon before I flew home, an interview with a guy we here at the Monkey refer to as "Bellotoot." It was so last minute, with him tracking me down through the judge's secretary back home, that when I stepped into his office, I literally had no idea who he was or what he did—by such aimless applications of the Puritan work ethic are law offices and totalitarian regimes staffed—but you know, I needed a job and what the hell.

If you've ever been lucky enough to meet him, you know Bellotoot is a wonderful guy, with one of those rare grins that makes you happy just being in the same room with it. More to the point, he's also a movie fanatic who knows more about them than I ever will, and while he's talking about them, he does marvelous imitations, among them Don Rickles, Jimmy Stewart, Groucho and Chico Marx, and on and on. His "Curly Howard reads the works of Henry Miller" will put you in the floor.

None of which I knew when I sat down to talk to him, and he didn't know me, and for the first five minutes we talked about the sort of things you talk about in an interview. But as I was talking to him, I couldn't take my eyes off a makeshift nameplate sitting on the corner of his desk. "Rufus T. Firefly," it read, and even though I was desperate for a job, I couldn't think about anything else and finally I had to interrupt:

"I can't help but notice—Rufus T. Firefly. That's Groucho Marx in Duck Soup."

Bellotoot's eyebrows went up and that grin split his face. "You know, you're the first person ever to walk in here and know who Rufus T. Firefly is." And for the next forty minutes we talked about nothing but the Marx Brothers. We never did get back to talking about the job. And on the following Monday, he called me and made me an offer.

The rest is history. I moved to Washington, looked up a woman I knew from college—you know her as Katie-Bar-The-Door—we started dating and got married two years later. Bellotoot and I, of course, are still great friends, and he introduced me to the guy who actually made the Rufus T. Firefly nameplate for him, Mister Muleboy of The Mouth O' The Mule, the guy who a year ago buffaloed me into starting this blog. I wrote a couple of novels (unpublished, so don't ask), lived overseas, litigated million dollar cases in federal court, met or renewed friendships with all the other people I hang out with.

Et cetera et cetera et cetera. None of which would have happened without my obsession with Duck Soup and the Marx Brothers. And that's why I wrote 12,000 words about them.

Who says a movie can't change your life?

This Week's Monkey Poll: The Marx Brothers At Paramount

This week's question was inspired by a conversation I had recently with a lifelong pal. "Of the five movies the Marx Brothers made at Paramount Pictures, which have you seen?"

Vote in the poll at the top of the right hand column. Choose as many answers as apply.

Poll Results: Ninotchka Is Garbo's Best

The Monkey asked and you have spoken. "Of Greta Garbo's performances during the sound era to receive or likely to receive an alternate Oscar/Katie nomination, which do you think is her best?" By a vote of 16 to 11, her 1939 comedy Ninotchka edged out the cough-cough classic Camille as your choice for the best of her career. Queen Christina, which garnered Garbo a Katie-Bar-The-Door Award as the best dramatic actress of 1932-33, received 5 votes. Garbo's sound debut, Anna Christie received two votes and Anna Karenina received one.

Of course, there are no bad Garbo movies, only good ones and great ones, and all five of these movies qualify as great ones in my book. So whichever movie you voted for as her best, you're right, it is.

(The Garbo wallpaper, by the way, comes to you courtesy of Sylvie. As always, click on the photo to view it full size.)

Gee!

Ada pepatah mengatakan, “Semua yang ada didunia ini pasti berubah, satu-satunya yang tidak berubah, hanya perubahan itu sendiri.” Saya suka pepatah ini, dan bakal lebih suka lagi kalau saja di akhir kalimatnya, ditambahkan sedikit pesan bagaimana caranya menghadapi perubahan itu dengan benar.

Terus terang saja, akhir-akhir ini, yang berubah itu terlalu banyak. Dan dari dulu, saya rasanya selalu gagal dalam menyikapi perubahan dengan baik. Mungkin saya yang terlalu peka, tetapi sungguh, melihat bagaimana satu demi satu orang lain berubah drastis merupakan situasi kondisi yang membuat saya “sakit” luar dan dalam.

Terlalu banyak yang berubah, dan yang paling saya sesalkan adalah berubahnya salah satu teman saya yang paling penting. Saya tidak tahu apakah dia masih ingat dengan blog ini atau tidak, hanya saja, sebagai seorang teman, ada baiknya saya mengingatkan dia kepada kenyataan bahwa, orang-orang sombong itu, cepat atau lambat pasti akan jatuh.....

Berikut rekam jejak dari salah satu perubahan yang paling menghantui saya akhir-akhir ini:

Dulu:

Namanya Gee (nama samaran, pastinya). Tentang segala hal, saya suka bercerita dengannya. Kebetulan kita berdua lagi Online di Yahoo messenger. Terjadi percakapan seperti ini:

Saya : Gee, udah pernah baca komik “Last Exile” belum? Uiih keren mampus loh, suka banget aku ma endingnya, apalagi karakter utamanya Gee, rada-rada mirip kenji di 20th century boys, karangan ryu yamanaka memang keren gila. Bla blab la bla Blup blup blup….

Gee: Hahaha iy tw, cba bca deh yg mist tragedy, itu lebi bagus kyknya, jarang2 lohhh mangaka ngangkat tema kayak gitu. Aku lg bca soul eater ini, liat deh,art nya bagus.... blab bla blabla blabla

Saya: waw hahahha iya iya Gee

Gee: Huhhahahaha iya kan?

Pembicaraan yang menyenangkan pun terjadi.

Saya berpikir, Gee mungkin adalah salah satu teman cerita terbaik yang pernah saya kenal.

Sekarang:

Namanya Gee. Tentang segala hal, saya suka bercerita dengannya. Kebetulan kita berdua lagi Online di Yahoo messenger. Terjadi percakapan seperti ini:

Saya: Gee, soul eater vol 5 udah terbit lohhh hahaha. O iya, tadi aku dengerin radio AOL, three days Greece kok bisa ada di chart pertama ya, ahh payah. Padahal ngarep dead by sunrise duduk disitu. Hehehe

Gee: (Tidak ada jawaban)

Menunggu 1 menit, 2 menit, 5 menit.

Saya berpikir, mungkin Gee lagi sibuk.

Sekarang 2:

Namanya Gee. Tentang segala hal, saya suka bercerita dengannya, walau sudah jarang. Kebetulan kita berdua lagi Online di Yahoo messenger. Terjadi percakapan seperti ini:

Saya: Gee, sibuk ya sekarang, jadi gimana nih, apa pendapatmu ma film breaking free nya Aurora Dixon? Asyik tuh menurut aku. Kalo aku cewek mah udah nangis-nangis Bombay.

Gee: (Tidak ada jawaban)

Saya: (mengirimkan buzz)

Gee: (hening)

Saya: Lagi sibuk ya?

Gee: (Gee_Genya_putih telah offline)

Saya berpikir mungkin Gee lagi ada masalah dan butuh sendiri.

Sekarang 3:

Namanya Gee. Saya suka bercerita dengannya tentang semua hal. Tapi itu dulu. Kebetulan kita berdua lagi Online di Yahoo messenger. Terjadi percakapan seperti ini:

Saya: Gee, ehem, Samsung galaxy katanya udah bisa baca format FLV lo. Ehem?

Gee: (telah offline)

Saya, kali ini tidak bisa berpikir.

Saya, kali ini hanya tertawa miris.

Banyak yang sikapnya sudah tidak seperti dulu lagi dan itu memang diluar kendali saya. saya tidak punya hak untuk melarang orang lain untuk tidak berubah. Semua orang tentu punya masalah masing-masing. Punya jalan hidup masing-masing. Tapi,biarpun begitu, saya tetap tidak ingin "Dia" berubah. Kami itu (dulunya) teman baik.

Dan sekarang pun saya masih menganggapnya begitu.

.

Apa yang harus saya lakukan untuk bisa menerima perubahan?

Kritik dan saran ke fauzihyuuga@gmail.com

.

Mohon bantuannya. :)

Download Bahan Presentasi Sidang Pleno Pemicu 3 Blok 10 : Morfologi Gigi dan Uji Aktivitas Karies

Langsung saja ya:

1.Presentasi Pemicu 3 Kelompok 1

2.Presentasi Pemicu 3 kelompok 2

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Manly Cheesecake #7

Gary Cooper.

From time to time I'll return to the theme of "manly cheesecake" (as well as the female variety), but until then, I hope this sates your needs.

Manly Cheesecake #6

Next up is George Brent. Born George Brendan Nolan in County Roscommon, Ireland, Brent served as either a courier or a hitman (depending on who you believe) in the Old Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.

With regard to his acting, our good friend Zoe of The Big Parade nailed it when she described Brent as "the brick wall almost all the great actresses in Hollywood lent on." He signed with Warner Brothers in 1930 and served primarily as that studio's go-to guy when Bette Davis needed a leading man (they made a dozen movies together and were romantically involved for two years) but he also stood next to Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Arthur, Greta Garbo, Kay Francis—you get the picture.

Brent's career faded during the Second World War and he moved to television in the 1950s. He died of emphysema at the age of eighty.

Manly Cheesecake #5

Don't know whether Robert Montgomery qualifies as manly cheesecake now, but MGM certainly thought of him in those terms in the 1930s and cast him opposite Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo in dozens of movies.

You can read a bit more about him here.

Manly Cheesecake #4

Clark Gable, who needs no introduction ...

Manly Cheesecake #3

Olympic gold medal winner Johnny Weissmuller, star of a dozen Tarzan movies, including 1934's Tarzan and His Mate which featured Maureen O'Sullivan's infamous nude swimming scene. (O'Sullivan was actually doubled by Olympic swimmer Josephine McKim.)

"How can a guy climb trees, say 'Me, Tarzan, you, Jane,' and make a million?" Weissmuller later said. "The public forgives my acting because they know I was an athlete. They know I wasn't make-believe."

Manly Cheesecake #2

This is more like it, you're thinking. That's Cary Grant, of course, from the 1932 movie Madame Butterfly.

Manly Cheesecake #1

Katie-Bar-The-Door and I are back from the Land of Lincoln where we spent four days in Chicago, followed by a weekend in Springfield, visiting friends, museums, eateries, Wrigley, etc. I didn't announce the trip ahead of time—seems like an invitation to come rob stately Monkey Manor—but we're back and I'll be back to the serious business of blogging tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'll kick things off with a series of posts in honor of Thingy at Pondering Life who wants "manly cheesecake" on her dessert menu. I assume she's thinking more along the lines of Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Robert Montgomery and the like, and she's going to get all of those and more, but I'll start her off with a photo of one of the greatest of Americans, Abraham Lincoln, known affectionately in these parts as "Lucky Linky."

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Early Future

Beberapa bulan yang lalu, tepatnya pada post yang ini, saya pernah menulis tentang saya di masa depan, kembali ke masa saat ini, dan protes soal rambut saya yang tidak rapi. Di post itu juga saya membuat sebuah dialog antara saya di masa depan dengan saya di masa sekarang seperti ini:

Saya (Fauzi dari tahun 2023):  “Mestinya rambut itu kamu rapikan sedikit.” (sambil tersenyum)

Dia (Fauzi di tahun 2010): (memegang rambutnya dan memandang saya dengan tatapan jengkel)

Saya: “Cewek itu suka yang rapi.”

Tentu saja, saya menulis dialog seperti itu tak lebih hanya berdasarkan imajinasi. Tapi siapa sangka, hanya selang empat bulan dari ketika saya menulis post itu, saya akhirnya benar-benar bertemu dengan seorang wanita yang benar-benar menjadikan kerapian sebagai bagian penting dari hidupnya.

Wanita itu, satu kampus dengan saya. Dan beberapa hari yang lalu, kami sempat ngobrol.

Saya: "Tolong dong, colokin kabel laptop ini ke situ." (sambil menyerahkan gulungan kabel charger laptop ke dia)

Dia(Wanita yang suka akan kerapian): "Ih, kabelnya kok gitu sih?"

Saya: (bingung) "emang kenapa kabelnya?" (sambil mengamati apakah ada bagian kabel yang sobek atau apa)

Dia: "Itu lo kabelnya, kok kayak gitu gulungannya."

Saya: Ini? (sambil mengangkat gulungan kabel yang memang agak berantakan)

Dia: "Iya. Coba sini kabelnya!"

Kemudian dia pun merapikan gulungan kabel yang tidak karuan itu. Setelah selesai dia memberikan kabel itu lagi ke saya, dan memang, gulungan kabel itu terlihat lebih rapi. 

Dia: "Begini kan lebih baik."

Saya hanya menghela nafas. Kemudian kami melanjutkan obrolan kami. Dan ditengah obrolan, muncul  lagi sesuatu yang harus saya ketahui tentang bagaimana pandangan wanita tentang kerapian.

Dia: "Jadi si A itu, orangnya rapi banget lo. Sampe-sampe bekas setrikaan di bajunya ga kelihatan lagi."

Saya: (melihat ke arah baju saya, yang walaupun udah disetrika, tetap saja kelihatan kusut)

Sekali lagi saya cuma bisa nyengir.

Dia: "kenapa nyengir?"

Saya: "Kamu suka sekali dengan kerapian ya?"

Dia: "Suka sekali."

Saya: "Kalau begitu, mungkin kamu akan pingsan melihat kamar saya."

Dia hanya tertawa. Mungkin karena kata-kata terakhir saya itu. Mungkin juga karena menertawai hidup saya yang tidak rapi.

 

Myanmar Model, Thinzar Wint Kyaw Performed for 8 Ladies Show Concert in Malaysia

Myanmar popular model, Thinzar Wint Kyaw performed for "8 Ladies Show" Concert at Chin Woo Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 11th September, 2010. Over 4000 Myanmar Migrant Workers in Malaysia gathered for this Music Concert. Myanmar popular female singers; Chit Thu Wai, Thazin, A Thin Cho Swe, Yadanar Mai and Jenny also performed together with Thinzar Wint Kyaw.

Myanmar Popular Singer : Thinzar Wint Kyaw
Photos from Ko Nay Min (MCM@MY19)