BELATED SAD NEWS -
Bob Anderson (1923-2012)
Sunday, April 14, 2013

Bob Anderson is probably someone you've never heard of - but you almost certainly are familiar with his work, if you've seen Star Wars Episodes V and VI, The Princess Bride, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, or any of a number of other movies with incredible sword-fighting. Bob Anderson was the choreagrapher and stunt double who made that happen.

photo courtesy the UK Guardian

Anderson started out as a competitive fencer in the 1940's and 1950's but broke into the movie business when he coached Erol Flynn for 1952's The Master of Ballantrae. From there he went on to work with a variety of actors and on a variety of movies, though his most well-known work is from the 1980's onward - the lightsaber duels in the Star Wars sequels, the many sword fights in The Lord of the Rings, and what is possibly the best cinematic fencng ever - the duel between Inigo and Wesley in The Princess Bride.




Anderson was scheduled to work on all three parts of The Hobbit when he passed away last year, on January 1, 2012 - but there is no question that his influence will be felt on the films, and he leaves behind a legacy of work that is unlikely to ever be matched.

JMH

FINALLY! Home Again!
Friday, March 22, 2013

Other than a short delay in Cleveland, things went smoothly... but flying all night (and essentially all day, thanks to the six hour time difference) really sucks. I broke down and paid $8 for movies and TV on the flight between Hilo and LA... I ended up watching episodes of Big Bang Theory and a strange sitcom I hadn't heard of from cable, then "Cloud Atlas" (which might have made more sense if I hadn't missed the 1st 20 minutes and had been more awake... or maybe not.) The best choice I made was "Argo", which was surprisingly good for a movie starring Affleck (perhaps he's a better director than actor...)

We left temperatures in the 70's and returned to temperatures in the 30's with snow on the ground... but it's good to be home!

JMH

Off to "Paradise"
Friday, March 15, 2013

This morning we took off from Rochester for the long, long flight to Hilo, HI. Our initial flight was delayed slightly due to the late arrival of our plane, and we flew out in the middle of snow flurries. Fortunately we were still able to make all of our connections without a hitch.



The flight from Newark to LA was particularly enjoyable, if lengthy - the plane had a sizeable selection of movies and television to watch for free, and I took the opportunity to finally watch "The Amazing Spiderman" (not bad, but Peter Parker was played as something of an obnoxious punk, and I'd have preferred the Lizard to look more like his comic book counterpart) and "Wreck It Ralph", a very clever cartoon with all sorts of nods to classic video games.









Sadly, the flight from LA to Hilo only had pay-per-view, and it seemed like we'd never be done flying... but after about 13 1/2 hours in the air (and two hours changing gates on the ground) we arrived in Hawaii to humid temperatures in the 60's and the loud chirping of coqui frogs.



JMH

Rainy Day, Windy Day... Lazy Day...
Sunday, August 28, 2011

Woke up several times during the night feeling cold - a change that is both welcome (cooler weather! yeah!) and not-so-welcome (back to work in a little over a week... oh, well) - and also listening to the rain that was our version of Tropical Storm Irene battering the NYC/Long Island/New England coast. So I ended up staying in bed later than planned - I'm trying to get myself back on my normal work sleep schedule so next week won't be quite as much of a shock to my system.

I had thought to go for a run today (because riding in the rain sucks) but between the rain, the wind, and the chilly air blowing in through the windows just couldn't muster up any enthusiasm for heading outdoors. Instead I messed around on the computers, spent a lot of time reading (The Magician King, by Lev Grossman, for those who are curious about such things... best to read The Magicians first, I was glad I'd re-read it before starting the new book) and watched a movie (Batman Beyond - Return of the Joker, which I was annoyed to find was the censored version shown on television rather than the uncensored version I'd ordered.) What Ann referred to as a day spent relaxing and what I tend to refer to as my being lazy - since I probably should have dragged my backside out the door for a run, rain and all.

JMH