Decathlon

When I was 20 I wanted to be the next Orson Welles. Only without doing wine adverts or acting in any movie that came along just to make enough money to finance movies. The first rule they teach you in school is to never spend your own money. Welles broke that rule many times. But he saw little choice. He was respected and called the greatest filmmaker during his lifetime but few people wanted to work with him. He publicly complained that Steven Spielberg was willing to pay a record setting price for one of the Rosebud sleds but would not give him a dime to make a movie.

Best in Show

Charlie Chaplin committed the ultimate Hollywood sin. Not his interest in teenage girls. That is fairly common. Not his communist sympathies. They are all commies. Except Chaplin who really was not. He forever ruined his Oscar chances by saying the awards were stupid. Chaplin and The Circus were nominated for best picture, director, actor, writing. After he publicly complained about the awards all the nominations were cancelled. City Lights was nominated for nothing. Cimarron won best picture that year. Remember Cimarron? Directed by Wesley Ruggles? Modern Times was nominated for nothing. The best picture was The Great Ziegfeld directed by Robert Z Leonard. Anybody remember him?

B is for Braai

I was not the worst student either. I only skipped classes for good reason. Like the surf was good that day or the local art house cinema was showing an Orson Welles retrospective. I avoided cigarettes and drugs like a pestilence. At least until university. I drank more than a teenager should but we are encouraged to take wine on the holy days and what is holier than Shabbat? I know the boys were praising God whenever we drank.