I have a theory on why young males are getting married. They can’t find a young woman that isn’t BS crazy.
She also said in that interview that she had to get away from the character or the character was going to consume her. She had over 70 film and television appearances after leaving the program, the last at age 77, so her career wasn’t wrecked by typecasting. She was also on the regional theatre circuit and had some Broadway credits before and after All in the Family. (She’d also done television commercials at one time).
==
She had another story of checking into a hotel in South Carolina while on tour in 1979 and crossing paths with a maid who said ‘I thought you died’. Norman Lear wasn’t the only one to whom Edith was real.
==
“Stapleton” was her mother’s maiden name and not one she used off stage. She was asked from time to time if she was related to Maureen Stapleton, who was about the same age and had appeared often on Broadway and on television. If they had any common ancestors it was way back in the old country.
They can’t find a young woman that isn’t BS crazy.
==
I have among my shirt tails a professional man who is 37 years of age. He has been married to his 2d wife for about 7 years now and they have two children. (His first marriage imploded after 39 months, the 2d time it had gotten back to him his wife was whoring around). His comment to his sister about his current situation, “I think I’ve found the crazy I can live with”. (His wife has a demanding professional job she doesn’t much like; she’s commonly anxious at home). His brother embarked on his 2d effort at matrimony last spring and their first child is due in April; his first wife walked out on him 20 months into their marriage a propos of whatever. He later admitted something we hadn’t known: he was the 2d husband. Dame was 27 years old and in the midst of her 2d divorce. Second wife seems pleasant; then again, 1st wife did as well. Hoping for the best.
Well, well, well.
Just saw an announcement by Secretary of War Hegseth that the DOD will no longer send military personnel to study at Harvard and that, moreover, the War Department would be reviewing all of it’s contracts with other Ivies to see if these schools are providing the kind of education which really enhances soldiers patriotism and war fighting abilities. or actually detracts from them.
It make sense that the “author” who created Edith might loath her death more than the actress who portrays her.
About type casting: I heard an interview long ago with Shirley Jones. She told the story of her being cast as Mrs. Partridge in The Partridge Family. Some studio guy or producer told her, “If you take this role and it runs for a few seasons, you will forever be known as Mrs. Partridge.”
At the time she scoffed. She had some very successful screen roles in her past, and she couldn’t imagine why this role would be all that much different. Wrong. The producer was correct. That role defined her for ever after.
Much preferable to Lulu Baines. Shirley Jones will forever be Marian, the librarian to me.
Shirley Jones has had 120 film and television credits as an actress since The Partridge Family went off the air. I think she’s doing OK.
Snow on Pine:
Some time ago I was editor and occasional author for the publishing arm of the Cantigny First Division Museum. My boss, the museum’s director, was a retired Lt. Col., Vietnam vet — and graduate of West Point. One day we fell to talking about his West Point experiences and how they related to combat in Vietnam. In the course of our conversation he told me that a significant number of his West Point classmates were attending the academy solely for the opportunity of taking time off from their military service to attend Harvard or one of the other Ivies. They commonly enrolled in the prestigious business schools at these universities. That was their goal: leveraging their West Point education to secure a top spot in the business world. Actual soldiering (and combat) was the furthest thing from their minds. My boss said these men, and their attitudes, disgusted him.
I am off to a cruise, starting Hong Kong (not happy), and ending in Seoul, SK
SHIREHOME:
Have a fabulous journey.
Both Christopher Timothy and Peter Davison were up for the James Herriot role in the original All Creatures Great and Small. Timothy got the role, Davison had to settle for the Tristan Farnon role. But Timothy got typecast and had a harder time finding roles afterward, and Davison went on to Dr Who and many other things.
“I asked Pete [Davison] once, ‘How is it that you go from one role to the other and I can’t get arrested on television?’ He said, ‘Because I didn’t play James Herriot…’ I think there’s an element of truth in that.”
Robert Hardy, Peter Davison, and Carol Drinkwater stole pretty much every scene they were in and it did not take long for it to become an ensemble show. The first three seasons are so excellent. The second three, unfortunately, are rehashes of the first three with a few different actors, and I haven’t wanted to watch the 2020 reboot, partly because the BBC decided to diversely repopulate 1930s Yorkshire.
Back from reffing first couple of games for the spring soccer season here in FL. Sunshine and mid 60s….70-80 next week. I think we finally got rid of winter here.
Anyone else notice their leftist friends going gaga over the Buddhist Monks walking across the country for peace?? When they pass through their town they all turn out to cheer them on, and/or continuous posts about how wonderful they are. I don’t really care what these monks do, but does anyone really believe such a walk is going to bring about world peace? My cynical self says…
Shirehome,
After watching numerous K-dramas and romcoms the past few years, I’d really like to visit S. Korea. Let us know how you find it. “gamsahamnida” in advance 🙂
Bon voyage, SHIREHOME!!
For an actor in the U.S. from about 1955 to about 2010, a starring role on a 30 minute, weekly television series with a 5+ year run was a huge win, especially once rerun royalties became a reality. No more going to auditions every day. No more nights waiting by the phone. No uncertainty about when your next paycheck was coming.
Yet, for an actor who truly loves to act, playing the same role week after week can become a special kind of hell. It’s such a difficult profession!
It has to be similar to a band. You put up with little to no pay, no security… just hoping one of your songs gets on the radio. Then it happens. And it results in financial security. And you are destined to play that same song, over and over, for the rest of your career.
Yet, some actors like Ted Danson get universally known as a character on a huge, hit show and then go on to play different characters on different, long running shows. Compare his post Cheers career to Shelley Long. Why didn’t Kirstie Allie get typecast? Mary Tyler Moore? Bob Newhart? Betty White? Ed O’Neill? Julia Louis-Dreyfus?
Interesting part of Judge Diaz of the fourth circuit opinion on the legality of the president’s executive order on DEI. Diaz complained about secretary of state Marco Rubio ‘s change the official state department font from Calabri, set by Anthony Blunken of the previous administration, to the traditional times new roman. Apparently the judge thought this was over the top. LOL
The Obamas made a monkey out of the American People.
physicsguy on February 7, 2026 at 2:21 pm:
“I think we finally got rid of winter here.”
Don’t celebrate too soon. Some decades back, the Bay Hill golf tournament in Orlando had 35 degrees in mid March.
A few years before that, while living in Chicago, I had occasion to attend a tech conference in Orlando where we had an unseasonably cool April.
RTF: “Why didn’t [actor X] get typecast?”
Some of them are just better at getting beyond their public persona.
I don’t recall the name of the movie, but I still recall this impression: Samuel Jackson as a detective made you forget he was Samuel Jackson; whereas Katherine Moore (?) was not able to get beyond being that famous person to make her character believable.
It make sense that the “author” who created Edith might loath her death more than the actress who portrays her.
Except Lear didn’t really create the character. All In The Family was licensed adaptation of a British sitcom called Til Death Do Us Part. Lear doesn’t seem to want to admit that, though.
1. My “Edith Stapleton” story: A few years after she left All in the Family, I saw Jean Stapleton as one of the leads in a touring revival of “Arsenic and Old Lace” that kicked off in New York. It’s a fast-paced comedy, and the directors inevitably encountered an action-stopping wave of applause at her first appearance. What to do? She acknowledged the applause with the briefest Edith Bunker titter/giggle that led straight into the new scene and character.
2. Given the incredibly bad odds of any financial stability in the acting profession, I take protestations about boredom in a series gig with a ginormous grain of salt. Most movies are not exactly Shakespeare, and most actors are not Olivier…. stand there and say this. And shut up about politics…
Shirehome, my son studied for a few months in Busan, S. Korea. Not much salty food, almost everything sweet.
Not too many kids, lower TFR than China even without ever having a one-child policy.
Very interesting place.
A few folks from Slovakia learned Korean and sing Korean songs at karaoke. More learn Japanese anime songs to sing, without learning the Japanese language.
R2L,
You may have it. Some actors may be accurately typecast because that is their type. Although Kevin Costner has landed a decent amount of roles, to me, he’s always Kevin Costner on the screen. A sitcom may call for a sadsack sidekick neighbor character and an actor walks in who is that personality in real life and so, perfectly fits the role and lands the part. But, when later auditioning for other roles he doesn’t shine because his actual personality keeps coming through.
SHIREHOME,
I have a few close friends who divorced and remarried and I am very curious about something, so hope to one day screw up the courage to ask them, “So how long into the second marriage was it before you realized, ‘Oh, this one’s crazy too?'”
And I say that as a very happily married man who loves his wife, and loves, admires and appreciates women. In my bachelor days I had many, close, female friends and probably spent more time in the company of women than men. And that unpredictable, seemingly mad quality is something that attracts me to women.
And we men certainly have our flaws. I often wonder why women stay with us. Including my wife. Last week my wife asked me to open a jar and made a joke about this talent being the main reason she keeps me around.
I attribute some of women’s madness around men to the imbalanced nature of the relationship. We men are almost always the physically dominant member of the relationship, and more coordinated, and I think we men consequently tend to see ourselves superior in all ways. However, opening a jar of pickles does not correlate with natural intelligence. “Leftie loosie, rightie tightie” is not a difficult mnemonic to memorize.
So, often, when around men, women find their ideas and thoughts being discounted, or flat out ignored. “Mansplaining” is a real thing. I have witnessed it many times and fallen into the trap myself. That must be frustrating and, well, maddening.
And, due to their genetic role as the bearers and nurturers of the species women seem much more prone to emotion, which seems to make them quicker to “lose it” than men in difficult or frustrating situations. So they sometimes seem a bit unhinged. The experiment has likely been done, but I assume, if you give men estrogen for a few days they have more frequent episodes of emotion. In my marriage I quickly learned just because my wife was being emotional it didn’t mean she had collapsed into incompetence. Unlike me, she is able to think clearly and act capably while under emotional duress.
Regarding being a man, Kipling wrote, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you…” If you polled our adult children, who witnessed their mother and me navigate countless difficult circumstances, it’s safe to guess they would attribute that quality more to me than their mother. However, I think it’s also safe to guess they would have no less confidence in their mother navigating a difficult situation than I. It just depends on the situation. They tend to call her more often than me when facing a difficulty as adults (just as they did as children), but they do call on me for help with specific tasks.
I think both sexes are equally flawed and equally capable, just in different ways*. I also think too many young men are too reluctant to take a chance. Building a relationship with a woman and raising children with her is the hero’s journey of one’s life. If a young man can find a good woman willing to do that with him he should beg her to marry him and be forever grateful she gave him the chance. Despite what all the MGTOW reddit threads and blogs say, women are risking more in marriage than men, even in the West. If a man can witness a woman very literally risking her life to bear his child and not understand that imbalance he is not a man.
*In the pre-feminism days “Vive la différence!” was a phrase one encountered often, when the sexes were discussed. It would be nice if we could bring that back.
It’s interesting to listen to Stapledon in this video, and compare her to the way she played Edith.
The ‘voice’ she used with Edith always drove me nuts. It’s like listening to fingernails on a blackboard for me. I don’t know if that’s just me or if anyone else had the same reaction, though. But in this video her voice is normal, and fine.
Yet, some actors like Ted Danson get universally known as a character on a huge, hit show and then go on to play different characters on different, long running shows. Compare his post Cheers career to Shelley Long. Why didn’t Kirstie Allie get typecast? Mary Tyler Moore? Bob Newhart? Betty White? Ed O’Neill? Julia Louis-Dreyfus?
— Rufus T. FIrefly
What about Carroll O’Connor himself? He played Archie Bunker for nine seasons, and it still closely identified with the character.
But he also played Chief Gillespie on the In The Heat Of The Night tv show which ran for seven seasons from 1988 to 1992. I never once looked at Chief Gillespie and saw Archie Bunker.
In fact, I personally, when I see O’Connor, think of Gillespie first and Bunker second, but that might be function of my age.
William Shatner is forever James T. Kirk, but he also successfully played T.J. Hooker on the TV series of the same name for 5 seasons from 1982 to 1986.
I think both sexes are equally flawed and equally capable, just in different ways*. I also think too many young men are too reluctant to take a chance. Building a relationship with a woman and raising children with her is the hero’s journey of one’s life. If a young man can find a good woman willing to do that with him he should beg her to marry him and be forever grateful she gave him the chance. Despite what all the MGTOW reddit threads and blogs say, women are risking more in marriage than men, even in the West.
— Rufus T. Firefly
The thing is that men and women are risking different things.
The problem is not the opposite sex per se in either case. Feminism and the manosphere are just flip sides of the same coin. The problem is that society has forgotten that mariage is not a private matter.
Marriage, as an institution, has many purposes, and love is not really any of them. One of its purposes is to mediate, and to some extent regulate, the conflicting biological natures, and interests, of men and women, in ways that support a civilized society and the interests of both sides (and children, esp.)
(Which is one reason that same-sex ‘marriage’ is a contradiction in terms.)
The compromise of those conflicting natures cannot be done perfectly. The result of it, any result, will always be somewhat unsatisfactory, because we can’t repeal the Fall of Man. But even getting it done imperfectly requires that society as a whole make that success a priority.
Currently, Western society works in the opposite direction. You cannot simultaneously declare personal autonomy sacred, and support marriage as an institution, because marriage as an institution exists to limit and direct personal autonomy.
So, both sexes become intensely frustrated, taught by society, mass media, and so on to expect marriage to be something it cannot be, and then disappointed and angry when it isn’t, and blaming the other sex because their interests and desires and needs inherently conflict and marriage isn’t mediating that properly.
RTF @ 8:34,
Your comment about Kevin Costner made me think. IIRC, he hadn’t done anything before Dances with Wolves other than a well-regarded part in Silverado, so I think it was Dances that made him a star. I take your point about Costner being Costner in all subsequent films, but now it seems to me that such a fact has retroactively changed my image of him in Dances: originally he was an actor playing the part but now he is Kevin Costner playing that part. I wish I could go back and watch old movies again with fresh eyes to avoid be jaded by latter impressions.
“It’s interesting to listen to Stapledon in this video, and compare her to the way she played Edith.
The ‘voice’ she used with Edith always drove me nuts. It’s like listening to fingernails on a blackboard for me. I don’t know if that’s just me or if anyone else had the same reaction, though. But in this video her voice is normal, and fine.”
HC68,
Same thing with Melissa Rauch on Big Bang Theory. She developed the character’s squeaky voice quite different from her normal voice.
Her normal voice..4:00min mark she explains where Bernadette’s voice came from
well he had done No Way Out, which is an update of the Profumo scandal, allegedly it has it roots in a noir called the Big Clock, from the 50s, he had also fronted the desinformatya called JFK, a figment of Garrison’s imagination, which was when he appropriated his aw shucks earnestness from the untouchables, as elliot ness, then there was water world, which was quite a stretch, and robin hood,
his roles in yellowstone, where he is decidedly the antihero, in a modern western milieu, as well as horizon, where he tried to revisit the classic western, in a whole different era,
he’s not jr ewing, but more like a more seasoned bobby ewing
Re: Kevin Costner
Was great as Alex, the corpse in “The Big Chill” at the funeral, which brought everyone together. You couldn’t even tell he was Kevin Costner!
Other than that Costner has always been Costner. He’s an old-fashioned movie star.
I recommend “Mr. Brooks” where Costner plays a button-down serial killer with William Hurt as his psychopathic alter ego. It’s the blackest humor, but Costner is still Costner. He enjoyed the role and if the movie had done better there would have been a sequel.
Another rascally Democratic Party rapscallion chimes in on “voters’ rights”…and his attempt at insightful relevance is glorious in its utter absurdity…and sheer ignorance.
Turley wastes no time in taking this humongous hack to the woodshed…
you know the stitchs on his fastball, his father was an actual soviet agent of influence, after he left the defense department, as was the senior halperin, from the nsc, under kissinger the former founded the institute for policy studies, the latter was a senior fellow, down the road, protecting Cuban regime agent, Phillip Agee someone sid blumenthal, that slithy tove, actually co edited a tome of conspiracy theories, some future leading lights of journalism, like jeff gerth, did get their start there,
now one shouldn’t hold one’s parents behavior against them, but then when they persist in the family business see max blumenthal, a mainstreamer of bds
early in the day,
agee was one of the pioneers in the doxing of western intelligence agency, ostensibly for transparency issues but as we saw in the richard welch assasination, that had deadly consequences
john stockwell and frank snepp were not disposed in the same way,
Raskin’s an utter embarrassment.
Moreover, he has no sense of shame—a lethal combination, though par for the course in his party, certainly…)
And no, one shouldn’t blame the son because of the father (but maybe in this case…or perhaps one can blame the father for the sins of the son?)
Re Max “Mitvah” Blumenthal, the strange thing was that over the past while he was starting to—most unexpectedly (shockingly?)—make some sense…at least on certain topics. Enough to make one wonder what was going on.
But it couldn’t last, I guess (Maxed out?) and he seems to have reverted to good old recognizable sordid form…
Rufus, that was a really great exposition on marriage, I thought.
Good wishes, Shirehome, on that cruise! Will be interested to see what you report back.
I recently learned that there are thoughts of creating a passenger rail line running north-south through the lower peninsula of Michigan. That intrigues me.
Niketas Choniates: I have watched the first three seasons of the new All Creatures, and have greatly enjoyed it. I don’t see any effort to diversify the cast (no black farmers in the Yorkshire Dales). The only aspect that I see along those lines is that they greatly expanded the role of Mrs Hall, and gave Helen a younger sister, possibly to appeal more to a female audience. And there are parts to the story that are not in the original books. But I have read that those books were not entirely, shall we say, non-fiction, so that doesn’t bother me.
And THIS extraordinary, MUST-READ post—another courageous, noble, hard-hitting, no-holds-barred, cri de coeur—by changer Sasha Stone SAYS IT ALL.
…That’s all it’s been for ten years now, emotional blackmail to convince us that Trump really is that bad while offering nothing in return. They have addressed nothing. They have fixed nothing. They have offered only a fanatical cult and a rigid ideology of an oppressor/oppressed mindset, and then demanded everyone go along with it, or they’re racists, homophobes, bigots, Nazis….
…The Democrats can’t snap out of it even if they wanted to. Gavin Newsom can’t sell anything but hate and hysteria. Even Jon Ossoff, a guy I once supported and fought for, must sell the same thing because they have nothing else….
[Emphasis mine; Barry M.]
Rufus, I must second this from Philip Sells:
“Rufus, that was a really great exposition on marriage, I thought.”
!!!
Also, I too wish Shirehome a wonderful cruise trip! May it be refreshing and enlightening, in all good ways.
The only aspect that I see along those lines is that they greatly expanded the role of Mrs Hall, and gave Helen a younger sister, possibly to appeal more to a female audience. And there are parts to the story that are not in the original books. But I have read that those books were not entirely, shall we say, non-fiction, so that doesn’t bother me.
==
Alfred Wight’s son has made clear that the books were inspired by memoir but were not memoirs. Events and characters were transferred from one time period to another (sometimes by as much as 30 years), were conflated, were amended. Per the younger Wight, there was a fairly precise observable correspondence between ‘Granville Hicks’ and Denton Pette, the actual local veterinarian who inspired him. Donald Sinclair (“Siegfried”) was irritated at how he was portrayed in the books and irritated with what Robert Hardy did with his character. We don’t always see ourselves as others do; the younger Wight has said the original was rather more intense than the character, not less. OTOH, Bryan Sinclair (“Tristan”) was rather amused at how he was portrayed and rather liked giving public lectures. One thing I think may differ from the books and the television programs would be the relative ages of the characters. Robert Hardy was 15 years older than Christopher Timothy and 22 years older than Peter Davison. Donald Sinclair was actually only four years older than his brother and five years older than James Wight.
==
You can see the adjustments in the character ‘Calum Buchanan’. His inspiration, Brian Nettleton, was not a contemporary of James Wight or Bryan Sinclair, but a half-generation younger. His fiancee was a Scot; he was actually from Leeds. He did not work for the practice from 1948 to 1952, but from about 1954 to 1958. He did get married at the end of his tenure. However, his fiancee had not been one of Bryan Sinclair’s girlfriends and had not worked for the Ministry of Agriculture. Byran Sinclar got married in 1946 and remained so until his death; he fathered three daughters. The future Mrs. Nettleton was 19 years younger than Bryan Sinclair and had been employed as a lab technician at the veterinary school in London; Brian Nettleton met her ca. 1952 when he was a student and she was appended to him long distance the whole time he worked in Thirsk. Brian and Martha Nettleton did decamp to Nova Scotia after they married, but not so he could take a government job. He bought a veterinary practice there and he and his wife founded the local cattle auction.
==
Joan Wight did employ domestic help for periods of time, but there was no analogue to ‘Mrs. Hall’; she was an invention.
A powerful dissection of King Charles slow withdrawal from his duty/role as “Defender of The (Christian) Faith” amid his increasingly voiced and open admiration for Islam.*
Why You Should Eat Chocolate Every Day – Video
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2026/02/why-you-should-eat-chocolate-every-day.html
I have a theory on why young males are getting married. They can’t find a young woman that isn’t BS crazy.
She also said in that interview that she had to get away from the character or the character was going to consume her. She had over 70 film and television appearances after leaving the program, the last at age 77, so her career wasn’t wrecked by typecasting. She was also on the regional theatre circuit and had some Broadway credits before and after All in the Family. (She’d also done television commercials at one time).
==
She had another story of checking into a hotel in South Carolina while on tour in 1979 and crossing paths with a maid who said ‘I thought you died’. Norman Lear wasn’t the only one to whom Edith was real.
==
“Stapleton” was her mother’s maiden name and not one she used off stage. She was asked from time to time if she was related to Maureen Stapleton, who was about the same age and had appeared often on Broadway and on television. If they had any common ancestors it was way back in the old country.
They can’t find a young woman that isn’t BS crazy.
==
I have among my shirt tails a professional man who is 37 years of age. He has been married to his 2d wife for about 7 years now and they have two children. (His first marriage imploded after 39 months, the 2d time it had gotten back to him his wife was whoring around). His comment to his sister about his current situation, “I think I’ve found the crazy I can live with”. (His wife has a demanding professional job she doesn’t much like; she’s commonly anxious at home). His brother embarked on his 2d effort at matrimony last spring and their first child is due in April; his first wife walked out on him 20 months into their marriage a propos of whatever. He later admitted something we hadn’t known: he was the 2d husband. Dame was 27 years old and in the midst of her 2d divorce. Second wife seems pleasant; then again, 1st wife did as well. Hoping for the best.
Well, well, well.
Just saw an announcement by Secretary of War Hegseth that the DOD will no longer send military personnel to study at Harvard and that, moreover, the War Department would be reviewing all of it’s contracts with other Ivies to see if these schools are providing the kind of education which really enhances soldiers patriotism and war fighting abilities. or actually detracts from them.
It make sense that the “author” who created Edith might loath her death more than the actress who portrays her.
About type casting: I heard an interview long ago with Shirley Jones. She told the story of her being cast as Mrs. Partridge in The Partridge Family. Some studio guy or producer told her, “If you take this role and it runs for a few seasons, you will forever be known as Mrs. Partridge.”
At the time she scoffed. She had some very successful screen roles in her past, and she couldn’t imagine why this role would be all that much different. Wrong. The producer was correct. That role defined her for ever after.
Much preferable to Lulu Baines. Shirley Jones will forever be Marian, the librarian to me.
Shirley Jones has had 120 film and television credits as an actress since The Partridge Family went off the air. I think she’s doing OK.
Snow on Pine:
Some time ago I was editor and occasional author for the publishing arm of the Cantigny First Division Museum. My boss, the museum’s director, was a retired Lt. Col., Vietnam vet — and graduate of West Point. One day we fell to talking about his West Point experiences and how they related to combat in Vietnam. In the course of our conversation he told me that a significant number of his West Point classmates were attending the academy solely for the opportunity of taking time off from their military service to attend Harvard or one of the other Ivies. They commonly enrolled in the prestigious business schools at these universities. That was their goal: leveraging their West Point education to secure a top spot in the business world. Actual soldiering (and combat) was the furthest thing from their minds. My boss said these men, and their attitudes, disgusted him.
I am off to a cruise, starting Hong Kong (not happy), and ending in Seoul, SK
SHIREHOME:
Have a fabulous journey.
Both Christopher Timothy and Peter Davison were up for the James Herriot role in the original All Creatures Great and Small. Timothy got the role, Davison had to settle for the Tristan Farnon role. But Timothy got typecast and had a harder time finding roles afterward, and Davison went on to Dr Who and many other things.
Robert Hardy, Peter Davison, and Carol Drinkwater stole pretty much every scene they were in and it did not take long for it to become an ensemble show. The first three seasons are so excellent. The second three, unfortunately, are rehashes of the first three with a few different actors, and I haven’t wanted to watch the 2020 reboot, partly because the BBC decided to diversely repopulate 1930s Yorkshire.
Back from reffing first couple of games for the spring soccer season here in FL. Sunshine and mid 60s….70-80 next week. I think we finally got rid of winter here.
Anyone else notice their leftist friends going gaga over the Buddhist Monks walking across the country for peace?? When they pass through their town they all turn out to cheer them on, and/or continuous posts about how wonderful they are. I don’t really care what these monks do, but does anyone really believe such a walk is going to bring about world peace? My cynical self says…
Shirehome,
After watching numerous K-dramas and romcoms the past few years, I’d really like to visit S. Korea. Let us know how you find it. “gamsahamnida” in advance 🙂
Bon voyage, SHIREHOME!!
For an actor in the U.S. from about 1955 to about 2010, a starring role on a 30 minute, weekly television series with a 5+ year run was a huge win, especially once rerun royalties became a reality. No more going to auditions every day. No more nights waiting by the phone. No uncertainty about when your next paycheck was coming.
Yet, for an actor who truly loves to act, playing the same role week after week can become a special kind of hell. It’s such a difficult profession!
It has to be similar to a band. You put up with little to no pay, no security… just hoping one of your songs gets on the radio. Then it happens. And it results in financial security. And you are destined to play that same song, over and over, for the rest of your career.
Yet, some actors like Ted Danson get universally known as a character on a huge, hit show and then go on to play different characters on different, long running shows. Compare his post Cheers career to Shelley Long. Why didn’t Kirstie Allie get typecast? Mary Tyler Moore? Bob Newhart? Betty White? Ed O’Neill? Julia Louis-Dreyfus?
Interesting part of Judge Diaz of the fourth circuit opinion on the legality of the president’s executive order on DEI. Diaz complained about secretary of state Marco Rubio ‘s change the official state department font from Calabri, set by Anthony Blunken of the previous administration, to the traditional times new roman. Apparently the judge thought this was over the top. LOL
The Obamas made a monkey out of the American People.
physicsguy on February 7, 2026 at 2:21 pm:
“I think we finally got rid of winter here.”
Don’t celebrate too soon. Some decades back, the Bay Hill golf tournament in Orlando had 35 degrees in mid March.
A few years before that, while living in Chicago, I had occasion to attend a tech conference in Orlando where we had an unseasonably cool April.
RTF: “Why didn’t [actor X] get typecast?”
Some of them are just better at getting beyond their public persona.
I don’t recall the name of the movie, but I still recall this impression: Samuel Jackson as a detective made you forget he was Samuel Jackson; whereas Katherine Moore (?) was not able to get beyond being that famous person to make her character believable.
It make sense that the “author” who created Edith might loath her death more than the actress who portrays her.
Except Lear didn’t really create the character. All In The Family was licensed adaptation of a British sitcom called Til Death Do Us Part. Lear doesn’t seem to want to admit that, though.
1. My “Edith Stapleton” story: A few years after she left All in the Family, I saw Jean Stapleton as one of the leads in a touring revival of “Arsenic and Old Lace” that kicked off in New York. It’s a fast-paced comedy, and the directors inevitably encountered an action-stopping wave of applause at her first appearance. What to do? She acknowledged the applause with the briefest Edith Bunker titter/giggle that led straight into the new scene and character.
2. Given the incredibly bad odds of any financial stability in the acting profession, I take protestations about boredom in a series gig with a ginormous grain of salt. Most movies are not exactly Shakespeare, and most actors are not Olivier…. stand there and say this. And shut up about politics…
Shirehome, my son studied for a few months in Busan, S. Korea. Not much salty food, almost everything sweet.
Not too many kids, lower TFR than China even without ever having a one-child policy.
Very interesting place.
A few folks from Slovakia learned Korean and sing Korean songs at karaoke. More learn Japanese anime songs to sing, without learning the Japanese language.
R2L,
You may have it. Some actors may be accurately typecast because that is their type. Although Kevin Costner has landed a decent amount of roles, to me, he’s always Kevin Costner on the screen. A sitcom may call for a sadsack sidekick neighbor character and an actor walks in who is that personality in real life and so, perfectly fits the role and lands the part. But, when later auditioning for other roles he doesn’t shine because his actual personality keeps coming through.
SHIREHOME,
I have a few close friends who divorced and remarried and I am very curious about something, so hope to one day screw up the courage to ask them, “So how long into the second marriage was it before you realized, ‘Oh, this one’s crazy too?'”
And I say that as a very happily married man who loves his wife, and loves, admires and appreciates women. In my bachelor days I had many, close, female friends and probably spent more time in the company of women than men. And that unpredictable, seemingly mad quality is something that attracts me to women.
And we men certainly have our flaws. I often wonder why women stay with us. Including my wife. Last week my wife asked me to open a jar and made a joke about this talent being the main reason she keeps me around.
I attribute some of women’s madness around men to the imbalanced nature of the relationship. We men are almost always the physically dominant member of the relationship, and more coordinated, and I think we men consequently tend to see ourselves superior in all ways. However, opening a jar of pickles does not correlate with natural intelligence. “Leftie loosie, rightie tightie” is not a difficult mnemonic to memorize.
So, often, when around men, women find their ideas and thoughts being discounted, or flat out ignored. “Mansplaining” is a real thing. I have witnessed it many times and fallen into the trap myself. That must be frustrating and, well, maddening.
And, due to their genetic role as the bearers and nurturers of the species women seem much more prone to emotion, which seems to make them quicker to “lose it” than men in difficult or frustrating situations. So they sometimes seem a bit unhinged. The experiment has likely been done, but I assume, if you give men estrogen for a few days they have more frequent episodes of emotion. In my marriage I quickly learned just because my wife was being emotional it didn’t mean she had collapsed into incompetence. Unlike me, she is able to think clearly and act capably while under emotional duress.
Regarding being a man, Kipling wrote, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you…” If you polled our adult children, who witnessed their mother and me navigate countless difficult circumstances, it’s safe to guess they would attribute that quality more to me than their mother. However, I think it’s also safe to guess they would have no less confidence in their mother navigating a difficult situation than I. It just depends on the situation. They tend to call her more often than me when facing a difficulty as adults (just as they did as children), but they do call on me for help with specific tasks.
I think both sexes are equally flawed and equally capable, just in different ways*. I also think too many young men are too reluctant to take a chance. Building a relationship with a woman and raising children with her is the hero’s journey of one’s life. If a young man can find a good woman willing to do that with him he should beg her to marry him and be forever grateful she gave him the chance. Despite what all the MGTOW reddit threads and blogs say, women are risking more in marriage than men, even in the West. If a man can witness a woman very literally risking her life to bear his child and not understand that imbalance he is not a man.
*In the pre-feminism days “Vive la différence!” was a phrase one encountered often, when the sexes were discussed. It would be nice if we could bring that back.
It’s interesting to listen to Stapledon in this video, and compare her to the way she played Edith.
The ‘voice’ she used with Edith always drove me nuts. It’s like listening to fingernails on a blackboard for me. I don’t know if that’s just me or if anyone else had the same reaction, though. But in this video her voice is normal, and fine.
— Rufus T. FIrefly
What about Carroll O’Connor himself? He played Archie Bunker for nine seasons, and it still closely identified with the character.
But he also played Chief Gillespie on the In The Heat Of The Night tv show which ran for seven seasons from 1988 to 1992. I never once looked at Chief Gillespie and saw Archie Bunker.
In fact, I personally, when I see O’Connor, think of Gillespie first and Bunker second, but that might be function of my age.
William Shatner is forever James T. Kirk, but he also successfully played T.J. Hooker on the TV series of the same name for 5 seasons from 1982 to 1986.
— Rufus T. Firefly
The thing is that men and women are risking different things.
The problem is not the opposite sex per se in either case. Feminism and the manosphere are just flip sides of the same coin. The problem is that society has forgotten that mariage is not a private matter.
Marriage, as an institution, has many purposes, and love is not really any of them. One of its purposes is to mediate, and to some extent regulate, the conflicting biological natures, and interests, of men and women, in ways that support a civilized society and the interests of both sides (and children, esp.)
(Which is one reason that same-sex ‘marriage’ is a contradiction in terms.)
The compromise of those conflicting natures cannot be done perfectly. The result of it, any result, will always be somewhat unsatisfactory, because we can’t repeal the Fall of Man. But even getting it done imperfectly requires that society as a whole make that success a priority.
Currently, Western society works in the opposite direction. You cannot simultaneously declare personal autonomy sacred, and support marriage as an institution, because marriage as an institution exists to limit and direct personal autonomy.
So, both sexes become intensely frustrated, taught by society, mass media, and so on to expect marriage to be something it cannot be, and then disappointed and angry when it isn’t, and blaming the other sex because their interests and desires and needs inherently conflict and marriage isn’t mediating that properly.
RTF @ 8:34,
Your comment about Kevin Costner made me think. IIRC, he hadn’t done anything before Dances with Wolves other than a well-regarded part in Silverado, so I think it was Dances that made him a star. I take your point about Costner being Costner in all subsequent films, but now it seems to me that such a fact has retroactively changed my image of him in Dances: originally he was an actor playing the part but now he is Kevin Costner playing that part. I wish I could go back and watch old movies again with fresh eyes to avoid be jaded by latter impressions.
“It’s interesting to listen to Stapledon in this video, and compare her to the way she played Edith.
The ‘voice’ she used with Edith always drove me nuts. It’s like listening to fingernails on a blackboard for me. I don’t know if that’s just me or if anyone else had the same reaction, though. But in this video her voice is normal, and fine.”
HC68,
Same thing with Melissa Rauch on Big Bang Theory. She developed the character’s squeaky voice quite different from her normal voice.
Her normal voice..4:00min mark she explains where Bernadette’s voice came from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbg1zWorVlo
And some samples of the character’s voice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQLXuBkJtCk
Costner not done anything before Dances With Wolves? Hello? Field of Dreams, Untouchables, Bull Durham.
CHILLS! Budweiser Releases an Amazing Pro-American Super Bowl Commercial – Video
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2026/02/chills-budweiser-releases-amazing-pro.html
well he had done No Way Out, which is an update of the Profumo scandal, allegedly it has it roots in a noir called the Big Clock, from the 50s, he had also fronted the desinformatya called JFK, a figment of Garrison’s imagination, which was when he appropriated his aw shucks earnestness from the untouchables, as elliot ness, then there was water world, which was quite a stretch, and robin hood,
his roles in yellowstone, where he is decidedly the antihero, in a modern western milieu, as well as horizon, where he tried to revisit the classic western, in a whole different era,
he’s not jr ewing, but more like a more seasoned bobby ewing
Re: Kevin Costner
Was great as Alex, the corpse in “The Big Chill” at the funeral, which brought everyone together. You couldn’t even tell he was Kevin Costner!
Other than that Costner has always been Costner. He’s an old-fashioned movie star.
I recommend “Mr. Brooks” where Costner plays a button-down serial killer with William Hurt as his psychopathic alter ego. It’s the blackest humor, but Costner is still Costner. He enjoyed the role and if the movie had done better there would have been a sequel.
Another rascally Democratic Party rapscallion chimes in on “voters’ rights”…and his attempt at insightful relevance is glorious in its utter absurdity…and sheer ignorance.
Turley wastes no time in taking this humongous hack to the woodshed…
“Raskin: Voter ID Law Violates The 19th Amendment In Denying The Vote To Women”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/raskin-voter-id-law-violates-19th-amendment-denying-vote-women
you know the stitchs on his fastball, his father was an actual soviet agent of influence, after he left the defense department, as was the senior halperin, from the nsc, under kissinger the former founded the institute for policy studies, the latter was a senior fellow, down the road, protecting Cuban regime agent, Phillip Agee someone sid blumenthal, that slithy tove, actually co edited a tome of conspiracy theories, some future leading lights of journalism, like jeff gerth, did get their start there,
now one shouldn’t hold one’s parents behavior against them, but then when they persist in the family business see max blumenthal, a mainstreamer of bds
early in the day,
agee was one of the pioneers in the doxing of western intelligence agency, ostensibly for transparency issues but as we saw in the richard welch assasination, that had deadly consequences
john stockwell and frank snepp were not disposed in the same way,
Raskin’s an utter embarrassment.
Moreover, he has no sense of shame—a lethal combination, though par for the course in his party, certainly…)
And no, one shouldn’t blame the son because of the father (but maybe in this case…or perhaps one can blame the father for the sins of the son?)
Re Max “Mitvah” Blumenthal, the strange thing was that over the past while he was starting to—most unexpectedly (shockingly?)—make some sense…at least on certain topics. Enough to make one wonder what was going on.
But it couldn’t last, I guess (Maxed out?) and he seems to have reverted to good old recognizable sordid form…
And in the latest “e pluribus unum” news…
‘Texas [DPUSA] Lawmaker Goes Mask Off: Non-Whites Can “Take Over This Country”;
‘Gene Wu, [Democrat] member of the Texas House of Representatives, encouraged select racial groups to engage in an intersectional struggle against their shared “oppressor.”’—
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/02/resurfaced-remarks-show-texas-lawmaker-pushing-racial-power-politics/
Hmm, it looks like some are already chomping at the bit!
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/02/visitors-to-las-vegas-home-of-secret-china-linked-biolab-report-mysterious-debilitating-illnesses/
Rufus, that was a really great exposition on marriage, I thought.
Good wishes, Shirehome, on that cruise! Will be interested to see what you report back.
I recently learned that there are thoughts of creating a passenger rail line running north-south through the lower peninsula of Michigan. That intrigues me.
Niketas Choniates: I have watched the first three seasons of the new All Creatures, and have greatly enjoyed it. I don’t see any effort to diversify the cast (no black farmers in the Yorkshire Dales). The only aspect that I see along those lines is that they greatly expanded the role of Mrs Hall, and gave Helen a younger sister, possibly to appeal more to a female audience. And there are parts to the story that are not in the original books. But I have read that those books were not entirely, shall we say, non-fiction, so that doesn’t bother me.
And THIS extraordinary, MUST-READ post—another courageous, noble, hard-hitting, no-holds-barred, cri de coeur—by changer Sasha Stone SAYS IT ALL.
“Why I Will Never Regret My Vote for Trump;
“So stop asking.”—
https://www.sashastone.com/p/why-i-will-never-regret-my-vote-for
H/T Powerline blog.
Several of many key grafs (RTWT):
[Emphasis mine; Barry M.]
Rufus, I must second this from Philip Sells:
“Rufus, that was a really great exposition on marriage, I thought.”
!!!
Also, I too wish Shirehome a wonderful cruise trip! May it be refreshing and enlightening, in all good ways.
The only aspect that I see along those lines is that they greatly expanded the role of Mrs Hall, and gave Helen a younger sister, possibly to appeal more to a female audience. And there are parts to the story that are not in the original books. But I have read that those books were not entirely, shall we say, non-fiction, so that doesn’t bother me.
==
Alfred Wight’s son has made clear that the books were inspired by memoir but were not memoirs. Events and characters were transferred from one time period to another (sometimes by as much as 30 years), were conflated, were amended. Per the younger Wight, there was a fairly precise observable correspondence between ‘Granville Hicks’ and Denton Pette, the actual local veterinarian who inspired him. Donald Sinclair (“Siegfried”) was irritated at how he was portrayed in the books and irritated with what Robert Hardy did with his character. We don’t always see ourselves as others do; the younger Wight has said the original was rather more intense than the character, not less. OTOH, Bryan Sinclair (“Tristan”) was rather amused at how he was portrayed and rather liked giving public lectures. One thing I think may differ from the books and the television programs would be the relative ages of the characters. Robert Hardy was 15 years older than Christopher Timothy and 22 years older than Peter Davison. Donald Sinclair was actually only four years older than his brother and five years older than James Wight.
==
You can see the adjustments in the character ‘Calum Buchanan’. His inspiration, Brian Nettleton, was not a contemporary of James Wight or Bryan Sinclair, but a half-generation younger. His fiancee was a Scot; he was actually from Leeds. He did not work for the practice from 1948 to 1952, but from about 1954 to 1958. He did get married at the end of his tenure. However, his fiancee had not been one of Bryan Sinclair’s girlfriends and had not worked for the Ministry of Agriculture. Byran Sinclar got married in 1946 and remained so until his death; he fathered three daughters. The future Mrs. Nettleton was 19 years younger than Bryan Sinclair and had been employed as a lab technician at the veterinary school in London; Brian Nettleton met her ca. 1952 when he was a student and she was appended to him long distance the whole time he worked in Thirsk. Brian and Martha Nettleton did decamp to Nova Scotia after they married, but not so he could take a government job. He bought a veterinary practice there and he and his wife founded the local cattle auction.
==
Joan Wight did employ domestic help for periods of time, but there was no analogue to ‘Mrs. Hall’; she was an invention.
A powerful dissection of King Charles slow withdrawal from his duty/role as “Defender of The (Christian) Faith” amid his increasingly voiced and open admiration for Islam.*
* See https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/a-king-who-doubts-his-faith-cannot-offer-spiritual-leadership/
King Charles’s slow withdrawal from Christian belief mirrors that of the Church of England, of which he is the titular head.
Selfy
The American people were made monkeys of willingly. A chance to show how high on the moral high ground and not racist we are. Clownathon.