Erdos Had The Number First

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Richard Pryor died this weekend. He was not the funniest man who ever lived. He made a series of poor career moves and bad life choices that left him and his 8 marriages and 7 children the worse for wear.

An Authentic Life: Richard Pryor’s Official Biography

But he accomplished things that few could even dream of. As a pioneer in the entertainment industry, he was not a caricature player nor a minstrel. He inspired many people of color to pursue acting and comedy and proved to the world that funny transcends skin color.

He said painful things and made people laugh about it. He was a man of conviction and talented writer. He reclaimed the N-word and then ,after a trip to Africa, vowed to never use it again. These are things few people know about him.

He had suffered from MS for many years, and the disease had taken him out of the limelight. Now it has taken him out of the light completely. Like many pioneers, the road he blazed has become a highway. This highway, often traveled but seldom considered, is merely one aspect of his legacy. Even though he said that “We are all born the same”, his life showed that, clearly, some of us are not.

Space Raiders (1983)

One of the worst movies ever made. If you get a chance you’ve got to see this film. I remember seeing this movie, since I saw it when it came out (or shortly thereafter). I was about 10, and the movie was about a 10 year old who was kidnapped by aliens and had a wild adventure.

What 10 year old doesn’t want to get kidnapped by aliens? The only concern I have is that this movie, like Ice Pirates, does not hold its magic when viewed as an adult. I suspect some stories are better remembered than retold.

“shallow Hal” is kind of a tough movie. So the theory is
that this guy Hal is shallow. But not totally shallow. He can’t be totally shallow or else the story wont work.
So he gets the ability to see only a persons inner beauty. This allows him to get women, because apparently all fat/ugly women are really beautiful on the inside and they are also all desperate.

Here’s my problem: ugly people are not all desperate for someone to find them attractive.

We went to seattle this past weekend. It was a good
trip, and we found Chipmonks and Skiers . Can you imageing Skiing in July?

Casablanca has got to be one of the best movies ever. Everybody knows the “Play it again, Sam” line, even though it was never said in the movie.

It’s not just the strength of Bogart that makes the film, either. It’s a strongly political work, and it’s more about how sometimes the bastards get you down, but you can’t let them. You’ve got to keep fighting for what you know is the right thing, even when it’s hard. Even when you might have to let the woman you love go.

And it’s hard for Rick. He’s been hurt, he fought with the Loyalists in Spain. He’s lost wars and women and he’s just trying to have some peace since he can never go home again (something they never address, he just can’t go back to the states). The Spanish Civil war is something I think that is too far from
the American mind when they think about WWII.

Rick has killed people through action and inaction, and when he points a gun at you, you know you’re in trouble. Even though he’s a tough guy, when the bar gets shut down he makes sure his staff still get paid. He helps people escape to America and runs a fair buisness: anyone can come in, and anyone with money can drink.

The other people are just a hard-assed as him. It makes me glad that I’ve never had to flee my home, never had to bribe an official to get my family on the plane. I cannot imagine if it were my wife asking Rick if it would be OK to sleep with the official to get their exit papers. If it were me asking him to hold some bit of something that, were I caught with it, they would shoot me.

Even though it was made more than 60 years ago, the film still has the power to resonate. And lets face it, Ingrid Bergman is someone to fall in love with. She is the woman who wakes Rick from his slumber (though she is mostly the cause of it to begin with). She is Helen of Troy, Cleopatra and Joan of Arc all rolled into one. The cause of and the solution to the wars men fight.

And then there is Sam. Sam is Ricks friend, assistant, and lookout. Rick respects Sam, and vice versa, though it is 1942 and Sam is black. 1942 is not a time when you could be black in America and eat in any restaurant you want. I’d like to think Sam is the harbinger of things to come.

The thing that strikes me most about the movie is that it was made during a time when so many films were total crap. Sugar coated escapism and melodrama were all people living through depression and war could stomach it seems. Enter ‘Casablanca’, with it’s political call-to-action and it’s reminder that sometimes real sacrifice is required when there are bigger things at stake.