EVERYBODY'S WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND!

AS PROMISED, I AM WORKING MY WAY DOWN THE LIST OF EVERY SPECIAL BLOG BUDDY WHO HAS CARED AND SHARED WITH ME THIS PAST YEAR. AND I'VE DISCOVERED JUST HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE SUFFERED DOWNED SERVERS AND CRASHED DISCS AS I HAVE! GOOD GOD!! YESTERDAY IN MID-AFTERNOON, BLOGGER WENT DOWN ON THIS SITE, SO FORGIVE ME FOR LEAVING IT UP AGAIN FOR TODAY--I AM SURE MANY MISSED IT. THERE'S "HALOSCAN HELL" (HELLSCAN) AND NOW I SUPPOSE "BLOGGER HELL". IT SURE IS INCONVENIENT FOR ALL OF US. WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT BLOGS? WE'D HAVE TO WRITE LETTERS, I GUESS, AND THAT WOULD TAKE FOREVER--AND NOW AT 39 CENTS PER STAMP (USA) NO LESS. lol! HAVE A NICE WEEKEND ALL! AND A SPECIAL HELLO TO PAUL AND THE GANG AT THE PUB FOR READING THIS AND BEING SO THOUGHTFUL AND KIND WITH THE COMPLIMENTS!

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After more than 20 man hours and 25 consultants from The Laptop Hospital to MSN I regret not having any time Wednesday to begin my visits to all of you. But I give you my word, I'll be by every single site (as long as they are accessible) this weekend! I DID take a breather and accept an invitation by Kathryn Magendie to participate in her "Writer's Challenge" at: www.kathrynmagendie.com/howl. I did so because it is NOT a contest. Rather, Kat has posted a handful of photographs. You pick out the one that inspires you to respond to in any idiom and post it. I dusted off an old piece called "The Spring's Sunlight" for the occasion. Stop by and say hello to Kat! Okay...as Roy Scheider says each morning to himself in the mirror in Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz": "It's showtime!!"

During my two road trips to the Carolinas last month--memorable because I was able to meet fellow BLOG BUDDY Kathryn Magendie and her husband Roger--I came upon the notion of a "Virtual Film Festival". Now, I know that sounds nuts. But since it's my BLOG, I figured "What the hell?" Plain and simple. So, for the next five Thursdays, I'll announce two films honoring my favorite Actor: Steve McQueen.

We begin with the film that was McQueen's first major hit that also dared to define the anti-hero in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960) directed by John Sturges. When I first saw this movie, a friend called me and asked: "Are you at the scene yet where they are putting the group together?" This film is that fun! Believe it or not, Yul Brenner was the only established star of the "Seven". The story is based on Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai". Amazingly, no one knew McQueen outside his television series "Wanted Dead or Alive", or his last minute replacement for Sammy Davis, Jr. in the war epic "Ever So Few" after Davis had a spat with lead star Frank Sinatra. That's right! No one knew Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson, James Coburn or Eli Wallach!! The premise: A poor farming community is being terrorized by punks and the seven men sign on for $20 a piece to defend the town (something Cincinnati could use badly). Larger than life heros with human flaws and inner darkness. As an aside, I have to share this. Brenner and McQueen had a highly publicized dislike of each other on this film. Watch McQueen sitting atop the stagecoach with a rifle next to Brenner. While not in the script, Steve takes a handful of bullets from his pocket and rattles them like dice and smiles sarcastically at Brenner. Looking at the film in 2005, co-star Suzanne Pleshette said, "It's a wonder Yul didn't knock him off that damned stagecoach!" HA!

Next comes McQueen's most popular film: 1963's THE GREAT ESCAPE (which also starred Bronson and Coburn, as well as James Garner). Quentin Tarantino calls this film "The shortest three hour movie I've ever seen". This is what happens when you combine an all star cast of McQueen with Sir Richard Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, James Garner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and David McCallum with an exciting screenplay, a wonderful soundtrack--and a true story written by ex World War II POW Paul Brickhill. I make no apologies for the length of this film because we are shown the true life story of the largest allied prison breakout of World War II. Gotta love "The Cooler King" with his baseball and glove! Sweet defiance! The Nazi's designed a camp that was reputedly inescapable and assembled the best escape artists of the war in one place--not too brilliant. Watch McQueen's face after the famous motorcycle jump. It speaks volumes of the will to live and persevere!

I can't wait to hear your comments Monday!

Cheers!!