Long live the Duke!

So I don't blog much anymore. I was asked recently if it was because of work, and it's not. For those who aren't aware, there is a young lady or two at work who like to look at my blog (note I didn't say read), pick a word or two from each paragraph and then delight in telling others how, based on these words, I'm anti-union or something else equally asinine. This is not the case. There's just really very little I want to blog about.

There are one or two thing stirring my my noodle however that I think will find there way here in due course. The first was a milestone this past Saturday. May 26, 2007, would have been the 100Th birthday of John Wayne. This is important for a couple of reasons.

First is my dad. Through him I became quite a John Wayne fan. He and I have watched many a movie together, gives me warm fuzzies.

Second is what John Wayne represents, at least to me. The Duke was always black and white, right and wrong, good vs. bad. He was masculine without being sexist (anyone who disagrees should watch him and Maureen O'Hara on screen together) and to me represents the epitome of manhood. The Hamilton Spectator ran a whole page on the Duke in Saturday's newspaper including 100 reasons to cherish his memory. These were taken from his movies and from conversations with him. See the whole list here.

I'm going to put here some of my favorites from the list.

2. That walk.
6. "A man ought to do what he thinks is right." (Hondo)
7. For the gentile way he could treat a fragile woman.
8. For the rump-slapping way he could treat a strong woman.
11. "I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to others and I expect the same from them." (The Shootist)
14. For the incredibly cool way he cocks his rifle by twirling it in both Stagecoach and True Grit.
17. Because in spite of his reputation for invulnerability, he eagerly took on the task of playing deeply lonely men who die.
26. Because he was the first one on the set in the morning and the last one to leave.
28. "I wouldn't do that if I was you." (Hondo)
30. Because he would play anything except weak.
33. Because it didn't make any difference whether the movie was great, good or terrible, it was still John Wayne.
34. The voice.
35. "That'll be the day." (The Searchers)
43. The Quiet Man.
49. Fort Apache.
54. Because he didn't mind playing a one-eyed old fat man.
57. Because he never gave a damn about critics.
58. Because onscreen he always wanted a woman who was his full equal.
59. Because his characters were always willing to endure the consequences of their actions.
60. For having the integrity to put his money where his political mouth was and produce, direct and star in The Alamo and The Green Berets.
65. Because he was loyal.
66. "You're awful pretty when you're angry." (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance)
69. "Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!" (True Grit)
74. Because he loved dogs, and not the ones you'd think. He had springer spaniels and dachshunds.
75. Because he could suggest a terrible sorrow beneath a heroic exterior.
76. Because the dog in Hondo was actually played by Lassie, and when he won the dog in a card game from trainer Rudd Weatherwax, he gave him back.
80. "I stopped getting the girl about 10 years ago. Which is just as well, because I'd forgotten what I wanted her for."
85. "All I do is sell sincerity and I've been selling the hell out of that since I started."
86. For the graceful way he confronted the disease that was already taking his life in The Shootist.
87. Because when he was dying of cancer, in excruciating pain, he never complained.
93. "I made Rio Bravo because I didn't like High Noon. I didn't think a good town marshal was going to run around town like a chicken with his head cut off asking everyone to help."
99. For the way he lifts Natalie Wood above his head in The Searchers, then quickly brings her down to cradle her like a child.

I think today where young men and boys try to emulate and idolize gangsters and thugs, we need more like John Wayne. Jaci already knows that when we have kids, they will grow up watching John Wayne movies with their dad.

Like I did.

Be well all.