Archive for March 23rd, 2008

imbecile!Nah, he’s not really. Despite his straight-from-the-70s sideburns and his penchant for calling young women “old girl” and “old thing,” I’m finding I quite like him.

From wikipedia:

The character was originally devised by the production team as a means of handling any action scenes required in episodes when they had envisioned that the new Doctor would be played by an older actor (Sarah even jokingly compares Harry to James Bond at one point). When forty year-old Tom Baker was cast, however, this was no longer a concern and the decision was taken to write Harry out — something producer Philip Hinchcliffe later admitted was probably a mistake, as Harry was a likeable and popular character who worked well with both of his fellow leads.

lbj left aloneThe excerpt below is shamelessly reproduced (without permission, but with proper credit given) from the November 19, 2007 issue of Time Magazine. The author is Evan Thomas.

Lyndon Johnson’s presidency was collapsing…Johnson dreaded the nights. He dreamt that he was lying in the Red Room of the White House, his body wasted and numb. His grandmother had been paralyzed in her last years, and so had Woodrow Wilson, another president who had struggled with the burden of war. Waking from his tortured sleep, LBJ would take a small flashlight and walk the halls of the White House until he found the portrait of Wilson. Touching the painting, he would be soothed, for the moment, and go back to bed.

The context in which it was written had to do with the politically charged alphabet soup of 1968: LBJ. RFK. MLK. The piece began with LBJ and ended with RFK’s assasination, while between those bookends touching on MLK and the uneasy relationship he and RFK shared.

I don’t know exactly what touched me so deeply about that passage, but obviously it hit a nerve, and deeply, for I tore out the article and have tucked it away. For what reason and towards what end, I am at a loss to explain, but I want to keep it.

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