u/Tryingagain1979

Not a lot of happy stories by people who used the 'blackjack' option on poker sites. Bodog shanked me everytime back in the day.

Give it a rest for a few weeks and let it regrow before putting the normal bowling torque on it again; otherwise it wont regrow right.

I have never been but it is a bummer. I passed it many times visiting my dad in the hospital the last few months and it always looked closed and i was puzzled as to why. It looks so fun.

there are seasons?

*"Just posted this online.

I wanted to wait until I had confirmation of the news that Walter Koenig had passed away before saying anything, given the internet’s penchant for posting false news like this. I’ve been pronounced dead three times, and only one was correct.

Walter would have enjoyed that comment. We shared a love of Mark Twain’s sardonic wordplay; it was one of the best ways to get a laugh out of him. Which directly intersects with the first time I ever saw him in a non-Star Trek role: when he and Mark Lenard appeared in a production of Bernard Sabath’s The Boys in Autumn at the Los Angeles Art Theater in August 1990. The story is about the final reunion between an older Huck Finn (Mark) and Tom Sawyer (Walter).

I’d met Walter a few years earlier, by way of our mutual friend Harlan Ellison, who went ahead of him in 2018, presumably to look for a good seat. Most of the time when we got together it was via Harlan; dinner up at Ellison Wonderland, the occasional birthday party…I rarely initiated contact because I’ve never been terribly sociable. A streak of withdrawn shyness runs deep in me despite my best efforts to appear otherwise. Besides, as someone who grew up watching Walter in Star Trek, first in television then in film, I considered him a star, and of all the things that will send that shyness into a spiral, that’s number one. Basically, I didn’t want to bother him.

Then came the invitation to The Boys in Autumn, and I can still see, even now, exactly where I was sitting when I and the other audience members were treated to a two hour masterclass in acting. Walter’s performance, his insights into Sawyer, the loss and pain and memory of other times, were utterly on point. This is not to diminish Mark’s work, which was also terrific…but Walter was a revelation.

Then a curious thing happened: as much as I was enjoying the play, I also found myself getting profoundly annoyed as I thought about the asshats lurking in the otherwise bright glow of fandom who loved nothing more than to go online to make fun of Walter’s performance as Ensign Chekov. They gleefully labeled him a lightweight, a trivial actor for a trivial role that allegedly only came about because Beatlemania and the Monkees were a thing…a description that had fuck-all to do with the talent unfolding new shades of meaning and skill right there in front of me.

After the play was over, I confess I fanboyed at Walter, insisting that I would find a role for him that was the equal to his talent, even if I had to write it myself. He smiled in the way of all actors who hear such things from people in this business, taking the compliment and leaving the rest to the fates.

But I never forgot that promise.

So when Babylon 5 came along, I was thinking of Walter when I wrote a character who would appear in an episode entitled And the Sky, Full of Stars, in which I attempted to replicate the theatricality of what I had seen Walter pull off in Autumn. He read the script and loved the role.

But just as we were ramping up production for that episode, Walter suffered a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery, and had to bow out. I would have pushed the episode back in the shooting schedule to wait for him, but the next few episodes were far too complicated to prep in the short window of time that would remain if I pulled Sky out of rotation.

When we spoke on the phone, Walter still laid up in bed, me in my office, he was devastated at having to miss this opportunity. I told him not to worry: I’d find something even better for him. There was a role I had in mind but didn’t mention the details; this wasn’t the time. I just told him to focus on getting better, and the role would be there when he was ready to play it.

That character was a PsiCop named Bester, and the episode was Mind War.

And I want to make a point about those two episodes that very few have noticed.

If I remember correctly, Sky was shot as episode 106 in production order; Mind War was 110, which means there were only three episodes between 106 and 110. We were shooting 7 days per episode, 5 days per week, so the gap was about a month, give or take.

One month after quadruple bypass surgery, showing not a flicker of weakness, Walter brought all his skills to bear on the role and in a single episode created one of the most nuanced antagonists to ever walk onto the Babylon 5 stages.

A highlight of that episode came on day one of the shoot, as lunch was being served at the food tents behind the stage. Armed with a tray of whatever the hell was being served that day, Walter aimed himself at the table where all the other actors playing Earthforce characters were seated.

As he approached, lead actor Michael O’Hare called “Attention!” and everyone at the table stood.

When Walter asked what this was all about, Michael explained that “junior officers seated at a table must always stand in the presence of a senior officer until given leave to sit.”

There’s a Yiddish word I learned from Harlan, kvelled. Basically it’s the human version of purred.

Walter bade them all to please sit, took his place at the head of the table as befitted his experience, rank and station, and kvelled.

When it was announced that Walter was going to appear in Babylon 5, the usual online asshats did their usual online asshatting. How many times are they going to have him ask about the nuclear wessels? He’s such a one note actor. This is embarrassing.

Chekov was (to a degree) a one-note character because he was written that way.

But that wasn’t Walter.

Walter was an entire symphony.

And when Mind War aired, the asshats got real quiet really goddamned fast.

Over the course of the show, Walter appeared as Bester in twelve episodes. It’s always odd to consider that number given the character’s outsized impact on the show, the story, and the fan reaction. He often described it as “one of the best, most satisfying experiences I’ve ever had.”

At last, people were able to see the range that Walter brought to his work, and it meant the world to him. Which is why when Walter asked me to speak on his behalf at the September 12, 2012 Hollywood Star ceremony that added his name to the roster of many other gifted actors, my opening salvo was a very loud, very vehement, “ABOUT GODDAMNED TIME!”

I was subsequently informed that you’re not supposed to invoke profanity at these things.

Fuckit.

In later years, I was not able to see Walter as often as I would have liked. He had his schedule, I had mine, we were both all about the work. Most of the time we ran into each other at conventions, where he was always jovial and friendly and quick to launch into a joke or a funny story.

He was a level-headed, grounded, affable fellow who never put on airs or took a star turn at gatherings. He was a working actor, with a working actor’s soft-spoken nobility of purpose.

And just so the fans truly know this one essential truth: he genuinely loved you. All of you.

Even some of the asshats, who he tolerated with more patience, dignity and charity than they probably deserved.

Because that’s just who Walter was.

And for that reason, among many, many others, he will be missed.

J. Michael Straczynski"*

Sounds like the lyrics to 'Deacon Blues'

Try 'Outlander' ; but be aware it is a more rated R production. My Grandma, who was in her 90's really liked both, but she did turn off outlander because the sex eventually. She also loved 'Downton Abbey'..Dr Quinn was her favourite show otherwise.

His detailed diaries he works from definitely makes it unique and one of a kind. He is just not pleasant.

Someone on youtube does it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGQCQgm76hk&list=PL_KwKC69lWKDvOSxHdIoiz7IbsJeJCMra

Dorothy. Strong and brilliant woman.

I read his book when it was new around 2007 and i was shocked at his honesty, but also shocked by what a piece of shit bret is in real life, and how negative and petty.

Yes, his friend and business partner runs that HOF.

2006

I agree with that, actually. They lost direction after Berman.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Ringo

Some people say that between the time John Ford made this and when he made 'Liberty Valance' 20 years later; someone told Ford the real truth about the gunfight at the ok corral. And his response was Liberty Valance. Some people do say that.

I agree! SOOoo good!

Did you ever hear his western radio drama he did recently?

Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fap5YTi_xCw

It is him reading.

Sleepy Hollow

but from what i have heard from friends who have kids, 13 yeaar olds LOVE like the scariest movies ever. Sleepy Hollow might be too tame for them.

1991 or so

13!!!!!!!

People dont care about the drivers, or the teams, or the make and model of the cars, and they used to