Spitball Army

What I plan on listening to and looking at this week, and other things that are making my world a better place:

• The “Mr. Flynn!” scene  (film)
  There is a scene near the end of David Mamet’s film, Redbelt, where the main character – a top-ranked jujitsu fighting champion – literally fights his way through a crowd of people behind the scenes at a world-championship competition.  He is pursuing a fight organizer and, as security guards, media people, and personnel of the sporting facility all attempt to stop him in his pursuit of this man, he fights them off with a blow to the chest, a flip, a knee thrust.  He is, after all, a top-ranked jujitsu fighting champion.  Throughout this scene, he continues to shout loudly after the fight organizer: “Mr. Flynn!  Mr. Flynn!  Mr. Flynn!”  While watching this, I was reminded of the “Adrian!” scene from Rocky, the umbrellas on the courthouse steps scene from Foreign Correspondent, the scene from any number of films where the hero has to fight his way through a crowd while chasing the supposed lone assasin, The Terminator pursuing Sarah Connor through a packed nightclub.  The template for this two-minute stretch of film has been laid upon many, many movies, and its familiarity struck me as oddly conventional for a Mamet film, known for his twists on convention.  The twist, I guess, is that this fellow was uniquely equipped to get himself from Point A to Point B, being a top-ranked jujitsu fighting champion.

• Bigelow’s Fruit & Almond herbal tea (consumable)

  

  I have de-caffeinated myself for the third or fourth time in my life.  It’s a tough process, but after about five days of assault from withdrawal headaches, I have come out the other side clear-headed from the first waking moment of my day to the last, and without the aid of coffee (which I do love, for the record).  I replaced my morning coffee habit with a warm cup of herbal tea, and my current favorite is the Fruit & Almond blend from the Bigelow.  With about a half spoonful of honey, it really hits the spot, with only a hint of a fruit taste, but more of a dominant earthy almond taste, the earthiness likely due to the addition of chicory.  The only drawback is that it is very, very hard to find on my local market – I buy two or three boxes at a time, when I can find it.

• Bobby Bird (personality)
  Robert “Bobby” Bird, of MTV’s How’s Your News? is a marvel.  As one of the team of developmentally-disabled reporters on the How’s Your News? team, Bobby’s job is to interview celebrities and people on the street, and to experience a variety of everyday adventures while travelling around America in a microbus with other members of his team.  His handicap?  Bobby Bird’s speech is not understandable, even though he seems completely confident that it is.  This confidence, in fact, is what makes Bobby such an inspiration.  The Bobby Bird we see on the TV show is a guy who embraces every endeavor with an outsized vigor: witness his ride through the Spookarama carnival ride, where he’s more excited than scared, or his make-believe (I think) knock-down with an inanimate fighting dummy (both clips are below).  That’s good energy. “Ahbooya,” indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGnrHVDBa9w

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2kky7iwYbE

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG0NqjDkmCw