Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Yesterday, a good friend turned 60.

Back in 1983 I directed a production of the political black comedy Accidental Death of an Anarchist and before starting production I had a very vivid image in my mind of what I wanted on the poster - the anarchist (who is not a character in the play) making a last gesture of defiance at the persons who had just pushed him out of a 6th story window.

The only person I could imagine for the image was my long suffering good friend, who on a hot summer day violently threw himself backwards onto a levee bank 36 times until I got the image I desired...

I plastered this all over town and the play was actually a great success.

My reasonably private friend never did tell me (at the time) that he was less than comfortable about having such an image of himself spread far and wide... so true to form, last night I pulled out an oversize copy of this poster for the appreciation of the gathered crowd celebrating my friend's birthday. What are good friends for...

PS. (waving own flag here) I just did a web search and looked at a bunch of other posters for this play that are kicking around. As far as I'm concerned, we win :-)

A Westie Moment

(Americans: 'Westie' = 'Redneck')

I was standing in a queue at the supermarket today and a voice several metres away said: "G'Day Santa Claus" After several seconds I realised the line was directed at me. I looked up to see a clean-shaven Westie (you can tell) about 10 years my junior leering at me expectantly. I smiled, vaguely.

"I call every guy I see with a beard, 'Santa Claus'!"

With that, he was gone. It felt rather surreal.

Here is a rather recent photo of me with my children. Do I really look like Santa Claus?


(11 years ago I was paid $250 to play Santa at a business dinner, but that's another story... :-)

American Measurements Dept.

Americans often use non-standard or obscure (to everyone else) measurements in cooking.

Q. How much is a stick of butter?

A. 4 oz (US) or about 125g (Rest of World)