Donald Pleasence

Donald Pleasence
Actor

Donald Pleasence can be seen in The Great Escape, You Only Live Twice and The Halloween Movies.

As a member of the British Royal Air-force he was shot down in WWII and sent to a POW camp, there to pass the time the prisoners put on a play, The Petrified forest, Pleasence got the leading role. Later, he was one of two actors in The Great Escape who were previously POW’s.

Pleansence played Bond’s archenemy Bleofeld in You Only Live Twice, although many other actors played the role in the future his likeness is most commonly associated with the role. This likeness went on to be the basis of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies.

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Arthur Conan Doyle

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
KNIGHT, PATRIOT, PHYSICIAN & MAN OF LETTERS

Doyle is most famous for creating Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is an opium addicted private detective with acute observational skills and powers of deductive reasoning. The mot well-known story featuring Sherlock Holmes is the Hound of the Baskervilles where Holmes was able to prove that a seemingly super-natural occurrences were really caused by an evil principal. Doyle personally lacked the powers of deduction to do the same in his personal life.

Doyle believed his friend Houdini had supernatural powers. Most magicians spend years trying to get people to believe this about them, but Houdini actually ended their friendship because he could not convince Doyle he was just doing tricks. Houdini was tired of being asked to pull rabbits out things at the dinner table I suppose.

He also believed the Cottingly Fairies were real, and used the pictures of them in one of his non-fiction works.

Furthermore, he believed  that dead people could talk to the living. This was obviously false,  or he would have never let Sherlock Holmes fall into the public domain after his death; he would have at least complained about Madonna’s husband directing Sherlock Holmes movies.

THIS LOOKS SHOPPED: I CAN TELL FROM SOME OF THE PIXELS AND FROM SEEING QUITE A FEW SHOPS IN MY TIME.”

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King Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Later Sweden

When people are considering becoming monarchs they always assume that Scandinavia is a packaged deal. This never turns out to be true, and no one ever says, “Well, two out of three ain’t bad” when it comes to governing Norway, Sweden, and or or Denmark.  This was also true for our hero Christian II of the sixteenth century, he inherited Denmark and Noway but Sweden didn’t want to be inherited. After a marriage to raise some money, Christian II went to Sweden and called  everyone to a conference on the topic of who should rule Sweden, then executed everyone once he gave them amnesty. This became known as the Stockholm Bloodbath.  Christian II, after defeating his Swedish opposition, became the last Monarch to rule all of Scandinavia. This was very short lived, as  Gustav I rose to power in Sweden and two years later Christian II was forced into exile due to his characteristic, Danish indecisiveness

To celebrate Christian II of Denmak, he why don’t you spend some time gawking at the Danish royal family, they are better looking than their British Counterparts and they never tried to tax our tea or forced us to clean up our landmines.

It is good to be the king???

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Winston Churchill

Sprechen sie Deutsch?

No? Well, you have a White Fat Guy to thank for that. Today we celebrate, the man who has been called the greatest Englishman of All-time.

Winston Churchill!

Right Honorable, Prime Minister, Nobel Prize Winning Author

People often joke that Hitler would not have been evil if he had been accepted into Art school.  Churchill did not go to art school, but had a healthy attitude toward Zionism,  the rights of men, good and evil. Oh and:

Painting by Churchill

This one is by Hitler, not that bad. but due to his intense modesty Hitler stopped having his art reprinted after 1938

painting by Churchill: Art School is for losers anyway

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Gregor Mendel

Today White Fat Guy History Month Celebrates

Gregor Mendel!

Monk, Gardener, Father of Modern Genetics, Mad Scientist

Mendel is famous for his work with pea plants. He proved that traits of offspring are not just a blend of their parents’ traits: some traits are dominant over other traits, and that traits of future generations are not dictated by the environment of the parents.  To be technical, he discovered the Law of Independant Assortment and the Law of Segregation in the field of biological inheritance. His ideas were much debated at the time and not very popular, it wasn’t unil 50 years later when other scientist dabbled in the field of genetics that his ideas were accepted as the solved many of their problems.

After he mastered pea plants he moved onto bees. This is a little more complicated because only the queen bee mates, but he was able (probably in an attempt to rule the world) to make  hybrid super-aggressive bees, which were so dangerous they had to be destroyed for the safety of the monastery (and the good of mankind.)

axil white flower on a short stem! Perfect! Now I will rule the world! Mwhaha

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Rudolf Wanderone Jr.

One of the main problems in this world is that fictional characters are not real. I have often said to my self, “This looks like a job for Superman!” but then become saddened as I remember that Superman does not exist, that his powers will not solve my problems, there is really no hope for my situation at all.  If only fictional characters could be realities, if we can only take a well written character and make them real. Today we celebrate a White Fat Guy who did just that!.

Rudolf Wanderone Jr!

Pool Hustler

In 1961, the great Paul Newman film The Hustler was released.  In the film, Newman’s character was trying to beat  the greatest pool player in the world Minnesota Fats played by  white fat guy Jackie Gleason. Wanderone, who was going by the name New York Fats at the time, saw his chance to make our collective dreams into reality.  From that moment onward he was Minnesota Fats, and began touring, hustling pool, and publishing books.  The world, desperately needing that fiction to be made flesh, were more that willing to accept that he was Minnesota Fats.  Wanderone was elected to the Billiard Hall of Fame in 1984.

If fictional characters can become real, maybe someday there will be a Superman. But, until then those dishes are going to keep piling up in the sink.

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Millard Fillmore

April 14th, 2011

Millard Fillmore!

Last Whig President, Most Successful Third Party Candidate ever.

Last week, you did a great job with early 20th century politics, now bear with me as we dive into antebellum politics, The Whigs vs. The Whigs vs. The Democrats .  The Whigs were a political party from 1832 ish til 1854 ish. Their overall platform was modernization (schools, roads, canals)  and territorial expansion  of the United States. The party was started by Henry Clay to oppose Andrew Jackson, particularly over the debate over the national bank and the party died soon after Henry Clay did in 1851.  The Whigs were always an unstable party. They prided themselves on compromise, but there were two main factions in the party those who were complete abolitionist and those who choose to look away for the sake of national unity. Millard Filmore was a member of the latter.

Millard Fillmore began his career as an anti-masonic candidate in the New York Legislature, later becoming a congressman, New York State Comptroller, Founder of the University at Buffalo ,Vice President of the United States and, with the death of Zachary Taylor, President. He was disappointed when he became President because the White House had no books it, so he started the White House library.While Filmore did not support slavery, he did not support things to end it either. While he was vp and president he was a strong supporter of the Compromise of 1850 which  admitted California as a free state but also required all citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves.  This compromise was felt buy many to be to much of an acquiescence to the south by many anti-slavery Whigs. Therefore at the Whig Convention for the 1852 election, his party passed him by for Winfield “Old fuss and Feathers” Scott for the nomination, because Scott was more out spoken against slavery. This did the Whig party more harm than good, as it alienated the southern Whigs and as it turned the anti-slavery northerners would not forgive the Whigs for the Compromise of 1850. The Democrats won the election, and Whig party quickly fell apart.

Fillmore ran for president again in 1856 as the candidate for the Know Nothing Party, he ran against Democrat James Buchanan and Republican John Fremont. The platform of this party, if I am may grossly over simplify, was: lets set aside our differences on slavery, can’t we all agree that there a too many Irish running around?  Filmore lost the election but was able to carry the state of Maryland and its 13 electoral votes making him the most successful 3rd party candidate in US history.

To celebrate Millard Filmore today: if your house doesn’t have a library start one. If you already have a library or cannot read well, may I suggest Mallard Fillmore

Fremont, Fillmore, and Buchanan

?

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Socrates?

April 13, 2011

Socrates

Philosopher, Father of Philosophy, Social Gadfly.

What makes Socrates so great? Were there not other philosophers before him? What is a philosopher? Did Socrates find truth?  If his self awareness of ignorance a particularly useful truth? Why is it when Socrates admits he is an idiot he is considered wise, but when I call him an idiot I am called a fool? Does his admission of his ignorance actually make him the wisest man? Does my admission of being unable to ice-skate make me the greatest hockey player?  If questioning things is your method wouldn’t you come up with some very pointed questions when told to drink poison ? Wouldn’t you poision someone who talked like this all the time?

I would

"Ohh good I am so very parched after pleading my case to the citizens of Athens." Grecian Facepalm

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Tycho Brahe

Tycho Brahe!

Astronomer, Moose Tamer

Hypothetically, you have to go to a friend’s wedding and your spouse gets the stomach flu and has to stay in the hotel room.  You already reserved “the plus one” and you would really like to have someone to talk to at your table during the reception. Fortunately, in the hotel you are staying at there is a convention of reanimated astronomers. Which one do ask to join you for the wedding?

Carl Sagan? Aryabhata? Copernicus? Liu Xin? Aristarchus? Sir Issac Newton? Not only are they boring but they will  insist you will be their wing-man and/or “score them some herb”.  Tycho Brahe may have never figured out the earth revolves around the sun, but he knows how to party.

Examples!

1. He pays a dwarf to entertain him and tell him the future.

2. One wedding he attended, led to a duel where he lost his nose. Therefore:

3.  He has a prosthetic nose for any occasion.

4. He had a tame moose as a drinking buddy.

So pick Tycho if nothing else you get a night of pleasant conversation and a moose ride home. Worst case scenario, you wet your pants, spend the night looking for a missing nose and the moose falls down the stairs… but the dwarf will probably warn you before hand.

Smelling the world through rose colored noses

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John Rhys-Davies Remarkably Affable at Gen-Con

My habit on Sundays between morning and evening church services is to go to Borders and read books and periodicals I am unwilling (unable) to purchase. My time at Borders is always a delight because whenever I go there people assume things about me.   A good portion of people looking for books assume I work there.  Baristas  assume that I need whipped cream on every beverage I order. Today a fellow patron assumed I would be a great guy to share a conversation on Dungeons and Dragons. I did try my best not to disappoint but I have never played “D&D”, fortunately, I do have a wealth of knowledge in many other fine points of  nerdery.

As the conversation progressed, he began to inform me about an event affectionately referred to as Gen-Con. At this  convention, there is Larping, D&D, Magic the Gathering and other games. This stranger attended one and met many famous people from the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy. He was surprised at how pleasant the actors were, particularly Kenny Baker and Sean Astin. But one actor stood head and shoulders above the rest, he was pleasant,talked to everyone and went out of his way to make sure everyone got his autograph, none other than the great John Rhys-Davies.

This was a fortunate turn for conversation, as a student of White Fat Guy History I have followed Rhys-Davies’ career for years, and had a great deal of input on the subject. Fifteen minutes later the stranger left, and it dawned on me… Why haven’t I honored Rhys-Davies for WFGHM?  So today, inspired by the strange man that talked to me in Borders we celebrate:

John Rhys-Davies!

Actor

His career speaks for itself, here are the highlights:

Gimli and Treebeard in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Sallah in  Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (note he was only in the good Indiana Jones Movies).

The voice of Thor in early 90’s Marvel cartoons.

Murdoch in Anaconda 3.

Prof. Maximilian Arturo on Sliders.

General Pushkin in The Living Daylights ( the only good James Bond movie starring Timothy Dalton)

3 episodes of Murder She Wrote (only the good ones)

Viscount Mabry in  The Princess Diaries 2

Mordecai in One Night With the King

Merick in In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

Why is Rhys-Davies such a nice man? Well, evidently he doesn’t say no to things. Notwithstanding, he is a very versatile and talented actor and a credit to the Welsh race.

And to the stranger at Borders, Thank you and may your twelve-sided die always roll serendipitously.

Bathe in the Rainbow that is my Awesomeness!

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