The man (along with Sean Connery) who made gray cool

I just read the Most Interesting Story In The World about The Most Interesting Man In The World.  You know who I'm talking about, right?  

He's that worldly Latin guy on the Dos Equis commercials who has parallel parked a train, whose mother has a tattoo that says "Son", who once had an awkward moment just to see how it felt.  I've gotta admit, I'd love to hang with him for a while and take notes.

The article I read in Cigar and Spirits magazine shed new light on the man that we all thought we knew.  Things like he's not the sensual Latin man's man he makes out to be, but a 75 year old Jewish actor named Jonathan Goldsmith from the Bronx.  And he's spent over half a century being a bit Hollywood actor.  (Do you recognize him from Star Wars and Gunsmoke?)

SEVENTY FIVE?  He must have one helluva makeup lady.  How do I know it's a "lady"?  'Cause he's The Most Interesting Man In The World.  :)
 
So what's with that accent, you ask?  Great story:  Over the course of his acting career he became good friends with one Fernando Lamas, who might himself have been The Most Interesting Man In The World if he'd auditioned, and hadn't had that unfortunate death thing in 2011.  Fernando and Jonathan ran in the same circle and it was imitating Lamas' accent that helped seal the Does Equis commercial for him.

Goldsmith's wife, also his manager, arranged for his Dos Equis audition where he was one of 400.  He made that cut and was invited back for a second audition as one of 200 or so, then was one of the final three.  Turns out they originally passed on him saying they wanted someone younger.

That's when his wife/manager went to bat for him telling the beer guys that The Most Interesting Man In The World HAD to be an older guy.  How could a younger man have had all the life experiences necessary to be The Most Interesting Man In The World?

I agree.  Getting older does have some drawbacks, but I'll accept them any day in exchange for all the things I've experienced in my life....the things I've done and seen, the people I've met, the places I've been.  But I digress.

Turns out 'ol Jonathan really is a Most Interesting Guy.  For example, he traded his house for a boat and sailed the Caribbean for a while, then later lived on a boat near Los Angeles.

"I live in shorts and deck shoes," he says. "I'm basically very simple. I don't need much. There's very little room on the boat for a wardrobe, and our whole room is smaller than most people's walk-in closets. That's the beauty of living on a boat. You prioritize. You practice triage on those things in your life, what is significant, what has emotional attachment."

Amen, Brother TMIMITW!

Knowing all this, I'd like to hang with him now more than ever.  

Stay thirsty my friends.  :)

S

I'm scared to know where this is going

"When I'm good, I'm very good.  When I'm bad, I'm better." ~~Mae West

Every Friday night K and I have our date night out.  It's always dinner and then maybe a bookstore visit or shopping this weeks Big Sale before the crush on Saturday, etc.   The funniest thing is, we live in the heart of restaurant country, there are literally 100+ places to eat within a couple of miles of home, yet we have trouble picking one.  

Every cuisine you can imagine is somewhere in the vicinity, but somehow we have a hard time picking a place we can both agree on.  One thing that is always high on my list but is always poo-pooed by K is barbecue.  I love a plain 'ol simple barbecue joint.  She says she always comes out smelling like wood smoke.

I have no idea why she thinks that.  I tell her it's all in her head, but she's adamant....NO BARBECUE!  If I want barbecue I have to go there by myself when she's over visiting her mama or working a little late. 

Last night she came home from work and I asked her, "What sounds good for dinner tonight?"  I'm expecting a half hour of, "How about Romano's?"  

"No."  

"OK then, how about Anamias?"  

"No.  Maybe Jasons?"

Instead, the first words out of her mouth were, "How about barbecue?"

OMG....OMG!  What has she done?  Did she wreck the car?  Did she run up a gazillion dollar charge on her credit card buying books on Amazon?  (She already has a dozen or more unread ones waiting in line.)  I know....she's wanting to drag me to some Star Wars convention?

  

Then she said, "And Saturday evening the Northampton Saints (my favorite rugby team) are playing [some French team] in a Heineken Cup match and it's gonna be on TV!"

Oh Dear God....this is worse than I thought.  WHAT IS SHE UP TO?

So far we've had some great barbecue and I bought a new Car magazine at the bookstore last night.  That's it.  She hasn't tipped her hand yet. 

I'm scared.  

Stay tuned.

S

Please, say it ain't so!

Did any of you watch the Westminster Kennel Club dog show last night?  It was the final evening of judging and when the big reveal finally came this was declared the grandest dog in all the land:

Really?  Really??  I know, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and all that, but Jeez, that thing....it's technically a Pekingese....looks like a prop from a Star Wars movie.  Or maybe something from a Saturday Night Live skit:

Anyone remember Gilda Radner as "Roseanne Roseannadana"?  I think all that hair (on the dog) is to cover the wind-up key.  And to think they passed over some beautiful dogs like a Dalmatian, a Doberman Pinscher, and a regal looking Irish Setter that was my personal favorite.  The sole judge was a lady from Colorado.  I'm guessing she lives on a 14,000 ft high mountain, without oxygen.  Sorta makes K's Yorkie look rugged and manly, don'tcha think?

S