Two Women, Chapter 1

 Her name was Monica.  She was beautiful.  But of course, Monica was Brazilian.

Ted met her when he was in Chapel Hill on business and had a dental emergency (painful toothache).  A local colleague recommended her.  

Monica was his first female dentist, but apparently they're common in Brazil.  On the other hand, she got her training locally at the UNC Adams School of Dentistry.

When Ted sat in the dentist's chair, he couldn't believe his good fortune.  His eyes were glued to the gorgeous face only inches away.  She smelled fantastic and her voice...speaking English with a Brazilian accent.  He stopped thinking about his toothache.  

Monica did a great job filling a nasty cavity.  Ted wished it had taken longer so he could continue being so close to her, but all good things must end.  Or do they?  He noted no ring on her left hand.

Two months later, Ted returned to Chapel Hill.  Business again.  He called her office and asked for Monica.  They put him on hold for five minutes.

When Monica came on, Ted asked her to dinner.  She said she didn't date patients.  He told her she would never again be his dentist.  Never.  No matter what.

So Monica and Ted had dinner that night at the Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill, adjacent to University Mall.  They split a center cut piece of filet mignon, a bottle of merlot and a slice of chocolate cake.  

They talked long after the food and beverages were taken away.  The restaurant staff left them alone.  

Later, Monica left Ted alone in the parking lot, driving away in her Volvo, but they parted company with two kisses (beijos), one on each cheek.  Ted had to see her again.       

VIP

I have been in an airport VIP lounge only once in my life.  That was in the third quarter of 1967 at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.  I was dating my ex-wife Bonnie Sobol at the time and we, along with one or two other couples, were seeing off  newlywed friends going on their honeymoon.

The lounge was large, but not very crowded.  It was loosely divided into many sections with comfortable furniture for VIPs to relax in, far superior to the waiting areas near the gates.

The young groom had access to the VIP lounge through his employer.  The six or eight of us found some chairs and gathered around in a circle to talk and partake of some free refreshments.  

As I didn't know any of this bunch (other than Bonnie) very well, I was pretty quiet.  As such, my eyes began to wander.  Then I noticed straight ahead of me, sitting alone on a couch, intently watching television (exactly what, I couldn't see) was the Academy Award winning actor Ernest Borgnine.

I immediately thought of Fatso Judson (From Here to Eternity), Donnegan (Vera Cruz), Coley Trimble (Bad Day at Black Rock) and especially Marty Piletti (Marty).  But, on that day he was just Ernest Borgnine, watching TV like a regular person.

I just froze, did nothing.  I should have taken advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to talk to him, even if briefly.  Instead, I was overcome with fear.  He wouldn't want to talk to me.  He was busy.  He would bite my head off for disturbing him.  So, I just stayed where I was.  And eventually we left the VIP lounge.  My opportunity gone.

Years later I read Ernest Borgnine's autobiography.  And I saw him being himself in videos on YouTube.  He was the opposite of what I had imagined back in '67.

Ernest Borgnine was a kind, unassuming man who enjoyed interacting with the public.  In a 1995 video, after entering a restaurant while on a road trip with his son, he freely signed autographs for all the waitresses.  Borgnine then shook hands with multiple patrons before finally siting down at a table to eat.  In his last interview, when asked about life lessons, he said, "Be nice to people."  

Any potential opportunity for me to interact with Ernest Borgnine ended forever when he died at ninety-five years of age on July 8, 2012 (forty-five years after we were "together" at the VIP lounge).  Life Lesson: All opportunities should be taken advantage of.    

Popeye

"Popeye the sailor is a fictional American cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.  The character first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929 (92 years ago)."  

At that time, Segar, thirty-four years old, was an experienced American cartoonist.  Sadly, he died of leukemia nine years later.

Growing up, I adored watching many, many, many Popeye cartoons on television.  They usually followed a similar pattern.

Popeye gets into some difficulty, usually at the hands of his nemesis, Bluto.  Eating a can of spinach restores his power and energy.  Popeye then wins the day, very often in a brutal fist fight with Bluto. 

Popeye's girlfriend, Olive Oyl, a very skinny creature, was another familiar character in Popeye cartoons.  In the dubbed Portuguese language version her name was Olivia Palito (meaning a thin stick).  

Ironically, Olivia Palito was my wife Cristina's nickname as a child (because she was skinny).  Interesting that with such a nickname she grew up to marry a man who admired Popeye.

The reason I admired Popeye was not so much his fighting skills, but his personal philosophy.  He used to say, "I am what I am and that's all what I am."  In the movie Truth, the Mary Mapes character (Cate Blanchett) quoted Popeye (on why she wanted to continue as a journalist after being fired by CBS News).    

It seems a simple statement, but I think it is very deep.  It's like when my mother quoted William Shakespeare (Hamlet): "to thine own self be true, thou canst not then be false to any man."  Popeye and Shakespeare!      

G.I. Bill

On January 10, 1944 (77 years ago), the United States Congress passed the Serviceman's Readjustment Act (know as the G.I. Bill).  President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed it into law on June 22, 1944.   The term G.I. refers to "government issue" which American soldiers began to refer to themselves as.

The new law provided a wide range of benefits to military veterans returning to civilian life.  Included in such benefits were stipends covering tuition and living expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools. 

Charles Bronson (Death Wish) enlisted in the United States Army Air Force in 1943 and served as an aircraft gunner.  After the war, he used the G.I. Bill to take acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Paul Newman (The Sting) served in the United States Navy during WWII as a turret gunner.  Afterwards, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill and studied acting at Kenyon College, the Yale School of Drama and the Actors Studio.    

George C. Scott (Patton) enlisted in the United States Marines in 1945, serving in the honor guard at Arlington National Cemetery.  He studied journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia under the G.I. Bill.

Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou) enlisted in the Marine Corp. in 1942 and fought in the Pacific theater during the war.  He used the G.I. Bill to study acting at the American Theater Wing in New York City.

Ernest Borgnine (Marty) served in the US Navy during WWII patrolling the Atlantic Ocean looking for enemy submarines.  Under the G.I. Bill, he studied acting at the Randall School of Dramatic Art in Hartford, CT.

Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night) served with the Navy in the South Pacific during WWII.  With the G.I. Bill, he studied acting at the Civil Service Little Theater Group.

Steve McQueen (Bullitt) served in the Marines from 1947 to 1950.  After his discharge, he studied acting under the G.I. Bill at Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse. 

A good use of tax dollars!  

Chinatown

 Chinatown is a 1974 mystery film written by Robert Towne, directed by Roman Polanski and which starred Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston and Joe Mantell.  

Chinatown was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture (won by The Godfather, Part II), Best Director (won by Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather, Part II), Best Actor (Nicholson, won by Art Carney for Harry and Tonto) and Best Actress (Dunaway, won by Ellen Burstyn for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore).   Towne won the film's only Academy Award: for Best Original Screenplay.

In the film Chinatown, a woman in 1937 Los Angeles hires private investigator Jake Gittes (Nicholson) to follow her husband, the chief engineer for the local Water and Power, fearing he's having an affair.  Gittes takes photos of him with a young woman which appear in the next day's newspapers.

Turns out the woman who hired Gittes was an imposter.  The chief engineer's wife, Evelyn (Dunaway), threatens Gittes with a lawsuit.  

Gittes:  You don't have to get tough with me.

Evelyn:  I don't get tough with anyone, Mr. Gittes...my lawyer does.

Later, the chief engineer dies under mysterious circumstances.  Evelyn hires Gittes to investigate what happened to her husband.  He learns that Evelyn's father (Huston), a wealthy and dangerous man, was once a business partner of her husband's.  

Gittes and Evelyn enter into a sexual relationship.  Later, he follows her to a house where he sees Evelyn with the young woman Evelyn's husband was seen with at the beginning of the film.  Gittes demands answers.  

Evelyn: She's my daughter.  

Gittes (slapping her):  I said I want the truth.  

Evelyn:  She's my sister.  She's my daughter.  She's my sister and my daughter.

The police discover the chief engineer was murdered and believe Evelyn the murderer.  Gittes knows it was not her, but her father and tries to protect her from both her father and the police.

In the end, in the Chinatown section of LA, Evelyn attempts to escape with her sister/daughter, but the police kill her.  Gittes is angered, but one of his associates (Mantell) gives the finale a classic line:

Forget it, Jake.  It's Chinatown.

Nineteen years earlier, Mantell (Ang) delivered other memorable lines with Ernest Borgnine (Marty) in the film, Marty:

Ang:  What do you feel like doin' tonight?

Marty:  I don't know, Ang, what do you feel like doin'?