My old-man crush :)

Gosh this is even slightly embarrassing to admit, but I shouldn't be embarrassed. No, I think a lot of women out there would agree with me.

Yeah, 60 year old women.

So I've been catching more and more episodes lately of The Rockford Files: the main actor being none other than James Garner.

The other day I watched an ep where James' character, Jim Rockford, falls for a woman who he later finds out is blind. He still pursues her, and helps her in finding out who her stalker is. All this happens over a two-part episode, filled with lots of action, suspense and romance of course.

I think this is the first time I'd seen Jim Rockford in a romantic relationship on the show. Funnily enough, because of my work, I'd seen a movie James Garner starred in just last week, where he acts alongside Sally Field in 'Murphy's Romance.' Here he plays an older man to Sally Field's character, perhaps 20 years her senior, where they end up falling in love, after she goes through a failed marriage, and he is left widowed.

When I was watching the movie, I found myself oddly drawn to the romance between the two. I was curious about the age difference, and via IMDB (the most fabulous site of all), discovered he was about 20 years older than her when the movie was filmed. Not only was I drawn to their romance, I felt an odd urge towards Garner. Yes he was almost 60 at the time of the movie. However, in his warm and comforting, supportive, caring and nurturing older man role, I found myself liking him, more and more. It was so weird and unexpected, that due to his age, I didn't know how to justify my feelings.
I also discovered via greatest movie site of all, that he was now 82, and that during the time of The Rockford Files, he was in his late-40s.

So the other day, watching the ep where Jim was head over heels for this blind woman, something about seeing him in a romantic relationship made me curious. Again. I can't really explain how it was, only that I came to thinking 'hey, I REALLY like this show.' I soon after spoke to a work colleague about it, and she cheekily admitted that growing up, she had had a crush on Jim Rockford, as played by James.

That's when my lightbulb went on, and in the faint background the angels were humming 'ahhhhhh.' I realised, I TOO had a slight crush on him! I just hadn't noticed it, or certainly expected it, because he was so much older now, and the show was filmed 30-ish years ago! And even then he was too old for me!

I started thinking: what was it? He was tall, dark, and handsome: the embodiment of the perfect 'IT' man. He definitely would have been even more attractive in his younger years. His cheeky personality in the show, coupled with strong determination, ability to get through most sticky situations, and witty sarcasm, made him interestingly appealing. There was just something there. Even his humble, somewhat goofy-at-times persona, made him more down-to-earth, more personable. It made me like the MAN, behind the CHARACTER, even MORE.

My sudden fascination with James Garner reminded me of similar screen affairs: that with James Dean and Paul Newman. I've been a fan of Dean's for years now, and I can never quite get over the incredible power he held, and still holds today, over movie-lovers and fellow screen actors; and he only ever made three films. REMARKABLE. I guess that with the fact that he died young, makes it easy to love the image, as we never did see him grow old.

With Paul Newman it was quite a different story: I watched a documentary of his life back when he was still alive, and fell in love with his back story. I was dumbfounded by how stunning he was in the peak of his youth, and even made the proclamation that he was better looking than James Dean; that's a huge statement from me, considering my extreme appreciation of Dean. There is a photograph I came upon of Newman and Dean, standing side-by-side, a screen shot for a movie that didn't eventuate with the two of them, and it is a photo that I really want to find, enlarge and frame. Two of the finest actors, looking ever so fine.

Although I haven't watched many of Newman's flicks, I was drawn in to him by his background, his movie choices and his life, finding him so inspiring to learn about. I was saddened to hear of his death when it happened, and pondered that despite his older age he was still taken too soon. Like Garner, having seen Newman in his old age, it was weird to be so attracted to him as his younger self, however when you see something good, you appreciate it and are drawn to it. You respect it, and where it came from.

So with all this going around in my head, I decided to search for some images of Garner, to see how he looked like in his hey-day. It was driving me slightly crazy, having this sudden obsession with him and not knowing why. I mean, I DID know why: all the before-mentioned characteristics of handsome, goofy, relatable, blah blah blah. But I'd never really been one for OLDER men if you know what I mean, and this guy was WAAAYYY older.

As I had read from Garner's IMDB page that he was friends with Newman, I decided to look for a photo of the 2 of them together. I typed "Paul Newman and James Garner," in google and clicked search images.
I had searches come up, but none of the images seemed to contain the two in a photo together. I scanned through the images and stopped at one rather quickly.
It contained a photo of James Garner, side by side with a photo of..... David Boreanaz.

Sigh.

My love affair with Angel. As you can tell, my desire for him began with his role in Buffy, as Angel, and continued well into the show of the same name. And continues, as I believe that he is the best-looking man on tv, EVER (until I watched the series October Road, and my unfaltering dedication wavered slightly due to Bryan Greenberg).

So, to then come across a photo where they have placed David's face next to James', well let's just say it got my attention.

The link took me to a blog, that explained that a newspaper article had compared the incredible similarities between the stars of yester-year, against the screen stars of today. The intention was to suggest that we get the same sort of look in each generation.

Check it out here:

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://stokedasagoat.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/garner_boreanaz.jpg%3Fw%3D500%26h%3D375&imgrefurl=http://stokedasagoat.wordpress.com/&usg=__WC7zlhxZ4TWutYSJtGJEP4e7jrE=&h=375&w=500&sz=90&hl=en&start=10&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=acnqvDwu0q5s9M:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpaul%2Bnewman%2Band%2Bjames%2Bgarner%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1

It showed the similarities between Brad Pitt and Robert Redford, George Clooney as the new Cary Grant, and lo and behold................

David Boreanaz as an almost splitting image of James Garner.

I get it now! I get it! I get WHY I had this unexplainable pull, this urge and curiosity towards Garner, all the while knowing full well how much older he was...... because he looks like Boreanaz!

Or rather, Boreanaz looks like Garner:) Yes, you gotta pay tribute to the original, and appreciate where all good things began....

Thanks Garner. You're awesome. And yes hot, there I said it.

Side note: this specific link came up because also, at the end of the article, Matthew McConaughey was named as the new.... Paul Newman. Eh. Really? You decide for yourself.

Oh F^%#.

I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


spewing at the late, late, late discovery I fell upon late, late, late last night.



During another one of my work marathon's, in which I was to work practically an overnight shift, I found myself here at work last night, on a Saturday night, right before midnight, aimlessly surfing the web and looking for interesting blogs to read before I was to start my main work shift on a rugby program that was arriving late.

As I was searching, I thought I would do a spontaneous search on Angel, as in Buffy/Angel, of which there are few greater shows than. :) I plan to someday soon create a blog devoted entirely to Angel, one of my all-time fave shows, so I was just curious to see what there was out there already on the topic.

I came upon Joss Whedon's blog, aptly titled Whedonesque. I was intrigued, but still quite casual about it all, randomly scrolling up and down the page, reading the news displayed on the home page.

The first point at which I saw something interesting was reading the news that Jane Espenson, Buffy/Angel writer among other shows, was coming to Melbourne for a forum, where certain industry specialists would speak to screenwriters, directors, etc, about connecting with the audience. I had to read over this bit a few times to really comprehend what was going on, mainly because

A) it was late

B) the date on the news post said "August 27" and so I thought perhaps the forum had already passed. But luckily for me, it's coming up.

C) I also kept looking at a nearby post about it being J. August Richards birthday (on the 28th)

Happy Birthday J.!

D) I was slightly stunned by the fact that I should come across this post, and have it be so relevant to me, living in Melbourne, but also however having recently decided that I wanted to get into my writing again.

So whilst slightly still stunned from this information, and in the background of my mind working out how I would make it to the forum in amongst work, still scrolling half-absentmindedly through the page, my eyes fell upon something else on the page.

I think I read it a few times, before it actually sunk in. Still confused and surprised at my sheer luck in finding that an Angel/Buffy writer was going to be speaking at an upcoming event in Melbourne, I don't think my eyes fully grasped or could understand the further luck/extreme disappointment, at what I was reading next.

Under August 27, (and I was reading this the day after)

"Tonight in Melbourne - An Evening with Joss Whedon."

What?!

Again.

"Tonight in Melbourne - An Evening with Joss Whedon."

Sorry, where?

"Tonight in Melbourne - An Evening with Joss Whedon."

WHEN???

"Tonight in Melbourne - An Evening with Joss Whedon."

Look at the date. August 28. Look at the posted date. August 27.

F^%#!

Where again?

I read a bit more into it, and found that it was held at the Melbourne Town Hall. As I read comments left by those who had had the fortunate luck of knowing about the event and had attended, my disbelief at the whole thing grew, as did my utter sadness and disappointment at knowing I had missed out, due to my complete obliviousness.

From comments left on the site, it seems he had spoken about Buffy and Angel, hinted at future things (?), spoken about his writing, perhaps writing a book (although I think that was done in jest) and in true Joss style, made a lot of Joss-esque comments. I was sooooooooooo in a state of EVERYTHING.

A quarter disbelief, a quarter sadness, a quarter intrigue, a quarter excitement and a quarter frustration. Yes I know that's not a whole, but I'm not normally a whole person either.

That's what my feelings were composed of in that moment.

AHHHHHH!

Why hadn't I known about it? The genius, my all-time inspiration, my tv icon..... Joss! Why hadn't I known?

Well, I know why I hadn't known. Despite Angel being one of my all-time favourite shows, since the show ended I hadn't been overly in the loop with all things Angel. Right after it ended, there was lots of talk about other Angel/Buffy related projects starting up, however, nothing ever eventuated (in a 'screen' sense, that is). Very doubtful I was about all this, and since I'd been busy doing other things all these years, like getting a job, making some sort of career for myself and getting married, I'd sort of put my previous loves, like Angel, and writing, on the backburner. And in turn just sort of, forgot, to put it back on the frontburner. It's only now that I've gotten the bug back, that I've even remembered all those things that used to inspire me so.

Like Joss.

Ugh! I missed it! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO spewing!

And it was run by Sue Turnbull, who funnily enough is a media writer who taught me in a few subjects at uni. No surprise she mediated it, as she is a MASSIVE Buffy fan.

I just can't believe that when I've started to think about writing professionally again, I should miss an opportunity like this. I don't know whether to take it as a sign, that hey, don't go down that path (because I freakin' missed it!) or hey, "remember that guy Joss you used to idolise, well he's still around, and you should take some inspiration from him."

Imagine discovering that the man who you look up to so much in your main line of interest, was in your home town, and you missed seeing him BY A DAY.

And you just rediscovered your main love.

And you were bloody working when people were enjoying the company of Joss.

AHHHH!

My disbelief at the profound series of events that have occurred recently, just keeps growing and growing.

Must finish in a Joss quote.

During the event, he was asked 'how does it feel like to be God?'



Joss Whedon (God): “Well, when I made the mountains, I thought “they’re good”, but... I don’t believe in me, which is actually awkward.”



F^&#ing legend.



(Information taken from http://whedonesque.com/comments/24712)

Obnoxiously CHOMPing Chips

Yes, the above is TRULY possible.




Yesterday I had to take the train home from work, and although I thought I may have been running a little late in getting to the train station on time, I actually made it there closely approaching the 5:45pm arrival of my train.

And lo and behold, as I walked down the stairs to the platform, I saw the monitor, displaying a totally different train arriving, rather than my train.

I looked at my watch, and saw it was 5:45 on the D-O-T.

Not happy Jan.

So the train had arrived and left earlier than scheduled? That's not fair, that's like cheating! You can't have a train arrive and leave earlier than scheduled. Commuters plan their whole days around public transport, and if they miss their transport because it's left earlier, well..... GRRRR! NOT FAIR!

Yes they may leave late. That's allowed in public transport land. Just not too late. At least a late train means that commuters won't be in any danger of missing their travel appointments.

All this, plus extreme anger and frustration was what I was feeling, as I made my way to my regular spot along the platform to wait, for the next train, in 16 MINUTES.

And then 2 obnoxious nobs came along, chomping chips.

The first sign of their extreme obnoxiousness was the way they were eating their potato chips. I didn't turn to look at them, but from where they were beside me, I could hear the crunching, LOUD.

Then, Nob number 1 opened his mouth, and confirmed it all for me.

"There's so many people around, it's like a herd of cattle."

CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP.

"Notice how everyone is like, in black?"

CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP.

Only silence from his friend, as his friend was too busy CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP-ing too.

Wow Einstein. You have made the most extraordinary of observations. Yes Genius, there ARE a lot of people, maybe because it is peak hour, and it seems a train has left too early, leaving out hundreds of commuters who were counting on it to arrive on time!

And we're in black, because we have black coats, because it's winter, it's generally common, and it's freakin' depressing!

I don't know WHY I felt the need to explain myself to him in my head, but his random observations (!) were so madly pointless, that it infuriated me to the core. I almost expected him to pipe up next with "gee, look at all the train tracks, must be for some trains."

Duh. Stupid bogan.

And the CHOMP-ing. It was so annoying. Every CHOMP wound me up tighter and threw me more and more into a state of agony. I was sure they were eating, sorry, CHOMPING, with their mouths open, that's how loud it was. If I had turned my head to look at them, I'm sure I would have seen specks of chips flying out of their mouths, like cannons out of a rocket.

CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP. Like they didn't care about the late trains. Or the rain outside. Or the fact that their disgusting open-mouthed CHOMPing was rude, disrespectful and....obnoxious.

I was sooooo going to walk to another part of the platform to escape their annoying-ness, when they miraculously moved away.

Thank you.

Oh yeah, it turned out my 5:45 train hadn't arrived AT ALL, due to some technical fault. In other words, the train system is SHIT.

In the words of the Buffy/Angel-verse: Grrrrr, Argh.