Jim Walpole, a 77-year-old man from Ohio, was visiting Toronto with his wife Marilyn when, as reported in the Toronto Sun, he just happened to stumble. He fell against scaffolding and in a freak happenstance his throat was cut by some sharp piece of the structure as he fell. Blood gushed from what should have been a lethal wound.

“Out of nowhere” a man who had been standing outside an adjacent building (apparently the King Edward Hotel) while smoking a cigarette rushed over and immediately pressed on Mr. Walpole’s neck at the precise location necessary to prevent him from bleeding to death. He was soon assisted by a couple of other bystanders. Paramedics arrived and Mr. Walpole looked up at the man who’d saved his life and asked, “What’s your name?” He reportedly said, “My name is John and you’re going to be alright.” Multiple reports now confirm that the man was none other than John Malkovich, the well-known actor, who is currently starring as Casanova in a stage-play titled “The Giacomo Variations” at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto.

There is as yet no word on whether he finished his cigarette. [Read more →]

From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

Hook, Line and Singer: A Singalong Book is a 288 page, hardcover tome being released imminently via Penguin. It’s a songbook which has been put together by Welsh singer and raconteur Cerys Matthews, of whom we’ve become big fans lately at the Cinch HQ. This isn’t a review, as I don’t have the book, but merely an honorable mention for something that looks charming. By all accounts, the book presents a wide collection of beloved songs in an easily playable and singable format, with the goal of encouraging folk—especially families with young children—to make their own music, turning off for a while the auto-tuned plastic product that assaults us all the time on the airwaves. It also includes background and commentary on the songs, alternate translations and the like.

But you can listen below via YouTube to Cerys Matthews talk about Hook, Line and Singer, and also about her literary hero (Dylan Thomas), her musical hero (Bob Dylan) and music in general. Also you can hear a snippet of one of the songs in the book, namely the gospel classic “Down by the Riverside.”

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From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

The funeral of country singer extraordinaire George Jones will be this coming Thursday at 10 a.m.; it will take place at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House (where else?) and the public will be permitted to attend.

My guess is that it will prompt a kind of outpouring rarely seen. There will an awful lot of ordinary people who will want to pay their respects to George Jones, people who felt like they knew him, and felt like they were somehow blessed and helped through some of the darker times in life by his way with a song.

It would be nice to think that George might be watching from a window up above.

Hey, that reminds me of a song. Indeed, “Window Up Above” is one of George Jones’ greatest hits, dating from about 1960. George has been known primarily as a vocalist, but this is one of his own songs, and a beautiful tune it is too, a song of broken love of the kind Jones sang so well, with a melody both lilting and mournful. [Read more →]

From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

“I wonder if you can …”

A new documentary film titled Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s is said to reveal many celebrity shopping “secrets,” culled from happenings over decades at the ultra-high-end fashion mecca known as Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. [Read more →]

From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

Just a couple of thoughts this morning as the breaking news from Boston continues to break with regard to the hunt for the April 15th marathon bombers:

The story of the pursuit of the two (who’ve been identified as Chechens, and Islamists by ideology, although apparently living in the U.S. since childhood) through the streets of Watertown sounds like something from a TV show like “24.” The most mind-boggling thing of all is that one of the terrorists succeeded in escaping, despite being pursued by every law enforcement resource that could be thrown at him. This happens on TV and in the movies all the time; you just don’t seriously expect it to happen in real life.

With the lock-down in Watertown, adjacent towns and cities (and indeed almost the entire Greater Boston area, the last time I heard) one can only imagine how anxious many people in the area feel. Women living alone, elderly people, parents with young children and indeed everybody. They’ve been told there is an armed terrorist killer on the loose, and advised not to leave their homes. Well, what do you do if he comes to your door or window? By the time you called the police and they arrived, you and your family could be dead as dead can be. Or, at the least, hostages. (And it is obviously highly likely that the fugitive is in someone’s home keeping any occupants as hostages right at this moment.) It does seem to yours truly that this is a time when the only possible source of any peace of mind would be the Second Amendment. But not too many people in those neighborhoods would be owners of firearms.

Here’s praying for a conclusion to this drama without further injury and loss of life, and also a prayer for those who have already been injured or who have lost loved ones. [Read more →]

From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

Three people dead, at this point, after the bombings in Boston yesterday, and over one hundred and seventy people injured, many seriously and with lost limbs. IEDs on the streets of an American city, targeting the most helpless in their moment of innocent joy.

Maybe you’re like me and you went to bed last night thinking: Well, there’s a lot of rumors and speculation flying around, but by morning things will have been pulled together and we’ll have a clear idea of what this was about. The big surprise today is that this is not the case. There is only a “person of interest,” a young Saudi, who’s apartment has been searched but apparently has not been arrested. We have become accustomed, in the wake of jihad attacks across the world, to know almost immediately who was responsible (at least in general terms) because the perpetrators very much want everyone to know who committed the carnage and why. So either this is the work of one or more jihadis who are for some reason not following the script, or it is the work of some monster or monsters with a different kind of motivation.

The thought that people capable of such despicable evil may still be at large and planning more such acts is no doubt giving the investigators a radical sense of urgency. And here’s to their quick success.

From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

The cardinals in Rome have selected Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina as the new pope—in case the news didn’t reach where you live—and based on the thumbnail sketch of who he is, it seems they have gone not with a safe choice, but with a hope for renewal. That said, he is 76 years-old, so his papacy is unlikely to last decades. In any case, one must wish him well, and the Catholic Church, and Catholics in general. Although I was raised Catholic, I now denominate myself differently; still, there are too many Catholics in the world not to wish that that Church should be led by an inspired and inspiring shepherd.

From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

A local sheriff in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, is seriously investigating the possibility that a 65-year-old man died as result of spontaneous human combustion. A neighbor saw smoke coming from the door to the man’s home. The body is said to have been not only burned but “incinerated,” while there was no damage to the house or furniture.

Well, I introduced my theory on this subject a few weeks ago. My paper is still awaiting peer review. The question is: Could this man’s life have been saved by a thirty dollar humidifier?

I know: it’s not quite fitting to joke about a man’s death. May he rest in peace, and may those who loved him be comforted. Yet, this kind of thing is so bizarre that one feels that there is maybe a little leeway for levity.

And then, there is also always the possibility that my theory is right, and I therefore have an obligation to promote it in the name of saving someone’s life.

Well, excuse me, I think that it’s getting time to go fill up that humidifier again.

From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

Just highlighting this especially knockout dog story, from the canine section. Click to read: Duke the dog, savior of a nine-week-old girl.

From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

The Nobel Peace Prize has long been degenerating into a vapidly-politicized joke, and this surely qualifies as the punchline: The European Union has been awarded the prize today.

Split between the populations of the various EU states, the roughly $1.2 million prize will amount to something that would probably require ha’penny coinage to distribute; ah, but the Euro does not feature such denominations.

So, a president wins the Nobel Peace Prize for the great achievement of merely winning the U.S. election. A wannabee super-state, administered in the least democratic fashion that the bureaucrats and political elites can get away with, wins the Nobel Peace Prize for merely existing.

All this, while the world teems with brave individuals opposing tyranny and repression, all essentially nameless and subject to being eliminated by the regimes they oppose. Many of them sure could use the positive attention brought by a Nobel Peace Prize. But then, there is so little time, and there are so many punchlines to deliver. [Read more →]

From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn