Random Saturday Musings

Abu Muqawama was reading The Times of London yesterday and came across this amusing observation from Eddie Izzard on one of Abu Muqawama's favorite films, The Great Escape:

“All the British actors are escaping in the national costume of Switzerland, or wherever. But Steve McQueen's in chinos and a T-shirt. He's escaping into the Alps in the disguise of an American man.”

So true! Man, that had Abu Muqawama laughing. Every other character in the film has some special disguise. Not McQueen. But doesn't that just perfectly sum up McQueen's character in the movie? His absolute and glorious contempt for his German captors? And honestly, has there ever been a cooler character in movie history than the Cooler King? Watch him from the 8:00 mark of this clip:

One more random observation/life lesson for this blog's readership. Yesterday afternoon, Abu Muqawama saw an attractive young couple -- holding hands and cooing into each other's ears -- walking down the street. As fate would have it, they turned into the very same building into which Abu Muqawama was walking. Now, this building has a revolving door in the entrance, and Abu Muqawama sat back to see how this young man was going to negotiate this. Here's what he ended up doing: Trying his very best to be polite, he ended up pushing his girlfriend in ahead of him and then turning the door with his left hand. Oh, it was so awkward. The look on this girl's face as her boyfriend shoved her through the door was so painful. Abu Muqawama watched in horror -- with an internal monologue running through his mind akin to the narrator's in those great Errol Morris commercials for Miller High Life. Gentlemen: there is one time in which it is always appropriate for you to enter a door before your lady, and that's when the door is revolving. You go through the door first and you push the door for your ladyfriend. Got it? ... Men, just how far are we willing to fall?