You know, Ed, I did think about the Mailer-Torn brawl and I'm not done with that yet. When you think about it though how many guys could say they survived getting bashed in the head with a hammer by Rip Torn?

One time I met this guy in New York that said he knew Mailer and curious, I tried to have a conversation about Mailer with him. He basically gave me two sentences about what he thought of the guy and it was not good. We talked about other stuff after that. I don't think Mr. Mailer was well liked but he was a hell of a writer. Mailer is not one of my favorites but I am always drawn to his books. I feel like I always learn something about writing anytime I read Mailer even if I'm not crazy about the book. The last thing I read by him was The Gospel According to the Son which I started reading in the book store and then could not leave without it. I still have not read The Castle in the Forest and even though it gets fairly poor reviews, I still have it on my list. I'd love to know if anybody here has read it and what they thought.

A few others we've lost recently that I don't think anybody has mentioned here:

Ingmar Bergman - Don't know if anybody mentioned his passing here. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000005/

Michelangelo Antonioni - Odd that he and Bergman died on the same day. His film Blow-up is what led to a huge shift in filmmaking in the 70s. Well, I think so anyway. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000774/

Bobby "Boris" Pickett - Yeah, the Monster Mash guy...why am I mentioning this guy...my parents met on a double date, the other guy was Bobby Pickett. My mom thought Pickett seemed like a goof and that my dad was cuter. So, the two girls decided to switch guys during the date (my mom having originally been set-up with Pickett). The other girl thought Pickett was dreamy because he was a singer so she had no issue with the swap. At the end of the date my mom told my dad that she thought he was an asshole...or words to that effect. They have now been married 42 years and my mom regularly tells my dad he's an asshole...I guess if it's not broke don't fix it. Odd to think that I may exist in part because of this guy...thanks Bobby...