A few months back, in October 2009, I went to Boston. Boston is my favourite American city, by far, and not just because my amazing friend Rachel and her super-awesome husband Mike live there. I mean, Rachel and Mike are a big part of my love for Boston, don’t get me wrong. But seriously, Boston is a hyper-fantastic city. There is so much to see and do and the T System is the best public transit I’ve ever experienced (Paris is a close second, let’s be honest). Personally, I like the Green Line the best because not only does it take me to Rachel and Mike’s gorgeous abode, but it also takes me to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Freedom Trail and other sweet-ass places. The other lines are nice too, but the Green Line is rock n’ roll.
Um, Right.
Rachel and Mike took me to their family beach house in Connecticut (gorgeous and stunning) where, courtesy of Rachel’s dad, a dinner out and a promised bottle of Ontario Ice Wine (I’ll get that to you someday, Bruce!), I became the proud owner of a 17″ MacBook Pro (upon which I write this! very! post!), and where Rachel took me to a bookstore. I love bookstores. Everyone who knows me, and specifically Rachel and my boyfriend, knows this and accepts me in spite of my frequent bookstore detours. This bookstore wasn’t your average Indigo or Chapters or Barnes & Noble. It was a second-hand joint with books in tool sheds and wagons and outhouses and there was also a cat. I bought about 239087 books for like, $10. That might be an exaggeration, but you get the picture. Rachel decided I needed to read Exodus by Leon Uris. First, it’s a literary classic, and I could get on board based on Rachel’s recommendation. Second, it taught me a lot about the establishment of Israel, which was interesting and useful knowledge for me. So I dove into it, and didn’t put the book down from start to finish. Excellent recommendation, Rachel!
Then, a miracle happened. I discovered that Exodus the book was made into Exodus the movie! Excitement! And guess who was the star! No, go on, guess!
If you guessed Paul Newman, you would be correct. Obviously, this necessitated investigation, as all stuff that just occurs to a person does. Paul Newman in 1960 was HOT. And by “hot”, I mean HAWT. I had only ever seen Paul Newman in silver screen classics like “Message in a Bottle”, which is not really a silver screen classic, but, Paul Newman. My mother loves Paul Newman. Stupidly, I’ve never seen “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid”. I’ve also never seen, inexplicably, “Rachel, Rachel” (considering my love for a) Rachel and b) Margaret Laurence, I can’t explain this omission).
Paul Newman oozed the HAWTNESS right up til the day His-Holy-God-Given-Hawtness died. I mean, if he was hawt in his 80s, he had to be positively SMOKING in his 30s and 40s. Herewith, 1960’s Paul Newman:
Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. Now, to be honest, the movie “Exodus” was a little too different from the book for my taste, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. It was still awesome. If you have 3 hours and want to watch not only an interesting flick, but also oogle (fun word!) Paul Newman in all his beautiful, prime hotness, I say make for your favourite streaming site (this one is excellent for this movie) and have a ball.
Paul Newman did lots of stuff other than movies. Wikipedia tells me he also made some good salad dressing and bar-be-que sauces, all for an excellent cause, as well as racing cars pretty well. I think that racing cars might’ve been a bit of a dangerous sport for a guy as hawt as the Newman, but whatever, I’m not the Newman police. Also, he was married to the same woman for 50 years, and that’s awesome. He coined the phrase “why go out for hamburger when you’ve got steak at home”. THAT I can get behind.
Oh, and he got more foxy as he went silver:
❤ you, Paul Newman!
Thinking Thoughts: Stuff That Just Occurs. 