Category: You Ran Over What?

My friend Jan Norris called this morning to tell me that Paul Newman had died. “One of his most famous scenes was his bike ride in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” she reminded me.

And, indeed, it was. You can see it here. Maybe I didn’t remember the bike part as much in those days because I was concentrating on Katherine Ross.

Paul Newman did his own bicycle stunts, after his stunt man was unable to stay on the bike according to a trivia site.

The 1969 movie was the highest-grossing Western in motion picture history, claims this excellent bio on Newman.

I shot Newman at Ohio University

When I was photo editor of The Ohio University Post in Athens, Ohio, circa 1967, Paul Newman paid a visit to the campus for some reason or another.

He was mobbed. I mean rock-star mobbed. I remember taking one high-angle shot of him completely surrounded by students. When we had a chance to interview him, he seemed to be a nice guy, graciously putting up with the same questions he’d probably been asked hundreds of times before. (If I can recall which cardboard box the clips from that era are in, I’ll post some shots from the day.)

Depending on whether you believe the story or not, he briefly attended Ohio University at Athens, but was expelled for (allegedly) crashing a keg of beer into the president’s car. I like to think it was true.

He also was supposed to have roomed in Scott Quadrangle, my dorm, but he couldn’t remember which room when I asked him.

He came to Lake Worth in 1984 to film Harry and Son

I can remember showing up on the Harry & Son set, not to take pictures, but to ask the movie crew if they could switch to a different two-way radio frequency because it was interfering with The Palm Beach Post’s radio system.

Newspapers and movie crews were both assigned a group of frequencies in the 173 MHz range. Movie companies would frequently rent their radios from a Ft. Lauderdale company and pick a channel at random. In this case, they grabbed 173.275, which we used.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

The closing lines to B.J. Thomas’ version of the song in this clip are a bit syrupy, but they ain’t a bad epitaph:

But there’s one thing I know
The blues he sends to meet me won’t defeat me
It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep falling on my head

But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red
Crying’s not for me
Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complainin’
Because I’m free
Nothing’s worrying me.

According to VeloNews, Lance Armstrong will be back next year with the Astana team. Their anonymous source says he will compete in these events…

• Amgen Tour of California
• Paris-Nice
• Tour de Georgie
• Dauphine-Libre
• Tour de France

I can’t say that I’m surprised that he is racing again. I always figured he’d do some smaller races. What really has me shocked is that he would consider doing the Tour de France again. That seems like a no-win situation for him. Unless, of course, he wins.

Thoughts? Is he really back?

—Matt

I have a bad feeling about Ike.

Like my kid, Matt, said. “The projected track is right down my driveway.”

There’s still time for it to turn, but we’re right in the center of the cone when it’s in the Bahamas on Tuesday. To make things worse, we were planning on heading to Memphis on Wednesday to ride in the MS-150 there. We might still make it, but my focus is on Ike right now.

This will be the first hurricane in recent history that we haven’t ridden out on The Palm Beach Post’s 4th floor, where I was telecommunications manager. I retired a week too early. The Post was a great place to watch the storms. We had a huge generator capable of powering the whole facility and banks of 120-mph-rated windows overlooking the whole city.

Watching transformers blow up

Watching the transformers blowing up with a bright green flash and a shower of sparks must be like overlooking downtown Bagdad during a bombing run.

Before I got into telecom, I was a photographer who chased 13 hurricanes ranging the whole coast from Mexico through all the Gulf states and as far north as Atlantic City, N.J.. Unfortunately, in those pre-Weather Channel days, I had a reputation for never guessing the right place to go for landfall. I chased Hurricane Elena 2,500 miles from Mobile to Tampa and then back to Mississippi while it tried to make up its mind. Continue reading “Storm Advice: Hide From Wind, Run From Water”

While we prefer the high-tech approach to bicycle touring, others still prefer to take off for parts unknown with just a compass, map and a wool cycling jersey.

For those who insist on cycling without a GPS (and 11 pounds of batteries), we have great new research to report: cows point north.

Researchers scoured Google Earth for images of cows standing around being cows. After looking at 8,510 cattle in 308 pastures around the world, they concluded that cows do indeed tend to align themselves north/south. Big-brained scientists say it is because of the the Earth’s magnetic field and that deer display the same tendencies.

Boy Scout Handbook

When I was a Boy Scout, we learned all about moss growing on the north side of trees but science hadn’t progressed far enough to know about cows. This could save lives!

Unless, of course, you live in South Florida. We aren’t known for having a preponderance of cows or a lot of moss.

How to Find Your Way in Florida

If you bike far enough in any direction, you’ll come across water and clues as to where you are.

• South: If you hit water and find Cubans or Hatians crawling onto the beach, you have found South.
• East: If you hit water after having evaded a rent-a-cop security guard and are standing in the shade of a 20-story condominium, you have found East.
• West: If you hit water, find no one under the age of 70 and there is no nightlife but plenty of early-bird dinners, you’re on West’s doorstep.
• North: If you never hit water, you went North.

—Matt