Jane's Guns

 

Jane Russell passed on this week. The Daily Mail has a very nice tribute to her.

In reality, there was nothing mean or moody about her. In private, she was caustic about her movie image and publicity, but accepted it with a good-natured shrug.

‘Publicity,’ she observed, ‘can be terrible. But only if you don’t have any.’

The irony was that her public image as a sassy sex symbol was belied in real life by Right-wing Christian beliefs and staunch affiliation to the Republican Party.

Here's what I think really made her a neat lady:

In 2006, at the age of 84, though suffering from macular degeneration of the eyes and with hearing aids in both ears, Russell put together a musical show, The Swinging Forties, which played twice a month at the Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria.

It featured herself and about a dozen of the town’s residents, including a choir director and a retired police officer.

Asked why she did it, Russell said: ‘Out of boredom, and because there was nothing much going on in town for the older folks to do.’

Apparently, she was nothing like her Hollywood persona, and she had a realistic view of her own humanity and genuinely cared about those around her.  No wonder she lived out her later years away from the Hollywood self-absorbed madness.

If you're really bored, keep reading. Here's what I think about...

Libya: We need to stay out of it

NFL labor talks: Millionaires arguing with billionaires. Don't care.

2012 GOP presidential field: Newt, Sarah, Mitt, Rick and Huck are yesterday's news. Time to move on

House GOP: I think they're doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. I'm encouraged, but I'm keepin' my eye on 'em.

Most interesting and entertaining talk show personality: Michael Savage

Obama's nativity story: I don't know. I'm an Occam's Razor guy, so I think the reason for all the secrecy surrounding his birth, school and other records is simply this: He hyped and leveraged his uniqueness to get ahead. Those records probably reveal he called himself a Muslim, African, Inonesian, illegal alien, black panther, anything that got him in the door and gave him special status.

Now, get off the computer and go enjoy the weekend!