The Candy Man
Posted by Afrojew2 | | Posted On Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 7:04 AM
Posting from Union Station, Chicago, IL on a 6 hour layover between trains.
I'd like to dedicate the second post of my blog to the great John Candy. You might remember him from such films as "Spaceballs" and "Canadian Bacon", and such popular television series as Saturday Night Live (back in the day when it was actually good). You might also remember him from the two movies which inspired the title of my blog: "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles", and "Wagons East." Just as Candy affected my young life by helping to shape my sense of humor and appreciation of good comedy through these films, his work continues to influence my life now and my life to come.
James Harlow, played by Candy in Wagons East, led a team of 1860's prairie schooners across the vast plains of the American West at a time when homesteading and land grabbing was the way of life for the westward-expanding nation. While the rest of the country was moving west, he headed a train of pioneer-quitters back East after they had become tired of the hard life.
I, too, am heading East, and in the spirit of Harlow and his gang, am taking an unconventional road. To reach the East, I'll be heading west.
Here’s where the other movie comes in. In Plains, Trains, and Automobiles, Candy plays Del Griffith, sidekick to the illustrious Steve Martin, as the duo struggles to get home for Thanksgiving. In so doing, they take almost every form of transportation imaginable with various literal and figurative bumps in the road, such as being "stranded in a parking lot in the middle of fucking nowhere with keys to a fucking car that isn't fucking there." I will also be mixing it up on the transportation front, though I'm hoping my travels go slightly smoother. The automobile is first up, taking me from Charlottesville to Washington DC, where I will catch a 3-day train to Seattle. A ferry or bus will then take me to and from Vancouver, BC before I leave for South Korea by plane.
And finally the connection has been made between the title of my blog and my reason for creating it. I have just embarked on my most amazing adventure yet. The destinations are certain; everything else will come as it may. I hope you can keep up, but for now, planes, trains and wagons... EAST!!!
P.S. Please create an account, post a picture of yourself, and leave comments so that I can take with me not only your words but your beautiful faces as well.
I'd like to dedicate the second post of my blog to the great John Candy. You might remember him from such films as "Spaceballs" and "Canadian Bacon", and such popular television series as Saturday Night Live (back in the day when it was actually good). You might also remember him from the two movies which inspired the title of my blog: "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles", and "Wagons East." Just as Candy affected my young life by helping to shape my sense of humor and appreciation of good comedy through these films, his work continues to influence my life now and my life to come.
James Harlow, played by Candy in Wagons East, led a team of 1860's prairie schooners across the vast plains of the American West at a time when homesteading and land grabbing was the way of life for the westward-expanding nation. While the rest of the country was moving west, he headed a train of pioneer-quitters back East after they had become tired of the hard life.
I, too, am heading East, and in the spirit of Harlow and his gang, am taking an unconventional road. To reach the East, I'll be heading west.
Here’s where the other movie comes in. In Plains, Trains, and Automobiles, Candy plays Del Griffith, sidekick to the illustrious Steve Martin, as the duo struggles to get home for Thanksgiving. In so doing, they take almost every form of transportation imaginable with various literal and figurative bumps in the road, such as being "stranded in a parking lot in the middle of fucking nowhere with keys to a fucking car that isn't fucking there." I will also be mixing it up on the transportation front, though I'm hoping my travels go slightly smoother. The automobile is first up, taking me from Charlottesville to Washington DC, where I will catch a 3-day train to Seattle. A ferry or bus will then take me to and from Vancouver, BC before I leave for South Korea by plane.
And finally the connection has been made between the title of my blog and my reason for creating it. I have just embarked on my most amazing adventure yet. The destinations are certain; everything else will come as it may. I hope you can keep up, but for now, planes, trains and wagons... EAST!!!
P.S. Please create an account, post a picture of yourself, and leave comments so that I can take with me not only your words but your beautiful faces as well.
We enjoyed your post a lot. Keep them coming!
-- Papa and Carolyn
I hope it doesn't start SNOWING! You'll be MARROONED!
I wrote this post in code. Read between the lines. Then watch Six Feet Under & tell me it isn't the greatest thing since sliced television.