Mystery of the Toby Mug

Michael T Kennedy says on Amazon of Twelve O'Clock High: "I was disappointed when the DVD version of this film was released. I saw it in theaters in 1949 (probably 10 times) and still recall several missing scenes that are important to the plot. When the DVD came out I was excited thinking that surely they would have been restored in this format without the space constraints of VHS. I was wrong. The current cut, for example, does not explain the significance of the Toby mug that Dean Jagger finds in a London shop and replaces on the airbase officers' club mantelpiece. There are others, such as what happens to the young navigator and why. Obviously, I think this is one of the greatest war movies of all time. I just hope someday a director's cut is released with all the missing scenes restored. It's still worth buying but the film is incomplete without the missing scenes."

Bryce: In the original Vanishing Point Dean Jagger portrays a snake wrangler who sells the venomous creatures to Jesus freaks who are starting a megachurch in the California desert. It's really his best role besides Brigham Young. He has a wonderfully raspy voice and the face of an old prospector. San Francisco just had its annual Dodge Challenger Film Festival at at Thee Parkside Theater including Starsky & Hutch, Death Proof (which references Vanishing Point), Vanishing Point as well as the Viggo Mortensen Vanishing Point made for TV.

All about Bryce

There is an official government list of acceptable Norwegian names. A law from the 1800s is intended to protect children from any Norwegian names that sound or look strange. - Babynames.org

Bryce is not an acceptable Norwegian name by law. Indeed, it does look and sound strange. In order to avoid difficulties my parents referred to me in public as "Busby." When a family member calls me Bryce I don't know to whom they are referring. Patronomic last names result in lot of people with the same last name because of the limited number of legal first names. For instance one's grandfather Gunnar might have a grandchild name Gunnarsen. There are a lot of Gunnarsens. This confusion was somewhat solved by people adding the name of their farm to the end. So my official name is Bryce (Busby) Gunnarsen Digdug.

Distribution of Digdug families in the United States:

It's raining umbrellas

No, that was not me on Guerrero Place in San Francisco this morning in the rain carrying a Hello Kitty umbrella. Because of the intensity of the storm I had to bring my huge, non-character-related, orange umbrella and leave the Sanrio collectibles at home. Another adult was using her Hello Kitty umbrella though 2 points off for not carrying the kind with ears. I once knew an Executive Director of a certain Compass-related nonprofit who carried the kind with ears. So, shall we rank the umbrellas? Well, anything HK trumps my practical orange device which keeps me dry. But I think my orange comes in second ahead of the Eiffel Tower. Now, if her umbrella had been in the shape of the Eiffel Tower or had ears...

You may say, Bryce, umbrellas are in the shape of the Eiffel Tower. Well, yes, but only when they are half open.