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LANDLUBBER

SINCE JAN. 1998

Do not fault me for the love of Land;
For I was born upon it,
And I will go back to it when I die.
--BLACKBEARD

Samuel Beckett Drove André the Giant to School

April 23rd, 2013

I’ll tell you an interesting story about André. He couldn’t fit on a schoolbus on the way to school. He told me this. So he had to be driven, in a car, to school every morning. And his parents couldn’t afford one. But his neighbor had a big car. And his neighbor used to drive him to school every day. And I said, “Oh, really?” He said, “Oh yes, he was a very nice man.” I said, well, “Really.” He said, “Yes, yes. You may have heard of him, I don’t know.” I said, “Really? What’s his name?” He goes, “Samuel Beckett.”

Transcribed from actor Cary Elwes’s commentary on the “Princess Bride” dvd. Footnotes by Mike Benedetti. Beckett stencil by Ben Cummings.

Notes:

1. André Roussimoff, as “André the Giant,” was one of the greatest and most beloved professional wrestlers of all time. He had gigantism, and was claimed to be 7 ft 4 in, 540 lbs.

2. The Roussimoff family farm was in Molien, a village  miles from Paris. André attended school at nearby Ussy-sur-Marne until around 1957, when he dropped out to work on the farm.

3. Irish writer Samuel Beckett was part of the French Resistance against the Nazis and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. He is best known for his play “Waiting for Godot.” According to his friend James Knowlson, in 1953 Beckett took some money from an inheritance and built a house near Molien, which he used as a retreat for the rest of his life.

4. Princess Bride. Great movie. Cary Elwes was the pirate, André was the giant.

Samuel Beckett 3

Happiness Pony: First Two Years as PDFs

March 31st, 2013

We are surprised as anyone to be celebrating 2 years of Happiness Pony.

If you’ve had trouble finding issues from our first two year, please e-mail editor@happinesspony.com and let us know where we should drop off a stack each month.

Or, download this zip file with the first 24 issues in PDF form: Link

For occasional updates about the Hap Po, join the e-mail list.

Happiness Pony for March 2013 is out

March 30th, 2013

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The Roussimoff-Beckett Connection; PonyCon; pushups; Starhawk; and Matoonas dies.

Happiness Pony on WCCA TV13

March 27th, 2013

We celebrated 2(!) years of Happiness Pony this week with an appearance on Soapbox, the flagship talk show of Worcester’s cable access station, WCCA TV13.

Happiness Pony, February 2013

February 13th, 2013

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Larvae, monks, and the Wells of Truth.

Happiness Pony, January 2013

January 30th, 2013

Americans !—Liberty or Death !—Join or Die !

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This month, perspectives on Nicolas Cage, Patti Smith, running, cake, zombies, beta-alanine, Icarus, and the Snow Ghost.
Read the rest of this entry »

Happiness Pony, December 2012

December 22nd, 2012

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Just in time for Christmas, a new issue of Worcester’s Journal of Fossil Fuel Exploration. Mining coal and punk; the Mu koan; worms; true action tales; the Christmas Dimension; Unitarian Transylvanians; and the New Kids.

Happiness Pony, November 2012

November 30th, 2012

(Would you like to help revise “Who Rules Worcester”? Click here.)

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New issue of HP hits Worcester’s coffee shops and libraries today, with a big article on Fruitlands, an account of Joseph Palmer’s beard resistance, “Who Rules Worcester” circa 1970, Louisa May Alcott making fun of her father, foxes, dressing warmly, and a word about Dr. Chege.

Happiness Pony, October 2012

October 31st, 2012

Juggalos are real, the self is an illusion, and the story of Matoonas continues.

Happiness Pony for September 2012

September 29th, 2012

The latest Happiness Pony can now be found on the streets and on the sorting table of your favorite neighborhood library. Seadragons, “nasturtiums,” knife ordinances, Sqwincher, Sun Tzu, judgement, Callista Perry on admitting ignorance, Joe Scully on the start of King Philip’s War, and the Snow Ghost himself.


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