9.20.2007

Who Knew?


I possess several nearly useless talents.

For example, I am really good at doubling numbers. If you were to say, “63,” I would reply with, “126, 252, 504, 1008, 2016, 4032…” at a very rapid rate for a long time (in fact, as I was typing those numbers, my typing skills lagged far behind my number-doubling skills). I suppose it’s kind of neat if you’ve never seen me do it before, but like I said, for the most part, it’s useless.

Another talent I have is the ability to recognize actors in movies. I’ll be watching some movie and will just hear a character speak, or catch a glimpse of his face and then I’ll recognize him as the butler in some other movie from 12 years earlier. This is another pretty useless ability, but it impresses people from time to time as well.

Sometimes though, I really drop the ball.

Last night, I was floored by the discovery that John Rhys-Davies, who played Sallah in the Indiana Jones movies, also played Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I might’ve been somewhat thrown off by the fact that Sallah is a big guy who dwarfs Indy in Raiders of the Lost Ark while Gimli is, well, just a dwarf.

Probably several of you will chime in and say something to the effect that you immediately realized it was the same actor, and how could I not realize it if I was really as good at identifying actors as I say I am.

Normally, I would tell you to keep your gloating to yourself, but considering that this is an ability that I have been somewhat prideful about in the past, I deserve it—gloat away.

7 comments:

Angela 9/20/07, 10:27 PM  

I'm pretty good at the recognizing actors thing too. Ask Caroline.

I just hate when people question me on it. I want to say "Trust me, people, I'm an expert on this." But then that sounds totally pathetic.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I guess.

:)

Paul Murphy 9/20/07, 10:40 PM  

I thought it was Pavarotti...

Anonymous 9/21/07, 8:37 AM  

I recently learned that John Rhys-Davies was actually on camera less than his dwarf double in the entire trilogy. What a shaft.

Maybe I'm behind on this, but did you know that Glenn Close was in "Hook" as the pirate who gets put into the "boo-box"? Who knew...

Luke Dockery 9/21/07, 9:33 AM  

Angela,

I know EXACTLY how you feel. People try to argue with me and I'm like, "Do you have ANY idea who you're talking to?"

Caroline and my Dad both like to do that. I have everyone else in my family trained pretty well.

Luke Dockery 9/21/07, 9:35 AM  

Paul,

I hadn't thought about it but you're right—John Rhys-Davies does look a lot like Pavarotti.

I guess we know who will portray him when they come out with his Walk the Line-esque biography.

Luke Dockery 9/21/07, 9:36 AM  

Alex,

I didn't even know that the Boo Box pirate was played by a woman.

Even if I did recognize her, I might've thought it was Meryl Streep. I always get them mixed up.

Paul Murphy 9/21/07, 4:55 PM  

Apparently one of the women on the set of "Hook" also thought Glen Close's piraty character was pretty cute and tried to get her number, not knowing it was a female. Funny stuff.

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