Day: July 30, 2004

When I finally put on the episode of “Monk” that I taped last week, I noted with pleasure the name “Jimmie F. Skaggs” in the opening credits as a guest star. I got to know Jimmie, a talented and eminently pleasant character actor, some years ago when he was appearing as “Buteo,” the solemn Indian-esque wiseman in my films “Oblivion” and “Backlash: Oblivion II.” We hung out in Romania while I was over there, and he was a really sweet guy.

So imagine my shock when, at the very close of the episode, it said, “In Memory of Jimmie F. Skaggs.”

Ðámņáŧìøņ. I didn’t know he died of complications from cancer a couple of weeks ago at the age of 59.

If you’ve never seen either of the “Oblivion” movies, scrounge around at your local DVD shop and see if you can score a copy. He’s done tons of work in movies and various episodics, and I openly admit my bias, but I thought he was great in the role and it’s a crying shame to lose someone that young.

PAD

So with the Democratic National Convention wrapped, what did you guys think? High points? Low points? Kerry’s speech?

Personally, I thought he did very well. With so much being attached to this speech in terms of do-or-die, he seemed a little shaky to start out, but slowly built up an impressive head of steam. By the end I thought he sounded pretty dámņëd good.

Although I still have to say I thought Comedy Central’s “John Kerry: He’s Not George W. Bush” was still the best commentary on the night.

PAD