CLIFFS OF INSANITY IS TOMORROW!!

 

It's hard to believe it's happening so soon. I've been waiting for this all my life. So let's make sure we're all prepared for the insanity. And the cliffs.

 

To help you get ready for this historic event, we’ve provided you with the indispensable “Cliffs of Insanity Checklist”:

• Put final touches on costume (sew on that final finger on the leather glove, make sure the mask fits nice and snug, wrangle four white horses)

• Make sure your posse is coming

• Watch The Princess Bride one last time, to get those finer trivia details for The Battle of Wits

• Read The Princess Bride one last time, for those extra special details

• Practice hand-eye reflexes to make sure you can ring that buzzer fast enough for the competition

• Practice Inigo Montoya impression for the “Inigo-Off”**

• Pull out comfy shoes for hours of dancing to Mama Cutsworth’s eversodelightful music

Doors open at 9 pm so you can come sign up for the Battle of Wits. All are welcome! The prizes for BofW contestants are very wonderful, just saying.

The Albert is at 48 Albert street in Winnipeg.

$7 or $5 with a costume!

**Ever been to a pig calling contest? It’s like that.

Capybaras: the REAL R.O.U.S.

My friend Kent is a wordly young man, and today Rodents Of Unusual Size came up, as they so often do in daily conversation. He asked me if I knew about the capybara of South America, the closest thing we have to an R.O.U.S. Seriously, these are big suckers.

Related to the common guinea pig, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris is the largest rodent on the earth and can weigh up to 140 pounds (but the largest one recorded was a whopping 232 pounds (that's just insane (parentheses!))). They like living in dense forest areas with plenty of water around, like lakes, rivers and swamps. Perhaps even fire swamps... who knows?

One good thing is that they don't eat meat, so we humans are safe. One gross thing is that they are "coprophagous," which means they eat their own feces for bacteria to aid in their digestion.

Now here's where it gets surreal. Some people have capybaras as pets. House pets. With leashes. Check it:

Melanie Typaldos is the most enthusiastic capybara pet owner on the internet. And maybe anywhere else. Check the link to her website devoted completely to, and "by" her pet capy, Caplin Rous. He's also got a twitter account with 3,304 followers at the time of this blog post.

So there ya go.

A moment to say thank you...

CLIFFS OF INSANITY is going to be insane on May 22. Perhaps that's obvious. But it wouldn't be, couldn't be, as insane if it wasn't for some supporters from the local business community. Let's just take a moment to say THANK YOU to the following folks:

UMFM 101.5

The Urban Bakery and The Urban Boutique

Sew Dandee

Gags Unlimited in the Village

Urban Waves

Movie Village

Meet Phyllis.

Phyllis Dalton, born in England in 1925, was the costume designer for The Princess Bride. She began work as an assistant in the costume department for movies like Scrooge (1951), a film I still find so creepy, but that's another thing.

The cool "did you know?" part about Dalton's work is that she did costume design for really big films in the 1960s. That era seems to have been her career heyday, with credits such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Oliver! (1968) under her belt. I know, impressive, huh?

By the time the '80s rolled around, she was doing work for TV primarily, shows and movies that, at least for me, don't spark any big memories. Does anyone remember Arthur the King with Candice Bergen and Liam Neeson?

Nonetheless, she was an award-winning and and -nominated designer and I'm glad she worked on one of my favourite '80s films, The Princess Bride. Can you imagine the Man in Black any other way? Or Vizzini without ornate Sicilian embroidery on his clothes? Or Count Rugen without his velvet outfit. It's just so perfect.

Then. Now.

 Then.
Now. (Sleep well, and may you dream of large women.)

Andre The Giant, “Fezzik”

 Then. Now.

Billy Crystal, “Miracle Max”

  Then. Now.

Carey Elwes, “Westley” 

 Then. Now.

Peter Falk, “Narrator” 

Then. Now.

Christopher Guest, “Tyrone Rugen”

 Then. Now.

Carol Kane, “Valerie”

 Then. Now.

Mandy Patinkin, “Inigo Montoya”

Then. Now.

Chris Sarandon, “Prince Humperdink”

Then. Now.

Fred Savage, “Grandson”

Then. Now.

Wallace Shawn, “Vizzini”

Then. Now.

Mel Smith, “The Albino”

 Then. Now.

Robin Wright Penn, “Princess Buttercup”