Lol... a million dollar wound if I recall, enjoyed :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Printable View
Lol... a million dollar wound if I recall, enjoyed :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
I’m kinda getting off topic for the thread, but I found Dan to be a compelling character in the book. Rather than coming from a long line of military men, Dan had been drafted:
Forrest doesn’t meet Dan until he is recovering in the hospital in Danang. Dan has been “blowed up in a tank” and is in the bed next to him. Dan and Forrest have long conversations and Dan explains his philosophy to Forrest. His philosophy has to do with finding how you best fit into a world that is governed by natural laws. Forrest takes it to heart and that is what propels him through the rest of the book.Quote:
Dan come from the state of Connecticut, an he were a teacher of history when they grapped him up an thowed him into the Army. But cause he was smart, they sent him to officer school an made him a lieutenant.
Dan’s philosophy however is continually changing. Years later Forrest bumps into Dan on the streets of Savannah, Georgia. Dan is what Nelson Algren would call a “halfy.” He’s not in a wheelchair. He’s on a wheeled platform. Forrest is with an orangutan named Sue (don’t ask). It’s pouring rain and Dan is under a trash bag shining the shoes of a businessman. Forrest yanks the bag off to see if it’s really Dan. Here’s the exchange:
Quote:
“Gimme that bag back you big oaf,” Dan say, “I’m gettin soakin wet out here.”
Then he saw Sue. “So you finally got married, huh?” Dan say.
“It’s a he,” I tole him. “You remember—from when I went to space.”
“You gonna shine my shoes, or what?” say the feller in the suit.
“F*ck off,” Dan says, “before I chew your soles in half.”
The feller, he walked away.
“What you doin here, Dan?” I axed.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” he say. “I’ve become a Communist.”
“You mean like them we was fightin in the war?” I axed.
“Nah,” says he, “them was gook Communists. I’m a real Communist—Marx, Lennin, Trotsky—all that bullsh*t.”
“Then what you shinin shoes for?” I say.
“To shame the imperialist lackeys,” he answers. “The way I got it figured, nobody with shined shoes is worth a sh*t, so the more shoes I shine, the more I’ll send to hell in a handbasket.”
“Well, if you say so,” I says, an then Dan thowed down his rag an wheel himself back under the awnin to git outta the rain.
“Awe hell, Forrest, I ain’t no damned Communist,” he say, “They wouldn’t want nobody like me anyhow, way I am.”
“Sure they would, Dan,” I says, “You always tole me I could be anythin I wanted to be an do anythin I want to do—an so can you.”
“You still believin that sh*t?” he axed.
“I got to see Raquel Welch butt neckit,” I says.
“Really?” Dan say, “what was it like?”
LOL ! I have to find that book :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
I have a very vague remembrance of the movie, but liked the dialogue.
Sure, I think you might like it, Tailor. You too, Danik. It’s a quick, fun read. I read it in two or three sittings. That said I can’t help but to notice the book gets a lot of hate online. Mostly I think it’s people who’ve watched the movie and then go to the book to get more of the movie but are disappointed when Forrest doesn’t much look or act like Tom Hanks. Ah well, for what it’s worth, Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump gets El Sancho’s stamp of approval.
Gona look for that book sometimes, Sancho. Always love your posts about books.
Thanks Danik. I like reading your opinions on books as well. You seem to have read all the classics. I’m still trying to catch up.
That was great dialog from Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump, Sancho. I'm going to have to read the book as well. I must have seen the movie but forgot it.
Good point that Foghorn Leghorn must have come before either the chicken or the egg.
I love the sound of the phrase "over the river and through the woods". I am going to have to remember to use it when giving directions, Tailor.
This week Esther offers "crime" to be used in a limerick: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/01/...-limerick-267/
Though some thought that it should be a crime
and it was, more or less, for the time
when dark poems with words
like loud ravenous birds
made no sense and much worse didn't rhyme.
Bravo on your limerick YesNo... especially the last 3-lines :) Need to ponder a bit, and will return :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Haha. Agreed. If to rhyme was a crime, I’d be interrogated then incarcerated.
Okay, so it seems like all my limericks are in the voice of Foghorn Leghorn nowadays:
Ah say, this she-ah institution is peculiar!
The maid went for a bucket of bleach
After The Crime Against Kansas Speech
The senate floor
All covered in gore
Some guy thought he’d a lesson to teach
Lol...
A Petty Crime
I had a boss, an ex-professional bowler
of the tenpins persuasion, a high roller
bowled pot games, a petty gambling crime
we at times indulged in after closing time
when he lost a wager became quite bipolar
1/19/2026
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Polly Syllabic - Want a Cracker ?
Milburn Pennybags has no monopoly on irredentism
to many inspired by the game it's no anachronism
Machiavelli foretold it
and I submit
kerfuffles abound whilst the world eschews schism
1/23/2026
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Good one Tailor. I never knew that guy had a name. I bet he hangs out with Eustace Tilly.
A fellow once made a proclamation
Involving territorial annexation
Caused a great schism
And public activism
And threatened a global conflagration
So it goes when people assume Machiavelli is no longer relevant.
Enjoyed :) Eustace Tilly: a history up to 8/31/2017... https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...2&opi=89978449
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Nice limericks. That "Polly Syllabic - Want a Cracker?" title was perfect, Tailor. I like the voice of Foghorn Leghorn, Sancho.
This week Esther offers "night" to be used in a limerick: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/01/...-limerick-268/
Light and Night Rhymes with Fright
Though the light said it's day, it was night.
I could see. What a horrible sight!
There were monsters out there.
There were goons everywhere,
but in peace I slept on through their fright.