Suspension of disbelief. Empathy for the protagonist. A quest led by an unconscious desire by the protagonist to attain a perceived unattainable object becomes the story.

In some cases, the main character fails (The Wrestler), and the audience witnesses something called tragedy. A few characters employ humor to elicit sympathy from the audience, and these are comedies (The Hangover).

The most difficult part of creating fiction is the issue of authenticity, and its cousin believability.

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. With that, it’s often less difficult to insert simple, anecdotal truths into fictional characters, because the audience might not accept their credibility.

A simple problem, like Bugs Bunny wanting to live in peace. An antagonist, like Elmer Fudd, acts against this desire. But, Bugs Bunny holds a certain unconscious desire — to make a fool of anyone who attempts to sully his idyllic, rustic existence.

The two opposing forces act and react, and the realm of drama is revealed. Throw in a sub-plot — Daffy Duck‘s desire to thwart his own shotgun demise — and the plot is interwoven and energized with complexity.

See what happens when Elmer tries to Kill Da Wabbit! For copyright (Warner Brothers) purposes, the original audio is censored in places.

View BlogAds Here

Please take my Blog Reader Project survey.

                          

Games of the XXIII Olympiad
July 28 — August 12, 1984

The 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Ca., included rowing at Lake Casitas, archery at UCLA, and volleyball at Long Beach State.

According to the official site, www.olympic.org:

“With the Olympics being held in the United States only four years after the U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow Games, it was not surprising that the Soviet Union organised a revenge boycott in 1984. This time only 14 nations stayed away – but those nations accounted for 58% of the gold medals at the 1976 Olympics.”

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is now known as the home of the USC Trojans football team. In 1984, it was the stage for grand achievements in Track & Field by Britain’s Davey Thompson in the decathlon and USA’s Joan Benoit in the women’s marathon.

Maybe it was the flash of Hollywood lights that inspired “King” Carl Lewis of Houston, Tex., USA, to cast his bronze and stamp his name in the Olympic history books.

As a member of the local Santa Monica Track Club, he matched the achievement of fellow countryman Jesse Owens, by winning four gold medals in the same events as Owens (Berlin 1936): 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and the long jump. Carl Lewis dominated the sport as much as Michael Phelps dominates most swimming events.

This photo shows Carl Lewis running the approach track at the Memorial Coliseum on his way to a then world-record, 30-foot long-jump attempt. Twelve years later, Carl Lewis would return to the gold-medal stand as a long shot Gold-Medal winner at the Atlanta 1996 – Games of the XXVI Olympiad.

                          

On the turn from a profile of how celebrity awe can put someone in harm’s way — see ESPN‘s Erin Andrews — Digital Ink presents Susan Boyle and her struggles with fame.

Always on the bleeding edge, NBC‘s Today Show reporter Meredith Vieira interviewed Susan Boyle this morning to discuss her brief-lived turn in the “Britain’s Got Talent” spotlight.

Susan Boyle described her play with the fame-fire as being hit with something “like a giant demolition ball.” Bam! Susan’s lost her mind.

David Bowie had a great song from his Young Americans album — co-written and recorded with a famous Beatle, John Lennon — called FAME.

Fame, (fame) what you like is in the limo
Fame, (fame) what you get is no tomorrow
Fame, (fame) what you need you have to borrow
Fame (fame)

Check out hottie judge Amanda Holden cooing and crying over Ms. Boyle’s now-famous rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables:

                          

Heroic displays of courage are commonplace in professional boxing. Arturo “Thunder” Gatti boxed in some of the most dramatically contested matches of all time, his fights nominated for the Ring Magazine “Fight of the Year” an astonishing six times — and won four times.

The most famous of all these fights is the Mickey Ward vs. Arturo Gatti war on May 18th, 2002.

To start the ninth round of this eventual Ring Magazine 2002 “Fight of the Year,” Mickey Ward hits Arturo Gatti with a left hook that breaks Gatti’s ribs. Ouch! But Gatti gets up, and just when Mickey thinks he has Gatti beat…

View the YouTube video of the 9th Round of Mickey Ward vs. Arturo Gatti – I.

The LA Times is reporting that Arturo Gatti was found dead in his hotel room yesterday, July 11, 2009, the victim of apparent homicide. Evidence at this time points toward his Brazilian wife, who he was seeking separation from.

Arturo Gatti was a man who knew no fear, who challenged himself constantly to be the best boxer and the best person he could be. He was human, full with flaws and imperfections.

A typical Arturo Gatti quote:

“I was feeling healthy, but you never know what’s going on inside your body. I just didn’t know what was going on. I was feeling good, but sometimes, because I have a big heart, my attitude is I always feel good. I don’t want to go to the hospital for nothing.”

But the “heart” of Arturo Gatti is something a boxer can never learn. Arturo “Thunder” Gatti will always be known — like Diego “Chico” Corrales — for having the courage and determination of a champion.

No man could break world-champion Arturo “Thunder” Gatti‘s heart, but a woman did.

In the words of Charles Bukowski, “Many a good man have been put under the bridge by a woman.”

                          

She isn’t barely five feet tall, but she plays like a fifty-foot queenie. And no matter how hard you try, you can’t get rid of her. She’s worked with Nick Cave, Bjork, Flood, and Kurt Cobain. Her music is a mix of blues, punk, and grunge, but with a British, potty-mouthed, sex-pot kind of twist.

Kurt Cobain called her first full-release, Dry, one his top-20 albums of all time. Of course, Kurt was more than a little crazy.

Way before Peaches, The Dresden Dolls, M.I.A., or what’s-her-name Courtney Love, PJ Harvey was making the world nod its head at her hard-pulsing, sexually charged anthems about feminism, love, anger, desire, jealousy, and lesbian encounters next to a river of some kind. She’s O.G. rock-n-roll like the big-red guitar she plays. Her 1995 album To Bring You My Love is an ode to sex and desire, and PJ sounds like she knows what she’s talking about. The album was recorded in New Orleans, and is meant to have a New Orleans’ Desire feel and flavor.

Her current album, A Woman a Man Walked By, may be her most professionally polished to date, thanks to her ongoing collaboration with John Parish. The March 31, 2009, release is making its rounds, but PJ Harvey’s style remains on the edge of most radio formats. Thusly, her current tour to support the release.

The little lady can play, that’s for sure. And she’s best when astride a microphone stand, yelling at the top of her tough-chick lungs. Take a look at the video clip for Rid of Me. Note the solo performance, and how the crowd loves every minute of it.

                          

People often wonder, “What does it to take to become masterfully great at something?“

Ben “The Hawk” Hogan was born in Stephenville, Texas, August 13, 1912.  He died in Fort Worth, Texas, July 25, 1997.

You can view his Wikipedia page here.

In the 1948 golf season, Hogan emerged as a tremendous talent, winning the U.S. Open, and was named the PGA Player of the Year.  Within a year, a lifetime of hard work, will-to-win and determination would be challenged by misfortune.

Ben Hogan is a hero for his moxie and great to will to overcome seemingly insurmountable restrictions and limitations caused by injuries in a car accident.

On February 2, 1949, Hogan and his wife were struck head-on by a Greyhound bus. This accident left Hogan with a double-fracture of the pelvis, a fractured collar bone, a left ankle fracture, a chipped rib, and near-fatal blood clots:  he would suffer lifelong circulation problems and other physical disabilities, like constant pain in his legs.

His doctors said he might never walk again, let alone play golf competitively.

Ben Hogan set upon his intense recovery process, working harder than ever to redevelop and hone “The Swing,” as Hogan’s golfing game would become legendary.

In 1950 — just one year after his near-fatal accident — he again won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, and was named PGA Player of the Year and the “Comeback Player of the Year.”

Sometimes playing through intense pain — one reason he’s often seen leaning on his golf clubs for support — Hogan became even better than he was before the accident.

Ben Hogan was a quiet man, and some say very difficult to understand.  Having witnessed his father’s suicide at 9 years of age, Hogan never found the social ease many of his contemporaries — like Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, and Byron Nelson — were able to present to the public.

But Ben Hogan loved the game of golf.  Ben Hogan is a hero because he found a way to persevere through extraordinarily difficult circumstances to become a master of the game of golf.  Having won The Masters at Augusta in 1951 and 1953, he proved this without a doubt.

Some might say — with hard work, iron will, and shrewd determination — he mastered the game of life.

Here’s a link to a video of Ben Hogan’s golf swing on YouTube.

                          

Let me start with this — James Joe Brown, Jr., was not a perfect man, nor was he the absolute finest singer or dancer.

But, James Brown was the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” who believed in one thing — entertaining his audience to the best of his natural and supernatural abilities.

So, for today’s second installment of “HEROES,” I choose a man who was egotistical, drug-addicted, maniacal, and, at times, just plain strange.

There’s one story I’ve heard on different days in several ways, and it’ll be repeated here as factual.

In his youthful exuberance, James Brown was an amazing dancer.  His “Get Down!” dance included numerous splits and twirls.

On one occasion, while performing at some ramshackle venue with a less than stellar stage, James Brown did a twirl and dropped to one knee in his half-split.

Here begins the lesson, because when James tried to remove himself from the floor, he found a nail protruding from the wooden stage, which had lodged his knee in place!

James grimaced — a face seen as natural in his fitful performances — placed his hands upon the wooden floor and pulled his knee from its painful place.

Not to miss a beat, or even express concern for his health, his burning desire to keep the show rolling let him do just that.  Bloody knee and all, he kept tempo, grabbed the microphone, and handled his business.

In this time of excuses, dilemmas, predicaments, circumstances, obstacles, uncertainties, and genuine angst, we need HEROES who have fortitude, moxie, and complete confidence that, no matter what, nothing can stop them.

James “Godfather of Soul” Brown is a man who may not be a hero to most, but he’s a hero to me.

Here’s a link to James Brown teaching us how to dance.