Bounding Main
"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea -- cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.
"'I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it,' some men say. What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine, and before we know it our lives are gone.
"What does a man need -- really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in, and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all in the material sense, and we know it.
"But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.
"Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?" -- the most oft-quoted passage from Sterling Hayden's Wanderer, which is required reading for every landlubber malcontent out there, particularly the under-25s.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 14, 2008 at 12:04 PM
comment #1
figaso says ...
My sail is unfurled, Captain, oh Captain!
Posted by figaso at August 14, 2008 12:26 PM
comment #2
Joshua Mooney says ...
'Tis a Call To Adventure for screenwriters everywhere! (Just make sure it happens by page 15.)
Posted by Joshua Mooney at August 14, 2008 12:31 PM
comment #3
hcat says ...
The government just released the complete list of those who secretly served in the OSS during WWII and Sterling Haydens name was on it. Those Nazis never stood a chance.
Posted by hcat at August 14, 2008 12:39 PM
comment #4
Rich S. says ...
hcat beat me to it. Gen. Jack D. Ripper was an OSS spy.
Posted by Rich S. at August 14, 2008 12:40 PM
comment #5
Krumly says ...
This is why, in my mid-30s, I'm giving up my job at a large software company in Redmond, Washington, selling my house (for a huge loss) and selling all my shit -- especially gadgetry -- to move to Sweden and marry the girl who took my virginity when I was an exchange student there for a year, 20 years ago. (And, yes, she's in on the deal, this isn't just some creepy dream of mine.) Our only regret: We didn't stay together back then. So, yes, under-25s need to read this and hopefully not spend 20 years chasing security before they see the light.
Posted by Krumly at August 14, 2008 12:41 PM
comment #6
MilkMan says ...
Sterling Hayden, Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum, Lee Van Cleef...there are no present-day equivalents for men like these.
Because men like this don't exist any more, at least not in the movies.
I know this is insensitive to say, but maybe the current war is going to produce more men like the ones mentioned above, and maybe one or two of these men will find there way into the entertainment industry.
That would be nice.
It would be nice to look at a face that tells a story, instead of the vacuum-sealed punims of the glorified cologne models that we pass off as leading men in 2008.
Thirty years ago a guy like George Clooney would be doing an ad for Old Spice.
The only difference between Lee Horsley and Pierce Brosnan is...I don't know.
For all I know, Pierce Brosnan is the Lee Horsley of Ireland.
And you can bet your life that Jude Law is the Sean William Scott of England.
Posted by MilkMan at August 14, 2008 12:49 PM
comment #7
Edward says ...
Good luck to you Krumly, may your voyage be a wonderous adventure.
Posted by Edward at August 14, 2008 12:53 PM
comment #8
lionsfan says ...
This is from a guy who positively reveled in his alcoholism. Even talked about it in somebody's documentary. And was apparently not the best father or male role model to his offspring. So the point here is what, exactly?
Posted by lionsfan at August 14, 2008 1:22 PM
comment #9
Howlingman says ...
As someone who just recently chucked it all, pulled up stakes and moved to a different country to be with the love of his life, best of luck, Krumly.
Posted by Howlingman at August 14, 2008 1:23 PM
comment #10
chappiesan says ...
>>>So the point here is what, exactly?
Alcoholism turns you into one hell of a writer?
Best of luck, Krumly. I did something similar a few years ago -- sold everything and moved to Tierra del Fuego, Argeninta, a desolate stretch of land that happens to be the love of my life. Recently, had to come back for family reasons, but I feel a return trip coming soon.
Posted by chappiesan at August 14, 2008 1:34 PM
comment #11
Ponderer says ...
And all our adventurous founding fathers were stinking rich, materialistic landowners.
Posted by Ponderer at August 14, 2008 1:40 PM
comment #12
otownroger says ...
Jeff;
Sterling Hayden "named names." Betcha knew that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Hayden
OSS to commie to ratting out Hollywood.
Maybe we should Jon Voight his ass. Oh wait, we did. Except for Kubrick. Wait for that Bill O'Reilly call, pal.
A sailboating "cruiser" in La Florida.
Posted by otownroger at August 14, 2008 2:06 PM
comment #13
Joshua Mooney says ...
"Sterling Hayden, Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum, Lee Van Cleef..."
---I'd add Steve McQueen to your list.
"I know this is insensitive to say, but maybe the current war is going to produce more men like the ones mentioned above, and maybe one or two of these men will find there way into the entertainment industry. "
I don't think it's "insensitive," but I think it's misguided and wrong. You mean the way Vietnam produced all those classic Hollywood heroes? Vietnam produced Oliver Stone, and he acted accordingly. How can you compare Iraq to WWII? You think these guys now are coming back with the G.I. Bill after saving the world from Fascism and are heading out to Hollywood to make their bones in the picture business, renting bungalows in Westwood for $100 a month? This ain't 1946. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: They're already coming back. They have been for some years. But maybe since the war in Iraq has no end, they don't know when they're supposed to take the Super-Chief out to Tinseltown.
Posted by Joshua Mooney at August 14, 2008 2:13 PM
comment #14
MilkMan says ...
I agree with everything you said, Joshua Mooney.
Posted by MilkMan at August 14, 2008 2:25 PM
comment #15
Joshua Mooney says ...
Okay. In which case your satire is so subtle that I missed it. In which case: well played. I don't post comments to HE based on names or implicit poltiical leanings, as all your nommes-de-guerre (unlike mine) sound the same to me. Except for Walter Sobchack. I have a sense of where he's coming from. I don't spend as much time here as I used to, and maybe I pay the price for it.
I'm glad you agree with me about McQueen, MilkMan. I don't know if he was a WWII vet or not, but he ought to have been. I feel certain he would have found a way to get us out of the Battle of the Bulge.
Posted by Joshua Mooney at August 14, 2008 2:54 PM
comment #16
Spacesheik says ...
Sterling Hayden was absolutely fooking amazing in THE LONG GOODBYE, the Robert Altman Philip Marlow 70s adaptation with Elliot Gould. Brilliant film that.
Posted by Spacesheik at August 14, 2008 7:25 PM
comment #17
Mgmax says ...
"I'm glad you agree with me about McQueen, MilkMan. I don't know if he was a WWII vet or not, but he ought to have been."
He was 15 when the war ended, fyi.
Posted by Mgmax at August 14, 2008 7:38 PM
comment #18
O.G. says ...
McQueen was a US Marine from 1947 - 50. It was the source of the mesothelioma that killed him.
Posted by O.G. at August 14, 2008 9:24 PM
comment #19
JapAdapters says ...
So, Jeff, did you ever get your iphone figured out?
Posted by JapAdapters at August 15, 2008 7:41 AM
comment #20
AuggieBenDoggie says ...
Julia Child was a spy in the OSS, Jimmy Stewert flew B-25's Clark Gable was a tailgunner, David Niven, Charles Durning and Jimmy Doohan were at Normandy, Mel Brook was a combat engineer during the Battle of the Buldge, and Jack Warden was in the 101st.
It was a very different war and time.
Posted by AuggieBenDoggie at August 15, 2008 8:04 AM
comment #21
frankbooth says ...
Being poor is only liberating if you're completely alone. As soon as you're responsible for someone else, it's just a different kind of trap, because you spend most of your time taking care of you and yours.
Posted by frankbooth at August 15, 2008 1:53 PM
comment #22
btwnproductions says ...
Lots of people chase their dream...on credit. Then they are bankrupt of life and purse.
Posted by btwnproductions at August 15, 2008 6:06 PM
comment #23
janee
says ...
Si vous etes interesses par le dossier, ou desirez en savoir plus, contactez-moi par mail, et je vous mettrai en contact.
Best regards,Jane, CEO of high availability computing
Posted by janee
at May 18, 2011 12:14 AM