The REAL Steve Levicoff???

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Steve Levicoff, Mar 10, 2017.

Loading...
  1. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Me too, Rich. Including McLean Stevenson. He was wonderful - warm, human and still credible, as a commanding officer serving in Korea. After the successes of the people you mention - they shouldn't have to look for it again. Some don't. The money from a good long run can be phenomenal. Retirement is made financially possible - if the person doesn't get carried away.

    I haven't watched TV in a few years - at all. By choice. I think my all-time favourite success is Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives). I'm still crazy about that lady, not that her hubby, Jose, will ever have reason to worry. I was glued to the show for eight seasons - and yes, she never repeated the success. But she did well afterwards - she completed a Master's in Chicano studies and does a lot of good work for her peeps. And now she has Jose and little Santi. I think (and hope) she's as happy as she looks.

    Yep. Do it right once and you (probably) won't have to again.
     
  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    What I said - but there's a police show I heard about that could drag me back - L.A.'s Finest. Uh-huh, I could watch Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba all week.

    Last "celebrity cop" I actually saw was Jennifer Lopez. She did a fine job with a terrible script. Story about an entire N.Y. Precinct House of crooked cops, fiercely protected by their benevolent, avuncular Captain, who was the sleaziest crook of all. At times, I had to turn the sound off and just watch Jennifer. Turned out to be a good choice.

    Unlike most other TV stars, Jennifer has had multiple successes (and yes, some failures, e.g. Gigli) in several fields - at different points in her life. I admire her. She's worked hard.
     
  3. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    It is now. I'm not so sure about shows in the 1970s, but shows from earlier paid little or no residuals for reruns, and the actors had little compensation for the use of their images (advertising, toys, posters, comic books, etc.)

    The actors on Star Trek, for example, got paid for 5 reruns of each episode they were in, and each payment was just a couple of hundred dollars. That show--just the show, not the movies or the spin-offs--made a ton of bank. But not for the actors.

    These days, residuals are built into actors' contracts. The key is getting to 100 episodes (for a comedy). That makes the show viable for syndication.
     
  4. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    This reminds me of a little family anecdote. Our close friends, a family, visited us in Toronto a few years back. Discussion somehow moved to finer points of breastfeeding experience, and then the MAN of the family expressed a strong opinion. Our wives disagreed, discussion escalated. Finally' I pointed out that he's disagreeing on BREASTFEEDING with two mothers of young children (one heavily pregnant at the moment, to boot). Yes, our wives both had breastfed, and quite recently too. The guy got LIVID that I didn't back him up, stormed out, and spent a night in their car, parked next to a local cemetery. It all blew over long time ago, but bizarreness of that conversation lives with me to this day.

    I see your point, and I see Filmmaker2Be's point. I myself had people question my right to belong to my own freaking ethnic community (by 3rd-generation diaspora folk; I'm 1st-generation). But not all opinions are equally valid, all the time.
     
  5. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Fascinating.
    I hail from Soviet Union where people deliberately destroyed genealogical data (ESPECIALLY if they had any kind of noble descent). Communism. Apparently, my wife on her mother's side does have ancestors from the Golitzines, one of the most prominent Russian princely houses descendent from House of Gediminas (Lithuanian royals older than the Romanovs).

    Queen Elisabeth and Tzars of Russia are like second cousins two different ways, so if one is related to the one, he's related to both. Even more true with her husband - Prince Philipp is of the Greek Royal Family, who like late Romanovs are a branch of Danish/German Princes of Schleswig-Holstein. Same family. Russian Tzars are rightful ruling House of Holstein-Gottorp. Prussia annexed and usurped that Principality right after their Prince Charles-Peter-Ulrich took the throne of Russia as Tzar Peter III. He wanted to make war to take it back, but never got to it. Full title of the Russian Sovereign officially included "Prince of Holstein, Prince of Gottorp".
     
    Filmmaker2Be and Johann like this.
  6. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Wow! That's something! I believe Michael Ignatieff shares that same distinction. If I remember right, one of his great-grandmothers was a Galitzine princess. His paternal grandmother was also born a Princess - of the Mestchersky line. Among his several accomplishments, I think Mr. Ignatieff does particularly well as a writer. I've read a couple of his books - one a novel, the other a (very good) sort of Family Album. I enjoyed both. The novel was Asya - about a fictional Galitzine princess - before, during and long after the Revolution.
     
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2020
  7. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Yes, Count Ignatieff has a (better-documented) Golitzine descent. I never read one of his books, but he is a rather successful author.

    For the rest of the board - Dr. Michael Ingatieff is a Canadian academic/politician who was a Member of Parliament and Liberal Leader. In American terms - a major-party candidate to Prime Minister. He is of Russian descent.
     
  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    And - perhaps of significant interest to the many US Board members - He taught at Harvard for some years.
     
  9. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    And now is President of Central European University.
     
    Johann likes this.
  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    How could I forget that, Steve? That's a challenging job. I might have said impossible, while it was in Viktor Orbán's territory. My best wishes to Iggy.
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2020
  11. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    Well this thread went way into left field. I have made it a rule to avoid discussing politics, religion, etc. on public forums. I am commenting, however, in hopes that people do not let disagreements away them from staying on the forum.
     
  12. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Indeed. A challenging job; I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to sign up for anything like that when he agreed to be CEU's President.
    Five handshakes thing: he got into Parliament at Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding, in a special election as a star candidate. That's right next to me. A group of Liberals of Ukrainian descent tried to get control of that riding association and get one of their own elected. They found a quote in one of Iggy's books that was disrespectful to Ukrainian independence (but most probably had a general distaste for a prominent Moskal' as an MP). Here:
    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/liberals-miffed-by-ignatieffs-candidacy/article1131539/

    The Party steamrolled them, of course. I later met and interacted with one of Iggy's would-be opponents, Marc Schwec (he goes by "Markian" in the community). He is a long-time cheese at Ukrainian Canadian Congress Toronto Branch, and specifically dealt with schools. So when I got sucked into these issues (DEAC degrees in Canada discussed here was part of it), we stomped all over his turf. I later saw him at a Ukrainian Saturday school where we both are parents (and so is Chrystia Freeland). To paraphrase John Oliver, "I do not like that man, Marc Schwec".

    Our riding of Etobicoke Centre is in Ukrainian hands now. I've also met our current MP (then MPP) in the same very affair; not a fan of him too. One of the reasons I can't vote Liberal.
     
  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Obviously, you know exactly how it is, Stanislav. You write one book - and it will piss someone off, guaranteed. You write a bunch of books, guaranteed you'll do that to a bunch of people. (Ask Steve Levicoff.) :) Some will have a genuine, sincere gripe, others a hastily manufactured one, for whatever purpose...

    I still wish Iggy the best in the difficult, demanding role he has undertaken. I think he might have been a lacklustre Prime Minister, although his fellow intellectuals Stephane Dion and Bob Rae might both have been worse than mediocre. But as Head of a University like this in troubled times -- well, he's likely "the guy." I hope so.
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2020
  14. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    We all get to make our own rules. You do what makes sense for you - and the rest of us can (individually) do the same. Plus - discussing royal families of 100-200 years ago, as people were, in this thread, isn't politics - I believe it's history. And yes - what Stanislav and I were discussing turned political. But I don't think he's offended. How can he be? We're Canadians, for Pete's sake. :)

    Some people DO leave the forum because of disagreements -of all kinds. Heck, the thought crosses my mind most days, but I usually stick around to see what the hell is going to happen next. . One notable - fairly recent- exception aside (a ban isn't considered leaving voluntarily) I don't remember too much in the way of political stuff that caused people to actually leave. What gets to me sometimes is cruelty and mindlessness. Thank goodness there's not much of the former - and one develops a thick skin for the latter.

    Others have said their personal policies include not talking about politics, sex, religion etc. That's fine - for them to have a personal policy. Just as long as anybody else.can observe a different policy, OK. Far too often, for a large group to be of one locked mind is to be mindless. One benefit of coming to a forum is that different viewpoints can exercise a person's mind - like going to a gym can do for your body. We need those workouts. And derailed threads aren't always bad. Sometimes it improves them.
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2020
    JoshD likes this.
  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    And my personal taboos are Windows 10, potato chips and all Major League sports. Keep the conversation away from those and we're fine. :)
     
  16. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    P.S. Josh, didn't you notice the Forum we have - Political Discussions? But nobody says you have to use it, if you don't want to. :)
     
    JoshD likes this.
  17. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    I had people openly question whether someone from a "very corrupt society" like me can be truly Canadian. So yeah, MAJOR doubts about both this stereotype AND whether Canadian label even applies to me. I'm not sure I properly fit anywhere anymore; if I could pick, I'd pick American.

    That being said, the only political thing you injected is a bit of trivia on how Iggy is both prominent politician AND a titled Russian noble with distinguished pedigree. This is very properly Off-Topic. My injection of petty internal bickering in the Liberal Party is more properly politics; I apologize if anyone is offended.
     
    Johann likes this.
  18. StevenKing

    StevenKing Active Member

    Thank you.

    My middle name is McLane and I have never felt the need to check on the spelling of this guy's name. I just remember him from M.A.S.H.
     
  19. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Don't worry, Stanislav. I'm sure you can outrun the enraged posse of Ukrainian-background Toronto Liberals you've unleashed on yourself! Hey, Orest! Maxim! Put that rope away, you guys! :eek:
     
  20. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Funny; there was a lesser light named Orest in the story as well. Also, the whole Ukrainian school saga is one of the lighter tales I can tell, because we partially won, at least on a personal level. That Ashworth degree was recognized (likely for the first - and last - time in the history of the College of ECE's), the poor woman is not dealing with every-tree-month threats to her livelihood, kids are being cared for. Success (mostly). I've sacrificed time, sanity, and treasure to far more futile endeavors. So I do not have THAT much gripe against the person of pompous Mr. Schwec.

    The truth is, these people, as a group, had won at Canada. I didn't, despite working literally for Canada and pulling above-average pay. This is their country, not mine; I've been both told and shown that in many ways. United States had welcomed me more as a temporary student than Canada in 12 as a PR/citizen.
     

Share This Page