Remembrance

I was three months old when Mork from Ork appeared on Happy Days.  As a child I had a few VHS tapes of movies recorded from a Disney channel free weekend, one of which was Popeye.  It's not the best loved movie by any means, but I thought it was great then, and I still enjoy it.  Some years later, I saw Good Morning Vietnam, and 'What a Wonderful World' is indelibly linked to the Vietnam War because of it.  Aladdin marked the return of Disney animated movies to greatness in my mind.  Suffice it to say, Robin Williams had an effect on my life.

He yam what he yam

He was one of the first comedians I actively recognized and sought out.  I've still got my CD of 'Live at the Met'.  In 1995 I had the good fortune to be at an event where he was on one of the panels.  I couldn't tell you now who else was on the panel with him, or what the subject was.  But I will never forget Robin Williams pretty much taking over the stage and going into an off the cuff Jacques Cousteau riff about Dale Chihuly's sea anemone-like glasswork.  He was as manic and non-stop in person as he ever was on film.  Afterwards I had the chance to shake his hand and tell him how much I loved his comedy.  It's still a personal highlight.

He was one of us.  A gamer and a fan.  He famously named his daughter Zelda after The Legend of Zelda.  He read Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan.  He played Dungeons & Dragons and World of Warcraft (apparently he was the Prince of Trolls in Mannoroth trade chat.  I can only imagine).  And now he's gone.  Taken from us by the darkness in his mind.  He will be missed.

Bangarang.