Tuesday, May 27, 2014

It's been awhile.

Hey all.

Now I know you are probably wondering about what I am up to now, where I've been, what I've been doing, and if not and of those questions then who am I and why do I share your last name.

I know, it's been awhile.

But I am not here to talk about me, there will come a time and a place and frankly here, now, is neither. I am here to talk about a person near and dear to all our lives. The person who has pushed us to be better in every aspect of ourselves. I think this person needs to be especially recognized since mother's day just passed and they have been a mother to us all.

Of course, I am talking about Bill Murray.

The iconic, quirky, funny-man that is Bill Murray. Obviously, we all love his movies. That's a given. But I also love him for his mythos. Bill Murray has become a spook story told throughout the country. Tales of him showing up in expected places, say for example underneath your chair at the movie theatre, doing some ridiculous stunt and then muttering the ever taunting phrase "No one will ever believe you." has become a never ending internet meme. I remember just a few years ago Bill Murray was supposedly going through Philadelphia and he promised he would stop at anyones house if they had karaoke going and had his name on a sign outside. I remember every house, every bar, every cardboard box was emblazoned with Bill Murray. His mythos is mysterious and ever sage-like, with him showing up and taking a lucky man or woman on crazy adventures through out the city with the night only ending with life advice from the one and only.

So here's the thing. I love Bill Murray, and while I wanted to believe all these things I just believed they were over zealous fans spreading the idea of Bill. Until today. Today my facebook newsfeed trended with Bill Murray, crashing a bachelor party and giving life advice to the groom and to all those in attendance. Maybe this doesn't match up to the stories I've been told. The stories told only in hushed voices in the back of dark bars by strangers with hidden faces. But, to me, this gives me hope that it is all true.

If you have never heard Bill Murray story here are a few:

Years ago, I left my laptop open at a Starbucks while I left to get my drink. When I returned, Bill Murray was sitting in front of my screen tapping away on the keyboard. I looked over his shoulder as he anonymously posted a number of stories regarding encounters with himself. They ranged from tackling others, stealing food and other fun oddities. When he finished, he closed my laptop, stood up, and looked me in the eye. Then he said, “No one will ever believe you” and walked away.

----


Bill Murray came in and ordered a basket of Suicidal wings and a scotch, neat. He was carrying a manuscript under his arm, which he laid on the seat next to him. I wanted to say hello but I didn’t want to seem starstruck so I just smiled and waved my drink at him.
As the night progressed, he ordered more drinks and more wings. At some point, as is usually the case at DTH, with his hands covered in wing sauce, Bill Murray ran out of napkins. After a couple of halfhearted attempts at getting the bartender’s attention, Mr. Murray began tearing pages off the top of the manuscript next to him and using them to wipe his hands. Odd, but not altogether crazy.
After a few drinks of my own, I finally mustered the courage to approach him and offer to buy him a round. Before I could get the words out of my mouth, however, Mr. Murray grabbed me by my wrist, pulled me towards him and said “You’ve got something…a bit of schmutz right…there.” He then tore a page off the top of that manuscript and wiped something off the corner of my mouth.
I thanked him and unsure of what to say after that, I cast my eyes towards the pile of crumpled-up pages and napkins on the bar beside us. It was then that a watermark on each page caught my eye: “Ghostbusters 3: Back In Business.”
Bill must’ve seen a change of expression on my face because at this point, he pulled me closer, leaned over and whispered in my ear “No one will ever believe you.
----
Some can be more ridiculous than others.
And Finally


Bill Murray's Response from GQ magazine when asked about this phenomenon:
[long pause] I know. I know, I know, I know. I've heard about that from a lot of people. A lot of people. I don't know what to say. There's probably a really appropriate thing to say. Something exactly and just perfectly right. [long beat, and then he breaks into a huge grin] But by God, it sounds crazy, doesn't it? Just so crazy and unlikely and unusual?
So to finish Bill Murray is great with his fans and creating this mythos. If I could choose one person to live forever with no adverse affects it would be Bill Murray. Stories are a bound, pictures are few and movies... well I've only ever found one.... or two.
Below is the movie of the bachelor party in question:

2 comments:

James R said...

I had a friend in the Boston office while I was there who went to Disney World and saw Bill Murray. This friend was not a shy person and immediately went up to Mr. Murray and asked if he could take his picture in some sort of pose, probably with another friend. Now this was long before the Bill Murray mythos. He was still making comedies and before he had time to culture a "No one will ever believe you" mystique.

My friend is fiddling with the focus and F-stop shutter speed of his SLR expensive, but not so instant, camera and Bill is there, "OK, I'm aging here. You've got THREE, TWO, ONE! I'm outta here!" My friend got the picture (barely) and a show proving Bill Murray is just as funny in 'real life.'

By the way, great post and I'd love some stories on what you've been doing. (and the final link has been challenged by copyright claim)

Big Myk said...

This, just from last weekend in Charleston, South Carolina: Bill Murray Gave His Bill Murray-iest Advice About Love at a Bachelor Party