AuthorJim Flynn is a humorist, writer and novelist. He is available for speaking engagements. To contact email: [email protected] Archives
June 2025
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A Little Country Place2/22/2025  This is Alexandre Dumas' country home. It's called Monte Cristo, built after the fabulous success of the novel The Count of...guess where.
I ran across the photo and thought that maybe I'd build a little country place like this after the upcoming success of my next book The Final Password. Didn't know much about Dumas. Just thought he must have been very wealthy from his publishing income. Did a little research. Not so fast! Dumas did make a lot of money on his books, but was a wild, extravagant guy who owed money to all the banks, had scores of mistresses, partied like it was 1999, and as my grandmother would have said: spent a dime for every nickel he made. He eventually defaulted on this home. So I decided not to build a copy of this French chateau in Northwest Connecticut. Thinking more along the lines of a three way attachment for my tractor. Coming soon: The Final Password. JR Johnson as you've never seen him. questions or comments to: [email protected]
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Licensed to...2/15/2025  I was wondering about male characters for my new book, and the idea of James Bond came to mind. It got me thinking: Did you ever notice James Bond has no friends? Not one. Then again, James Bond is licensed to kill. And James Bond likes to play golf. Maybe a friend took way too long to line up a putt. Bang! How about this: Maybe another playing partner, Nigel Haversham, who Bond has discovered is a double agent, was standing next to the 150 yard marker, but made a big deal about using his electronic range finder-and took his sweet time doing so. Bang! Bang! (okay-I know it's more like Thump! Thump! because 007 always uses a silencer) Bond might finish the round, go to the clubhouse bar and have a martini. The bartender would ask: "Where is Nigel Haversham sir?" Bond would say: "Finally he's under par...six feet under." Cue the James Bond Theme Music, and cut to a shot from a helicopter of Bond driving an Aston Martin convertible on a twisty road. BREAKING NEWS: THAT WOULD MAKE A GREAT OPENING SCENE IN THE NEXT BOND MOVIE. That leads me to a recent podcast I was on. It took me a while to get booked on the very popular golf podcast, my appearance will be released in late March. The books discussed were Hit Your Second Shot First, and The 10 Greatest Golfers of All Time. The interviewer had read the books, which is not always the case for a podcast. But he was a very serious golfer, and obviously didn't think all my stuff was funny. For example: He wasn't keen on the idea of being allowed to beat a fellow golfer to death with your putter. I told him Hit Your Second Shot First wasn't for everybody, but The 10 Greatest Golfers of All Time appeals to a broader audience. We'll see how it comes out. If the podcast is entertaining, I'll give you a link. The 10 Greatest Golfers of All Time is getting some recent interest Click link to see on Amazon www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5S7Q58F 
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It's a Big First Step2/8/2025  I promise--this will be the last in the "Guy Jumping Off Series." of blog posts.
But after the Agony of Defeat guy last week, someone wrote in that I should watch the video of Felix Baumgartner, the guy who held the world free fall record in 2012. The photo above is a screen shot right after he stepped off at 124,000 feet! A big first step. He gets small real fast. It's worth watching. Felix has apparently retired from jumping off high things. If I was Felix, I'd get a basement apartment and sit in a Barcalounger all day the rest of my life. Felix's free fall broke the sound barrier-he hit over 800 mph. and began spinning out of control, head over heels--well, to use the technical terminology: ass over teakettle, before regaining stability and pulling the ripcord on the parachute. Can you imagine wearing just a spacesuit, going 800 mph, and tumbling? I can relate a bit. It must be similar to hit the "Upload to Publish" button on Amazon, when you give the final approval to publish your book. Into the great unknown. It's been a good week for writing-bad weather here in Connecticut. Much progress on The Final Password. To see Felix's jump, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz2F_S3Tl0Y&t=22s Stay tuned. questions or comments to: [email protected]
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The Thrill of Victory...and2/1/2025
Vinko Bogatag. There's a household name. Well, not really. But if I say "The Agony of Defeat" it brings up a mental picture, doesn't it? The Vinkster is the ski jumper at beginning of The Wide World of Sports!
The photos above are Vinko coming down the ski jump--then crashing. I watched the video several times before I noticed the second guy in the photo on the right. Bogatag is crashing in the center of the frame, but the dark image on the right is an official who had been standing at the take off point. When Vinko began crashing the official assumed the fetal position to avoid becoming collateral damage. The Vinkster barely missed him. When I mentioned The Agony of Defeat a couple weeks ago in the blog it drew several comments and questions, so I did a little research. -Vinko Bogatag is a Slovenian. -His highest world ranking as a ski jumper was 57th. -He broke his ankle in this accident, and had some other injuries, but after recovering continued to ski jump! -Vinko's incident was filmed in 1970, a time with no world wide television or internet, so Vinko had no idea he was famous in the United States. -He was not paid anything by ABC. They had telecast the original completion and had the broadcast rights. -ABC did invite Vinko to the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Wide Word of Sports in Chicago. -In Chicago, Vinko's car crashed on the way to the event, but he wasn't hurt. -Vinko first began to realize he was famous when he walked backstage to prepare to be introduced and Muhammad Ali asked him for his autograph. -After the event Vinko returned to Slovenia and resumed his quiet life as a landscape painter. I've given it much thought but can't come up with a moral to the story, but I have a couple observations: 1) Could ABC have been any cheaper? They couldn't send this guy a couple hundred bucks every time they showed him crashing? It was the reason people tuned in. C'mon--this is the network that paid the kid who played Urkel. And...as reluctant as I am to say it....ABC paid Howard Cosell. 2) If I had any knowledge of how to make Deep Fake videos, I'd make one of Howard Cosell crashing off a ski jump. Sure to go viral. Be honest---how many times a day would you watch that one? Breaking News! This might not be of interest to blog readers in France, California or Australia, but for you locals: Last week I mentioned a biker bar on Rt 44 in New Hartford. A prominent New Hartford native indignantly pointed out that the biker bar in question is actually in Barkhamsted. I promised a retraction, which I hope heads off a possible lawsuit. Working on the JR Johnson novel. The title is going to be The Final Password. Coming soon. I did a podcast with a guy named Hersh Rephun a couple months ago that just came out. Click here to watch on YouTube if you're interested: https://youtu.be/RN-zHSXsIgY Questions or comments to: [email protected] |
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