If you have ever seen the epic movie “The Green Mile,” one of the break-out characters from that movie was John Coffey, played by the talented actor of Michael Clarke Duncan, who unfortunately died on September 3rd, 2012, at the age of 54.
Michael Clarke Duncan was an outstanding actor; however, life was not always that great for him. Duncan, a Chicago native, was raised in a single-parent household, and dropped out of his college career to take care of his ill mother. At this time, thanks to Duncan’s body size, he landed a job working as a bodyguard for various celebrities, such as: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and Jamie Foxx.
What was your favorite Michael Clarke Duncan character? Let us know in the comments!
In 1998, Duncan tried out for and acquired the role as “Bear” in the movie Armageddon, and then later landed the role of “John Coffey” in The Green Mile (1999). Duncan then earned an Academy Award nomination for “John Coffey” under the “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” category. This role also landed Duncan a Golden Globe nomination under the “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” category as well.
Michael Clarke Duncan was also known for acting in other various supporting roles, such as: “Attar” in Tim Burton’s adaption of Planet of the Apes (2001), “Balthazar” in The Scorpion King (2002), “Manute” in Sin City, and other roles in well-known blockbuster movies as well.
On September 3rd, 2012, Michael Clarke Duncan died of a myocardial infarction (sudden heart attack) at the age of 54. This comes after a minor heart attack that he suffered back in July.
Various fans of Duncan have left their condolences via Twitter:
Michael Clarke Duncan was 1 of the nicest people I ever met. Very talented & so down to earth. A true gentleman. Off 2 heaven u go brother!
RIP actor Michael Clarke Duncan, age 54. So sad! His performance as John Coffey in The Green Mile will forever live in my heart. ^i^
Michael Clarke Duncan was a lovable teddy bear and will be missed.
RIP Michael Clarke Duncan. You were awesome in everything you were ever in.
It’s gonna feel weird watching The Green Mile now that Michael Clarke Duncan has passed away. RIP Michael, you were admired by many
Bruce Willis Can’t Save The World From A Giant Asteroid
I won’t go into why I absolutely despise the film Armageddon. It just never did anything for me and it made me realize at a young age that Steven Tyler should never do rock ballads. Despite the film’s weaknesses, it does propose a very good question. Could a team of oil drillers blow up an asteroid with a nuclear weapon?
Science doesn’t believe in leaving questions to hang so they set out to answer the question last year in a study that was just dug up today by Network World. By taking clues given in the movie about the size, trajectory and speed of the asteroid, the scientists at the University of Leicester calculated the effectiveness of a placing a nuclear weapon inside the asteroid.
The answer: a resounding no. We would all die and NASA would have just wasted billions of dollars sending a under educated team of oil drillers to space. Why would such a foolproof plan fail? The asteroid is just moving too fast. They also note that the most powerful nuclear weapon on earth wouldn’t be powerful enough to split the asteroid in time before it collided with earth.
What’s interesting is that the plan in Armageddon is feasible and totally doable. The only problem is that the asteroid must be detonated long before it ever reaches Earth. In Armageddon, the asteroid is detonated 63,000 miles away from Earth which is the minimum safe distance according to movie scientists. Real scientists say the actual safe distance is more like 88 AU, or 8.1 billion miles.
While the team at movie NASA can’t save us from a potentially catastrophic asteroid strike, the real NASA has a few ideas that might work better in our favor. They also don’t require the man power or nuclear weapons that the film used. In all honesty, this is more realistic scenario:
Wyoming Doomsday Bill: When Armageddon Visits The Equality State
Lack of food rations. No electricity. Broken government. Money is meaningless. Lawlessness. Sounds like the end of the world, doesn’t it? To Wyoming it sure does, and accordingly the state government has drafted a bill to prepare for the consummate collapse of society so that the Equality State can march onward into a future uncertain.
House Bill 85, which is being risibly touted as a “Doomsday Bill,” was briefly on the menu for the Wyoming House of Representatives this past Tuesday, which would have made provisions against all of the aforementioned symptoms of the end of the world. In essence, with armageddon bearing down on us and the United States government at a loss to help its citizens, House Bill 85 would have called for the assembly of a task force capable of governing the fair state of Wyoming through the dark lands of armageddon.
As far as the composition of the task force goes, it would have contained the types of dignitaries you might expect to protect the the citizens of Wyoming should the end of the world arise: four members of state government, director of homeland security, the attorney general, and a couple of energy and agriculture specialists. This nine-member squad would be all that stands between Wyoming and the depravity that surely sweeps across the United States once the bottom falls out of society.
House Bill 85 was eventually voted down, but just narrowly. Republican Rep. David Miller, the bill’s sponsor, said that while he didn’t expect America to slip off into armageddon anytime soon, the mounting national debt and active protests seen throughout the country inspired in him concern that Wyoming needs protection. And not just any protection, either: they want an aircraft carrier.
And in case that joke buzzes over you, consider: aircraft carriers need an ocean. Now, go look at where Wyoming is on a map.
What’s more incredible than the end of the world? Miller didn’t even really seem to take his own bill seriously. After it was rejected, he shared his wonderment that the bill even made it as far as it did. “I think the political class here in Cheyenne has a little myopic view of the world in relation of what government can do to people,” Miller said.
The Twitter class, however, has a bemused view of the world of Wyoming:
@ByronTau: Wyoming was weighing building their own aircraft carrier http://t.co/irLER7tv
Wyoming is landlocked. Where was it going to go? MT@pkedrosky: Oh, for crying out loud: Wyoming House advances doomsday bill http://t.co/wMyIS4qP <– Idiocracy has arrived
RT
Wyoming narrowly defeats measure to prepare for apocalypse http://t.co/AP0bRFRt from @iNewsApp
Wyoming: Where Armageddon Comes Home to Roost.