…one flew over the cuckoo’s nest, but for the last time. They’re tearing it down.

Oregon State Hospital, the site producer Michael Douglas chose to make his groundbreaking, disturbing 1975 film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, will finally — actually, at long last — face the wrecking ball.

The movie, filmed almost entirely at this dilapidated, overpopulated mental facility, hit the Grand Slam at the Oscars in 1976, winning not only Best Picture, but Best Director (Milos Forman, later of Amadeus fame, another Oscar BP winner), Best Actor (Jack Nicholson) and Best Actress (Louise Fletcher, as the evil Nurse Ratched). Throw about a hundred other awards in there, and you pretty much have it covered. It’s also listed at #7 on IMDB’s Top 250 of all time list. (Look at #1…cool.)

My parents would have never let me see it in the theater (I was a sophomore in high school when it came out), so it wasn’t until the late 80s that I actually saw it, on video, for the first time. In a word: chilling. And realistic.

For those who don’t know — and if you don’t, you really must rent it — the film is about a guy named Randle Patrick McMurphy, a repeat felon who avoids another prison sentence by pretending he’s crazy. What happens to him at the mental hospital is both funny and depressing; hopeful and desperate — and horrifying and profoundly sad in about a dozen different ways. That’s all I’ma say about it. If you haven’t seen it, do so. It’s an emergency.

Right, so this post was supposed to be about the hospital. Remember the OSH story that broke in 2005? They found thousands of cremains from a hundred years ago through the 1970s in an abandoned room. Patients, largely forgotten in life, were left forgotten by family in death. Yep, time for the old place to come down. Apparently, the state is building a new, state-of-the-art mental health facility in its place.

Speaking of mental health…mine is dwindling at the hands of Gustav Mahler. Alas, I must get back to work on it.

Fink out.

Photo credits: Oregon State Hospital – Associated Press; Jack Nicholson – Fantasy Films

Man! This has never happened. I had 2 correct answers. Bando submitted her answer at 4:16 via email, and Stoney posted her answer here at 4:13, but I didn’t see it until after I notified Bando that she won. So…ya both win.

Am I good to you people or what???

The right answer is listed by Stoney below. Good job, y’all!

Fink (sendin the chocolate) out.

But first…it’s the 15th of the month, and you know what that means…

RtB Contest #5!

Big fat ol’ Hershey bar (either in person or through the mail) goes to the winner. Today’s fun is a 2-parter:

1. Who created this work of contemporary art?
2. What is its huge significance in pop culture history?

Send your answers (it’s gotta be both of ’em and both of ’em gotta be right) to ratfink at finkweb . org to claim your yummy prize. Out-of-state players: that means people outside the grasp of my rat claws here in Ohio – the USPS and I are tight, so don’t be afraid to play — I’ll be happy to send your luscious chocolateness through the mail.

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Random Neuron Firings

~ This one’s for my friend, RD. “Revenge is mine,” saith the center fielder. HA

~ Parents: fear not. Banana safety has finally arrived.

~ *gAsP* (Speechless)

Sixty-three years ago tomorrow, the mad scientists behind the Manhattan Project performed the world’s first nuclear bomb test, in New Mexico (although this photo was definitely not taken in the American desert). The 18-kiloton blast shattered windows 120 miles away.

Hate to leave you on that note on a beautiful Tuesday morning, but my Mahler assignment is calling, and Jason will be here soon, and my hair’s a wreck and whatever shall I do….

Fink out.

Oh, and play the contest, why don’t ya? Search, my little philomath. Search.

…or is there anyone else in the world who thinks clowns are decidedly UNfunny?

Be honest. Have you ever laughed at a clown’s antics? I mean, really, look at this photo. Is that remotely humorous? Ok, maybe remotely, but certainly not anything close to roll-on-the-floor-and-grab-your-tummy hilarious. And before you accuse me of reaching inside your soul and strangling your inner child: I know “clowning” is considered an “art.” They even have a Hall of Fame you can actually visit.

There are also clown colleges. One (in Ohio, of course), advertises that they serve anyone who “seeks the way of the clown.” (website now defunct)

Seeks the way of the clown. How very Master Po.

Even as a child I didn’t laugh at clowns. Not even at Bob Bell — aka Bozo the Clown — with whom I spent weekly quality time via WGN-TV in Chicago when I was a kid. Rather, I watched Bozo’s Circus for the prize giveaways and the cartoons.

What is inherently funny about your standard clowns? Call me crazy, but they strike me as being a little…I dunno…creepy. Suspect. As if they’re putting on makeup to hide the monster beneath.

It’s possible that this guy ruined clowns for me for life. It by Stephen King was the scariest novel I had ever read, until recently. Quoth Mr. Pennywise to a group of terrorized adults:

I’ll kill you all. I’m every nightmare you’ve ever had. I’m everything you were ever afraid of.”

Super.

[Know what else? I hate balloons. Hate ’em. They’re floaty, evil things. Bombs, waiting to go off.]

I know someone (*cough*STONEY*cough*) who freaks out at the mere mention of clowns. Johnny Depp (insert angel chorus here) used to have nightmares about them. I’ve seen small children shriek in terror at parades and festivals and street fairs when clowns attempt to approach them. So why are they consistently tied to wholesome, family fun?

Circus (acrobat) clowns are an exception. Many of them are talented athletes who are not funny, but extremely entertaining. It’s the ones who look, well, dirty, with their smeared-on theatrical makeup (called, fittingly, “Clown White,” which makes the whites of their eyes look jaundiced) and bleeding, feathered red lipstick that make me feel all ooky.

Bottom line, clowns just remind me of this.

Fink (looking) out (the window for balloons that may be sailing by).

Photo credits: torontoist.com; best-horror-movies.com