Crazy Crap Item #120: The part where Sailor Jack shows his silver screen roots

It is well known that my father is a Casablanca fanatic. It is useless to count the number of times he has seen this fine film. Hundreds of times?, you ask. Nay, I say, most likely thousands.

As an illustration, it should be noted that there was an extended period during which every day my dad would come home at 2pm from his post-retirement gig working at my cousin's plumbing supply store, pop in his well-worn video tape of Casablanca, and watch till dinner. At dinner time, he'd hit stop, then start it up the next day, post-plumbing. When the tape ended, he'd hit rewind and start over.

And thus it went, every afternoon, for years. One summer, I worked with him at the plumbing store, and often joined him in his Bogey-fest. I reckon I'd seen the movie several times over by the end of the summer, but never in sequence.

That little illustration serves as a prelude to my most recent email from Dad:

"The other day I got the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to quote Casablanca. We were at the motel about to take a cab to the airport when I decided to use the men's room. It was poorly marked, with just a tiny outline of a man. Mom thought I had gone that way to the cab and tried to follow. There was a rattling of the door knob and knocking. To this I said '...Where I'm going you can't follow. What I'll be doing, you can't be any part of...'"

An excellent use of all his Casablanca expertise, I say.