Goodbye, Grasshopper
By blog on Jun. 6, 2009.
Most of the world will have heard by now that actor David Carradine has died. I’m not going to go into all the speculation surrounding his death, here, because I would like to instead focus on what he brought to the world of entertainment.
Carradine started out in Broadway, but really hit the big time when he stared as Kwai Chang Caine in the TV show, Kung Fu. From the late 60’s through to this year, Carradine has been acting in movies and television shows, with my favorites being Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2.
I don’t think a more perfect Bill could have been found, he seemed to fit so well with that odd, 50’s funk vibe that Tarantino movies seem to have. But of course, I cannot overlook Kung Fu, either. This show was a bit before my time, to be honest, so the few occasions I have seen it, it has had an old, sort of quirky feel to it, though I do still appreciate it was pretty good in it’s time. I always thought the combination of the American West with Kung Fu to be and odd, perhaps slightly humorous, notion, but from what I have heard, it worked.
And if you ever wondered how he became known as Grasshopper in Kung Fu, I will leave you with a quote from the pilot episode.
Master Po: Close your eyes. What do you hear?
Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds.
Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat?
Caine: No.
Po: Do you hear the grasshopper that is at your feet?
Caine: Old man, how is it that you hear these things?
Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?
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