6/1/09 - Russell on his horses in Robin Hood: I have a string of 4 Andalusian horses that make up my character horse. My main horse is called "Rusty" so we share a name. He is an extremely intelligent and capable horse and I will probably use him for everything as he is powerful and fast as well as smart. I have one horse called Sebastian who is incredible at rearing and dancing so we will probably work specific moments into battle stunts for him.
That is Rusty in the Daily Mail photos. About 2 seconds after that gap in the buildings that the paps have shot through we, ( Rusty and I ) launch into a full gallop and slay 5 attackers including one bit where I lean off the right hand side at full stretch  to avoid a pike, after the 5th is dispatched I ride him bang into another pikeman who just misses my head, there are two other sections of battle choreography that follow on from that. We have one left to shoot starting Monday.   Rusty is so quick that I have to be right on my game to get the choreography accurate for the camera's.
 Sharp eyed observers might be able to see that the stirrups are joined together under the horse in section 1 so I can really throw myself into the lean to avoid the pike. It's a little dangerous because it limits my control of the horse, I become the performing monkey on his back. He has been great though, so up for it and tuned in.
He spins on a dime and responds like a cutting horse. He knows all the words like rolling,sound speed and definitely action, I can feel him revving up beneath me , he's so much fun, he gets right on his toes and turns out like a cat.
Can you tell I'm loving this guy ? - RC

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Russell's update on Yuma & family and The horse Ribbon

From olden days:

I asked Russell a few questions on Cinderella Man throuh his aide, and this is his reply:

Russell's weight in his various roles: Jim 176 lbs - Jack 228 - Wigand up to 250+ - Maximus 190 - Johnny 168 - Sid 180 - Terry 195 --- The difference now is no heavy weights at all. Weight sessions are with very low weights like 4 pounds or thera-band. Russell has taken physio excercises with Errol Alcott who designed a complete muscle workout based on that recovery programme. It works quite well. All the major muscle groups get worked but you don't fatigue or stress your joints and tendons. There is also an emphasis on aerobic excercise.

Renee has brought a much needed energy expansion to the set. After weeks of boxing and depression scenes, the Braddock family is now complete and the kids get lots of laughs from all. Russell and Renee did a couple of very emotional scenes last week. There were lots of tears from the crew. It is very unusual to effect everyone like that, but also lots of fun because it brings everyone closer together as a working unit, gives everyone confidence that they are spending their energy on something special.

As to the technical aspects of the filming, in the ring on Friday, 82 set ups were completed. Ron absolutely smashed his previous record,almost unheard of -- shootin' at the shrine, rocking the garden.

Braddock info: Some people will be critical that Braddock's weight for the Baer fight was 191 1/2, but he was 6'3"". He was 17 pounds at birth. His middle name is really Walter. He was born on the same block as the original Madison Square Garden. One of his jobs after boxing was working on the Verrazamo Bridge.

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5/4/09 -

Hey there,
I was in Amsterdam for Saturday.
 I'm not in Amsterdam anymore, I'm in Barcelona.
Short break from filming, chasing the sun.
I've been here before during M & C promo's but it was a short visit and all I really saw was the inside of hotel rooms and the outside of a cathedral. I do remember meeting Anthony Quinn's son who is a sculptor. Nice man.
It is a very cool place, friendly,relaxed,good food, just what I needed.
Amsterdam was, understandably , a bit sad after the Queen's Day incident.
I've spent two days here adventuring around on my trusty steed (Scott Genius 10 mountain bike). Dani bought me this one for Christmas and I've done over 1000 km's  ( 600 miles  + ) on it since Jan 7th. This is a beautiful city . There is an architectural feast on every other block. Back to the grind in the morning.
Kids and the lovely are in on Friday, can't wait. I'm planning on cuddling them all continously for the first 48 hours.
All the best,
RC.

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3/30/09 - From Russell - His Empire Awards speech and the poets he quoted - HERE on its own page [with a brief comment by Murph] - you can listen to or download the video of his speech at the Empire awards page (Scroll)

2009 Empire Awards
Nana Beef
Cinderella Man Messages from Russell
Russell's message to Charlie on his first birthday
Russell's update on Yuma & family and The horse Ribbon
Charlie Halloween 06
Charlie 1-21-07
Mad Max Response
Time Capsule letter to sons
On The Rabbitohs (2007)
On My Hand My Heart - Part 2
On the 9/10 07 article in Cowboys and Indians
Tennyson Welcome
On Tenny and other things...
At The Farm 12-07
On the Bra Boys
Russell on playing Braddock
Braddock's Tatoo
Russell responds to the Luhrmann/Stable story
From Russell 9/21/07
Reply about soccer
Strength and Honor - 2004

9/30/08 - From Russell with his usual humour: I won't be playing two roles in Nottingham.If I ever were to do that I'd pick roles that were more diverse, say Tuck and Marion. RC

Thanks to mnc:

4/4/2005 -- Murph,
It is with wonder and astonishment that I notice you still haven't posted photo's of Charlie.
I know you said you wouldn't,and,it's not that I would ever doubt your word,but very few people these days see value in your type of loyalty.I do.I hold it above all else.
You are truly a person of your word,and a woman of honour.
We avoid the paparazzi if we can,however we also want to live our lives and not be bound to the cover of darkness to take him for a walk
Here's the thing,we have accepted a certain invasion of privacy is inevitable.You won't be being disloyal to us by running the shots that a magazine has already run,so go ahead.
Is it just me or is he not a beautiful,botticelli baby?
His latest words,duck,da(dog) also woo( dog as in woof woof),puku (maori for stomach).
all the best,
Russell.
(Printed with permission)

2006 03 20 And Russell's memory of the last big one (cyclone) in 1974:
the cyclone in 74 that they refer to was cyclone tracey that devestated darwin on christmas eve.
i remember it clearly,i wanted a  drum kit,i got bongo drums.
it was a very sad and strange christmas day with the footage of buildings blowing away taking over from the normal christmas tv fare like hymns and old jimmy stewart movies. - Rc

2006 06 09 From Russell:
"by the way,could you let folks know that you don't refer to the team as the souths.they are South Sydney, South's, the Rabbitohs, the Rabbits, the Bunnies, the Red and Green, the Cardinal and Myrtle, the Pride of the League,  all of the above, but not the souths."

2006 07 07 From Russell:
"at 7.21am on the 7th of the 7th, 8 lbs, black hair, Tennyson Spencer Crowe arrived, mother and baby doing well. "my brothers name is Terrence, and I always liked his initials.dani had suggested many names that didn't strike a chord with me.Tennyson had resonance, romance, and a quiet strength to it.We will call him Tenny. rc"

2006 10 01 Two notes from Russell - one on Kilkee --
"hello there,
huge crowd today, much bigger than they were expecting.
got to our scheduled rehearsal with the choir at 4pm on friday.
no choir.
anyway, we finally got a 15 voice choir together and they were lovely people.
it went pretty well.
as i was making my speech, the sun broke through and a rainbow arced through the sky.
i think the old fella [Harris] would have been pleased.
i don't know how many autograph's i signed, and photo's i took,but i'm pretty sure i set a new record for myself. on the Friday night alan and i sang some songs at the strand for some other musicians, then again later at Dromoland castle for a bunch of stray wedding guests."

2006 10 03 I asked Russell how much of the sea you could glimpse from Kilkee [ed note –Mary Murph-: my grandmother came to Pittsburgh from County Clare] -- His reply:
"how much of the sea? the whole atlantic ocean, i could see alan's house in st.john's. got to be one of the best public cliff walks in the world."

2006 12 01 The reports about Russell in a Santa Fe hospital are completely untrue –
In his words --"not true.un-real.false.bollocks.fibs.crapola.porkies.rubbish."

2006 12 03 Russell's ex Harley up for auction at eBay
(Clarification from Russell: "that bike on e-bay needs clarification.although i was the original purchaser in 1998,the bike was not for me, it was for a friend. i have never ridden that bike."

2006 12 04 Note from Russell on the Italian Elle article - and Yuma:
"that italian elle interview appears to be made up.the sewing stuff,talking about other performances etc i think more than a little creative license has been applied.we start in the town of contention today."

6/08 - From Russell: "I'm not sure I understand his intentions nor his confusion, but I have never met Doug Liman [See news story below]. I've had a visitor here for the last week, Bobby Diggs aka The Rza. He is a Souths fan and he has been helping me with a team motivation project. - RC

5/08 - From Russell: " We have seen every dawn this week as CSC is waking very early. Given that each has been more gloriously golden than the previous , it has been wonderful. This morning the city buildings are shining ,the harbour water still and compelling and the cockatoos loud and boisterous. Every night here in Woolloomooloo we watch the fruit bats from the botanical gardens take to the dusk sky in search of food , and every morning in the last breath of darkness we see them scurrying home, as fast as laden stomachs will allow them to beat the sun."

10/07 - The UK Sun: [To the Sun - Get it right] - Russell Crowe spits it out - "... "And when I'd said my last line and the cameras stopped, he turned to me and growled, 'There's nothing I like better on a Monday morning than to get a face-full of saliva.'"

From Russell -- Denzel actually said...(paraphrasing Duval in Apocalypse Now )
"I love the taste of warm saliva in the morning".
Isn't it sad that they have to "adjust" the language of a simple story like this?
rc

12/2007: NY Post - Page Six Gossip (Scroll): We Hear -- THAT Russell Crowe named his new band The Ordinary Fear of God partly because it has the same initials as his old band, Thirty Odd Feet of Grunts, "so I didn't have to buy new T- shirts for the road crew. There's no deep spiritual meaning to it - just the chance to save a few bucks." - Thanks, Kris C

Russell's Response: i knew that made up quote would come back around again.it is a paraphrase of something i said at the AFI press conference.

On getting me on an airplane to France - "Get out your rosary, you're coming to the dance."

2007 01 07 From Russell: Charlie saw his birthday messages,he loved all the animals and cakes.winnie the pooh as Santa, he thought that was very funny.

2007 05 15 From Russell on the American Chopper bikes: "saw in a magazine article here that I supplied the bikes to the guys from american chopper. actually the guys at the local bike store helped me borrow them from many miles around,Ballina to Port Maquarie in fact. - rc 

From Russell re Souths watching:

for general information...
currently the souths broadcast deal isn't reliable...if you know someone in Australia with a sling box they can run their tv through their computer and you can hook into it.
that's how i get to see the games. - rc

From the proud Big Bunny:

tigers lost against newcastle,
souths in the final 8 for the first time in 18 years!!
rc

From Russell for Oz fans:

"in limited amount, restaurant cuts from JOCELYND FARM nana glen, black standard beef, is available at d'arcy's in paddington ,sydney.
rc"

2007 10 29 From Russell re The Avondale College link mentioned yesterday:

The video I did for Avondale college was not advertising. It was a corporate video for final year high school students considering the ministry. Just another acting job at the time, 1987 or '88.

These two thanks to Anne S and her memory:

8 january 2005

charlie has lots to say,it’s hard to keep up,he is now exploring 3-4 syllable words like helicopter.he is climbing on everything,stacking his toys to get over his play room fence.

he has two goldfish which he collectively calls nemo.

it’s a toss up between the hairy mc clary dvd (region 2)/ shrek 2/ nemo for favourite dvd.charlie only gets to watch tv after his bath before bedtime so he likes to concentrate.

he has had his fringe trimmed quite a bit,by a lady with pink hair called dotti.we have cut his fringe,but not his curls. without cutting his fringe he wouldn’t be able to see where he was going.we did the dvd trick too, [I had said that my daughter had the Baby Mozart DVD on while our Griffin got his first hair cut-Murph] put shrek on and he doesn’t even notice it’s being cut.when his hair is wet it is very long.

charlie and i have been watching all the souths games with cm on their jersey’s and they keep winning! get this,we just beat the bulldogs! irony huh? they were last years competition winners.charlie has a little souths jumper and he loves the rabbit emblem,he has two flags which he waves in a demented fashion that is endlessly amusing

July 15, 2006

Foreword to "Memoirs of a Rookie Father: A whole new ball game" by Andrew Voss

I got a call from Kerry Packer a week or two after my son was born.  He was ringing to congratulate us, Danielle and me, on having joined the parenthood club. He was obviously hosting a dinner party; the clinking and laughter in the background sang down the phone line. He asked me what I'd been doing.  As a matter of fact, I said, I've just changed Charlie's nappy and in a minute I'm going to bath him.  He said hold on a second, and he asked some muffled question of his dinner gusts.  When he came back on the line he said, 'I just asked the men at the table, parents every one, how many of them had ever changed a nappy?  Not a single one of them.  You've scored some big points with the women here, son.'
A month or so later I was talking to my father Alex, and I said to him that the joy of Charlie falling asleep on my chest was immeasurable and asked, could he remember cuddling me at the same age?  He looked a little sheepish for a moment and then replied, 'Not until you were much older.'  In his day, he said, it just wasn't done and no matter how willing he was, little babies were not male territory.

Times change, society's mores and values change, and these days you are rightly considered a dinosaur if you are not a hands-on dad.  I love my little boy and would do anything for him.  Nappies and the like are just the simplest tip of the iceburg.

No doubt Andrew's book will be full of tales of the unexpected; it goes with the territory.  I have to say though that I have managed to avoid the classic of being pissed on.  I'm sure he's taken deliberate aim a number of times, but the old man is just too quick for him.  Dani on the other hand, has been 'wounded' in action a number of times.

My favourite was on a boat off Queensland.  Charlie was 11 months old and already very mobile.  Dani had taken him into the cabin to bath him and laid him down on the crisp white Egyptian cotton sheets on the bed to take off his clothes. 

Once he was naked, she had the overwhelming desire to cuddle his perfect little form.  Completely understandable; he, like all babies, is gorgeous.  Oh the warmth of a baby's cuddle!

Hold on, she thought.  That's warm and wet ... pulling away from him to discover he was unleashing a tidal wave.  In seconds they were both drenched.  So when he 'released' from the other side at the same time as he got out of her embrace, it made Charlie a particularly slippery customer as he crawled, pooed, rolled, pooed, stood, pooed, fell over and pooed, from one end of the Egyptian cotton to the other!

By the time I went to investigate what was taking so long, she had the baby bathed, bed stripped and remade, and was more than in the mood for a glass of wine on deck, where we both laughed hysterically at the joy of it all.
She's a good sport, my wife;  I think to be a parent you have to be.  I know Vossy is.

Enjoy the read. -- Russell Crowe