Pow! Go West, Young Adam

Some people remember what they were doing when they first found out about Princess Diana's death, or the twin towers falling. I think I will always remember what I was doing when I found out that Adam West had passed away - doing leg lifts by the stairs. It's really close to the office, so I heard MrFodder yell out really loudly, and then he suddenly opened the door and I nearly fell over.

MrFodder: Oh no, I have some bad news!
Me: What happened?
MrFodder: Adam West is dead.

The greatest Batman there ever was is dead.

I think what I like most about him is the fact that he is the master of self-deprecating humour. I mean, just look at all the entries under the TV Tropes page for Adam Westing. And oh my gosh, he was offered the role of James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever, but declined because he thought James Bond should always be played by a Brit. I really admire the way that he handled being associated with Batman, and given that the 60s Batman is my not-so-guilty pleasure, I am forever grateful that he donned the cape (which in the movie commentary, he says was a lot heavier than it looks, but it was made from the silk of a billion Chinese silk worms - I don't know if he's being sarcastic, as it is really hard to tell).

To commemorate, a viewing of Batman, the Movie is required. With audio commentary by Adam West and Burt Ward, of course. We had a VHS copy of the movie when I was a kid, and I'm pretty sure I wore out the tape. In the behind-the-scenes, they spoke about how suited Burt Ward was to the role of Robin, and you can tell it even from the audio commentary. He will often say, "Oh, heck!" and "Holy formaldehyde!". I don't know how old he was when he did it, but he still sounds so young (he says, "Holy formaldehyde" in response to a comment he made about how he and Adam West are ageless and timeless, and haven't aged).

I got home too late to watch the entire movie before my blog deadline, unfortunately, so I'll just upload some of my favourite moments.

According to the commentary, the motto on Bruce Wayne's blazer is Latin for "Don't be a cheeseburger" - some sort of crew in-joke.

MrFodder and I often say this to each other when we want to leave an event.