Entry 44: Dr. Hunt

The other day at the gym, after I had finished doing an exercise, I went to put the weights back on the rack, but somebody else had put different weights in the spot where my weights should have gone, so now there was no room for my weights. Not feeling like completely rearranging the rack to make room, I just set my weights on the floor next to the rack. Immediately after doing so, one of the guys who works at the gym came up and started a conversation with me.

“Hey mate, I’m Steven. What’s your name?”

I told him and we shook hands. I was certain that he was going to give me a little hey-let’s-keep-the-gym-tidy spiel, but instead he said, “Has anybody every told you that you look exactly like Dr. Hunt from Grey’s Anatomy?”

I told him that I’ve never seen the show.

“I’m telling you mate, it’s uncanny. His hair is a little more red than yours, but when you have a little growth… usually when you come in here you have more growth, right? (I had just shaved that day, for the first time in a few weeks.) I’m telling you, it’s spot on. I told some of the girls at the front and they’re like, ‘yeah, that’s him’. Anyway, mate, I just had to tell you that, ta.”

It’s funny because in my daily routine I see the same people over and over (on the bus for example) and sometimes I’ll comment on them to other people (or in a blog), but I never think of myself as being one of the ones on the other end.

Anyway, I went home and told S, who watches Grey’s Anatomy, and before I even got out the name of the doctor she said “Dr. Hunt! That’s hilarious, because whenever I see him he reminds me of you.” So, it’s official. I must look like Dr. Hunt (played by Kevin McKidd). I’ve posted a few pics below. Most of you can judge for yourself. He’s a few years old than me, but I can see it.

[Kevin McKidd, my alleged doppelganger.]

Not the worst person in the world to be compared to, by the way. Kevin McKidd isn’t exactly Jude Law, but it’s not like the guy at the gym said, “Has anybody ever told you that you look just like Manuel Noriega?”

[Who's the uglier enemy of the state, Maneul Noriega...]

[... or Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?]

To change the subject, S and I went to see The King’s Speech last night and I really enjoyed it. It was funny, because we went with two Aussies, a Kiwi, and a German, and the Americans (S and I) and the German basically knew nothing about the story before watching it. We didn’t even know that there was a King George VI who took over after his brother scandalously abdicated. The others couldn’t believe this. It must just be a product of growing up or not growing up in The Commonwealth.

The whole notion of royalty just seems so bizarre and unnatural to me. All the pomp and pageantry, and bowing-before-them, and formal titles, and hallowed this and hallowed that. Is there a bigger crock of shit? Nobody’s that cool, and nobody should take themselves that seriously. But the history is quite interesting, and I found myself Wikipedia-ing the major characters in the film for a few hours before I went to sleep last night.

[King George VI. In the film, he was depicted by Colin Firth, who was terrific.]

On a more somber note, you have probably heard about the floods that have been devastating parts of Australia. Most of the flooding has been happening much north of where I live (if Newcastle is Atlanta, then the heart flooding is New York, to give you a rough point of reference), but still, it’s crazy to watch the news.

I’ll leave you with this clip, which is one of the most HOLY SHIT! videos I’ve ever seen. Watch the entire thing.