The idea that Budapest is a little behind the times is nothing new… but even I had to do a double take when I came across this at the end of Vaci utca yesterday. At first glance, it looks fairly normal - two street artists sit behind a display of their caricatures and portraits, bored out of their minds. It‘s common the world over, have your face distorted in a playful way or if you're shy, get a straight picture drawn. Don't worry. They're good at what they do. Look! They've sketched some pretty nice portraits of Britney Spears, Kevin Costner, Jean-Claude van Damme and... who is that exactly? MacGyver?
It was at about this point that I stopped, looked, blinked, looked away, looked back, blinked again. Britney Spears, Kevin Costner, Jean-Claude van Damme and MacGyver. What an odd quartet.
I nodded at the woman and bent down for a closer look. Of the four, perhaps Jean Claude van Damme's portrait was the most revealing. I was looking into the eyes, and hair, of a man who had just released Double Impact, rather than the mysterious-sounding, but largely unavailable The Shepherd:Border Patrol. And this was the old Kevin too. The superstar who strung together hit after hit after hit in the mid-eighties, who so charmed my own mother in Field of Dreams. There's something less charming about Kevin these days... perhaps it's this incident (and I quote from the Sun...)
I nodded at the woman and bent down for a closer look. Of the four, perhaps Jean Claude van Damme's portrait was the most revealing. I was looking into the eyes, and hair, of a man who had just released Double Impact, rather than the mysterious-sounding, but largely unavailable The Shepherd:Border Patrol. And this was the old Kevin too. The superstar who strung together hit after hit after hit in the mid-eighties, who so charmed my own mother in Field of Dreams. There's something less charming about Kevin these days... perhaps it's this incident (and I quote from the Sun...)
"A MYSTERY Hollywood idol accused by a hotel masseuse of performing a lewd sex act in front of her was named yesterday as Kevin Costner.
The Untouchables star, 51, was on HONEYMOON in Scotland when he allegedly whipped off his towel and pleasured himself".
The Untouchables star, 51, was on HONEYMOON in Scotland when he allegedly whipped off his towel and pleasured himself".
And where do you start with Britney? That's a cautionary tale for any all-American pop-star wannabe. It was really only this other character, the Richard Dean Anderson-a-like, the wild card of this wild bunch, that I felt warranted my wholehearted admiration. How times have changed!
With this in mind, I strolled away, my head filled with thoughts of the Muscles from Brussels, Britney on the Mickey Mouse Club, and Kevin Costner pleasuring himself. It wasn't long before I felt ridiculously nostalgic, and old... like a pensioner perhaps, who had just happened upon a battered picture of Vera Lynn.
(from our sister site, monkeyfallsofftower. Spoil films in four words...)Andy T.
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Um...that's not MacGyver. I have no idea who that is. Perhaps a young Alain Delon. But that keeps up with your premise that it's old, as I can't remember his last film in the cinema.
Yes, maybe. First time I saw that board, from a distance, I was pretty convinced it was the chap who played MacGyver, a few years after that series bit the dust.
But it's obviously open to interpretation ....which kind of destroys my premise that the street artists are good at their jobs.
On the Alain/MacGyver thing...
Here's some links, which don't really help to clear anything up.
Alain Delon?
MacGyver?
Yes. The hairs all wrong. Yes, it's an odd face to have on this board. But this could easily be a regal looking Richard Dean Anderson.
Hi, I'm Richard Dean Anderson, the man behind the face. I remember posing for that picture, just after I'd bought some souvenirs in Budapest, I was over there for a long weekend at the time. Anyway, after those guys had finished the first, they asked if they could keep the picture, then they drew me another. Turns out the guy with the beard is a big fan of my show! They ended up drawing five... one for me, one for my wife, the one you see there, one for the guy with the beard, and one for his wife. I was there for like an hour! Hope that clears everything up.
Salut, c'est Alain Delon ici, le sujet de ce figure-la. Je me rappele qu'on m'a demande si c'etait possible de la prendre, juste apres j'avais acheter des petits souvenirs. Je restais a Budapest pendant un long weekend.
Alors, ces gens-la ont pris des photos et ils ont demande s'ils pouvaient les garder. Oui, bien sur, j'ai dit. Puis, ils ont esquisse encore des ebauches... l'homme avec le barbe etait un vrai fan.
L'un pour moi, un autre pour ma femme (un petit cadeau), celui-la, c'est pour moi, celui-ci c'est pour lui, avec le barbe et ca, c'est pour sa femme. Voila, c'est super! C'est jolie, non? Ah, oui, c'est jolie, ah?
J'etais la pendant une heure et demi! J'espere que toute est bien claire maintenant.
Salut!
Is it not former West Wing pin-up Rob Lowe?
With several sex scandals in his past, a positive ID here would complete this mini tea-set of chipped goods.
PD