TANiel-san's Mentor Goes To The Big Waxing Room In The Sky

If you're like me, then you learned half of what you know from Yoda, and the other half from Mr. Miyagi.

So yesterday we all got a little less wiser when our favorite karate mentor went to that great big dojo in the sky.

Catching flies with chopsticks, wax on - wax off, the dry wit and wisdom ... yes Mr. M was the super we all hope to have cleaning our halls someday. How he lost the best supporting actor award in 1984 is beyond me.

Did you know Hilary Swank was featured in the third Karate Kid sequel?

Pat was helping kids reach their potential on screen and off.

Here's a little snippet of info on Mr. M's background:

After the war[WWII], Morita's family tried to repair their finances by operating a Sacramento restaurant. It was there that Morita first tried his comedy on patrons.

Because prospects for a Japanese-American standup comic seemed poor, Morita found steady work in computers at Aerojet General. But at age 30 he entered show business full time.

"Only in America could you get away with the kind of comedy I did," he commented. "If I tried it in Japan before the war, it would have been considered blasphemy, and I would have ended in leg irons. "

So sometime today make sure you raise a leftover turkey leg in honor of Pat Morita.

TANiel-san out
.