Hobo Lore, pt. 3

A quick internet search shows that there are a few hobo movies out there, most of which are preposterously demeaning to our hobo friends, like these...

--1987's A Hobo's Christmas, starring Gerald McRainey (most known as one of the Simons in "Simon & Simon") - - the adorable story of a hobo who returns to the family he abandoned 20 years earlier.

--1977's The Billion Dollar Hobo, starring Tim Conway as Vernon Praiseworthy, a man who must ride the rails and live as a hobo if he wants to inherit the money his rich uncle left for him. Madcap hijinx and general hilarity ensue.

Crappy hobo movies aside, there is one that I'd really like to see . . .

--1973's The Emperor of the North Pole starring Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. Borgnine plays "Shack," a train-man psychotically obsessed with keeping hobo scum off of his train. Marvin plays "A#1," a hobo determined to ride the train and be crowned "The Emperor of the North Pole" (hobo slang for the King of Hoboes). From the descriptions I've read, this is not exactly the feel-good movie of the year. In the first five minutes, Borgnine beats a hobo over the head with a hammer and then throws him off of the train to be split in two by the train's wheels. Yikes. All the same, any movie that features hoboes and an insane Ernest Borgnine is pretty much automatically one of my favorite movies.

Well, that will just about do it for the hobo posts for a while. Except for one thing. I'd told you that I'd pick my own hobo name, and well, here it is:

"Mitsubishi-Drivin' Uncle Natey"

I know the whole "Mitsubishi-Drivin'" thing is sort of anathema to the train riding hobo ethic, but I make no apologies for my hobo name. It is uniquely mine. You can just call me "Uncle Natey" if you're into the whole brevity thing.

Anyone else come up with their own hobo name?

P.S. - Okay, one MORE thing, go back here and check out the Flickr set of illustrations depicting the 700 Hobo Names. It's grown immensely since I first posted about it.