Happy International Lefthanders' Day

Yes, it's that day again--International Leftanders' Day! Today is the 35th such special day for left handers (although some might say that every day is special if you are left handed!)

I don't know why this day, the 13th of August, was selected. It is the birthday of Fidel Castro, but that is probably just a coincidence. Some sources say Fidel is left handed--for example he is on the University of Indiana Famous Left-Handers list. But images on the web show him batting and writing rightie. He may be a leftist, but not with respect to laterality.

Of the many other mildly famous and obscure people born on this day (Don Ho? Lucy Stone? Ben Hogan?) none is a Great Left Handed Person, as far as I can tell.

August 13th is the anniversary of the great Arica earthquake in 1868. Possibly caused by a left hander?

On August 13th, 1918, Opha Mae Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. As far as I know she was not left handed.

The closing of the border and start of construction of what was to become the Berlin Wall was on 13 August 1961. The Leftist German Democratic Republic wanted to keep both left handed and right handed East Germans from moving to Rightist West Berlin. Not really a great day for left handers or anyone else.

So I guess International Lefthanders' Day was established on 13th August mainly because it seemed like a good idea and no other major holidays or festivals already occupied the spot. As good a day as any!

So Happy International Lefthanders' Day, all you left handers! Let's march in solidarity in any and all International Lefthanders' Day parades (stepping off with the left foot, as is traditional). If there is not an International Lefthanders' Day parade in your area, maybe you could organize one for August 13th next year.

UK PM David Cameron

David Cameron, Prime Minister of the UK, is from the party of the right, the Conservative Party. He signs, throws, and volleys leftie but bats righty. The official site of the Prime Minister's Office makes no mention of this crucial fact. But this Economic Times article reveals his hand preference.

PM signs signs the welcome book of the Welsh Assembly

Cameron tosses snowball (not shown)

This article shows that he plays tennis left handed. However, unless this photo has been reversed it looks like he bats right handed. Perhaps when he was at Eton there was a surplus of left-handed batters and he learned to bat rightie to round out the side.

Cameron bats rightie

Joel Hodgson/Joel Robinson

Comedian Joel Hodgson, who created  Mystery Science Theater 3000 and played experimental subject Joel Robinson, is left handed. So Joel Robinson is also left handed.

Just a regular (left handed) Joe

Joel repairs Crow

On the Satellite of Love, Joel creates four robot pals. Crow, shown above, is the only one with articulated arms. Gypsy and Cambot have no apparent arms or hands. And Tom Servo has only little springy arms and non-functional ornamental white hands. Crow T. Robot has more prominent arms, but can make little use of them.

According to the series' official episode guide, Crow and Tom have hands that work only intermittently because they are "run by lazy, shiftless puppeteers who just don't care." [Source: Wikipedia.] Whether these puppeteers are right or left handed does not appear.

[Trace Beaulieu, who operated Crow in the early years, is right handed. Later Bill Corbett took over, and was either left or right handed. Tom Servo was mainly operated over the years by Kevin Murphy, right handed I think. Gypsy has no hands.]

Starsky . . . and Hutch!

In the 2004 feature film Starsky & Hutch both David Starsky (Ben Stiller) and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (Owen Wilson) were played by left handers.

Hutch (Wilson) on left, Starsky (Stiller) on right

Leftie Ben Stiller

Southpaw Owen Wilson

Back Then

Hutch (David Soul) and Starsky
(Paul Michael Glaser) from the TV series

In the 1975-79 TV series "Starsky and Hutch" that the movie was based on, David Soul (right handed) played Hutch right handed and Paul Michael Glaser (left handed?) played Starsky left handed.

Paul Michael Glaser on the job left handed as Starsky

David Soul is still right handed

Kayser Söze (spoiler alert)

Kayser Söze seems to be left handed.

Kayser Söze shoots left handed in Verbal Kint's story

In one of the scenes portraying the flashback being related to Agent Kujan by suspect Roger "Verbal" Kint, Kaiser shoots left handed.

Left-handed "Kayser" shoots Keaton on the ship

In another scene, someone whom Dean Keaton addresses as "Kayser", who then shoots Keaton, fires left handed.


Kint himself seems to be right handed, though this may be a result of his apparent disability. He is played as having cerebral palsy affecting one leg and one arm. He holds his Uzi right handed in one scene.

In case you haven't seen the movie, I'll just leave it at that. Except to comment that writer Christopher McQuarrie and director Bryan Singer seem to have thought of everything. 

Kevin Spacey, who played Verbal Kint, appears to be right handed.

James Cameron's Left-Handed Na'vi

Movie director James Cameron is left handed. And on the moon Pandora, the setting for the movie Avatar, the native Na'vi are (all?) left handed. So though many great humans are left handed, not all great left-handers are human.

lefty Na'vi (Neytiri?)

The leading Na'vi character Neytiri is played by Zoe Saldana, who is in fact left handed.

lefty Zoe Saldana

Most of the other main Na'vi characters are played by right-handed actors. To the extent hand preference was involved in any of their performances, for instance handling weapons, they had to play left handed.

• Right-hander Laz Alonso plays Tsu'tey.
• Right-hander Wes Studi plays Eytukan. 
• Right-hander CCH Pounder plays Moat.

Interestingly the avatars of the human characters, when those characters are inhabiting Na'vi-like bodies, are right handed just as their human "operators" are. All of the actors who play these characters are themselves right handed.

• Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, who is right handed, as is his avatar. When his avatar handles firearms he uses them right handed. (I noticed Jake's avatar using a bow leftie in one shot, I think. And he was trained by Neytiri to draw it left handed. In many shots he can be seen to wear a wristguard on his right wrist, as a left-handed bowman would. Maybe the Na'vi just don't make left wristguards. This is the opposite of the problem that southpaws face with scissors in our world.)
  
  
  

  

  Jake Sully's avatar is right handed

• Sigourney Weaver is right handed. Her character Dr. Grace Augustine and her avatar are right handed.

Presumably the Na'vi extras and stunt players had to act left handed on the motion capture stage. They can be seen carrying their bows in their right hands (as a left-handed archer would) in the featurette "Performance Capture" at the Avatar site.

Question: In the video game can you play Na'vi characters? If so, do you play the them right handed, or left handed?

James Cameron, Na'vi prototype?

Hellboy's 'Right Hand of Doom' Makes Him Left Handed?

"Hellboy's right hand, referred to as the 'Right Hand of Doom', consists of a large forearm and hand that seems to be made from red stone. The Hand is dexterous enough to catch a fly, but its large size causes Hellboy to prefer his normal-sized left hand to operate weapons and devices." (Source: Wikipedia)

So is Hellboy right handed or left handed?

Hellboy

Ron Perlman as Hellboy, and Samaritan

Actor Ron Perlman, who plays Hellboy in the recent films, is left handed.

Ron Perlman signs an autograph

Mike Mignola, who created Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics, is right handed.

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