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It turns out that the words that English speakers find pleasing are more like papillon and less like Aschenputtel, according to phonaesthetics. ome languages have beautiful words for “butterfly”: papillon (French), mariposa (Spanish), farfalla (Italian). In German, it’s Schmetterling. Cinderella gets names fit for a princess in these languages, too: Cendrillon (French), Cenerentola (Italian), Cenicienta (Spanish). In German, she’s Aschenputtel. I heard these examples recently in a series of viral videos: “How German Sounds Compared to Other Languages.” The videos imply that German sounds harsh compared with the Romance languages. This got me thinking, what are the most beautiful-sounding words...

R.I.P., DON GORDON (November 13, 1926 – April 24, 2017), movie and TV character actor. He had recurring roles on THE BLUE ANGELS (1960-61), PEYTON PLACE (1966), and LUCAN (1977-78). He appeared with his friend Steve McQueen in BULLITT (1968), PAPILLON (1973) and THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974) and two episodes of WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE.

Lorenzo Semple Jr., the creator of the campily classic Batman TV series who went on to craft such big-screen paranoid thrillers as The Parallax View and Three Days of the Condor -- though he would be replaced on both films -- has died. He turned 91 on Thursday... Semple’s résumé also includes the Steve McQueen-Dustin Hoffman escape tale Papillon (1973); Paul Newman’s Harper sequel The Drowning Pool (1975); Dino De Laurentiis’ King Kong (1976) starring Jessica Lange; and the rogue James Bond movie Never Say Never Again (1983)...

I always liked that guy's films, own a couple of 'em. What an interesting read. Go to Wiki sometime and put his name in, wow. That guy was cool. I guess I didn't realize he died so young (ha, 50, I'm older than that). I can identify with him so much, what a trip. I love that film "Le Mans" because I am a racing film. It is basically stupid, except for the tasty automobiles, but I watch it every few months and always get a tear. I'm weird like that about films.

ATHENS, Greece – For the second time in their lives, two robbers escaped from a high-security prison Sunday by scaling a rope ladder to a hovering helicopter amid a gun battle with guards. The men remained missing late Sunday night. They had been scheduled to appear before a magistrate Monday about their first escape — from the same prison — three years ago. The shaken government quickly dismissed three Justice Ministry officials, and the prime minister scheduled an emergency meeting of part of his cabinet Monday to discuss the country's prisons.

Is Papillon alive and well and living in retirement in the northern Paris suburbs? The extraordinary claim surfaced after a French newspaper recently reported the 104th birthday of Charles Brunier, a former inmate of the Devil's Island penal colony, said to be seeing out his days at the Val-de-France old people's home in Domont, about 12 miles (20 kilometres) outside the French capital. According to staff, the former convict is as tough as old boots and rarely communicates. But when he does, it is often with the same message: that it was he who inspired Henri Charriere to write his...