After a long descent into Alzheimer's, Paula died about 20 years or so ago.

That's funny; when the caller asked, the first thing I thought of was that definition. I spent many years working on sailboats and I heard that word first in a boatyard in San Diego: "no skips, no runs, no holidays" was the challenge to painters. I've never heard it on a movie set, either.

You're in your only car, a rare Ferrari Daytona that you've had and babied for years, and a guy rear-ends you. Do you get out, go totally ape, and obscenely chew him out for such an obviously illegal and careless act? Do you take a golf club to him as well as his car? Or do you politely inform him that, despite the considerable damage to your car, you'll try to get it repaired and maybe it'll be as good as it was? Bale was rear-ended by his DP. His performance was at least as valuable to him as that Ferrari. Many actors, understandably, feel the same: their performance, when it comes down to it, is all they've got. They've spent a lot of time and money on it; it's taking them to where they need to go; it's a one-off work of art. Put yourself in that Ferrari... Or Bale's place.

That the sound track of Bales provoked rant ever was heard beyond the set is inexcusable. It's like allowing nude photos of an actress to circulate, or private conversations between actors to be secretly recorded. None of this should occur on a professionally run set, which is why you almost never hear of it happening. Actors appropriately and necessarily trust the director not to gossip about them, the camera and makeup department not to discuss their flaws or shortcomings, and the sound department not to listen to or record them when they're not performing. Discretion and privacy have been devalued enough in the press; there's no excuse for allowing it to happen on the set.