Nobody 754

Sunday, February 1, 2009
Nobody 754

Nobody Asked Me But:

“After three days of cold and crowds, they were still unbelievably cheerful and celebratory. I can’t recall ever seeing throngs of people with quite this level of sustained joyousness.” David Brooks on Inauguration Week.

How Steven Spielberg went from getting rich to filthy rich.

One day while Spielberg was filming “Close Encounters of The Third Kind” close friend George Lucas visited him on the set. Lucas who was making “Star Wars” at the time loved “Encounters,” while feeling a bit insecure about his movie. “Yours will be a much bigger hit,” he told Spielberg. “I will trade you 2% of mine right now for 2% of yours.” Spielberg accepted and, as I used to say in class, the rest is history.<<<

Words that make no sense - why do we call lint lint? The word sounds like Brooklyn for lent – as in I lint him $5 or Lint, as I what are you giving up for Lint. So how did it become a word for the shedding off my socks?<<<

“Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!”

You all know by now that Gene Kelly doing “Singing In The Rain” is my favorite musical number, so I am sure you are anxious to know my second.

There are many candidates, but I choose the moment when Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison of course) slides from his four damns into “I’ve grown Accustomed To her face.”

Damn! It gives me shivers of delight just to think about it.<<<

Staying with music for a moment. Garth Brooks, of all people, sang parts of my second favorite song (different from musical number) at the pre-inaugural celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. He was singing “Bye, Bye Miss American Pie.”

What a great time it was, it was. I would slow dance to “A long, long time ago” and move to a higher speed when Don McLean asked if I “wrote the book of love,” and if I had faith “in God above?” Of course my time would have been even better if I had had a partner.<<<

I saw “Frost/Nixon” last Monday. It was a film that grew on me. Throughout the first 2/3 I felt more like a spectator watching some interesting history. But for the last 1/3 I was completely drawn in – almost a participant instead of a spectator. I had a similar reaction to Frank Langella’s AA nominated performance as Nixon. I was watching a very good actor for the first part, but by the end I was seeing Nixon. By the climatic scenes he even looked like the disgraced president. I haven’t seen the other nominees, but they would need to be really good to be better than Langella. I give “Frost/Nixon” 3 ½ out of a possible 4 stars.

As for Nixon, he remains, in my view, a figure from a Greek tragedy – a man to be both pitied and censored.<<<

Action – Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich goes on NBC, compares himself to Mandela, and King.

Reaction: It turns out he meant Charlie Mandela, his bookie and crooked fight promoter Don King.<<<

And by the way: Good-bye Rod. And good riddance.<<<

Remember Ronald Reagan’s famous line, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall?” I’m for President Obama borrowing and paraphrasing it – something like “Mr. (whomever is elected Prime Minister of Israel) tear down those West Bank settlements.”<<<

And what about the pro-Israel neos in the U.S griping about George Mitchell, Obama’s envoy to the Near Middle East? They are saying that in the matters related to the Israeli/Palestinian crisis, he will be TOO BALANCED. My goodness, we wouldn’t want that.<<<

Here’s the word from Blue Cross in reaction to their fine for denying claims and canceling policies for 700 claimants who had serious and costly illnesses: “We did nothing illegal or wrong, and we promise never to do it again.”<<<

Headline we will never see: Lawmakers promise to slice their salaries and give up all perks until budget cuts for schools are reversed.<<<

Huge tax cuts are not the answer to our economic woes. Neither are millions for condoms. (since dropped) The President needs to resist both the Republican conservatives, with their failed ideas, and the Democratic left who want to load the stimulus package with every extraneous program they failed to pass over the last three decades.

Am I asking that the President be made an economic crisis dictator? No! But after watching Congress in action, it is tempting. <<<

Does our government need a guiding principle as it makes hugely important decisions relative to economic recovery? Well I just happen to have three:

1. Spend fast and spend well.

2. Make sure that every dollar has a direct effect on the problem. Indirect can come later, after the immediate and gravest part of the emergency is past.

3. Have an exit strategy.

Keep it simple - jobs and confidence.<<<

FYI: Did you know that RFK never thought the Warren report was well executed?<<<.

I think that the President is setting a near perfect tone on our relations with Pakistan as we step up the war on al Queda and the Taliban – we want to work with you, but will work around you if necessary.<<<

Rush Limbaugh - "I want him (Obama) to fail." The “Rusher” has got to be a huge embarrassment to thinking conservatives.

Here is how the PAC-10 makes out in the latest ESPN ranking of the top rookies in the NBA. Was the PAC loaded last year? And the Bruins were in pretty good shape too.

#1 – Russell Westbrook, UCLA
#2 – Kevin Love, UCLA
#3 - Brook Lopez, Stanford
#4 – OJ Mayo, USC
#14 – Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, UCLA
#22 – Ryan Anderson, Cal
#23 – Jared Bayless, Arizona
#29 – Kyle Weaver, WSU
#30 - Robin Lopez, Stanford<<<

S. Irene Virbila in her review Wednesday of the re-imagined Luau restaurant in Beverly Hills noted that despite the pupu platters and exotic tropical drinks that much of the delight is gone. She wonders what is missing from the old days.

That’s easy – innocence.<<<

And, finally, here is John Updike on Ted William’s last home run:

"The ball climbed on a diagonal line into the vast volume of air over center field. From my angle, behind third base, the ball seemed less an object in flight than the tip of a towering motionless construct, like the Eiffel Tower or the Tappan Zee Bridge. It was in the books while it was still in the sky. . . .

"Like a feather caught in a vortex, Williams ran around the square of bases at the center of our beseeching screaming. He ran as he always ran out home runs -- hurriedly, unsmiling, head down, as if our praise were a storm of rain to get out of. He didn't tip his cap. Though we thumped, wept, and chanted, 'We want Ted' for minutes after he hid in the dugout, he did not come back."

Good-bye Mr. Updike.<<<