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Surgery botched: Breast Implants 4: Melanie Griffith

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The death of the United States armed forces

The United States Armed Forces. 1776-2011. Killed by President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Stefani Germanotta, and Tim Gill. Replaced by a secular humanist indoctrination force designed not to defend this nation but to advance the causes of humanism.

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis Dómine; et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Requiéscant in pace. Amen.

Bill Connor on the "jihad" that killed our military in favour of the new left-wing indoctrination force for secular humanism. ◙

Searching for Snoopy

As a veteran space travel buff, this is way cool. The lunar module of Apollo 10 (code name: Snoopy) - the final lunar orbital test run prior to the moon landing - came within a few miles (relatively speaking) of the moon's surface. At the mission's conclusion, the LM was jettisoned to orbit around the sun. Now, astronomers are searching to find that spacecraft! ◙

Opinion Digest

I remember boys complained in schools about the girls' dress code, and they wanted to have the girls' dress code adopted for school, and they won the complaint -- the school was forced to adopt the girls' dress code for boys (only thing that matters is if it touches the top of the knee, but the hem line moved up regardless of gender).

Seems the increased pop culture "flashing" as shown by certain pop culture stars is enough, as are the cases of girls pulling off copycat moves, impersonating their heroines with similar hiking tactics. Officials in some British schools have told girls the boys' dress code will be enforced on them, banning articles of clothing that often are used to create the mess in the first place. Turnabout is fair play, is it?

The censoring of the West, and the enforcement of Shariah are both troubling. Have we seen a rise of Islam since Usama attacked the US? Diana West's thoughts.

Thirty-nine men came to Philadelphia to form a more perfect union two hundred twenty-four years ago this weekend. Yet the courts today are eliminating their document in favour of adopting foreign laws today, and even abolishing the Bill of Rights (1-10 and 27*). Katie Pavlich reports.

Professor Krugman's rude commentary on Patriot Day was seriously offensive to the soldiers and those who lost family members in the attacks of Usama's Henchmen. Michael Reagan's thoughts.

Marc Morano reports a Nobel Prize winner resigned from the American Physical Society because of their embracing of false anti-industry "science" pushed on a generation.

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* There were twelve articles in the Bill of Rights; The first article assigned the House to one representative per 40,000 people, and once it went to 200 representatives, the limit was one per 50,000; thar article did not pass, and it would be compex today, as it's nearly 650,000 people per Representative. The second article took 201 years, and 28 more states that was needed when originally proposed, to ratify and is the 27th Amendment. The third to twelfth articles are the first to tenth Amendments to the United States Consitution, henceforth, the Bill of Rights are actually the 2nd to 12th articles of articles sent to the legislators on March 14, 1789. For historical purposes, the 27th Amendment is part of the Founding Fathers' documents.

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Those words

The words on Fox News Channel on the day have been played every 8:26 AM since then, as usual. We see the 8:46 AM report of the first crash on Fox & Friends, and we see clips of the numerous attacks. Those words said by the newsmen reflect on that day.

"Another plane just flew into the second tower. This has to be deliberate, folks. We just saw on live television as a second plane flew into the second tower of the World Trade Center. Now given what has been going on around the world, Some of the key suspects come to mind, Usama bin Laden, who knows what." -- 9:03 AM, Jon Scott

"We are hearing right now of another explosion that has taken place in the Pentagon. We have the heart of the financial district of America being been attacked now we understand now there . . . has been an explosion in The Pentagon, the heart of the military command center of the United States of America. Jon, it can't be worse I hope." -- 9:37 AM, David Asman,

"As we watch these pictures, the World Trade Center, 110 storeys, literally starting to fall" -- 9:59 AM, Mr. Scott

"It's gone. The whole tower( bleep). They knocked the whole freaking thing down." -- News chopper pilot.

"America, offer a prayer." (Second tower implodes) -- Jon Scott, 10:28 AM

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We Remember The Day. Ten Years Ago. 8:46 AM.

I reflected being behind the wheel of my Buick LeSabre, the infamous "Heather" on the way to the shop when the 8:46 AM attacks took place, and listening to the radio desperately to find out what happened that day.

I looked at the books I've read, and they include a pair of Barbara Olson books, Hell to Pay and The Final Days, both on the Clinton Administration.

I saw the collection of memorabilia of the local (Charleston) ECHL team, the South Carolina Stingrays.

Both fit the day. Both are relics that remind us of what we lost ten years ago. We lost an author, headed to Los Angeles for Bill Maher's television programme when killed on AA77. We lost Mark Bavis, a former Stingrays player, on UA175.

We lost thousands others at the hands of Usama bin Laden, the most wanted man in America, and led to the President's painting of Usama has a desperado who needed to be stopped.

It has been ten years today. Listening to "Evocation: In Memoriam September 11, 2001," a piece of the day by the Upton Trio, makes you reflect what happened.

Here is a clip of the real-time coverage from that day, on WTMA's Dan Moon Show.  ◙

The New Tolerance bans Christians at 9/11 memorial services

The ACLU proudly mentioned when they redefined “marriage” in New York, they removed freedom of religion. It was also removed in the former Armed Forces when the military's goals were changed from a fighting force to defend the country to an indoctrination force for sexual deviants by Public Law 111-321, an Intolerable Act, creating the new Special Rights Division of the Department of Social Engineering.

Now we are seeing New York and Washington, both areas where false marriage is legal because of the sellout to the Gill Agenda, run roughshod over religion because of the new regulations.

In Washington, the Episcopal Church USA, facing a split with many conservative organisations for its theological liberalism, has shown its intolerance of groups opposed to its doctrine under the new intolerance for the traditional freedom of religion by selecting the organisations involved in Sunday's memorial services at Washington National Cathedral, which they own and operate. The organisations chosen for the memorial service Sunday are Episcopal leadership in Washington in both the Bishop of Washington nd the Dean of the Cathedral, a rabbi, a Buddhist nun who is also called the incarnate lama, a Hindu priest, a Muslim musician, and the President of the Islamic Society of North America. There are no Catholic or mainstream Protestant (Southern Baptist Convention, the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council – includes the ARP and PCA , Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod) denominations involved in this “interfaith” service.

In New York, Mayor Bloomberg, who was directly involved in the redefinition of marriage, has outlawed clergy from appearing at the official ceremony remembering the time of the terrorist attacks.

It's clear in a world where sexual deviants are now rewarded with false “marriage” recognition and the changing of the military's purpose into an indoctrination force for deviants, and the abolition of the freedom of religion that was part of the Founding Fathers' call, that this weekend's memorial services display the New Tolerance that is the goal of modern liberalism. When God's Word is eliminated in favour of humanism's agenda, and a new state religion of secular humanism, nothing is sacred, even in remembering over 3,000 who died under the auspices of Al Qaeda, for the want of 19 men whose goal was to make it to paradise by killing thousands of infidels.

Has this nation lost its way when New Tolerance dictates the outlawing of God's Word? Are we pushing Eastern mysticism by force in this nation? Surely it fits with the Obama goal of turning Patriot Day into a community service day, similar to Communism. ◙

The worst of the homers - Galvaão Bueno (Brasil)?

We've long criticsed the "shouters, screamers, and homers trying their hardedst to get on SportsCenter" that are prevalent when we watch or listen a sporting event. I was driving home from church Sunday night when the sports radio station (one of the few stations we can catch, an Eastover station 50 miles away) plays highlights of radio calls, which results in hearing the worst cheerleading during major scores. Some of the worst calls I remember in my youth were Georgia Bulldog broadcaster Larry Munson's homer calls but there are other worse ones on the market today that it makes listening to national calls better when the lead man is not cheering for one team, and one prevalent trend came with the Mexican soccer broadcaster style that seem to be everywhere now (best known for the crazy goal screaming).

In observing Senna (I arrived late thanks to a commitment that ran late) Saturday in Charlotte and the inside story of Ayrton's life (noted the interviews with numerous faces), SBT, which has F1 broadcast rights in Brasil, made the top shelf complaint list we have on the worst types of broadcasters, with homers and screamers look lame. During the film, numerous times they ran the broadcasts of various F1 broadcasts at the time (BBC, SBT, TF1, ESPN) and you could hear the difference between Murray Walker and the Brasilian television broadcasts. When Ayrton won (I later learned it was for any Brasilian driver winning), play-by-play man Galvaão Bueno would turn into those haywire homers and scream, while special music plays and the cheering continued on the winner while the action behind that could play crucial points of the race were ignored in favour of unprofessional behaviour.

That's an extreme homer. Imagine listening to a college sporting match, and after a big score, the engineer cues the winning fight song and the rest of the game discussion is ignored. That is the effect of a Brasilian F1 win would be on SBT, and as I learned later, it was not just for Ayrton -- Rubens and Felipe were treated that way, and if Vivienne's boy Bruno Lalli (who uses the grandmother's maiden name for similar reasons!) wins, SBT would do the same too. Maybe we've seen the worst with Brasilian television. ◙

Opera Wednesday

The NFL season starts Thursday, and the college gridiron just lit up its season last week with a plethora of big games. But why are we talking gridiron in our opera column? Yes, we have former warriors singing on the opera fields. Kari Barbic wrote about it in The Weekly Standard, "Arias in the End Zone," and we'll share a few of those opera singers.

Former University of Colorado running back Keith Miller, who tried out with the Denver Broncos, is now a well-known rising young bass/baritone on the opera field today.

Lawrence Harris, a former offensive lineman for the now-defunct Houston Oilers, is a heldentenor who also with his wife run a management company for opera singers. Originally a baritone, he credits his skills on the front lines to the mentality of the Wagnerian roles he sings.

Ta'u Pupu'a, a Weber State defensive lineman, was drafted by the Cleveland Browns by Bill Belichick the year before they were suspended in the controversial moves in late 1995. But a foot injury ensured he would never play a down, and became a young tenor on the prowl. Still, he credits a great master with teaching him the mind game.  ◙

SAD NEWS - Salvatore Licitra

S
icilian tenor Salvatore Licitra, 43, sufferred a cerebral hemorrhage while riding a Vespa scooter with his girlfriend, and crashed into a wall in Ragusa August 27. He was not wearing a helmet, she was wearing a helmet. The Bern (Switzerland) native was born to Sicilian emigrants, and made his singing debut in 1998 at Parma, and was Caravadossi in "Tosca" in 2002 at the Met when he replaced the man whom many thought he was the next, Luciano Pavarotti. He was rushed to a hospital in Catania, where after a week, he was declared brain dead Monday.

A sad loss for opera, one of the younger singers of this generation is gone so quickly. As a dear friend warns us, we have to watch our health.

Deborah Voigt commented on her social networking site, "So very sad to say goodbye to Salvatore Licitra. I will miss you."

Opera Chic has more here. ◙

The freeloading problem on television and sports

A news commentator recently warned we are fast becoming a nation of freeloaders. Nowhere is it worse than on mass media, especially television.

As pay television consistently has outbid broadcast networks for sporting events, people are growing tired of the high per-subscriber rates for these channels used to pay for these rights fees, and these fees have become the source for advantages of pay-television over networks to the point some sports (boxing) have lost appeal with Middle America because of the pay-television exclusivity of the sport, while mixed martial arts has had a light broadcast network following, with a new Fox television contract coming this fall.

A recent report that News Corp had announced a minimum eight-day delay between the broadcast of any programme on the Fox broadcast network and the time they will stream the show on an online streaming service irked many such "freeloaders," who have been cord-cutting and watch (mostly) SD programming on their HDTV's, and prefer the convenience of a 15.4" screen over the 32" (or larger) high-definition televisions. The freeloaders feel they can watch any show, any time, even if it's illegal, and violate copyright infringement. They do not respect the staff involved in the production of a television programme, and the affiliates of the network involved, as affiliates have to pay numerous fees, and sell advertising to local merchants, with the popular programmes resulting in high 30-second rates that can be charged, which can be influential when the programme is the lead-in to the local late newscast that offers local teams' sports scores. They also disrespect copyright law to have their way. Some (especially the Chinese) are known for copying television formats from the major international format holders and robbing them blind, and claim because it's from another country, US copyright laws do not matter (they do, Berne Convention).

These freeloaders would steal signals and illegally stream the shows are the types who would rob a health food store of its premium groceries, stealing it, and forcing the grocer to suffer a financial loss.

Let's suppose too a pharmaceutical company holds a patent for a wonderful medication, and they hold the patent. After millions of hours in research, they have perfected the perfect drug to cure a serious disease, and have obtained the patent. But before something can be done, a freeloader decides to break down the drug, illegally make copies of it when the patent is live, and give it free. The legitimate company has been greatly punished, but that is what freeloaders on television have done.

A group of sports fans have asked for the elimination of sports blackout rules, which are designed to protect a team's revenue stream by prohibiting the broadcast of a sporting event on television by television markets that may have any part within a 120km radius of the stadium if tickets are not sold out within 72 hours of the start of the event, an NFL rule written in 1973 to eliminate the total blackout rule that was in play regardless of sellout that prohibited a broadcast from reaching a home market. Once again, these "fans" are not fans, but want to betray teams and fans by stopping the incentive to sell tickets to fans. Blackouts are effective because it makes local fans buy tickets to events they want to attend, and by telling the television broadcaster no games are allowed on air within the 120km rule, it forces locals to buy tickets.

I've wondered in college sports, why is there no blackout rule when over 10,000 seats are still available and they still allow the game to be televised in the local market. It's a silly model since there is no incentive to be at the game when it's on air. The NFL's model has worked. Four teams have never had a blackout under current NFL rules (GB, WSH, DEN, PIT), two teams have never had a blackout in history (BAL first game 1996, HOU first game 2002), and another (TEN) has not had a blackout since being in their current home (the Titans' were in Memphis when they last had a blackout). Seventeen NFL teams have not had a blackout in the 21st century.

Freeloaders would want to steal television signals, and ban sports teams from imposing restrictions to encourage ticket sales. Isn't this the problem with society today, with welfare, freeloaders, and people who want something for nothing, and would discourage those who work the hardest to provide the wanted product? That's what we see with illegal streaming, stealing signals, not imposing blackout rules, and the like. ◙

Alpha and Omega: Texas Terry's Florentine Conquests and Mr. Clutch

RRemember, there isn't any Labour Day holiday here in South Carolina. The Ferko lawsuit took it away from us after 2004, our state's big Labour Day festival in Florence was moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in a rude and crude decision that could affect pro gridiron in Minnesota, especially if a California interest decides to sue the NFL or Vikings to force a move to Los Angeles. What happened to the Fourth Major in Florence should be a warning that you can be sued to lose an event.

Let's look back at Labour Day when it existed in South Carolina, with a big Florentine showdown, as it was Terry Labonte's Alpha and Omega . . .

1980: His first Sprint Cup win, in a major, no less. Think of the great golfers whose first career PGA Tour win was in a major, or a tennis star who wins their first ATP or WTA tournament in a major.



2003: Now 46, and a two-time Sprint Cup champion, his last Sprint Cup win, in the same major, in a clutch situation. The state's big Labour Day event was set to move to November the next year, and become a playoff showdown.



And those final moments of Labour Day in South Carolina were on a November evening in 2004, when Jimmie Johnson began his meteoric "Mr. Clutch" moniker, continuing a torrid playoff run that included wins at the oldest and most prestigious events in the playoff.



We want to be in Florence in the fall . . . ◙

What is the next goal?

We're into September now, and I am seeing issues everywhere that have me pondering my reflections headed into this month.

MTV Beats Networks . . . Hmmmm? A degradation of society showed its ugly back Sunday night at the MTV “Video Music Awards” in Los Angeles. Looking at the ratings of the “awards show” full of no-talents who are gong-worthy, 12.4 million watched this utter disgrace, with 8.5 million of it from their core audience of 12-34, which evidently shows how a plethora of youth have discarded the timeless masterworks in favour of the hip and trendy, which has pilfered its way into houses of worship today, with the popularity of GIA, Oregon Catholic Press, the major secular publishers, and rock-based services. It outdrew any broadcast network television program during the entire week, but as should be the disclaimer, there were no pre-emptions caused by Hurricane Irene on MTV, while the networks had Irene coverage on the wall where parts of the populus East Coast couldn't watch the NFL pre-season games, Little League baseball, or the Irwin Tools Night Race.

On the other hand, for sports that count, the disgraceful “awards show” promoting raunchy “music” outdrew combined Brad Keselowski's run to the Wild Card at the Irwin Tools Night Race and Huntington Beach, California's Little League sixth-inning heroics combined. How far have we fallen when the hardest and most prestigious tickets are discarded in favour of the fads of the day?

And don't forget that MTV, not Fox News, is controlling how America moves thanks to a President who prefers MTV to FNC.

The Sexual Deviants At It Again. Sexual deviants have successfully replaced our military with a Department of Social Engineering, Special Rights Division, and it was reported that magazines promoting the agenda are now allowed on PX stores. Combine that with the ACLU boasting of the loss of religious freedom under the new definition of marriage in New York, and activists' goals to normalise pedophilia with an organisation attempting to eliminate all criminal codes relating to this disgusting behaviour, we are living in a dangerous era for Christians. Sexual deviants are now being rewarded, and we who live by an inerrant text of the Bible are now being persecuted.

Poor old Lacey Schwimmer! With apologies to David Hobbs, what can this past So You Think You Can Dance finalist do to catch a break? Now it turns out she will be the unfortunate woman paired with a woman who is acting inside the auspices of another form of sexual deviancy on the US version of the Strictly Come Dancing franchise. Same-sex ballroom dancing? Ugh! Cue the Zonk music!

Tougher Journalist? A ten-year old student asked tough questions than the White House Press Corps, according to a recent report on The Fox Nation. Reminds me of that old programme on the telly we must ask the White House Press Corps, “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” You've shown you aren't, press. ◙

Unlike Mitchell, I've never been that much of a baseball fan - football was always my game (and I don't even watch much of that anymore). But as I read this article, it began to become clear to me just why baseball doesen't cut it for me. Could this have something to do with it?

On Sunday, you could have flown from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., and watched all of Gone With the Wind and quite a bit of Gandhi en route, while simultaneously undergoing -- start to finish -- an in-flight sex-change operation before landing, 4 hours and 15 minutes after takeoff, in an altogether different climate, as an altogether different gender.



Or, in the same 4 hours and 15 minutes, you could have watched the Red Sox and Yankees complete a single game of major league baseball.

You know how whenever people talk about the weather in desert climates they'll mention how it isn't the heat, it's the humidity? Maybe it's true that with baseball it isn't the time, it's the pace. But, like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives (to coin a phrase), and maybe there just aren't that many sands left to cover the infield of a baseball stadium and have anything left over? ◙

Retro TV Friday

OOne of television's most endearing personalities is turning 90 today. Taking a look at some videos of Monty Hall, of things other than the franchise that he is best known for doing (and as last as last year, he even did a segment of that show).










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Today's society of misfits

I am aghast with what I had seen the numerous practices adopted by modern youth who have adopted the culture of the deviants, and is excessively trendy, taken from their sports, entertainment, and other heroes they see on television every day. It has come to a point it seems every superstar in our culture (or so it seemed) has numerous body modifications, with professional basketball stars full of tattoos on their arms, and Major League Baseball even ordering players to wear long-sleeved undershirts to cover some of the most heinous body modifications, and part of the Ohio State scandal was based around discounts at a tattoo parlour. And the hairstyles worn by some figures are far worse than the haircuts you may receive at your local barber.

One teenager who just graduated from high school appeared at an event with a bizarre hairstyle that had me aghast and wondering what he was doing, and I considered was he attending college or going for a position other than an entry level position. At least two other teens were at the same event with multiple tattoos – some covering parts of the body that are usually covered by undergarmets, as an intent to expose their body and advertise something inappropriate. Adults are into this also, with many adults choosing to modify their bodies to show their love of popular culture, accomplishments, or their dates. The result is a trend in sleeveless shirts worn by men, and questionable undergarmets worn by both men and women, especially if their bodies (and in the case of questionable undergarmets, shown on things that normally would be covered by common sense people) full of tattoos in order to show their advertising. A friend from elementary school asked what is with the trend, and will they feel guilty years later?

That leads to the story that former Colts running Back Jerry Richardson, now the owner of Carolina, told his newly drafted star player no body modification (tattoos, piercings, et al) would be allowed. Good for Mr. Richardson.

Body modifications and crazy hairstyles would never be approved at a normal place of work, your local business, or even church. Many venues will not accept people with body modifications to work. Common sense has been lost. The money that people are spending for such deviant work is better off going to church, charity, the commodities, the market, healthy foods, reading books, taking arts classes, playing golf, or attending events. This sad trend has to stop with the craziness of body modification, all of which violates Leviticus 19:28, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.” ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

Bristol, Baby!"

Anyone in motorsport will assure you that a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol (TN) Motor Speedway is regarded as the toughest ticket in motorsport, even if the recession has stripped it of its sellout status with 160,000 spectators.

One of the most famous feuds in the 1990's at the famous speedplant was the Terry Labonte - Dale Earnhardt battles in 1995 and 1999, with the score ending as a 1-1 battle between the Childress and Hendrick driver. ◙

The first Feud - 1995


Rattle the Cage - 1999

The bad business of business

Is owning a sports franchise bad business? Should it be? That's the provocative question the always-provocative Malcolm Gladwell asks. Of course, I've always thought any sports franchise owner who expects to make a profit - who things, in fact, that a profit should be guaranteed - is not only insane, but is probably doing pretty well feeding at the public trough.



As a side thought, I was listening to someone talking to Jason Lewis about the scam that is higher education today, and how the whole college thing has been perverted into being something that people have to have just to get the most menial work. Fact is, not everyone ought to go to college, and there should be plenty of jobs that don't require a college degree. And this links to my first paragraph how? Well, substitute "life" for "owning a sports franchise" and you get your answer.



Life can't be measured purely in terms of profit and loss. Sometimes there are things in life - such as the old-fashioned liberal arts degree - that only give you what Gladwell called the "psychic" gain. In other words, they don't necessarily make you richer, but they do help make you more well-rounded. And that's a different kind of wealth altogether. ◙

Charity begins - with the government?

Penn Gillette – the “Penn” half of the comedy/magic team Penn & Teller – is an endlessly interesting man. Now, this doesn’t mean that I always, or even usually, agree with him. I seldom agree with anyone that often, including myself. It does, however, mean that within the contents of any given comments of his, there are bound to be words of interest, ideas that bear exploration, repetition, even agreement. And so when he wrote about his recent appearance with Piers Morgan on CNN (catch Piers soon, by the way, before the British phone hacking scandal claims him), there was stuff that was good and stuff that wasn’t so good.

His atheism, for example, has never appealed to me. (I recall once reading about how he and his partner Teller were so adamant on this point that they even removed the Gideon Bibles from the hotel rooms in which they stayed.) I think he’s dead wrong about faith – requiring certainty about anything, including religion, is a formula for paralysis, in my opinion – but at least I understand where he’s coming from more than I did before. And just because I disagree – strongly – with it doesn’t mean that I can’t at least comprehend it. (I think he’s an outstanding candidate for prayer, by the way. The appearance of a divine intervention in his life might be difficult for him to explain away, which in turn might force him to acknowledge it as something worthy of further consideration.)

And just because I disagree with him on some things doesn’t mean that I can’t agree with him on others. He says that his thoughts on politics flow from the same insistence on certainty as do his thoughts on religion; but his demand for certainty, which fails him in the sacred, serves him much better with regard to the secular. Take, for example, his thoughts on government programs:

It's amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give
poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people is compassion. Voting for our government to use guns to give money to help poor and suffering people is immoral self-righteous bullying laziness.

People need to be fed, medicated, educated, clothed, and sheltered, and if we're compassionate we'll help them, but you get no moral credit for forcing other people to do what you think is right. There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint.

Oddly enough, he might find himself in agreement with the great Catholic humanitarian Dorothy Day, who felt that government welfare programs tended to abrogate the individual’s moral responsibility to provide charity themselves. When you can have the government do your charitable work for you, why bother to get your own hands dirty?

Needless to say, there are many liberals, dedicated to taking your tax money from you to do good, who also contribute their own personal time, talent and money. I’m not saying that all they do is steal from the rich and give to the poor from the comfort of their own homes. But Penn’s comment that “There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint” is a profound one. Make no mistake, he says – “When they come to get you for not paying your taxes, try not going to court. Guns will be drawn. Government is force -- literally, not figuratively.” Which leads to this conclusion:

I don't believe the majority always knows what's best for everyone. The fact that the majority thinks they have a way to get something good does not give them the right to use force on the minority that don't want to pay for it. If you have to use a gun, I don't believe you really know jack. Democracy without respect for individual rights sucks. It's just ganging up against the weird kid, and I'm always the weird kid.

There’s a great deal of truth in that statement. It’s classic libertarianism, and while that’s another –ism that I don’t completely agree with, there’s no doubt that it’s a vital and necessary part of contemporary conservative thought.

And proof, once again, that food for thought can come from surprising places.

(By the way, in the midst of this heavy discussion don’t overlook the hilarious story he tells about a Nobel-winning physicist, a community college teacher, and a talk show host. And no, they don’t walk into a bar together.) ◙

Opera Wednesday

Moses as Bin Laden? Unbelievable but true, in Graham Vick's potentially vomit-inducing (I say that because I have to be fair, having not seen it personally) interpretation of Rossini's Moses in Egypt. Opera Chic has the lowdown here, with additional posts at her site. Here's what Vick has to say about Moses:

"It's true, he resembles Bin Laden -- on the contrary, he's an archetype. Moses summarizes in himself all of the fundamentalists. Let's not forget that every terrorist is also a freedom fighter in the eyes of someone else. And besides, Rossini presents him as always angry and threatening. His war against the Egyptians resembles very much a 'holy war' on which to speculate actual jihad. While rereading the works of Rossini, I felt the need to take into consideration how much had befallen the Middle East in the last ten years."

Doesn't quite sound like Charlton Heston, does it? ◙

Stories of the week

Katie Kieffer takes a shot at the government's fuel economy standards, which are industry-killing ideas to force us into the tiny city cars liberals envision us to be riding as to force as many people into the big cities, where ultra-urban areas are the home of liberalism's biggest pockets.

Seeing too many tiny cars and jacked-up sedans masquerading the jobs of big trucks is senseless.

Colleges are now telling students to attend the Life Enhancement Centres that endorse sexual deviancy, a "proud" goal of colleges trying to tell kids to be indoctrinated into the values of Humanism. Mike Adams finds some disturbing details at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Max Hastings in the UK discusses the London riots, and how "progressive" leftist teachings over generations has led to youth who refuse to have standards.

Tony Sewell believes, as many of us do, the gangster culture, as shown on MTV, is a dangerous poison.

Both kids and adults are extremely guilty in church (of all places) of wearing tee-shirts and jeans, shorts, or anything very unprofessional and rag-tag to church today. When these Life Enhancement Centres even have ragged dress of the band, and ministers follow along, we are truly troubled. Thomas Langford, however, thinks the societal changes of women in the workforce ended the era of the fancy dresses.

Part of the Problem with American Society today? Even the Girl Scouts are betraying values in favour of the latest fads among liberalism. When the Boy Scouts of America is now helping American Heritage Girls, it's clear the new organisation is on the way up. ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

Sunday's INDYCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the first IZOD IndyCar Series race since 1998 at the 1.058 mile speedway, and the first with Bruton Smith, who has INDYCAR races at Texas and Sonoma, in control.

Here was the last INDYCAR race from 1998, and note who is calling the race -- the man regarded as America's premier motorsport voice. (Courtesy INDYCAR.) ◙

This Just In

News item: Tiger Woods dropped by sponsor Tag Heuer. But don't worry too much.

Of Requiem, hatred of industry, and corruption in Washington

Packing It In! We packed the house literally during the first (Sunday) performance of Mozart's Requiem, and for the first time in my singing career I saw a full house (and more, as it was standing room only) for a concert. Big thanks to Susan Kelly, student conductor, Sarah Rich (soprano), Beth Mears (alto), David (tenor) and Lillian (conductor) Quackenbush, David Stephenson (bass), and Frances Webb (Steinway). Big thank-you to the team here guys. Enjoyed it and cannot wait to sing again!

Sarah, beautiful voice and be praying for you – there's a baby on the way for Sarah and her husband, as I had the opportunity to visit with him during dress rehearsals.

Dies iræ! Dies illa. Solvet sæclum in favilla: Teste David cum Sibylla!

Can You Watch What You Wear? Some singers seemingly forgot how to dress for concert. Our bulletin stated “concert dress” for women and men have to wear a white dress shirt, black slacks, and a tie (it's over 90 degrees outside in South Carolina, but I wore my jacket during pre-concert warmup). Two types of female choral dress violations were detected during the concert – sleeveless blouse was one, and the other was the little black dress and no stockings, but most of the women knew the right hem length (¾th or longer; many of the younger singers chose to wear black slacks, a popular trend in orchestra women, since black stockings are typically not required when the trouser option is chosen). Some men chose short-sleeve dress shirts (something I wasn't taught was permitted), and the big no-no was one singer did not wear a tie. What has happened to proper dress anymore anywhere? Most know the rule, but a this is a societal problem today.

The Downgrade and The Crash. Does it sound suspicious the debt limit issue and the downgrade of the debt of the leadership of the country refuse to see the problem lies within the eighty-year downgrade that President Roosevelt ran us through with John Maynard Keynes' philosophy, which is the problem we have had for the years? The excessive sellout to Keynesian economics, which is built on massive government spending, is the root cause of the problem with our economic system.

And a Hatred of Industry. So Obama has now imposed a 54 MPG standard for cars, effectively striking the auto industry to the same tiny cars in Europe, and electric cars, and he is now imposing new energy standards on trucks, buses, and industrial vehicles, which makes it clear he reminds me of the Taliban in that he hates industry and would love us to return to the Stone Age. Is this the country we want where industry is banned while we worship Gaia? We may see electric vehicles for industrial duty do the same things our current petrol and diesel cars use because of an arrogant anti-industry leadership. ◙

(Not) tickled pink

As Mitchell mentioned yesterday, he's left The Three Stooges (Bobby, Steve and yours truly) in charge while he takes some well-deserved time off. Have a good time, chief, and come back refreshed!



A week or so ago I saw the following story over at Uni Watch, the go-to blog for sports fans obsessed with the aesthetic angle. The money line: "The Harvard Business Review has found that using the color pink in breast cancer awareness campaigns is actually counterproductive."



Hah!



I always have suspected that the pink movement, started by the infamous Susan G. Komen outfit, was more about "Hey, look at me and how much I care!" than anything else. Now, before anyone objects, I'm sure that there are hundreds of thousands of well-meaning women and men out there who wear the pink with an abundance of sincerity. And yet, how much good does it really do? As much good as those red AIDS ribbons, or yellow or any other color ribbon that seems to pop up these days. We have become a nation of ribbons, it seems.



(And by the way, just so you don't think I'm picking only on liberals - I never could understand those red, white and blue ribbons that people wore after 9/11. We have a perfectly good symbol for that already - it's called The Flag.)



Anyway, according to this study we now see that the pink phenomenon doesn't even do much good as a symbol of awareness: "[T]hose who saw a pink ad about breast cancer were significantly less likely to say that they’d contract the disease than those who saw an ad with neutral colors." And "[w]hen the site was geared to women, 33% of women recalled the ads. When it was gender-neutral, 65% remembered."



This is so endemic of our Oprahfied culture - when emotion is the most important thing, when we asuage our guilt feelings with symbolic acts, along with that faintly smug air of superiority that hints that "We're better than you."



So maybe the pink campaign doesn't really raise breast cancer awareness. Maybe it doesn't really encourage women to check for cancer. But really, it's all about looking good, right? Because when it all comes down to it, the important thing is to let people know we care. ◙

Summer winds

I know I haven't had much to say the last few weeks, and the loyal readers we do have deserve better than that. So I'm going to formalize my inactivity, and take a little vacation for the rest of the month.

Depending on what captures my eye, I may pop in from time to time. What significant writing I do manage will probably be over at It's About TV! But for the most part, I leave you in the most capable hands of Drew, Bobby and Steve, who will carry you the rest of the way until just after Labor Day. ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

Today is August 4, and an Indianapolis Motor Speedway legend turns 40 today, despite just falling short of reaching an upper level at the Brickyard of all-time race winners because someone else was smarter on strategy than he was a few days ago. Let's celebrate the career of this now 40-year old legend of the Brickyard with a blast from his past.

A fifteen-year old kid runs rampant during a summer meet for sprint car racing in Australia (remember the seasons flip, so this is December or January).

A Formula Vee test in Clermont's Lucas Oil Raceway, once the home of USAC Championship racing, but the track is now used for club racing along with the signature “Big Go”.

ESPN's Thunder interview.

And someone from the first 400 at Indy shot home video of the first finish.

Happy 40th Birthday today to Jeffrey Michael Gordon. ◙

Wish I'd Written That

I realize I’m a partisan, and getting worse, I’m afraid. I’ve long wanted to be a nice, above-the-fray neutralist. But life has not allowed that."

- Jay Nordlinger, National Review Online

I know just what he means, and how it's getting worse. I've always been fond of saying that I've no longer the stomach for these political debates; I'm like a cannon that doesn't have the inclination to move. The only way you're going to get blasted by me is if you stand right in front of the barrel waving your arms and saying, "Here I am!"

But every time I'm ready to say that I'm not going to get involved, that I'm just going to take it easy, along comes the left doing precisely that, waving their arms and standing right in the line of fire. In their manner and their choice of rhetoric, they're never able to leave well-enough alone. One wonders what they might have been able to accomplish in enacting their agenda over the years if only they'd learned the lesson of keeping their mouths shut at the right time. It must be genetic.  ◙

Local news report on Mozart's Requiem

The director of the local ballet company is also serving as the arts correspondent for the Fox affiliate's newscasts, and had this about the upcoming performances of Mozart's Requiem that I'm singing this weekend. ◙

Why cronies are Eastern European, and other troubling issues

Why the Bad Guys are Bulgarian. Last week, while attending a performance of a youth-oriented musical based on Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I noticed the enemies were from Bulgaria. It had me thinking on a literary front based on the novelist why the enemy had to be Eastern European.

Mr. Fleming's novels from his best-known literary franchise is known to feature East Bloc characters, considering names such as СМЕРШ, a Soviet intelligence agency based in Ленинград (now Санкт-Петербург) (even though the organisation is used only twice in authorised EON films based on those novels, in 1964 and 1987) dominated, and his novels and related films have carried a storyline of the character battling Soviet and East Bloc enemies. No wonder Chitty had to carry a Bulgarian villain – it would make perfect sense considering how many times СМЕРШ battled the main character of those well-known novels!

E-Readers Concern Me. Amazon's decision with AT&T to start selling advertising-supported Kindle e-readers scares me considering e-readers are rapidly replacing printed books. What if you purchased an e-reader file of a conservative author's book, and while reading it, you were bombarded on your e-reader by advertising for Organising for America, including Barack Obama's re-election or organisations funded by Soros György, which are extreme leftist groups? What if you purchased religious literature and they posted advertising for atheism, humanism, or New Age? What if you purchased literature for your children through the reader and they sent you ads for adult material? This is the type of abuse that can actually happen now, and there may be no recourse in the future. And of course, we have college literature that automatically expires after the school year ends, thus equaling an extra cash cow for the publishers, as they cannot sell them back on the free market to give home-schoolers a way to study advanced material.

The Real Problem. Listening to talk radio discuss the budget impasse, I learned that the bogus “baseline budgeting” that leads to kayfabe cuts when spending increases are embedded into law was based on Public Law 93-344, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, one of a series of laws that ruling Democrats passed in an era where they had increasing control of Congress as a result of Watergate. If we abolished the baseline budgeting and the mandatory spending increases imposed in those laws, we would definitely solve much of our problems we have now. Liberals have long wanted to keep the Keynesian economic policy and Public Law 93-344 shows it. The laws liberals passed in 1973-80 in the wake of Watergate show themselves to be part of a permanent push to mandate the Left on us, and when we're broke, they want us to spend more.
◙

Weekend Digest

This weekend's digest of thoughts, collected from a gaggle of reads.

Robert Knight: Obama's Assault on the Rule of Law.

George Nethercutt: Maryland Students Go Green . . . but not the Red, White, and Blue. (Schools push the anti-industry, anti-American, job-killing environmentalist agenda.)

Mike Adams: The Rape of Caleb Warner (a student falsely charged with a crime is punished).

Dennis Prager: Ten Ways Progressive Policies Harm Society's Moral Character.

Albert Mohler: Reparative Therapy, Sexual Deviancy, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Liberals' attempt to bash Michele Bachmann for what husband Marcus' therapy services offer.)

Vincent Vernuccio: Labour's New Strategy: Intimidation for Dummies.

Julie Moore: National Bible Drill tournament (and youth need these events to learn their Bibles). The turning away from the Holy Book has led to the massive push of humanism in society today.

Adam Cooper: Chandok in, Trulli out, for Tony Fernandes' team at the 'Ring.

Paul Magno: Ross Greenburg was not the only problem with HBO (boxing). (Also notes boxing's move from network television to pay-television is part of the sport's downfall.) ◙

Opera Wednesday: it's Opera Camp!

Summer camps are hitting their stride, and one in South Carolina was kid-friendly with plenty of fun. Yes, they had Opera Camp! Friday, the kidlets did their piece, "We Are Who We Are, and We Are The Opera".

Enjoy! Is the next big name soprano, alto, tenor, or bass on the way? This camp is a great way to get kids into opera, and the next generation needs opera singers, not pop drivel!

"We Are Who We Are, and . . . We Are The Opera!" ◙

How much of my youth is gone in just eleven years?

We don't need books. We just need Twitter. Shakespeare in one tweet or not at all. It's like Ray Bradbury said it would be in Fahrenheit 451. Only moving pictures on the walls and little radios in your ear. He was a prophet." -- Ingrid Schleuter

The End of An Era. The death of brick and mortar bookstores continues, and Albert Mohler warned about and now a big one has been claimed. Borders Group, which owned the only local bookstore in town from the mid-1990's (when they bought a chain that Kmart had owned), announced it was doing a Chapter 7 (liquidation), effectively making the prophecy that bookstores are truly declining, as are music stores (as I learned with the demise of the music store I used to purchase my music for Dr. LaRoche). Now the clear winners are Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million, with the new #2 being a paltry nineteen states. As for what happened when Boarders left town in 2008, we were without a bookstore, devoid of anything for local kids at Prep (Governness' Haley's Hail the Red and Grey) or OCA (the school where Bill Connor is Chairman of the Board) to buy their literature without driving an hour, until the new independent Swift Books came to town.

My Youth Continues To Close. I am only 36, but in the past eleven years, I have seen entire facets of my growth fall by the wayside with this announcement. First it was the school I attended after first arriving in the Palmetto State (shut down in 2000), then the church I grew up attending (shut down in 2001), then the brand of car that I drove for the majority of my driving years at the time (2004), and now the bookstore group where I would frequent many times and we had readers' cards for me to read many books. Progress, yes, but at what cost? Mementos of my own youth -- my green #8 baseball jersey for the Crusaders, my late aunt's minivan (a Voyager), my cars in college (a Cutlass Supreme and a Calais), the bowing alley I remembered (All-Star), and now the local bookstore I frequented are all things that no longer exist.

And Speaking This Sad Thought. National Review lost another of their core members last week. Oh for the times I would drive to that bookstore to buy a National Review.

Laura Ingraham on Civility. Now what are people thinking when they dress like trash to church? Time to put up the old sign at the paddock in church. No shorts, tank tops, or open toe shoes allowed. But the church sign should say No Jeans, No Sneakers, Gentlemen, Jackets Are Required, Ladies, if not wearing a dress, then jackets are required, Business Dress (No Casual) . . .

Ashamed To Be An American. It's time to take down the American flag and trample on it. Raise the Northern Ireland flag on golf courses, and football pitches need to have the Hinomaru raised. ◙

Heat Wave!

When it's pushing 100 in Minneapolis, and the dewpoint is near 80, what says it better? ◙

Retro TV Friday

During a break from practice for the upcoming Summer Chorus II production of Mozart's Requiem, I noticed a picture from a youth opera camp with an instructor teaching youth, and noticed who he was. Two years ago, he was the bass in our production of selections of Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten. With the story that broke out about him, this 1960's song that relates to Retro TV Friday was stuck in my head. Why?

In 1962, Eddie Rambeau was a young teenager whose music was about to be played on "American Bandstand" but was blocked minutes from performing because of a conflict of interest with an ABC employee who wrote the song. It could not be played on ABC owned and operated radio station, which hurt its chart potential. Payola was a major concern at the time. Yet years later, Milton DeLugg recorded an instrumental version of the song, and to this day it is the more familar version of the song, having been used for five different decades.

That song is associated with that vocal instructor and if you understand what happened last month, you can associate the song, him, and the association. What show's theme song was this? ◙

Opera Wednesday

Yesterday we told you about the death of Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of Gilligan's Island, among other TV series. Now, most people would scoff at the idea of Gilligan's Island being highbrow entertainment - but, in fact, here is a series that one could argue was amongst the most learned on television. Why, they were able to present not only Shakespearian tragedy, but dramaticopera - and all in the same episode!

It was October 3, 1966 - the third and final season of Gilligan. This episode, entitled "The Producer," involved famed Broadway producer Harold Hecuba (Phil Silvers), who finds himself, like so many before him, stranded on the island. (Is it just me, or does it seem as if the only people who weren't able to find that island worked for the Coast Guard?) After Hecuba insults Ginger, the castaways decide to show him how talented she really is, by (in the words of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland) "putting on a show."

"Hamlet: the Musical" is perhaps one of the most creative bits of musical theater ever to find its way into an American sitcom. The lyrics are clever and witty, and yet faithful to the Bard's text.  The musical accompaniment is inspired, running the gamut from Bizet to Offenbach.  Here, for example, is Hamlet's (Gilligan) aria "To Be or Not to Be," from the "Habenera" of Bizet's Carmen.  (For contrast, here is the original as it appears in Carmen, sung by the great Marilyn Horne.)

Not to be outdone, here is Ophelia (Ginger) in her duet with Hamlet, urging him to lighten up, to Offenbach's "Barcarolle" from The Tales of Hoffman, along with the same piece as heard in the opera. Finally, there's the showstopper, as the entire cast lampoons Bizet's "Torreador Song" (again from Carmen).  Not quite the same impact as in the original, perhaps, but not bad.

What is brilliant about this is not only the creativity of the lyrics, but the use of music that, in the days when classical music was actually part of mainstream American culture, would be instantly recognizible to most viewers, even if they didn't know where it came from.  And I can't help but wonder if the writers were aware of the appropriateness of using music from French opera, given that the most famous operatic version of Hamlet is by the French composer Ambroise Thomas.

We may ridicule a show like Gilligan's Island, which was critically scorned but was a massive hit with viewers - but I doubt you'll see anything short of Looney Tunes that makes such good use of classical music. And that is nothing less than a shame. ◙

Sherwood Schwartz, R.I.P.

From today's post at It's About TV:

Sherwood Schwartz, who created the iconic sitcoms Gilligan's Island and the Brady Bunch, died today at 94. Courtesy of my home blog away from home, TVParty!, here's L. Wayne Hicks' interview with Schwartz - who may not have been a critical fav, but certainly was a successful one. ◙

United States Armed Forces, R.I.P.

Well, the Ninth Circus has mandated under the Administration's Intolerable Act in 111-321, to officially lay to rest the Armed Forces, and to replace it with the Department of Social Engineering, Special Rights Division.

Once again, the Gill Agenda is pushed by the Administration to force an agenda opposed by the majority down our throats to show the new power brokers of deviants. ◙

Opera Wednesday

Lucrezia Borgia was a real person, as well as an opera. She lived from 1480 to 1519, and was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI (don't ask). Lucrezia, like the rest of the Borgia clan, has a wicked reputation. We don't know a lot about the real Lucrezia, but what we do know is fairly sordid (as one might expect if one is the illegitimate daughter of a pope.  Her life story is full of rumors of incest, poison and murder, and it's become part of the pop culture - even Mr. Peabody and Sherman made a trip to Italy to visit her, where she was suspected of attempting to poison her husband. (She wasn't really bad, though - she just couldn't help herself).

At that, it's likely that the real Lucrezia couldn't hold a candle to the operatic one.  The opera Lucrezia Borgia was composed by Donizetti and premiered in 1833, and is a magnificent example of the bel canto style - one reason why it's become a showpiece for sopranos from Sutherland to Caballé to Fleming. The opera heavily plays upon, and even embellishes, Lucrezia's infamous reputation. In the climax final act of Lucrezia Borgia, Lucrezia, in revenge for past insults, fatally poisons six men - including, unintentionally, her own son Gennaro (whom she had thought had already fled the city).* Horrified at the thought of murdering her own flesh and blood, Lucrezia begs Gennaro to take the antidote, but he refuses, choosing instead to die with his five friends. Devistated at her accidental act of filicide, Lucrezia herself crumples to the ground, dead, as the curtain falls.

*Gennaro, it should be noted, didn't know that Lucrezia was his mother. It's a convoluted plot. But then again, it's an opera. What do you expect?

The body count in this opera is truly appalling, but there's nothing appalling about this performance by the magnificent Joan Sutherland in the title role. This clip of the final scene comes from a 1972 TV production - not sure what show, although offhand I'd guess it's either the Bell Telephone Hour or a program from England.  Though it's not stated, the conductor might well be her husband, Richard Bonynge ◙

Today's news brought to you by...

Independence Digest

Brian Bolduc: David McCollough notes textbooks are helping raise young people who are historically illiterate.

Concerned Women for America: "God" and "Life" are being dumped from historical documents.

The Christian Century: Don't Know Much About History.

Phyllis Schlafly: Court Wraps Video Games in the First Amendment.

Star Parker: Bachmann is Right about the Minimum Wage.

John Ransom: Obama's Price: Ten Dollar Tax for Union Teachers - You Pay.

Mike Shedlock: How Union Busting Helps Kids (and Everyone Else) in Wisconsin.

The Usual Suspects: US Constitution faces liberal threat. ◙

The Spirit of '76

Retro TV Friday - Independence Day edition

At the time, Capital Cities-ABC owned Word, the label and church music publishing company that signed Sandi Patty (please note this is the correct spelling; a printer's mistake from the late 1970's on her debut was not corrected until 1993) and writer Claire Cloninger. (Mrs. Cloninger is still with Word, a Warner Music Group company; Mrs. Peslis now her her own label, Stylos, that is distributed by Warner Music Group and features two other artists -- Super Bowl XLI Champion Ben Utecht and Heather Payne.

Naturally, Capital Cities had to cross-promote the Centennial of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Weekend (which they had exclusive rights) by having their artist do the National Anthem for the event. Here is Claire Cloninger's arrangement (and the "second verse" is written by her) of the National Anthem, as we celebrate the silver anniversary of a famous moment that launched Mrs. Peslis' career after having won five consecutive GMA Dove Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year (she would have a dynastic streak of 11 when it was snapped following her marital infidelity). ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

In light of the tragic news in Raleigh where a bus driver was killed in a crash, let's remember who he was, and one of college basketball's most famous moments. Dereck Whittenburg's 30-foot heave was caught by Lorenzo Charles, whose dunk at the buzzer is one of the classic moments in sports history. Despite a long minors and European professional career, and only one NBA season, Lorenzo Charles was known for one dunk that gave North Carolina State a surprise victory over Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma (Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler the best known players of that group). Gary Bender with the call. ◙

Peter Falk, R.I.P.

One more thing. There was always just one more thing with Peter Falk.

Twice he was nominated for Academy Awards for Supporting Actor (Murder, Inc. and Pocketful of Miracles). He could have continued as a supporting actor, he could have made a career of playing the heavy. He was nominated for two Emmys for guest-starring roles in early 60s television, wining one. He could have been a terrific television character actor. His first television series, a lawyer drama called The Trials of O'Brien, was cancelled after one season. He could have hopped from one series to another, ala McLean Stevenson and Robert Urich.

All of these things could have happened, but there was always one more thing.

There was Columbo. This will be his crowing achievement, one of the greatest television characters of all time, with plots that were worthy of his talent, and guest stars who were bigger than the featured stars of most series. The story is that Bing Crosby turned down the chance to play Columbo because it would interfere with his golf game. Bing Crosby would not have done justice to the role, not in the same way that Peter Falk did. It was so successful that, after the original series ended, he came back a few years later and launched another version, and it was a hit, too.



This would have been enough for some actors, but there was always one more thing. He didn't stop making movies. He made The In-Laws with Alan Arkin, and everyone who's seen it seems to have a favorite scene.



Now, a lot of TV stars are able to make a good movie or two - ask Helen Hunt. But there was one more thing.

He had a charming appearance in a very strange movie, Wim Wenders' wonderful Wings of Desire, playing himself as an angel  Yup. But it worked.



He played the grandpa in The Princess Bride. A lot of memorable scenes in that movie. Falk was content to stay in the background. But would there have been a story without him?



As I say, there always seemed to be one more thing with Peter Falk. Just when it would have been easy to remember him as he was, to look back in appreciation at what he had done, he came up with something new. And so, when it came out a year or so ago that he had Alzheimer's, it was a bitter pill: not just because of the personal tragedy, but because this time there wouldn't be one more thing, he wouldn't come back to add another memorable moment to his terrific career.

And so when Peter Falk died last week, it was the end. But, of course, it was also the beginning. Because when you look back at what Peter Falk did, the guest apperances and the movies and Columbo and the rest, you realize that as long as that work exists, as long as you can bring it up on your TV or DVD or laptop, there will always be, after all, one more thing.  ◙

More on remembering Nick Charles

I was watching the Braves game on FSN last night, and studio host Fred Hickman spent at least five minutes of the show on a tribute to his long-time broadcast partner.

This from his Twitter: "I will sorely miss my friend and Brother Nick Charles. Please pray for his family."

This was Fred's public letter from March.
No Twitter posts from Katie (his daughter) yet, but here's her account (and noted the appropriateness of the boxing tweets on her Twitter). She is a former track star and the cruelest irony of this might come next April if the former cheerleader who became a cross-country runner at Kennesaw State applies in time for a race she has duly qualified -- having run a fast enough time in the Snickers Albany (GA) Marathon to qualify for the holy grail of marathons. ◙

Trouble for Christian charities with more false marriage

Our little parochial school's baseball and softball teams played games on a field at a denomination-run orphanage, what is now the local chapter of the Connie Maxwell Children's Home, named for the daughter of a Greenwood family who bequeathed the original home in memory of their seven-year old daughter, a victim of scarlet fever in the 1880's).

This story reminds me of the dangerous consequences of Friday night's dastardly passage of a “redefinition of marriage” in New York that changes marriage to the “any two” where it's no longer “I Now Pronounce You Husband and Wife” to “I Now Pronounce You Spouses” as new marriage certificate applications will now state specifically “Spouse A” and “Spouse B”. “Husband” and “Wife”, “Bride” and “Groom”, and “Man” and “Woman” are now banned, replaced by the A/B designation as art of the new “definition of marriage” to advance the Gill Agenda.

As the advancement of the Gill Agenda has now come, in the words of Albert Mohler, has come to the point one out of every nine Americans are now in states where false “marriage” is legalised, the Catholic and Protestant charities such as Catholic Charities, Connie Maxwell Children's Home, and other faith-based charities such as Mercy Ministries are now being punished where Christians are no longer permitted to run their own adoption agencies, foster homes, or help the weakest because their reliance on the Bible violates new standards of “the family” as defined in “civil union” and new “definition of marriage” laws passed in the past decade. Massachusetts, Illinois, Iowa, District of Columbia, and now New York are among areas where Catholic Charities and Protestant organisations the equivalent of Connie Maxwell are now banned from their work of adoption because they only allow adoptions to heterosexual married couples, and ban unmarried couples (“shacking up”) and same-sex “couples” from adoptions, which violate the New World Order that gives sexual deviants special rights, something Public Laws 111-84 and 111-321 have rewarded.

Freedom of Religion, long a basic freedom of this nation, is rapidly in the past fifty years of humanism being eroded. False marriage laws ban churches and religious organisations from doing the charity work of the past. With the one out of nine standard, churches are no longer being permitted to organise their charities as state and federal authorities impose new standards based on the requests of sexual deviants over all others that conflict with Biblical teachings. Churches are now being forced to exit as freedom of religion is replaced by the rights of deviants. No wonder pop culture, sexual deviants in Hollywood, the teachings of modern textbooks, and other pieces of the indoctrination has given us a world where the church is now replaced by the government, and sexual deviants are superior to Christians where they can impose their standards on everyone, while Christians are not even allowed participation in the square. ◙

Nick Charles, R.I.P.

The long battle ended Saturday for Nick Charles, who was finallly claimed by The Big C. Story here. I wrote about him earlier this year here. Not really much to add, except that I always enjoyed his work, liked him as far as I could know him through the small screen, liked him that much more as I read about him, and take solace in the thought that finally his pain and suffering is over. Safe journeys.

UPDATE: One reason I didn't write more: Joe Posnanski, who would make any such effort appear even more feeble.◙

Classic Sports Thursday

Baseball fans recognize Jon Miller as the longtime voice (until this season) of ESPN's Sunday night telecasts, as well as the play-by-play man for the Baltimore Orioles (formerly), and the San Francisco Giants (currently). As baseball announcers go, he's one of the best.

But how many knew that at one time, Jon Miller was the voice of American soccer? I sure didn't, until I came across this footage* of Miller broadcasting the North American Soccer League (NASL) game of the week for TVS in 1978.

*Not that you can actually go directly to it. TVS's online archives don't give you a share link, so you have to go here, page down to "Soccer," and select one of the NASL games.  This one, in case you're really interested, was San Jose vs. Los Angeles.

A few observations:

1. Jon Miller had a lot more hair back then.  And a little less face.  But then don't we all?
2. If you watch the video, you'll notice Miller consistently refers to the upcoming match as a "ball game." Any soccer fan will tell you that this is akin to calling the Mona Lisa a "chick." But in their efforts to sell Americans on this foreign sport, I'm sure Miller was told to make it as American-sounding as possible.
3. But Paul Gardner, I always thought, was a very good commentator.
4. The American brand of soccer at that time was quite different from the rest of the world. The offside rule, for example. Today's MLS plays by the international rules, which I think is for the best.
5. On the other hand, they've got a pretty good crowd there, no? We have to remember that back in the late 70s, when Pele and Beckenbauer and Chinaglia led the way, soccer was a pretty hot sport in this country. It didn't last, though - the roots weren't that deep. For all that, I think the sport in America is probably stronger than ever.
6. The 70s really were a bad time, weren't they? ◙

Opera Wednesday

From 1936, here's a real Mickey Mouse opera. And that's no lie. ◙

Summertime notes

This is to That? Professional wrestling is to wrestling what “popular music” singing is to singing. They are all kayfabe and fake!

A Kick to the Groin and Knocking Down Explicit Programming. Chuck Norris is tired of what is called television today in "Sex, Media, and a Sign of the Times".

Political Correctness in the Workplace. Mike Adams reports on a Cisco worker fired for his statements. Wonder how the Left believes – us only, they can't speak.

Is This Education Today? Pat Buchanan reports on how dumbed down education is today when important facts are ignored – but we talk self-esteem, mandate praise of deviants, and punish Christians. Colour of skin and being a sexual deviant are now praised, real people are oppressed.

Unions' Bill of Rights. The National Labour Relations Board is now a division of the unions. New policies are being imposed in an attempt to create a rise in unionism, in addition to trying to close a newly constructed Charleston (SC) plant for Boeing, and moving those jobs to Seattle. The intent is to create more unionism, and eventually, fewer jobs as those jobs move to the BRIC.

El matrimonio del líder de La Gran Amistad Señor Chang. Congratulations to Serena and Michael! That midweek lunchtime wedding news struck a few of us by surprise. M. et Mme. LaRoche.

Red? The Golf Channel's broadcast of the final round in Congressional's Northern Ireland Invitational, another chapter in the Domination of Europe (USA, Who's Your Daddy?) was a warning that they intentionally omitted “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Red Skelton warned that censorship of the Pledge was prominent after “Under God” was added . . . and he was prophetic about it!

Thankfully It's Over! A local version of British network Channel 4's Skins was finally canned after advertisers revolted. The excessive raunch of the series, regardless of country, was too much here.

Rude Violence. While the Lowcountry cheered over Rich Peverley's Stanley Cup win, over in Vancouver, they were burning the city to the ground after the whipping (a Congratulations Bruins sign with a Stanley Cup is on Fenway). Diane Medved reflected.

Smoke Wants The Extension! The 1971 Six Hours course (includes the “Back Straight” not used in the full course; the extension was not ready in time for that race when Watkins Glen was rebuilt after the 1970 United States Grand Prix) is used by Sprint Cup cars and not the full course. Jimmie Johnson ran the full course a few years ago when he raced the Six Hours. Tony Stewart took his first voyage on the extension in the Mobil 1 Car Swap, and he made it clear after laps in his car and in a McLaren that afternoon. He wants the extension!

Turn Out The Lights Stateside, Have to Be in Canada for Lights to Flag Action! The next three Formula One races won't be televised, as we know it, to Americans. Our neighbours to the north in Canada will get lights to flag action as the European Grand Prix in Valencia's lights appear at 8 AM (EDT), and the same will be the case for the 8 AM lights both July 10 at the Santander Grand Prix of Great Britain (New Silverstone Wing past Club as the start-finish line with a right-handed sweep at Abbey, not past Woodcote headed towards Copse as familiar for nearly sixty years) and July 24 at the Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland. For Americans, they will be lunchtime tape-delays where anyone who reads the F1-posted blogs will know the results before they even air. Might be better to read who won and not watch the races Stateside! (gasp) (The Blundell and Brundle Show (BBC) will air on TSN at 7:55 AM with a short pre-race in Canada.) The 7:30 AM (EDT) wake-up calls (30-minute pre-race show from W. T. Harris Boulevard) will continue at the Eni Magyar Nagydíj in August. ◙