Blog Roll

Happy Birthday to a Film Favorite ...

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:55 GMT

Ronald Colman, award-winning actor of stage and cinema, radio and television - and one of my favorite stars of the cinema - was born on this day in 1891.

Colman was a man of another time and another place then those we now know, but his performances continue to capture us and move us. Maybe it was his good looks ... maybe it was his charm ... maybe it was that voice of his, and his wonderful delivery, which served him so well when he made the move from silent films to 'the talkies.' Or maybe it was all of the above, brought together in one very special package.

We might never have come to appreciate him, if he had pursued his original intention to study engineering ... or if his service in the Great War had taken a tragic turn. Things were different back then, especially in England, where few were content to remain at home. Colman - along with fellow actors Claude Rains, Herbert Marshall and Basil Rathbone - enlisted in the army, and was among the first to fight in World War I. In 1914, at the Battle of Messines, Colman was seriously wounded by shrapnel in his leg, which led to his being released from service.

You have to wonder, though, if that service left an indelible mark upon Colman and upon what he would bring to the characters he played in the course of his career. Some of my favorite performances by him are all characters who have been out in the world, and have come home with weariness and wounds from that experience ... Robert Conway in "Lost Horizon," Dick Heldar in "The Light That Failed," John Smith in "Random Harvest" and -- perhaps most of all -- Sydney Carton in "Tale of Two Cities" ... to me, it is a far, far better performance than anyone else have ever done ...

But whatever the role, Colman always brought a sese of grace and style, even panache to his portrayel that was not easily duplicated, no matter how often filmmakers might try in later re-makes.

There aren't very many (non-subscription) online resources for Ronald Colman (at least, when compared to other stars). There is his Wikipedia Write-up, and pages devoted to him on Internet Broadway Database and Internet Movie Database.

There's no politically correct way to say it -- some good came from Hurricane Katrina for New Orleans residents

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:00 GMT

Plenty of people are cheering the Saints' Super Bowl win. But there's another reason New Orleanders and their supporters should celebrate: Ray Nagin won't be mayor any longer. He reached his term limit, but he had definitely overstayed his usefulness, a matter which was painfully obvious to outside observers during Hurricane Katrina and which eventually became obvious to New Orleans residents.

And maybe it was the hurricane. Education Secretary Arne Duncan caught hell for saying that Hurricane Katrina was the best thing to happen to the New Orleans school system. Political incorrectness really shouldn't be a crime, especially if the statement is true. But after the hurricane, the residents took advantage of an opportunity to make some long needed improvements.

Let's hope it's happening in the political arena, too. Ray Nagin, who thinks the only reason he was such a failure during the hurricane is because he didn't have the power Castro has over Cuba, is finally out.

Maybe there's a bright future ahead for New Orleans. After all, the city is home to the 2010 Super Bowl champions.

Placement of Tebow pro-life ad unusual

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:17 GMT

Back a few years ago when I worked in radio, one of the big time no-nos was to play commercials endorsing like products back-to-back. No car dealerships or banks next to each other, for instance. I don't know if that practice still holds true today but the reasoning behind it was simple and logical: such placement waters down the message. Abide by the practice, and at the end of a 60 second spot break, viewers weren't left wanting a new car yet not knowing from whom to buy. It made a lot of sense. I think the rules finally changed when political ads became so plentiful that we had no choice but to bump the politicos against one another.

I say this after watching Sunday's onslaught of Super Bowl ads and hearing the debate today. My biggest impression of the night was that the National Organization of Women and other pro-choice groups cried a lot over nothing when it came to the Tim Tebow ad that promoted life. It was a good ad. It wasn't preachy yet it got the point across in a very subtle way and for that reason it was my favorite, with the Letterman-Oprah-Leno ad a close second and then all those crazy Doritos ads.

What I found a bit odd, though, was that immediately preceding the Tebow ad was the Snickers spot that showed not just Betty White but Abe Vigoda getting tackled in a pickup football game because they hadn't had their Snickers that day. The Tebow ad aired next and the dramatic climax of the spot was when Tebow "tackled" his mother.

Two ads back-to-back with unlikely recipients to be on the receiving end of "vicious" body slams.

I'm not saying it ruined the message, but In a small way, the effectiveness of the Tebow message could have been dulled for some viewers when CBS decided to air it immediately after the Betty and Abe tackle ad.

Surely that was not a conscious decision by the network to pacify the pro-choice lobby. Was it?

As long as we're complaining about Toyotas ...

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:08 GMT

Anyone who has ever owned a no-frills car or truck, one that didn't have all the high technology in it, probably has some particular gripe about how the old ones were better than the new ones.

Well, here's mine -- the dimmer on the rear view mirror. The old cars had a manual switch on the rear view mirror which, when flipped, would shift it to a dark mode to keep the bright lights from cars coming up on the rear from blinding the driver. Worked perfectly.

So along comes some techie with a bright idea for one more electronic feature the driver doesn't want. It's a sensor which tells the mirror when to go dark. Doing it manually was just soooo much work, wasn't it?

But here's the problem. The sensor detects light and dark, so when it's dark outside the mirror goes dark on the theory that the only bright light coming into that mirror will be car lights coming from behind. But that's no help in the daytime when the sun reflects off the front windshield of the following vehicle straight into the eyes of our driver. Grrrrr. The techno benefits just won't quit giving.

On a different but somewhat related note, by now every Toyota driver has probably practiced putting the gear in neutral while the car is moving to practice for that rare possibility that the gas pedal might get stuck. For anyone who hasn't yet done this, remember that the engine RPMs might not match the car speed when the driver shifts back into drive. So if the driver relaxes pressure on the gas pedal when he/she makes that practice shift into neutral it's best to press back down on the gas before shifting back into "D" to get the RPMs up so that the engine won't have too much trouble adjusting to the vehicle speed.

FN Five-Seven handgun

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:31 GMT

I visited gun shows in two cities this weekend and was able to see a handgun model I've been looking for since last November. It seems that Nidal Malik Hasan, aside from being a crazy shrink and an Islamic terrorist, had a good eye for guns. Source.

Manufactured by Fabrique Nationale Herstal (FNH), it was the FN Five-SeveN®. From the manufacturer's website:

The FN Five-seveN® single-action autoloading pistol fires the low-recoil 5.7x28mm cartridge making it ideal for personal protection, target shooting or NRA Tactical Police Competition. It features a textured, ergonomic polymer frame with checkered panels for enhanced grip. The polymer slide cover helps reduce weight and the operating controls allow for easy access with a reversible magazine release and ambidextrous manual safety levers. The barrel is hammer-forged and chrome-lined for enhanced accuracy and extended service life. Models are available with matte black, olive drab green or Flat Dark Earth frames with a choice of adjustable target sights or fixed three-dot combat sights.

The bullet is a small caliber about the size of a .22, but it packs a punch with a large shell casing and lots of gun powder. Bullet photo is from Shootingtimes.com. There's a compelling theory out there that says heavier, larger diameter bullets have more stopping power, but I'll leave that one for the ballistics experts.

Here's why I like this handgun: the manual safety. As you can see, it's located just above the trigger. The correct way to handle a handgun is to hold it with the trigger outside the trigger guard until the target is acquired. So this model allows the trigger finger to rest on the safety, then as the finger goes down toward the trigger, it flicks the safety into firing position. That's a pretty neat feature.

The downside is the price of over $1,000. And those fancy bullets aren't cheap, either. This particular prize package won't be coming to my home anytime soon, but if that style of manual safety catches on then maybe we'll be seeing them on cheaper guns that shoot more conventional ammo.

Van Horn Cowboys

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:52 GMT

We drove to Van Horn Saturday to attend the Texas Crossroads Cowboy Gathering. We had never been to one of these but thought it'd be fun and it seemed like a good excuse to take the roadster down the highway.

The Saturday night show consisted of the top ten performers from open jam sessions Friday night and throughout the day on Saturday. Some really good music, some fun cowboy stories and poems and we enjoyed all two-and-a-half hours. Our favorite performer was Darrell Staedtler of Llano, Texas. Darrell's accoustic guitar on the George Strait hits "Blame It On Mexico" and "A Fire I Can't Put Out" was outstanding. His vocals would probably be considered so-so in comparison to George Strait but the fact that Darrell wrote both songs made the performance special. Darrell also did a couple of very good cowboy poems.

Local (Odessa-Midland) artist Rusty Battenfield performed a couple of Cowboy/Indian songs and did a great job. He was accompanied by a woman playing an Indian flute on one song - she was very good, also - I'm sorry I missed her name. Patsy Golden maybe? Rusty was one of the final winners and, as such, received an invitation to one of the bigger cowboy symposiums later this year at a location I missed.

The Saturday performance was web-broadcast live so they may put up a link so that it can be replayed. I doubt that the video would do justice, considering they used a laptop camera. But I do give them credit for the attempt.

Buddhism's Answer to 'Rock the Desert?' ...

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:05 GMT

According to the following report from Al Jazaeera, "Kansho Tagai, a Buddhist monk known as MC Happiness, believes in keeping the appeal of his religion fresh. He regularly holds music sessions at a 400-year old temple in central Tokyo to teach Buddhist principles and rituals through hip hop." The report goes on to state he is branching out into tap dance as well.

New Year, New Car

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:30 GMT

Rob predicted last month that 2010 would be a year of transitions. And even before that, he hinted several months ago, that a big car change was afoot.

Still, its come as a huge shock to nearly everyone who knows me, that the Caliente era is coming to a close. My beloved Volkswagen New Beetle Convertible was a fantastic, fun car for two, but not at all a good fit for three. So, a couple of weeks ago we said "Hello" to our new, comfy, more family-oriented car (dubbed Rocket by Liam).

Its a bit bittersweet, of course, knowing that this means a very sad "Goodbye" to my sweet little Cali, who sits dejected on the curb with a forlorn "For Sale" perched in her windshield. (Call me for a price on an award-winning, sporty, fun, little car!)

Is this the first of more big changes to come in 2010? Oh yes! Stay tuned...