A New Addition to this Blog

I am on the lookout for interesting blogs that have something to say in areas that are not generally covered by me.  WordPress has given the title ENERGY for that alternate category.  The first on up is the result of a comment by Guro Stuan who lives in Vancouver Canada.  Perhaps I have misunderstood but he goes by the name Jason.

Give a look.  The ENERGY group is immediately below the BLOGROLL  It is a well organized and interesting blog.  The direct link is http://thewalkntalk.com/

“It’s A Wonderful Life” is a Message of Hope

Clarence the Angel and George Bailey 

In honor of the film’s 65th anniversary, the Los Angeles City Council declared Friday “It’s A Wonderful Life Day.”

Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, for the one or two people who still haven’t seen the classic Frank Capra film “It’s A Wonderful Life,” is a man driven to the brink of suicide when he comes to believe his life never really mattered.

“My father always said that ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ was the best movie that he ever made,” Tom Capra said. “As a matter of fact, he said it was the best movie ever made.”

“It carried with it the message that you can find in each of my dad’s films. The message of hope,” Capra said. “Maybe like George Bailey, we should pause for a brief moment and examine our lives and see if we can make a difference as long as we never give up.”

It’s available in on DVD from Netflix and it airs again Saturday night on NBC.

This story originally posted by the Associated Press.

If the Passover Story Were Reported by CNN, the BBC…

If the Passover Story Were Reported by CNN, the BBC, the Guardian or the New York Times it Might Go Like This:…

The cycle of violence between the Jews and the Egyptians continues with no 
end in sight in Egypt.  After eight previous plagues have destroyed the
Egyptian infrastructure and disrupted the lives of ordinary Egyptian 
citizens, the Jews launched a new offensive this week in the form of the 
plague of darkness.  Western journalists were particularly enraged by this
plague.  “It is simply impossible to report when you can’t see an inch in 
front of you,” complained a frustrated Andrea Koppel of CNN.  “I have heard 
from my reliable Egyptian contacts that in the midst of the blanket of
blackness, the Jews were annihilating thousands of Egyptians.  Their word 
is
 solid enough evidence for me.”

While the Jews contend that the plagues are justified given the harsh 
slavery imposed upon them by the Egyptians, Pharaoh, the Egyptian leader,
rebuts this claim.  “If only the plagues would let up, there would be no 
slavery.  We just want to live plague-free. It is the right of every 
society.”

Saeb Erekat, an Egyptian spokesperson, complains that slavery is
justifiable given the Jews’ superior weaponry supplied to them by the superpower G-d. 
The Europeans are particularly enraged by the latest Jewish offensive.
“The
 Jewish aggression must cease if there is to be peace in the region.  The
Jews should go back to slavery for the good of the rest of the world,” 
stated an angry French President Jacques Chirac.

Even several Jews agree.  Adam Shapiro, a Jew, has barricaded himself
within Pharaoh’s chambers to protect Pharaoh from what is feared will be the next 
plague, the death of the firstborn.  Mr. Shapiro claims that while slavery
is not necessarily a good thing, it is the product of the plagues and when 
the plagues end, so will the slavery. “The Jews have gone too far with 
plagues such as locusts and epidemics which have virtually destroyed the
Egyptian economy,” Mr. Shapiro laments.  “The Egyptians are really a very 
nice people and Pharaoh is kind of huggable once you get to know him,” 
gushes Shapiro.

The United States is demanding that Moses and Aaron, the Jewish leaders,
continue to negotiate with Pharaoh.  While Moses points out that Pharaoh 
had made promise after promise to free the Jewish people only to immediately 
break them and thereafter impose harsher and harsher slavery, Richard
Boucher of the State Department assails the latest offensive.  “Pharaoh is
not in complete control of the taskmasters,” Mr. Boucher states.  “The Jews 
must return to the negotiating table and will accomplish nothing through
these plagues.”

The latest round of violence comes in the face of a bold new Saudi peace
overture.  “If only the Jews will give up their language, change their 
names to Egyptian names and cease having male children, the Arab nations will 
incline toward peace with them,” Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah declared.

On Top of Old Baldy

From the May 2010 Automobile Club of Southern California Westways magazine.                                              

Mount Baldy, California, circa 1890

Bedroll, heavy-duty axe, large drum can­teen. Check. Wide-brimmed hat, cravat, six-gun, holster, and ammunition. Check. Add nine of your buddies striking a pose atop a 10,OOO-foot mountain-and a photographer to prove you made it to the top-and you have the fixings of a wilderness hunting adventure at the summit of Mount Baldy, circa 1890.

Officially, the mountain bears the name San Antonio, but it was nicknamed Old Baldy in the 1860s by hard-luck gold miners who noted the mountain’s treeless pate. The peak dominates the eastern San Gabriel range and is the highest point in Los Angeles County.

The original route to the crest of the moun­tain started at Devil’s Backbone, a harrowing knife-edged approach from the east. But in the summer of 1889, Dr. B.H. Fairchild hired hunter Fred Dell and a party of laborers to build a shorter (but steeper) horse trail up the south ridge. Fairchild hoped to convince Harvard College that it should construct a permanent astronomical observatory on top of Baldy to replace the school’s temporary site at Mount Wilson. When the director of the college observatory later trekked to the summit-where the party from Dell’s Camp had erected a stone summit monument-the weather was so bad that Harvard opted to pass.

Although the summit never became a scien­tific apex, Mount Baldy has rewarded countless hikers with wonderful vistas. Be sure to bring your camera. W

Fox News Finally Wakes Up!

Glenn Beck should have been recognized by Fox News channel as being a few cards short of a full deck along time ago.  Perhaps he was a money maker but he also tarred that TV network as willing to surrender its “conservative” values for just plain loony talk that is not based upon reality.  Advertisers prevailed.

The Toronto Star (yes the network even has an outlet there) offered this summary of Glenn Beck’s greatest quotes.

To commemorate this week’s announcement that Glenn Beck’s daily show on Fox News will end later this year, we present a round-up of just a few of the words of wisdom to escape his lips during his reign.

1. “I’m a rodeo clown . . . (and) if you take what I say as gospel, you’re an idiot.”

2. “The most used phrase in my administration if I were to be President would be, ‘What the hell you mean we’re out of missiles?’”

3. “This president (Barack Obama) I think has exposed himself over and over and over again as a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture . . . I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people, I’m saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist.”

4. “I’m thinking about killing Michael Moore.”

5. “When I see a 9/11 victim family on television, or whatever, I’m just like, ‘Oh shut up.’ I’m so sick of them because they’re always complaining.”

6. “The only (Katrina victims) we’re seeing on television are the scumbags.”

7. “Cindy Sheehan is a tragedy slut,” (referring to the anti-war activities of the mother of U.S. soldier Casey Sheehan, who was killed during action in Iraq.)

8. “Progressivism is the cancer in America and it is eating our Constitution.”

9. “Political correctness doesn’t change us, it shuts us up.”

10. “You can get rich making fun of me. I know. I’ve made lots of money making fun of me.”

Film legend Elizabeth Taylor dies at age 79

 
 
 
 
DAVID GERMAIN
From Associated Press

March 23, 2011 11:30 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed film goddess whose sultry screen persona, stormy personal life and enduring fame and glamour made her one of the last of the old-fashioned movie stars and a template for the modern celebrity, died Wednesday at age 79.

Read this well written biography here.

The Art on the Runways

My lovely wife has me hooked on “Project Runway”.  You know, it’s the television program that has designer contestants quickly coming up with extraordinary gowns, dresses, and other stuff that makes men stop and look.

On a recent visit to downtown Los Angeles we toured Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising also called FIDM.  This is a very impressive school.  Actually the Project Runway program has been conducted there.  The tour gave me an entirely new appreciation for fashion design.

This has been scanned from the March 7, 2011 Newsweek.  Click to enlarge the scan.