patricia

7/4, you sly little dickens!!! I didn't know that we are twins!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Sorry 7/4. I missed the solar ref first time around. DUH.

Medjuck, yes, it's cold as a witch's heart out there today. I was just out for a few minutes and the wind is whistling. I now have a hair-don't This is the absolute weirdest climate of all the cities in which I've lived. One day it's above freezing, that same afternoon it can drop, or go up 30 degrees celcius. One hardly knows what to wear in the morning. Enjoy your visit on Friday. The weather guy mentioned that tomorrow the temp is supposed to drop to -30 celcius. Brrr. Clifford, I'll try not to let the other diners know that I'm a rube. I'll wear clean clothes and have all my hair going the same way. I'll let you know if I am able to infiltrate.

7/4, you sly little dickens!!! I didn't know that we are twins!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Rachel, my dear friend, thank you so much. I am so grateful for your having sent me the initial "24" episodes. Thank you so much for your offer today. I have taken a full day off and my daughter and her boyfriend, whom I actually like, will be taking me out for dinner. Erin [my daughter] has actually baked me a cake, with her own hands, from scratch, which I will be enjoying later. Thank you also for your positive reaction to my posts. It's nice to share views with those who agree with me and even more with those who think I'm totally off base. Wouldn't the world be a dull place if everyone thought the same way?? Back to my birthday indugences.

Thank you Clifford. Yes, my daughter and her boyfriend are taking me to dinner at a restaurant where not only do I not have to carry my own tray, but where they have cloth napkins and red-coated servitors. Ah, the luxury.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tjobbe. Capricorns are a special breed of cat.

Thank you Bright Moments. The only way is to move toward the light and hope it's not that light.

Thank you Harold. Say "hi" to our mutual friend when you see him again. I remember his being somewhat traumatized by his introduction to geezerhood. Tell him that I refuse to be intimidated by the passage of time. The best is yet to come. Tonym, thank you so much. Just chuggin' along.

Paul, thank you. Those who don't appreciate vinyl are to be pitied gently. Yes, Scott and I have known each other for about four years. His lovely wife, Kelly seems to keep him in line, most times. But, every once in a while he escapes her eagle eye. But, he's a diamond in the rough. Noj [Jon] is a fellow starving artist and understands that although our art is paramount, it doesn't always pay the rent. So, we both do other less satisfying things to make ends meet. I can see the passion in the examples of his work that he showed to us here. One day we'll all say that we knew him before he was a super-star.

Yes, 7/4, a solar return. Thank you so much. Scott, I blush. Thank you. Brownie. Thank you for the three whistle wish. JSangry. I love the combative Gingerbread Man. Thank you. Thank you King Ubu. Thank you David. Brownie in Motion, you're right, I have met a new prickley-pear in Hammondcheese and Scott has migrated from another jazz board. Kevlar ought to provide enough protection from the former. The latter means no harm. Both are interesting, as is everyone here. Thank you Porcy62. I try not to do anything to scare the horses. One more step closer to the abyss.

Remember that I don't have as much time to discover my destiny as I always think I have. So to stop procrastinating. Days follow each other and each looks the same as the one before it. As Peggy Lee sang, Is this all there is? Be thankful that both my grown daughters have decided that my life is my life and have finally accepted that I will do what I think is right. For a while they were uncomfortable with my being different than other moms out there. WHEW! For the most part I'm going to quit sweatin' the small stuff.

No truer words, Chuck.

The end of the feature film was different than that of the series. At the end of the series, the message was that yes, the war would go on, but it was unwinnable. The wrong people are being punished. It also didn't shy away from the supply/demand aspects of the drug trade. As long as there is a obscenely lucrative market, due to drugs' illegality, there will be those who suffer from the production and distribution of illegal drugs. That was it's message. It was not that the War On Drugs made sense, or could ever be won.

Not acting is the most common response. That's what sets Mr. Autrey apart. But, I would guess that even he didn't know he was capable of such heroism, until the situation presented itself. It seems to have been an instinctual reaction, of which I guess we all wonder whether we would be capable. Most of us would not. Even Mr. Autrey would probably have said he wouldn't have. But................there he was, saving another man's life. And unintenional hero, but a hero none the less. Good for him.

You're right about the American re-make. It was a pale imitation of the original, which was presented as a series on BBC. We saw the series here in Canada soon after it's release on television. It is amazingly effective. The series was directed by Alistair Reid and was filmed in London, Pakistan and Hamburg. It reads like a documentary. In fact, many thought it was. Although Traffic, the film starring Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and other big stars was impressive, it can't hold a candle to the British production. To be fair, running-time constrainsts were a big part of the problem. The original series benefitted from having 325 total minutes of time to develop the story and the characters. The VHS boxed set comes on three tapes. I don't know if it's available on DVD. Probably by now. The time to develop the characters and plot is the biggest advantage, IMO, that mini-series has over feature films.

WOW!! Amazing what people are capable of doing in these circumstances. Good for Mr Autrey. His thought process is what we all hope we are capable of, but we'll never know. It was the difference between saving the man's life and just being able to say that he was there when somebody died.

Perhaps. Thanks for mentioning this one - someone told me about this a long time ago, but I'd forgotten all about it. I think I'll get it with my next Amazon order. You'll be glad you did. Much better than the American film version, IMO.

Danger UXB This was a series on BBC about the British soldiers involved in diffusing unexploded bombs. It was, I believe, the introduction of actor, Anthony Andrews. Excellent series. Fawlty Towers Prime Suspect series 1 through 5. The News Room - This is a subversively hilarious Canadian series about a TV newsroom in Toronto, written by and starring the amazing Ken Finkleman. It was offered by the PBS catalogue a few years ago and, even though I had seen it when it was running, I snapped up the 13 episode series. There were two follow-ups which also enjoyed moderate success. But, the first series was pure gold. The Six Wives of Henry VIII, the original starring Michael Keith. Excellent. Dragnet - Who did detective better and more memorably than Jack Webb?? Traffik - The British series on which the American film, Traffic was based. No comparison. Cracker - The Robbie Coltrane series, again from Britain. Three episode boxed set. The Charmer - A terrific British series starring Nigel Havers [he was the blonde runner in Chariots of Fire] who, in this series plays a handsome con-man who bilks and murders older women. He comes to a bad end. Another terrific period piece which the British do so well.

Hey Rob!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Halfway to the goalposts, kiddo. Champagne and more champagne. You saved a bottle from last night, right??

It's now 2007. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

My younger daughter's former boyfriend gave her that set last year and she was thrilled. The relationship didn't last [she's engaged to somebody else now], but she appreciates the wit on a new level now than she did as a little kid. Her cell's ringtone is the entire Muppet Show theme. The same daughter gave me the smallest garden gnome which is about 3" high. I guess she remembered my saying that they had become a cliche'. The exception is a life-size cement dinasaur a couple of blocks from my building. Sure makes you look.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alexander!!! The first time I saw your postings on Organissimo, all I could think of was Dagwood Bumstead's teenage son. It's a mental stutter which has endured. I think of you as a teenager with a cowlick.

I'm so jealous. I have twelve of Pee Wee's albums, plus some he did with others on the JazzTone label, but not that one. Love Pee Wee Russell.

Exactly. But, wasn't that around the time that records got flimsier, Dynagroove etc.? There were some that said on the label they could be played on either mono OR stereo. I never understood what magic would take place. Not sure about Dynagroove. I have never bought too many records by major companies. My memory of this is that records got very thin with the oil price rise in the early '70s - 1973 as far as I can tell. I've got some Prestige LPs from that period that are so flimsy, the polythene wrapping around the sleeve bends them! (And they're all FUNK classics - I always thought the Sheikhs did it deliberately to make these albums less long-lasting. ) MG Yeah. That's probably it.

Exactly. But, wasn't that around the time that records got flimsier, Dynagroove etc.? There were some that said on the label they could be played on either mono OR stereo. I never understood what magic would take place.