movieman1957

Saw "Rawhide" this morning on AMC. Still a powerful ending. Good western. Elam is just plain evil. He's the best part of the movie.

The morons who run the Maryland governemnt allowed one of the power companies to send their customers these new light bulbs and then charge them for it. The problem was nobody bothered to ask the customers if they wanted them. Now refunds to the tune of several million dollars have been issued. The government lives to feed itself. People in power live to stay in power. That's why we have "earmarks." A couple of years ago some congressman tried to get some regulation passed that any spending bill had to have a notation to show that it was allowed under the Constitution. Not surprisingly it didn't get anywhere. Want energy independence? Pull back some of the restrictions on off-shore drilling. Our reserves are as big as most any in the world. I don't see how people can complain about energy costs if we are sitting on all this and won't do anything about it. It will do no good if we agree to do things environmentally and the rest of the world won't or can't. (Nobody who agreed to Kyoto is around the levels they promised.) Now Russia won't agree to anything. Doesn't mean we shouldn't be good stewards of the planet but no one gets a pass either. For my money, the whole global warming thing is overblown. There may be problems but there seems to be enough disagreement among scientists (Al Gore not among them) as to have not been completely decided as Al would have us believe.

Only because I caught the end the other night,,, "Grumpier Old Men." Loren looks great in her wedding dress. Matthau is handsome even adorned with knee high rubber boots.

Thanks for the heads up. "The Live Ghost" has been on my On Demand before (or I got it from TCM) but I will sure keep looking for "Beau Hunks." It will be great if some of the other shorts wind up there too.

>Banned Food References (HRW2): French fries Potato chips Soda pop I read a story of some kid in New England who was banned from school because he was seliing black market candy bars. The school banned "junk" food so he thought he would be would fill a need. Now, I can't quite see how you can get in trouble for selling candy but it's a sign of how oppressive the schools systems have become. It's not like they are drugs, or are they classified that way now?

>Time to plan where to send the rest of the family for the day, 'movieman'. The Zoo? The Amusement Park? The Grandparents? 'Cause I know you won't want to be disturbed for 24 hours. They are already on notice. Although it's quite possible my daughter will spend some of the day with me.

That's *32* Stan and Ollie films. I was hoping they would schedule some short films and they came through. Thanks TCM. The rest of the schedule looks pretty good but I don't think there's a Roy Rogers type surprise.

Cool. Yes I would like to join all of you. Will there be assigned seating? Are you leading the class? I know your surgery is pending. I'm no fan of science fiction but it should be fun listening to the discussion.

Minya, my dear: While it is a wonderful idea I fear the only emotion I would bring from my wife would be one of complete laughter. While I love her dearly my attempt would be futile. You get bonus points for being creative.

>I raise my empty cup to your Mrs. Your cup runneth over... because of her. You have uncanny grasp of the situation my friend.

Forgive my late and uninformed arrival. "What's all this then?"* What do we do for enrollment? *John Cleese - "Silverado."

Thank you Kyle. I'll pass them on. Though she doesn't post here she does know of you and others as I frequesntly have things to share.

I'll be involved in a more important birthday on Wednesday - my wife's. HE will have to take a back seat. Maybe you can spend time with Brahms or Tchaikovsky who will have birthdays as well.

They, along with SIlent Sundays, are hiatus for May. There is a Sunday night tribute all month for Frank Sinatra. Oddly enough this doesn't hold completely for the night of the 4th. They are back on the June schedule.

>I'm not so sure. >Whenever he talks to me, he's looking at my chest. Then we can consider him old but not quite dead. The other side is you've given him something to live for. Such a dilemma. I think a simple "No thank you" will have to do.

It is probably an awkward length but there are many to enjoy. I taped part of the day, pver a year ago, where they played "shorts" during the day. There were a handful of the "Boyfriend" series and a group of the Todd/Pitts shorts. I've been lucky enough to catch most of the Chase films but have really been looking for L&H. They did show "One Good Turn" this year (I think) but their shorts have been scarce.

Don't eccentric millionaires leave their money to their cat?

>Should I tell him I have a social disease? At 93 he probably won't care. The truth probably lies somewhere around he is just looking for someone to talk to.

April: "Above and Beyond" is a pretty good drama about the pilot of the Enola Gay that dropped the first atomic bomb. His name was Tibbets. Most of the tension is drawn between the husband and wife. He is on the most secret mission of the war and, understandably, can't tell her. She is frustrated with their nomadic life and his inability (refusal?) to confide in her. Having seen interviews with Tibbets (mostly in the documentary "The World At War") Taylor seems to make a good representation of him. Not a great film but if there is any interest in the history of that time (understanding the Hollywood sense) it's worth a look. Chris

Kyle: Nefarious? Disturbing? Illicit? Terms I never could associate with you or your postings. Thanks for the info. Time had prevented me from doing the research, Chris Now back to our French lesson.

Choosing Minya before FrankGrimes is not the surprise. Apparently he doesn't have either of those things. (I'm off to find out what those "things" are.) Me

Kyle wrote: >it'll be hard not to choose the gal with the Gitanes and the Absinthe. Can you really say that here? A fellow big fan, Chris

It must be the money. They still do the Star of The Month promo. But I haven't seen the music video "This Month on TCM" type in some time. Too bad as they were pretty good.

My daughter's name is Maureen. My wife and I liked Maureen O'Hara (especially in "The Quiet Man.") Unfortunately, she is not all that in love with her name. She goes by Mo. I call her Maureen because it is so lyrical.

Kyle: I am no fan of Maher's either but with the series "John Adams", which I think has been great, HBO is worth keeping for that. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney have been wonderful. The detail to the period is outstanding (as far as my knowledge goes.) It's been wonderful to watch. Chris