Korngold

You may not know that Erich Wolfgang Korngold won the 1939 Oscar for the best musical score for Robin Hood. Flynn, Rathbone, and Korngold. How can you beat it?

If any of my female acquaintances are into scrapbooking, I have quite a number of pictures of ministers and church meetings that I would love to get properly preserved.

Crime and Punishment

I read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment when I was a sophomore in high school. Read it if you have LOTS of time on your hands. Otherwise, forget it.

Lives with great variety may be more exciting, but lives with routine are usually more productive.

We are really enjoying our set of old Our Miss Brooks TV show episodes.

I am very thankful for God's providential deliverance. I was on I-540 last night in all that traffic jam-up, and got home with only a dented fender.

POSSUMS AND CATS

One night this week I went to the pump house at night to get something out of the freezer. As I stepped out, I saw a possum jump off the AC unit where he had been stealing from the cat's bowl. As I was crossing the yard back to the house, I stepped on the cat, who threw a scratching, biting fit, naturally. At first, all I could see was that possum, so I was dancing around pretty well. My ankle hurt for several days.

Lonely goodbye

One of the most poignant scenes Hollywood ever produced is that from Fiddler on the Roof when Tevye and his daughter are sitting on that isolated bench out in the middle of the vast plains of Russia at the train stop. She is about to leave to join her fiance who is in Siberia. She says, "Father, God knows if we shall ever see each other again." He replies, "Well, then we will leave it in His hands." It is heart-rending.

Subordinates have to "push back" to make companies better

No company can ever expect to improve if employees do not "push back," that, resist bad management decisions. They may have to end up doing them, but if the folks doing the work are discouraged from having input into the processes, the company will never improve beyond the level of management, which usually is puffed up with its own importance.

If you need to fall in love all over again, just listen to the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto.

NEW BELVEDERE MOVIE.
Mr. Belveders Goes To College

Persimmon seed forecast

The persimmon seed weather forecast is for lots of wet, heavy snow this year.

Wouldn't it be fun to play the piano well enough to entertain yourself indefinitely by just noodling along?

One of the great sources of stress is having responsibility without the requisite authority to get it accomplished.

Grandpa said this week that he supposed that Hogan's Heroes was his all-time favorite TV show.

"Thanks, Harry, you're nice to old folks." Great line by Fibber McGee (Jim Jordan) at the close of an appearance by him and Molly on the Bing Crosby radio show.

The financial crash

Actually, at least so far, the financial crisis has been pretty good to me. Gas prices have come down a good deal, and my 401K is buying shares at greatly reduced prices right now.

I have nothing but utter, absolute despite for the criminal negligence of the business executives who, through untramelled greed, ran their companies into the ground in the current crisis. NO EXCUSE for that.

If you enjoy old-time fiddling, I recommend the John Hartford CD: Wild Hog in the Red Brush. Very nice. 19 tunes.

Sarah Palin

In case anyone cares what I think about Sarah Palin, there is no way in the world that I would vote for a woman who would leave an afflicted child to go off to seek fame and fortune.