Romantic Fools Rule!

Today's Tids Issue 2,064

Opening Stuff:

Do you know what today is? This is the second to last day you can procrastinate buying that Valentines Day bribe. Of course, while some people only see hearts on February 14th, romantic fools live on a cloud all year long. This is just their national holiday, a day when everybody else tries to think about what fools feel all the time. A romantic fool’s heart is ready to explode at any given moment. A thought of a winning smile or an overwhelming aura.

It is projected that this Valentines Day men will spend an average of $137.35 for gifts and women a mere $77.28. Are men stupid or just victims of extortion? I decided not to buy anything in an altruistic effort to bring down that discrepancy in averages.

The Question:

Name 3 classical composers who have written major works based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

The Headlines:

--Amahdinejad Tells The World That Iran Is Nuclear; Hundreds Of Thousands Of Loyalists Mob Streets To Celebrate As Opposition Are Beaten In Teheran’s Alleys.
--Patrick Kennedy Shocks And Elates As He Announces That He Will Move On And Not Run; Kennedy Dynasty Ends.
--January Retail Sales Up Unexpected 0.5%; Eurozone Recovery Floundering.
--China Raises Bank Reserves To Cool Credit; WS Lower On news.
--Commercial Real Estate Problems Getting Ugly; Could Create Risks For Smaller Banks.
--New Poll: 71% Of Americans Say Sarah Not Ready For White House.
--Two Stents Later, Clinton Is Back Home And Ready For More Work In Haiti; Chelsea With Him Most Of The Time.
--Deep South Latest Victim Of Major Snowfall.
--Gay, Irish-American Gordon Fox Is Named To Most Powerful Position In Beleaguered, State Legislature Ravaged Rhode Island – Speaker Of The House.

More Stuff:

How come everybody who is half Irish or Italian or German or French…and half black, is always called black?

Is it me, or have you also noticed that more and more TV dramas manage to incorporate some kind of health care horror story into their plots. Has anybody seen Joseph Goebbels lately walking around Hollywood? Or for that matter at Marvel Comics where the company just apologized for a Captain America episode disparaging The Tea Party movement?

Do you think that Leslie Vonn is setting herself up to receive the Kurt Shilling Bloody Sock Award?

While you weren’t looking, 90 stocks on the S&P 500 have fallen more than 10%. Be casutious.

I could write a column everyday with lots of material just pointing out media assaults on basic tenets of America’s greatness.

Obama‘s probably sitting in the White House wondering, “Why didn’t Bush take out Iran? I told him ‘n’! ‘n’, George, ‘n’. Not ’q’!”

The Novel:

Through the Same Eyes: Chapter 55 continues. –Here I was, barely standing, vulnerable to the world. Before me stood my grinning, marvelous family. And I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t run and throw my arms around them. I couldn’t kiss Paul – thank you for being so caring. All I could do is stand there like a person looking for a government handout. “What are you clowns smiling about? Haven’t you ever seen your mom walk?” Paul was the first to my side. I think he could see how tired I was, because he almost picked me up and sat me back down on the edge of the bed. Then the kids ran over and gave me those squiggly little hugs that only kids who love you like crazy could give. The dam burst and the tears ran out. I’m hugging the kids and crying like the Angel Falls and I see Paul over talking to the nurse. Talking and looking as concerned about me as he was the first time I heard him talking as I lay apparently unconscious and nobody thought I could hear. It’s like what heaven must be right here in my room. Nurses and bed pans and tubes…and complete and perfect love. Perfect love for me. Me, who was fighting to walk again…for Kent Middleton. I looked down into those beautiful youthful eyes and thought “I’m not perfect.” Then I felt Paul gently caressing my hand.

More Stuff:

When I forward one of those email jokes or YouTube clips I always take out all the superlative intro adjectives like “It’s Awesome”, “Funniest thing you’ll ever see” or “Best ever”. I think it is better when the recipient gets to make up his or her own mind.

Every time I think I understand the relationship between stocks and bonds, something happens and the dynamics change.

Reading Between the Lines Movie Reviews:

--Is it ok to come up from under my theater seat yet? I thought Abbott & Costello Meets Werewolf was scary! I can’t imagine how far up I would be rising out of seat while watching the new The Wolfman version. While the story is the same tried and true, the effects reach into your gut better than ever. You know the story about the guy who has some identity theft problems during full moons. Well, it is back, and I think it is well done. Beware-wolf!
--On the other side of the emotional spectrum is Valentines Day. This is a star laden movie – Roberts, Garner, Biel, Bates, Hathaway, Cooper, Kutcher, Foxx, Dempsy, among others – where an overly beautiful diverse group of Angelinos navigate through romance and heartbreak on one Valentines Day. Like a romantic “24” with lots of torture!
--If you have been missing an upbeat harry Potter sequel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is for you. 21st Century HS student must battle gods of the Olympus and assorted monster friends who blame him for stealing Zeus’ lightning bolt. On top of the false accusation, Percy learns that his mom is missing. He and HS pals travel across country to find the real Lightning bolt thief and free his mom. It has the fantasy you crave, and is not has dark of some of the recent HP episodes.

More Stuff:

I was reading the story about the death of oddball fashion designer McQueen I think most fashion designs are oddball) who committed suicide following the death of his mother. I was thinking about how irrelevant fashion designers are in my life. Yet I still buy things I like and that I think make me look fairly presentable. So, I’m thinking who is my favorite fashion designer and I can only come up with the guy or gal in the back room up at Woolrich.

Don’t you get the impression that too many media people think that the America they desire is South America?

Why do I think that Democrats only want to use the government to avenge the past at the expense of the future?

A theater showing X-Rated films is a sin-ema.

The Answer:

Three of the greatest works – in this simple souls mind – are those by Tchaikovsky, Berlioz and Prokofiev. Gounod wrote an opera, and there is Bernstein’s version which we know as West Side Story. My personal favorite is the work by Berlioz and I will probably listen to it Sunday Morn while reading Valentines Day antics in the comics.

The End:

Berlioz said that he didn’t want words for his great composition. He said that he only wanted instrumental music because words would be too limiting in telling the a story of love. Happy “V” Day everybody.