Desultory Veneer.

Today's Tids Issue 4,260

For Every One:

In a story about the comeback of NYC toy company FAO Schwartz, the writer cites a movie instance about the giant piano keyboard upon “Which Tom Hanks danced to ‘Heart and Soul’ in the 1988 film ‘Big’.” But, that’s the way of celebrity reporting, isn’t it? What made that particular scene so memorable was the dancing of the great actor Robert Logia alongside the younger Hanks. Poor Robert Logia, he lost the Publicity manger wars.

John Clarke was the co-founder of Rhode Island along with Roger Williams and a small group led by Anne Hutchinson. Clarke was brilliant man whose ideas were eventually responsible for the inclusion of “Freedoms” in the first amendment. Clarke nurtured the idea of religious freedom, considered particularly heretical in those days, especially to the narrow-minded Puritans of Plymouth Boston and Salem. To that, Clarke said; “(Here in Newport where all religions are equal) Everybody argues over religion, but nobody goes to war over it”. He, a Congregational minister, fostered the idea that it is “who you are” that counts, that it is your ability to contribute, not what religion you belong to. This is an idea that would be refreshing in a cumbersome today, now smothered by identity politics.

Word of the day: Desultorily. It is a good word for many situations. It means “Lacking in consistency, constancy or visible order; disconnected; fitful; showing little interest to learn more. Often describes political or ideological conversations.

Last night’s Trump tweet against Adam Schiff was at the bottom of common decency scale. Enough.

The Question:

What were the best films from Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio? Bonus: Who were the second astronauts to land on the moon?

The Headlines:

--Stocks Open Lower Continuing Last Week’s Losses; Markets Appear Desultory; Apple Shares Fighting Against Reports Of Scaled Back iPhone Production; Nissan’s CEO Ghosn Arrested In Japan For Underreporting Salary.

--Biz News To Watch This Week: Major Retailers Reporting Earnings; Black Friday Activity; Economic Reports On Durable Goods, Existing Home Sales, Consumer Sentiment.

--EU Tells Britain That there Is No Better Brexit Deal.

--Netanyahu Government Survives Polls – For The Moment.

--Campfire Deaths Continue To Rise; 10,000Homes Burned; Missing List Drops By 2,500 to 1,000 As Many Report In To Authorities.

--Vets Demand VA Home Fixes.

--Michael Bloomberg Donates $1.9 Billion To Alma Mater Johns Hopkins

“For every Christmas light lit before Thanksgiving, an elf kills a reindeer.”

German tennis player Alexander Zverev will be on the covers of magazines and featured in personal profiles preceding televised events, especially now after yesterday’s big win against mighty Novak Djokovic.  22 year old Zverev already had the handsome boyish looks, and now he is a big league champion. Get ready for the barrage.

The House of Cards has become downright silly. But, I’m still in it to the end.

On Friday I wrote that almost all sane people lauded the CMA hosts Underwood and Urban for their excellent upbeat effort that avoided political crap. But on The View, Joy “I don’t what I’m talking about” Bahar blasted the show for not being political. Doesn’t she realize that the average American is just plain fed up with the destructive discourse and anger in the guise of acidic humor.

Tonight’s NFL game between LA and KC should be a winner. LA is good in all phases, and KC QB Mahommes is about as exciting as any player today.

Oh yeah, I’m practicing humming the Michigan fight song in preparation for a truly meaningful reignition of the Wolverine-Buckeye match this Saturday. For a change, OSU has noticeable flaws and Michigan should be the favorite.

After seeing the news about the Bloomberg alma mater donation, you have to bet that Presidents of universities everywhere are busy this morning tracking down their richest alums with a “Beat Bloomberg” message.

Pure capitalism is the most progressive system of all. Competitors with new ideas are always looking to knock off the old and tired.

How often do you think there will be two hosts of big live entertainment shows whose last names both begin “U”?

It’s always better to focus on what remains over what is lost.

No matter how sophisticated the internet has made retail marketing, $2.99 still catches a consumer’s eye faster than $3.00

Sign in front of Church: “Adultery is a sin. You can’t have your Kate and Edith too”.

Arthur Conan Doyle Said, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist the facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”

Charles Dickens, chapter 25, in David Copperfield: “To mend the matter, Hamlet’s aunt had the family failing of indulging in soliloquy, and held forth in a desultory manner, by herself, on every topic that was introduced.”

I put the above in here because it is at times fun to read the words of people who actually know how to write. And f course, use today’s “Word of the Day” in a sentence.

The Answer:

I always like to giving a little space in Tids to credit the careers of actors and actresses who labor just below the Big Huzzah, superstar cut line. Mary Elizabeth is one of those who I have always found to have added great personality to any film she was in. Some of her best are Scarface, The Color of Money, The January Man, The Abyss, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Class Action, Consenting Adults and The Perfect Storm. She always seemed to have great chemistry with co-actors. She also won several awards for performances on Broadway including a nomination for a Tony for the revival of Man of La Mancha. Bonus: The second twosome of men on the moon were Alan Bean and Charles Conrad.

If we didn’t have great people laboring very day in anonymity, loving and giving, creating consistency, constancy and purpose -- we wouldn’t have much of a country regardless of luminaries in headlines. “God bless us, every one”.