The stars are scrambling.

Today's Tids Issue 4,281

Waiting For Stars:

Well here we are on the brink of change. It is the last day of autumn and just 5 precious days until Christmas. Mary and Joseph, amidst streams of people heading to their homes for this special occasion, are probably wondering by now how they will ever find a place to stay when they finally reach Bethlehem. The donkey is saying, “Are we there yet?” So, we are at that time back over 2000 years ago when the world seemed at peace, but weren’t yet aware of the momentous event that would occur. I wonder if they knew though experience that tonight was going to be the longest night and that daylight would be filtering in a little more each day following. There are so many mysteries of yore which people saw but perhaps didn’t understand at all. I just like to ramble at times, wondering how people viewed what today is knowledge and fact. Well, anyhow the fact remains that I have to start shopping. That’s for sure.  I hope Mary And Joseph find a nice place to sleep. I guess we’ll know the ending in five days.

Way too many typos in yesterday’s Tids. Sorry folks.

I talked to guy yesterday who explained a recent operation where one vein was used to send the replacement part up to his heart and another vein was used to send a camera and working tools. I was thinking that I wouldn’t be surprised if the police union lobbied for a law that would require off duty miniature officers to be sent up to the construction zone. You never know.

The Question:

Romeo and Juliet is a much replicated Shakespeare work. Name five composers who wrote great Rn’J Ballets or operatic symphonic offerings.

The Headlines:

--Stocks Expected To Open Higher; S&P Having Worst Month Since 1931.

--Trump Recalls US Troops From Syria; Many In Congress, R&D, Are Aghast; Putin Happy, Allies Aren’t.

--Putin Warns: Threat Of Nuclear War Should Not be Underestimated.

--Repub Conservatives Not Happy With Senate Short Term Spending Bill That Doesn’t Include Wall Funding.

--Retail Sales Booming As Consumers Try To Get Ahead Of Tariffs.

--Drone Proliferation Grounds Planes At London’s Gatwick Airport.

Or…maybe the Flynn judge just doesn’t like anything connected to the Trump admin. Yesterday he ruled against Trump immigration policies.

The last time out, Fed Chief Powell was slammed for cowing to Trump. Yesterday he raised the rates and killed the market progress. Was that an overreaction to criticism, or economically necessary? I guess that’s the problem when the Fed appears to lose its independence. Unsurity. Yes, that’s a made-up word, not a typo.

A guy writing a news article about golf courses found many good links on his computer.

BTW, the stock market is market is completely emotion driven now. Nobody wants to get caught holding something bad, but they don’t want to be seen not capitalizing on what’s good. Swings of 600-800 in a day is not normal, even though investment analysts will find a theory that says it is. It is more a sign of too many people not knowing where they are going, and being nervous when they get to where they’re not sure they want to be. It’s called fragile.

“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that, while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” -- The Christmas Carol.

The New England Patriots’ fans who have never felt the angst of a bad season are a lot like stock brokers who have always been in an up market. Their reactions are generally irrational.

Isn’t modern day surgery amazing?

I heard form a local music expert that in the early 20^th century the great Russian composers like Stravinsky and Prokofiev were required to pass their ballet efforts by the Russian Communist party for “adjustment”, you know, to be sure they conformed to standards, or included the proper communist view of the world.

In the rich get richer department, it has been reported that Alabama’s Nick Sabin has just officially signed in his best ever recruiting class

The Answer:

Tchaikovsky’s may be the best-known version. Personally, I like the version from Hector Berlioz. Musicologists may think that Prokofiev was the most magnificent. There were also respectable ballets by Gounod and Rota. And then of course there was the American version by Leonard Bernstein – West Side Story. BTW, Prokofiev for this one disregarded Communist Party meddling which he considered an insult to Shakespeare.

See you tomorrow everybody.