Kudos.

Today's Tids Issue 2,469
Openiing Stuff:


The RI legislature stepped up to the plate, avoided some wayward inside fastballs and hit one out of the park last night for the taxpayers and in general, for the possible return to all around sanity. These politicians in our beleaguered state had the guts and the integrity necessary to do what's right. Let's hope yours do too. The Country needs it.

Last night, the adorable, pleasantly brash little rapper on X-Factor turned out to be just another punk who thinks the world owes him a living. The biggest crime though wasn't in the immature antics of a moderately talented kid (Talented if you like Rap), but the judges not sending him home. Giving him a pass. But then it is typical of our society where the crass, irresponsible, lazy and child molesters are protected by personal motivations of the ruling class.

Consumers are merely income streams for banks.

The Question:
Name five of Natalie Wood's best movies.

The Headlines:

--Good-Bye Regis.
--Stocks Up A Smidge.
--Confusion Reigns As Record Amount Of Egyptians Prepare For First Democratic Vote.
--House Prepares To Vote On Balanced Budget Amendment.
--China Vows Closer Military Ties With North Korea.
--Massive Rallies Yesterday By OWS Groups Seems To Have Fallen On Deaf Ears.
--Syracuse U Number 2 Basketball Coach Accused Of Molesting Boys.
--Newport RI'er Ken Reid Leading The Pack In The 45,000 Mile Around The World Sailboat race.

Good news from Congress for a change. It appears they are going to reinstate Pizza and fries for school lunches. They got to start upping their approval ratings somewhere. Might as well start with the fertile minds of kids.

I think my spell-check service is Government designed and operated. For instance...I just wrote "pll". The spell check gives me poll and pall as suggestions. How much creativity does it take to suggest "pull"? Maybe it's because of what we have long suspected -- There is no "U" in the government lexicon.

You ain't seen deflation like you will see deflation if they go through with the elimination of the Mortgage deduction.

Tebow is proving that intrinsically being a winner, having the heart, is more important every time than passing the "experts" test for physical characteristics.

The other big story in RI is the steady flow of jobs away from the state. 20 or so years ago the powers that be proclaimed that Tourism would be just fine as a replacement for a deteriorating manufacturing economy that once reigned supreme. And so they got it -- A seasonal economy that will always struggle. Now, as October reports 7,000 more jobs lost (The third month in a row) they are craving the return of manufacturers and other year long businesses The only year long business we have is government employees and that just is not an economy at all. The problem. The business economy here pretty much sucks because of extreme over-regulation, high energy costs and significant taxation. In fact RI in most polls rates dead last as attractive to companies. Maybe the Legislature can step up to the palate again. Or maybe we should just call on Gina to do it one more time.

Ok, maybe Tebow isn't the worlds greatest QB, but the visceral hate shown against him is way out of whack with the reality that it's only a guy playing sports! It can only be because of his strong belief in God and commitment to a moral life. A guy like Tebow could make many face up to their innate guilt, and they probably hate him for the anguish he creates for them in the lives they love leading. Anyhow, that's my take on it.

The Cable news Networks must be licking their chops over the prospects of reopening the Natalie Wood case. It will provide many hours of repetitive TV, and good extra income for lawyers, detectives and assorted self-proclaimed experts. It appears the Yacht Captain has finally come out, saying he lied at the initial investigation and that Robert Wagner was responsible for his wife's death.


The next big Con for Status Seeking Consumers Department:
It's a green tea, and it will cost $35,000/Pound! Yikes! And then there is the secret ingredient -- Panda Poo. Yup, Those black & white fur balls don't digest their food too well, making their lumps of dung rich in fiber and nutrients and the perfect fertilizer for the perfect tea. So the next time you are gently sipping the rich and very expensive tea, what images will you be creating in your minds? I should have titled this segment "Does the bear S___ in the woods department?.

Call me stupid and really out of touch, but I just don't get FaceBook. Oh, I get why businesses want consumers to reach them through FaceBook, but I just don't understand why people enjoy exposing themselves to the world. Like say...a Tids writer.

Reading between the Lines Movie Reviews:
--Happy feet Two will be a winner because people love little waddling penguins. In this one Mumble's son Erik, a penguin who can't dance, runs away and meets a penguin who can fly. Mumbles loses his son to the charisma of the flying tuxedo, but regains it when he shows "guts and grit" fighting against powerful forces.
--The latest in the Twilight Series -- The Twilight Saga: The Breaking Dawn will also be a winner because teens love this series. And also because this is a much better film than the previous one. Bella and Edward must deal with the chain of consequences brought on by a marriage, honeymoon and tumultuous birth of a child.

Almost Near: Chapter 50 continues. --Being a reporter, Audrey decided that a reporter would give her the best head start at tracking down this Samantha person. A person she really doesn't know at all but who is turning her life up side down. Hell, I know where her kids are, she thought, and she may or may not depending what she remembers at any given moment. At least, that was the way Audrey was looking at the former lover of Tucker. At least that's what I know from Tucker. The she smiled, as a reporter, I should always check my sources! "Hi, this is Sam O'Brien."
Oh, Hi Sam, I'm Audrey Johnson, a columnist, you know reporter from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and I'm trying to find out about a woman who was born in New Castle -- which, I assume your Portsmouth paper covers."
"Oh yes, we do."
"I don't know exactly how to start this, because I'm just getting some meager details about her early life. Can you work with me?"
"Sure."
"You don't say much more than you have to, do you?"
"I'm a New Englander. I like to save energy."
"Well, bare with me, this women left New Castle about 17 years ago, and she'd be about 35-36. What kind of town is New Castle anyhow. Anything ever happen there?
"It's a pretty little place surrounded by water and the people are nice enough to let me live there."
"All your life?"
"Yup. And, funny you should ask. Cause about two days ago we had what appears to be an attempted murder of a good young lawyer here. And their is talk of a mysterious missing women, who maybe had ties with the town. We're waiting to see of the lawyer makes it out of the coma.
"Really!"

The Answer:
Natalie Wood was one of those actors who brought a special beauty to the screen. How perfect was that face for Maria in West Side Story? Or her roles in Spender in the Grass and how she lit up the screen playing opposite the biggest fad actor of the era James Dean in Rebel without a Cause! America first fell in love with her as the child star in Miracle on 34th Street. Some of her other big films were Gypsy, Love with the Proper Stranger and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. Her final film released posthumously was Brainstorm. Her real name was Natalia Nekolaevna Zakharenko!

"There's a place for us...somewhere..." I always start humming that tune every time I type West Side Story.

Hope your weekend hums along and is lyrical and melodic.

.

Reply to: Reply to RICHARD W HUNT
Send

From A Hodge-Podge Mind.

Today's Tids Issue #2,340
Opening Stuff:


If MLB comes to me and asks me to start a new team, I'm starting with Dustin Pedroia.

A new report shows that support for Obamacare (Or Lolla-Pelosi as I call it) has fallen to an all time low of 35%. No wonder. The public is finally getting the real facts about this monster passed in rather surreptitious fashion. It made me laugh during the recent budget debate when The jetsetting Nancy herself (Who had said "We have to pass the Health care Bill so you can find out what's in it") commented pompously, "We have to start acting like adults." What a crock.

A reader observed: "If it were not for all of the realities of today, we would have no humor."

Saving your pennies is centsible.

The Question:
Hollywood/NYC Director Sidney Lumet just died. Name his five top movies.

The Headlines:

--Stocks Edge Up.
--March Retail Sales Up Modestly; Auto Sales Plunge; Higher Gas Prices Stretching Consumer Budgets.
--Mubarek And Sons Detained For Investigation.
--0-Man To Unveil Budget Plan; Prez May Be Boxed In By Growing Appreciation Of GOP Spending Cut Initiatives.
--Oil Prices Rebound Slightly After Two Day Drop Of Over $6.00; There Are Signs Of Reduced Gas Purchases.
--Trinidad Scorpion Butch T Passes Naga Viper To Become Worlds Hottest Chili Pepper.
--Outside Consultant Report Issues Stark Warning About State Pension Gap; Legislature Orders More Sand To Cover Heads.
--Libyan Rebels Want More From The US.
--US Fast Food Companies Counting On India For Growth.
--$200 Million+ Payroll 2-9 Red Sox Now Officially Worst Team In Baseball.

Back to More Stuff:
I just received a phone call from a woman who said she loved my ketchup. That's always good to hear.

Here's a potentially disastrous use of a word that seems correct. You could say your "Wizened elder" or you could say your "wisened elder". Wizened elder would mean withered, wrinkled, shrunken old man. While wisened would mean probably nothing because it isn't a real word. But I would take poetic license and use it anyway to describe a sensible, learned man with experience.

You have to wonder why the President would embrace, as he did last week, a congenital liar and race-baiter like Al Sharpton? Any clues?

Actually, I was watching that clip from yesterday where an arrogant, insufferable appearing Obama dissed a man in the audience first because he complained about high gas prices and needed a van for his ten kids. And then he belittled his having ten kids. 0-Man came across as a typical liberal who knows what's good for you more than you do. As a condescending elitist who abides the masses for political purposes, and not much more.

Personally I love Royal Weddings, but this interminable countdown is starting to annoy me.

There has been a new report saying that sand is eroding at an increasing rate from RI beaches. However a new investigation hints that the culprit is a State Legislature that has been important truckloads of sand to the Statehouse in which to bury their heads. "It will go away if we close our eyes and click our heels three times." says one worried lawmaker.

Feeling Older Department:
Leave it to Beaver's Tony Dow turned 65 today.

Almost Near: Chapter 15 continues. --"That was pretty startling to me," Detective Jackson commented. "But because he was a juvie, there is a lot more hearsay than details and facts."
Tucker nodded in a musing sort of way and changed the subject. "I have located some Quimpierres in Louisiana, but I'm finding it hard to make contact with one called Florence who may be significant." Tucker paused as if he was trying to put Monty's new pieces into his puzzle. "But, I have found that the woman discontinued her phone about the time of the disappearances."
Monty interrupted Tucker's random thoughts as each of the men tried to steer the conversation towards their own views. "Did this Samantha person you say is Rudy Quimpierre's wife look like she was running away from something. That someone was hunting her?"
"Not at all. Infact she was very contented in her new self...until she began to discover that this past she loved so much started to fall apart. In this case, I know why she disappeared. And I don't blame her. But, I would guess that she probably now feels she doesn't know who she is, and may be starting to look for that real person. Inside, she is still that person I loved 18 years ago. And that was a very strong person."
"A person who for no apparent reason also ran away from you 18 years ago." Monty peered at Tucker and waited for an answer he knew wasn't there.

The Answer:
Lumet, a Philadelphian, chose to live in NYC as opposed to LA. His first big movie was 12 Angry Men. 18 years later he became a legend with Dog day Afternoon. And the Network. Other bigs were Serpico, the Pawnbroker, Murder on the Orient Express, Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Prince of the City, The Morning After, The Fugitive Kind, Fail-Safe, The Hill, The Anderson Tapes and many others.

The End:
I'm beginning to think that these days you can make up any word you want or redefine existing words to you needs and eventually some almighty being at a dictionary company will deem them acceptable under common usage laws.

So, does that mean that all of those typos of mine...aren't?

Children would do better than the kind of adults we have in Congress.