Truly "This 'n' That'

It's Saturday! Woohoo! Jan's home! So this morning I'll just share some quick, short, thoughts on a few subjects that I'll likely have more to say on in the days ahead.


There has been some noise lately that the film business is near death. The failure of one high-budget "tent pole" (who coins these names and phrases?) picture after another is going to, we are being told, kill it. Don't believe it. What is dieing is a tired old model of film making. A new one will soon replace it. 

This has happened before and will happen again. Somewhere in the wings a new talent with a new film vision is awaiting to arise. It will be exciting to see who he or she is and what they create.

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The same thing happened to rock and roll.  

Once the music industry realized there was a fortune to be made in marketing  Elvis Presley, Jean Vincent, Buddy Holly and the like they for a  time filled the airwaves with teen idols of their own making. The kids bought their records but of course the real energy of RnR was not there and the kids knew it. 

In December of 1963 the number one hit song in the entire country was a sweet little ditty called "Dominique" recorded by "The Singing Nun." (I kid you not!) The American music industry officially announced to the world that the whole RnR thing was "over." 

One month later an obscure British band with the unlikely name "The Beatles" released a record in America called "I Want to Hold Your Hand."  The rest, as they say, is history.

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On politics...  Right before the the start of the big 4th of July weekend an assistant secretary for the IRS posted on a small government website that the Obamacare requirement that businesses insure their workers was being delayed for a full year. The Obama administration and the bureaucracy says this is no big deal and assure us it is being done merely for 'quality assurance.'  That is bunk.  If it were so they'd have announced it publicly with fanfare.

Don't look to the so-called opposition to really do much about this except make noise. They, too, get their jonesies with increased Federal power. If anyone is going to look out for the great "us" it'll likely have to be on the local level

That all this is happening is really our fault - We the People that is.  After all, we elected these schlubs!

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Throughout history more damage has  been done -- more people abused, tortured, jailed and killed -- by "do gooders" than by those who intentionally meant to do harm.  Want proof?   Nazism's hateful death toll world-wide is said to be a horrific 21 million people.  Communism, OTOH, with it's utopian "To each according to his need, from each according to his ability" promises killed roughly 94 million people. 

And on that note let me end today's TnT blog with an old joke that I just recently heard...

Fidel Castro was giving one off his interminably long speeches to a crowd in a Havana stadium. Suddenly from the crowd was heard the cry "Peanuts! Popcorn! Cracker Jacks!." Castro stopped speaking for a moment and looked around, and then went back to his speech.  Again the cry went out from somewhere in the crowd "Peanuts! Popcorn! Cracker Jacks!." Castro again stopped speaking. this time for a bit longer while he looked to his security people, and then went back to his speech."  Once more the cry came out from somewhere in the crowd "Peanuts! Popcorn! Cracker Jacks!."   This time Castro stopped his prepared comments completely, peered at the crowd, and angrily said "When I find out who is saying that I am going to personally kick him all the way to Miami!  All at once the entire crowd together cried out at the top of their lungs "Peanuts! Popcorn! Cracker Jacks!."

:)
 
See you next week.