Monday
Now that the election is over Portland’s brain-trust is condemning the radicals it empowered, as this nypost.com headline shows: “Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is now echoing … President Trump.” And this headline will prove false if both Georgia senate seats are won by the left: “Democrats are now paying the price for empowering Antifa.” All the sins will go away if the Dems gain full control. They might even disappear if it’s partial control. The swamp will protect itself. If the same voting methodology as the general election is is being used in the peach state, I don’t believe either Republican will win.
Common sense from an NYP op-ed piece by Nicole Gelinas on the stimulus issue: “Why not use data to target aid where it’s needed?” One of the most maddening aspects of politics is the allocation of huge sums sans vetting. Why did I get a check last time? I have Social Security, Medicare and three retirement accounts. It’s crazy.
Here’s an interesting headline from foxnews.com: “Hot dog trucks used to deliver coronavirus vaccines in Bulgaria.” You want Phizer, Astra Zeneca or Moderna with that?
RIP Bronx-born actress Tanya Roberts, 65, whose cause of death has yet to be determined. She was half Jewish, her birth name Blum. Her dad, a pen salesman, met his wife in England during WWII. Roberts dropped out of school at 15 and eventually made good, helped by her husband of 32 years, Barry, who passed away in 2006. There are 41 titles under her name at IMDb, the most notable her Bond Girl part in A View to a Kill (1985). Although she studied under legends Lee Strassberg and Uta Hagen, she was unable to ascend above her breathtaking beauty. So What? She did a few off-Broadway plays, but ads paid the bills. She was the last of Charlie’s Angels, appearing in 16 episodes, and she did 81 of That ‘70’s Show, playing a mom. She also did a spread for Playboy. Here’s a quote attributed to her: “I’ve made a lot of good choices and a lot of bad choices and that’s part of life. Whether you’re really successful or moderately successful, I’m sure that to get there you have made some bad decisions and good decisions on some level, but that’s how I see life. You can’t go through life defeated, it’s just trial and error.” Well done, madam. Thank you. (Facts from Wiki)
Last night Movies!, channel 5–2 on ota’s in NYC, ran another flick I’d never seen, part of its ongoing Sunday Night Noir series. Jeopardy (1953) is distinguished by two surprising aspects given the era in which it was made. It is the story of a couple vacationing in a remote oceanfront region of Mexico. When a pier collapses, the husband’s leg is trapped beneath a stone or steel support. The tide is coming in. The wife drives away to get help. The leads are played by great pros Barbara Stanwyck and Barry Sullivan. Of course, there’s more to the plot. The wife runs into an escaped con, a killer, well-played by Ralph Meeker. After a couple of physical altercations, she eventually tells him she would do anything to save her husband, the implication clear: sex for help in freeing her beloved. Of course, that is not shown, it has to be understood by the viewer. The second surprise is the open ending, the killer getting away, although chances are he will be caught. I wonder if this was the first time such events had occurred in an American film. Directed by John Sturges, Jeopardy runs only 69 minutes. He went on to do three classics: Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Great Escape (1963). Mel Dinelli adapted the screenplay from a story by Maurice Zimm (Zimring). The former, born in New Mexico, also wrote for radio and the stage. The latter, born in Iowa, also wrote for radio and is most famous for developing the storyline of The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). Here are Stanwyck and Meeker in character:
Business continues to be good at the floating book shop despite a complete disinterest in fiction, at least works in English. My thanks to the kind folks who combined to buy eight books in Russian, and to the woman who selected What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff; and to the one who purchased Bobbi Brown Teenage Beauty: Everything You Need to Look Pretty, Natural, Sexy and Awesome by Bobbi Brown and Annemarie Iverson, Semi-Homemade 20-Minute Meals by Sandra Lee, Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories by Lisa Lillien, Power Prayers for Women by Jackie M. Johnson, Suze Orman on Social Security, and God Is With You Every Day by Max Lucado.
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