Good evening, 919 Gang. Gene Ciechanowski, Tim Wilson and
Bob Elledge are terrific assets to this publication. They are the most active
in constantly coming up with links that interest us and stir some thoughts
CARL
LARSEN writes:
Thanks,
Gene Ciechanowski, for the "car grinder" video. Made me think of the
I-5 "merge" at 5 p.m. or what happened to a few stories I wrote for
the paper on the copydesk.
All I know about auto
"recyclers" and wood chippers (your "machines of
destruction") I learned years ago from two Hollywood films:
"Goldfinger" and "Fargo."
Hat
in hand, I always pay homage to Oddjob in "Goldfinger" as a recycling
pioneer after he drove the Lincoln Continental to the scrapyard with Mr. Solo's
body inside. "What a waste," thousands of pubescent boys like me
thought back then, speaking of the car, not the victim. But there was a glitch.
The car first seen in the film was a 1964 model; the one scrapped was a 1963.
Too bad for Ford that GM already had locked up the phrase "Body by Fisher."
And
what can I say about "Fargo" other than it gave me a leg up to speak
knowledgeably about wood chippers and such without ever having to see that chip
off the same block, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
 |
|
Mr. Solo's "pressing engagement" in
"Goldfinger.
|
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REBER: I suspect we agree that the movie “The Interview”
has gathered attention far beyond its expectations.
BOB LAURENCE writes:
The way I see it, Sony
has stumbled and bumbled and fumbled its way into Hollywood's greatest
publicity stunt ever, just what they needed to rescue a movie that from all
reports is not worth the fuss. A writer in the NYT called it
"ordinary." Not great, not awful, just "ordinary." Can
there be a word more damning?
Meanwhile,
I'm betting that all over Hollywood, producers, directors, writers and
publicists are in meetings, feverishly trying to come up with more films that
might offend the North Koreans.
REBER: The absolutely
essential element of any good story is conflict. We had Nazis, then communists,
then Arab terrorists, now the leader of North Korea. However else we feel about
these people, what would be do without them?
PRESTON TUREGANO writes:
Jack Reber recommends "Foxcatcher" as a worthwhile movie, and
I agree. But over the weekend I saw "The Imitation Game." I recommend
this
ultimately sad film about spooky,
quirky British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing,
who was a driving force in Britain cracking Nazi Germany's
Enigma code
that helped the Allies win World War II. After the war, Turing
was criminally prosecuted for homosexuality.
Benedict Cumberbatch is terrific as
Turing. The 2014 Best Actor Oscar category is going to be a tough one to call
and I hope Cumberbatch is in it, as well as "Foxcatcher's" Steve
Carell, Michael Keaton in "Birdman," Eddie Redmayne in "The
Theory of Everything," and Jake Gyllenhaal in "Nightcrawler."
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REBER: Because I couldn’t publish photos last night
we have to catch up as Joe Holly continues his photographic countdown to the
new year. The first one is from Cuyamaca.
JOE HOLLY photographs:
 |
| Affectionate Goldfish in our Pond. Unfortunately,
as happens, their romance was cut short by a large hawk or egret or whatever
that came in and ate them. Also, their friends. |
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BOB RODRIGUEZ writes:
Chuck Boyd's offering
about preliminary Spanish was funny. Wish that I could come up with interesting
ways of making money. I mean, look at those who came up with the Hula Hoop, Pet
Rocks, Slinky, etc. Speaking of Spanish, which I do not fluently although I can
make do when necessary, reminds me of the guy who was traveling in
Spanish-speaking countries. He admitted to a friend that he only knew three
sentences: "I love you," "Where is the bathroom?", and
"I am hungry." The friend told him that was plenty enough to get him
through. And who can forget the phrase, "El gato de mi tio is verde!"
Moving on, we here in
wild and rugged, seemingly prehistoric N.W. Wyoming had a lovely evening: We
were watching a small herd of mule deer eating outside our front window, while
several whitetail deer waited their turn alongside the year-round creek that
flows past our cabin. Traversing in-between the legs of the grazers were some
fat doves and a tiny flock of small birds that my wife calls "itty
bitties." Meanwhile, some magpies, lovely in their white-and-black attire,
waited around to see if they too could consume some sustenance. Then alongside
the creek near one of our islands, we espied a crane. Amazing! This critter
stalked about with great care, then stepped into the water, speared a fish and
came up with dinner. It then disappeared into the brush, and we're still
awaiting its return. We have snow on the ground, lovely sunrises and sunsets,
freezing weather (I could do with a bit of warmth), but we're looking forward
to 2015.
Here’s a shot from
alongside our cabin when the weather was warmer. I offer it with the hope that
the freezing temps we’ve been enduring, with snow and wind, will return sooner
than we think. Happy New Year to everyone.
And here’s a current
cold weather shot ...22
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JAY JOHNSON writes:
Revisiting Hemingway's genius
(emphasis added):
"When asked by George
Plimpton about the function of his art, Hemingway proved once again to be a
master of the “one true sentence”:
“From things that have happened
and from things as they exist and from all things that you know and all those
you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a
representation but a whole new thing truer than anything true and alive,
and you make it alive, and if you make it well enough, you give it
immortality.”
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CARL
LARSEN writes:
This is clearly a case
of deja vu all over again. From Buzzfeed, via Jim Romensko:
The Seattle
Times printed 20,000 copies of
a “bulldog” – or early edition – of its Sunday paper, featuring the headline
“2012 Wrap Up.”
Pressroom employee J. Michael Klop told the
media blog JimRomenesko.com that printing press workers noticed the
headline early on and alerted the editorial team, correctly believing it to be
a mistake and not a nostalgic look back on the year Barack Obama was re-elected
and London hosted the Olympics.
“There
was nobody there who was willing to make a decision to stop the run and remake
the page,” Klop said. “Finally, after finishing the run, there was a call back
from downtown saying to wait for a new set of plates… as they were going to
toss the entire 20,000 and rerun the full draw.”
The
paper’s editor, Kathy Best, told the blog
that the “crazy holiday weekend schedule” was to blame for the “glaring error.”
“Because the press run only lasts about 30 minutes,
we didn’t send a corrected page in time to catch the run,” Best said. “Not a
great day, including missing a chance to say stop the presses.”
REBER: It’s a wonder these errors don’t occur
more often. Monday the U-T ran an old comics page, so today we saw three comics
pages instead of two.
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REBER: Michael Grant gave permission for Frank Klimko to
use his Texas black-eyed peas recipe, but added:
MICHAEL GRANT writes:
Whoa, I have a fix for the recipe also: “Add a pound of dried
black-eyes, rinsed in a colander and soaked overnight.”
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KENT FREELAND writes:
Here is part of a long sentence from an AP
story in Sunday's U-T A section:
"...9,958 shows, still the most, as the
record-keeping body continues to pour through time sheets and employee records
that might backup Rickerd's involvement in the remaining 42 shows."
How many copy-reading errors do you see?
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CECIL
SCAGLIONE writes:
Jack, if you run
classifieds, this is a good buy.
Printer Ink Cartridges
Two black XL and two
packages of tricolor XL HP 920 ink cartridges to highest bidder. Value more
than $200 at Costco. Unopened because printer (HP 6500) no longer functioning
and replaced.
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TIM WILSON forwards:
Astronaut
Alexander Gerst combines more than 12,000 photos taken from the International
Space Station in 2014 into a collection of spellbinding videos that show our
lively planet in gorgeous HD (watch video at end of story):
BOB ELLEDGE forwards:
Is nothing sacred?
White Castle Answers
Vegetarian Prayers And Puts Veggie Sliders On The Menu
P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.
