This week in The TentacleWednesday, December 12, 2007
The Writers Strike and Christmas
Kevin E. Dayhoff
For those who are fans of early television, especially old Christmas movies and holiday specials, the strike by The Writers Guild of America, which began November 5, may have a temporary silver lining.
[…]
Meanwhile, for those who are writers comes the ultimate conundrum as posed best by Kim Masters, an entertainment correspondent for National Public Radio: “I don't understand how a WGA writer can turn off the writing part of his brain…”
Tennessee Williams summed it up when he said: “When I stop working the rest of the day is posthumous. I'm only really alive when I'm writing.”
[…]
I mentioned a silver lining. It will be short-lived, but at least for the Christmas season, network TV will fill in programming with the ghosts of Christmas past and show us as many of the old Christmas classics as possible.
And this is a good thing. From Christmas past, there are always re-runs of some of the great movies of the season, such as Frank Capra’s 1946 “It's a Wonderful Life,” with Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore.
Also on my list are: “The Miracle of the Bells,” from 1948, directed by Irving Pichel and starring Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra, and Lee J. Cobb; and “Babes in Toyland,” from 1961, featuring Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, and Tommy Kirk.
But my all-time favorite Christmas movie is the 1954 classic “White Christmas,” directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney.
For the writer and the artist in me, there is no better season for the many animated TV classics from the past. My top five would include “Frosty the Snowman,” from 1969, with the voice of Jimmy Durante; the 1964 classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” with Burl Ives; and Boris Karloff as the voice of the Grinch in the 1966 “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
My top pick is almost a tie, but “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” from 1965, gets edged out by “Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol,” which first aired on December 18, 1962.
Read the entire column here: The Writers Strike and Christmas
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Comedian and cowboy Will Rodgers coined one of my favorite sayings: "I belong to no organized political party: I'm a Democrat."
The Delegation’s Workload – Part 2
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
We’ve already looked at the county commissioners’ bill proposals that the county’s legislative delegation will wrestle with, now we’ll consider the bills that affect the whole state, not just our county. These face a much more difficult, if not impossible, path to passage. We’ll also take a gander at the policy statements of the Board of County Commissioners.
10 Dumb Questions I Get – Part 3
Nick Diaz
Readers may be glad to know that this is the last segment of the series on the 10 dumb questions asked of a motorcyclist; the first six of these questions appeared in the first two parts. Today we’ll round the set with the last four.
Monday, December 10, 2007
The Delegation’s Workload – Part 1
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
It hardly seems possible, but we’re less than a month away from the start of the 2008 General Assembly session. Last week, I included a highlight of the Board of County Commissioners legislative package. If you’re anything like the dozens of people who approached me this past week, you’re looking for more information, so here goes.
Jingoist Bells, Jingoist Bells…
Steven R. Berryman
…Jingo all the way. When did patriotism become a negative attribute of Americans, and why isn’t Pat Buchanan running for president in 2008? The advanced press for his new book, Day Of Reckoning, reads more like a campaign platform than it does a plot; his compilation of issues and proposed solutions leaves one feeling a patriotic sense of hope for us all again, so long as his warnings are positively received.
WE GET LETTERS!
WE GET LETTERS!!! A Walkersville resident takes issue with Steve Berryman's treatise on the Supreme Court's decision to hear the matter of the gun ownership law in
Friday, December 7, 2007
Over the past 150 years this nation's two-party system has been an unpleasant reality for politicians. Left to their own devices, they would decapitate and castrate organized opposition of any kind.
Kevin E. Dayhoff
How do you ship 5,000 two-foot live Christmas trees to a war zone? Early last Saturday morning over 300 volunteers figured it out as they braved the wind and cold and turned out for “Operation Christmas Tree” at the
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Chris Cavey
This week a friend referred to me as a glass half-full kind of guy. Jokingly I told him anyone who is an officer of the Maryland Republican Party is required to be an optimist, because if you don’t see a future for our party, you have no reason to be in leadership.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The President and Community Initiatives
Kevin E. Dayhoff
To commemorate World AIDS Day last Friday, President George W. Bush and his wife Laura met with representatives of faith-based groups in a roundtable discussion at
Tom McLaughlin
Things here in
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
During the years spent hanging around the White House, I found it funny when a friend received a birthday book: "Republicans I Have Known and Loved." Inside were blank pages as might be expected among that Democratic crowd.
Farrell Keough
(Editor's Note: Farrell Keough's column, which would normally appear in this space today, is delayed by a fractious nuisance called illness. It will appear later this week.)
Norman M. Covert
Nostalgia has a way of striking down the old folks when they least expect it. I saw an interview with Edward Powell, chief executive officer of the United Service Organization (USO), and was taken aback by his excuses why no big-name stars would entertain the troops in
Monday, December 3, 2007
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Once again, the powers-to-be at Clear Channel Radio’s WFMD held their annual radiothon for
Steven R. Berryman
By upholding a lower court ruling, the
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