Goodbye Harold Ramis

I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Harold Ramis. I fell in love with him and the characters he created when he was Bill Murray's best friend, Russell, in "Stripes." He was just the intellectual type I go for in real life. He was a writer and member of the cast of "SCTV." This was the show that employed John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis et al. It was hilarious and I loved to watch it. SNL was funny, but SCTV had it's own unique appeal like no other. The last role I saw Harold Ramis play was that of a doctor on the movie, "As Good As it Gets," with Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, and Jack Nicholson. He played a physician who still did house calls. He visited Helen Hunt's character to care for her son. He had a special way about him, confident, with a dry wit that made you feel like he was always up for a prank, or ready to punk one of his friends. His writing was superlative. He was one of the good ones. As Pete Townsend would say, one of "my generation's" finest entertainers, off and on the screen. So, in the scene from "Stripes" where Russell was ineffectively teaching English to as a second language, let us sing together: "There she was just a walking down the street, singing Do Wah Ditty, Ditty Dum, Ditty Doo!" Go in peace Harold. Join John Candy and the others that went before you. I will be wanting to see the show when Heaven calls and I enter the next life.

An Impossibility?

Does anyone ever wonder if it is possible to have an honest elected official? One with an altruistic heart who is willing to serve for the sake of the common good. Does this type of person still exist? I believe that many go to serve with the greatest of intentions. They have ideals and goal, promises they have made. Reality sets in and crushes some of the ideas. That is understandable, as reality is great at crushing. Some things just aren't feasible. Sometimes, the politicos find that they owe "their soul" more or less to the contributor that ponied up the most money. If someone invests $ 200,000.00 or more in you, this person expects a big return for their investment. I have read that the peers of the elected are often to blame. They have the habit of accepting gifts and favors. If one of their peers does the right things, it makes them look bad. They will ostracize the one who doesn't follow the status quo, applying social pressure. So, we lay out that is is difficult to remain honest and altruistic. Do we even expect them to try to work for us? I think we still expect them to listen to us and try to do as best they can. I believe that the average person's expectations are not ridiculously high. The average person would probably be satisfied with a few kept promises, a couple of days out of the month really applying themselves to the wants of their constituency and showing up to vote everytime the roll is called. The average person works daily for a lot less, they expect their representatives who draw an extremely high salary for the rest of their lives to at least show up at the office. So, why is that so hard? Is it because they cannot or because they will not? Washington and the Beltway are fairly set in their ways and beliefs. They firmly believe that they know best. They believe we need them to run our lives as we are incapable. They are pretty sure they are just a little bit better than the rest of the great unwashed, i.e. John Q. Public. They are elected to represent their districts. Many people are calling for that representation in a firm voice. The people are insisting that they do their jobs. Is that an impossiblilty?

Go ScarJo

I have to give a huge tip of the hat to Scarlett Johanssen. Sometimes, I am not so sure about her judgement. I mean, who would exchange Ryan Reynolds for Sean Penn? Not me, for sure, I only liked Sean Penn in one movie. I think it was his signature role as Spikoli on Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He nailed that one, but I have not been impressed since. The girl of the hour has done a great thing. She has resigned her position at Oxfam Global International due to a "fundamental difference of opinion." This company says that her support of a company that operates in Israel's West Bank is incompatible with their position. Oxfam International supports the rights of the "Palestinian people" who work in the West Bank area. I admire ScarJo for her stand. I admire those who will stand with the rights of the Israeli's to their homeland. The rest are just violent posers. Thank you, my dear, you are beautiful, talented and responsible. I can't wait to see you in Avengers II! Oh, and Fox News, what is up with you? It is starting to look like you can't take the heat. Stay out of the kitchen and don't pretend to be conservative. http://www.ifcj.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=41377&news_iv_ctrl=1481&s_src=EN1&s_subsrc=EN11402XXEXXX