Jean Marsh is bringing her character of Rose from 'Upstairs, Downstairs' back to Television, and she'll be brought forward in Time! Well, not that far forward....
'Upstairs, Downstairs' will be brought back to PBS in a co-production with the BBC. But this time the series will be set in 1936 to account for some of the passage of Time, as evidenced in the age of the characters. (But it's not enough. The series ended in 1975 with the dawn of the Great Depression after the stock market crash. Thirty-five years later? It should then be 1965 at the Bellamy household! I think that would have made for a much more interesting storyline with Rose and the Bellamys....)
Aside from Rose, I have no clue if any of the other original characters will be back - and if so, would they be recast. Several of the actors have passed away, including Gordon Jackson and Angela Baddeley. And especially with those two, they were so identified with their roles (Hudson and Mrs. Bridges, respectively) that it is inconceivable that anybody else could be playing the roles. (Eileen Atkins, who co-created the series, may be playing a role this time.) It's going to be set in the same house, which is fine. But if I had my druthers, I'd avoid the recasting problem by having 165 Eaton Place occupied by a new family.
One of my first tele-blogging buddies was Brent McKee, he of "I Am A Child Of Television" and to be found in the Great White North. (The link to that site can be found to the left, Playuhs.)
Recently he saw the 'Big Bang Theory' episode in which Sheldon faced off against Hwill Hwheaton (as Stewie Griffin would say) in a fantasy card war game similar to D&D or Warcraft (I'm assuming).
And that got Brent thinking, in a very Toobworldian way, what it might be like if Sheldon took a stab at playing poker.
You can check out his five card Wish-Craft here. It's a fun read!
In the episode "Act Of Kindness", 'Callan' attended a model soldier convention where he met Heathcote Land, an executive with an industrial corporation which sold tractors to Russian as one of its interests. They struck up a friendship as they rolled dice in their war games, but it didn't take long for Land to figure out that Callan was a government agent.Heathcote Land was a "white file" - it was Callan's mission to get him to either resign or back away from causing his rival in the corporation (Donovan Prescott) to resign. (The Russians had figured out that Prescott was a government operative and sent incriminating photos of him to Land.)
It's just a theory, but it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble (as Mushrat would say in those 'Deputy Dawg' cartoons) that another TV character was attending that war gaming convention in 1970 London.As shown in the "Congratulations" episode of 'New Tricks', Brian Lane was also an aficionado of war games and the model soldiers used to carry out those campaigns.
Currently Brian Lane is retired from the Metropolitan Police Force, but he still works for them as a member of UCOS - the Unsolved Crimes and Open Cases Squad. Back in 1970, however, he would have been a 24 year old policeman, perhaps a bobbie, more likely already a detective with that amazing memory of his. And probably with limited means for indulging in his hobby.
Still, it could be that one of the gentlemen seen in the background of that convention was actually young Brian Lane. (Being in the background, away from the camera, would help a lot since Alun Armstrong, even as a young man, might have been too distinctive to be just anybody in the crowd.)
My favorite candidate? This guy, dead center in the background: That's him again behind Heathcote Land, re-emerging from behind the flag. That profile certainly suggests the look of Brian Lane to me, to put it politley. And here he is again, walking away and passing by Callan's snitch, Lonely.It's a tenuous way to have TV characters cross paths, but look how tenuous some of the connections were between the characters of 'Lost' in their flashbacks. For instance, Jin breaks into a man's house and Hurley can be seen on the TV. But that's what we do here at Toobworld Central - we look for those unofficial, unconfirmed link pozz'bilities!
I snared these pics myself off the DVD, but if you're interested in seeing more detailed screen caps of the war games played by Callan and Land, may I suggest you visit the blog Wargaming Miscellany and search out the articles about 'Callan'. He has lots of great pics there not only from "Act Of Kindness" but also from the pilot episode, "A Magnum For Schneider", and the Callan movie, "The Wet Job".
From Wikipedia: William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, philanthropist, and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people and the wealthiest overall as of 2009. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder with more than 8 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books. Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Although he is admired by many, a number of industry insiders criticize his business tactics, which they consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts (see Criticism of Microsoft). In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.
Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June, 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates' last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman.
Remembering Wounded Knee '73 by Carter Camp Ponca Nation AIM Ah-ho My Relations, Each year with the changing of the season I post this remembrance of Wounded Knee 73. I wrote it a few years ago when some of our brave people had walked to Yellowstone to stop the slaughter of our Buffalo relations. When I did I was surprised at the response from people who were too young to remember WK'73 and I was pleased that some old WK vets wrote to me afterwards. So each year on this date I post the short story again and invite you-all to send it around or use as you will. As you do I ask you to remember that our reasons for going to Wounded Knee still exist and that means the need for struggle and resistance also still exist. Our land and sacred sites are threatened as never before even our sacred Mother herself is faced with unnatural warming caused by extreme greed.
In some areas of conflict between our people and those we signed treaties with, it is best to negotiate or "work within the system" but, because our struggle is one of survival, there are also times when a warrior must stand fast even at the risk of one's life. I believed that in 1973 when I was thirty and I believe it today in my sixties. But to me Wounded Knee 73 was really not about the fight, it was about the strong statement that our traditional way of living in this world is not about to disappear and our people are not a "vanishing race" as wasicu education would have you believe. As time has passed and I see so many of our young people taking part in a traditional way of living and believing I know our fight was worth it and those we lost for our movement died worthy deaths. Carter Camp 2010 "Remembering Wounded Knee 1973"by Carter Camp Ah-ho My Relations, Today is heavy with prayer and reminisces for me. Not only are those who walk for the Yellowstone Buffalo reaching their destination, today is the anniversary of the night when, at the direction of the Oglala Chiefs, I went with a special squad of warriors to liberate Wounded Knee in advance of the main AIM caravan.
For security reasons the people had been told everyone was going to a meeting/wacipi in Porcupine, the road goes through Wounded Knee. When the People arrived at the Trading Post we had already set up a perimeter, taken eleven hostages, run the B.I.A. cops out of town, cut most phone lines, and began 73 days of the best, most free time of my life. The honor of being chosen to go first still lives strong in my heart.
That night we had no idea what fate awaited us. It was a cold night with not much moonlight and I clearly remember the nervous anticipation I felt as we drove the back-way from Oglala into Wounded Knee. The Chiefs had tasked me with a mission and we were sworn to succeed, of that I was sure, but I couldn't help wondering if we were prepared. The FBI, BIA and Marshalls had fortified Pine Ridge with machine gun bunkers and A.P.C.s with M-60's. They had unleashed the goon squad on the people and a reign of terror had begun, we knew we had to fight but we could not fight on wasicu terms. We were lightly armed and dependent on the weapons and ammo inside the Wounded Knee trading post, I worried that we would not get to them before the shooting started.
As we stared silently into the darkness driving into the hamlet I tried to foresee what opposition we would encounter and how to neutralize it... We were approaching a sacred place and each of us knew it. We could feel it deep inside. As a warrior leading warriors I humbly prayed to Wakonda for the lives of all and the wisdom to do things right. Never before or since have I offered my tobacco with such a plea nor put on my feathers with such purpose. It was the birth of the Independent Oglala Nation.
Things went well for us that night, we accomplished our task without loss of life. Then, in the cold darkness as we waited for Dennis and Russ to bring in the caravan (or for the fight to start), I stood on the bank of the shallow ravine where our people had been murdered by Custers' 7th Cavalry. There I prayed for the defenseless ones, torn apart by Hotchkiss cannon and trampled under hooves of steel by drunken wasicu. I could feel the touch of their spirits as I eased quietly into the gully and stood silently... waiting for my future, touching my past.
Finally, I bent over and picked a sprig of sage - whose ancestors in 1890 had been nourished by the blood of Red babies, ripped from their mothers dying grasp and bayoneted by the evil ones. As I washed myself with that sacred herb I became cold in my determination and cleansed of fear. I looked for Big Foot and YellowBird in the darkness and I said aloud ---
"We are back my relations, we are home." Hoka-Hey
Carter Camp- Ponca Nation AIM FREE LEONARD PELTIER!!! NOW!!!
In this month's Underreported Struggles: Indigenous People in Ecuador Call for a "Permanent Mobilzation”; 5,000 Dongria Kondh protest against Vedanta Resources; Bangladesh army opens fire on Indigenous Jumma; Okanagan Band launches protective blockade against logging.
Feb 28 - Indigenous People in Ecuador Call for "Permanent Mobilization” - Indigenous representatives and leaders have issued a call for a "permanent mobilization” to protest the Ecuadorian government's development policies and press demands for a pluri-national state. Lasting for more than eight weeks, a similar mobilization occurred last year in Peru.
Feb 26 - Colombia: indigenous communities targeted in war, again - Indigenous peoples are again caught in the middle as the Colombian army launches a major offensive against the FARC guerillas in the southern Andean department of Cauca.
Feb 26 - Day of Action for Rivers, March 14, 2010 - With the "day of action for rivers” set to begin on March 14, international Rivers provides an update on what will be happening. So far, they say, twenty-three actions have been scheduled in fourteen countries. Several more actions are expected.
Feb 26 - Alaska Natives restoring culture outlawed by missionaries - After years of stigma brought on by Quaker missionaries who banned traditional dancing, the remote Alaskan village of Noorvik is resurrecting the old dances and songs---re-awakening what was shamefully oppressed by religious bigotry.
Feb 26 - Yanomami fear for their lives as miners invade their land - Yanomami shaman and spokesman Davi Kopenawa has made an urgent appeal for support as the Yanomami territory in northern Brazil is being invaded by gold-miners. Davi said, 'The arrival of miners is increasing, and the Yanomami are very worried… Soon there will be conflicts between the miners and the Yanomami…'
Feb 26 - Peru: indigenous organizations demand protection for "isolated peoples” - Representatives of Peru's Amazonian indigenous alliance AIDESEP and affiliated groups are calling for the "protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact.” On Feb. 4, President Alan GarcÃa introduced a bill that would allow the forcible removal of local populations from lands slated for development projects found to be in the "public interest.”
Feb 24 - Olympics can't mask country's human rights record on indigenous peoples - Ever sensitive about their reputation as a land of the fair minded, Canada's Olympic planners have gone to lengths to showcase the nation's respect for aboriginals. However, it is little more than a blanket to cover up the true state of indigenous peoples in Canada.
Feb 23 - Urge Kenya to Withdrawal Police from Samburu Land - Cultural Survival is appealing to Kenyan government authorities to halt police operations in Northern Kenya, where Indigenous Samburu villages have suffered brutal police attacks over the last year. In the most recent attack, the police invaded two Samburu villages, raped eight women, burned a house to the ground, and beat women, children and men with sticks..
Feb 23 - 5,000 indigenous Dongria Kondh protest against Vedanta - When 5,000 indigenous Dongria Kondhs trekked Sunday to Niyam Dongar hill, the abode of their presiding deity Niyam Raja, and designated it as inviolate, it meant they were stepping up their resistance to a controversial alumina refinery and bauxite mine project here.
Feb 23 - Okanagan Nation launches blockade against logging - The Okanagan Indian Band (OIB) launched a "protective blockade” this morning, February 23, at the Okanagan campsite near Bouleau Lake in southern British Colombia. A member of the greater Okanagan Nation, the OIB say they have been left with no choice but to stop the logging company Tolko Industries from endangering their water supply.
Feb 23 - Uranium Mining Begins Near Grand Canyon - In defiance of legal challenges and a U.S. Government moratorium, Canadian company Denison Mines has started mining uranium on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. According to the Arizona Daily Sun the mine has been operating since December 2009.
Feb 22 - Indigenous Jumma massacred in Bangladesh - Eight people are dead and more than two dozen have been injured after the Bangladesh military, on Feb. 20, 2010, opened fire on a group of Indigenous Jumma villagers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. Four villages sponsored by the United Nations were also burned to the ground.
Feb 20 - Company activities suspended in Ajwun and Wampis sacred territory - Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines announced this week that it is "indefinitely suspending” Minera Afrodita's exploration activities in the Cordillera del Condor region of Peru. As reported by Servindi, the announcement follows a recommendation by OSINERGIN, which recently that found that Afrodita, a subsidiary of the Vancouver-based company Dorato , has no concession rights in the Cordillera del Condor region.
Feb 19 - Honduras: authorized projects threaten wetlands and communities - Only 24 hours after Lobo took office, his administration was already granting new environmental permits for projects on wetlands which are part of the environmental richness of Honduras, threatening species and communities.
Feb 18 - Ongoing Violation of Naso and Ngobe Peoples Rights - A shadow report has been submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) detailing Panama's ongoing breach of obligations to the Indigenous Naso and Ngobe Peoples.
Feb 18 - International letter-writing campaign for "uncontacted Indians” - A global letter-writing campaign is underway to help protect the lives of isolated Indigenous Peoples in Paraguay. A Brazilian ranching company, Yaguarete Porá, has announced plans to clear a large part of their 78,000 hectare estate. Sign the letter here.
Feb 15 - Join the Campaign in Defense of the Xingu River - A letter-writing campaign has been launched to demand President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva and other Brazilian authorities put an end to the controversial Belo Monte hydro-electric dam. Once completed, the Belo Monte dam would devastate a massive portion of the Amazon rainforest, divert the flow of the Xingu River and destroy the livelihoods of more than 12,000 Indigenous people.
Feb 14 - Lusi volcano eruption blamed on mining firm - British scientists have revealed evidence that a mining company drilling for gas was responsible for unleashing a mud volcano in Indonesia which has killed 14 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
Feb 11 - Landmark Decision for Indigenous Land Rights in Africa - In a landmark decision this month, the African Union endorsed a 2009 ruling by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights which ordered the Kenyan government to restore the traditional land base of the Endorois People.
Feb 4 - Court rules in favor of indigenous Papuans - The Constitutional Court in Papua has issued an important ruling to provide better representation of Indigenous Peoples in the local government. The Papuan Legislative Council must now appoint 11 new members, all indigenous.
Feb 4 - Extinct: Andaman tribe's extermination complete as last member dies - The last member of a unique tribe has died on India's Andaman Islands. Boa Sr, who died last week aged around 85, was the last speaker of 'Bo', one of the ten Great Andamanese languages. The Bo are thought to have lived in the Andaman Islands for as much as 65,000 years.
Feb 2 - People of Alice win first round against Schwabe Pharmaceuticals - The small South African community of Alice has won the first leg of their court case against German homeopathic giant Schwabe Pharmaceuticals. The company is trying to patent a remedy made from the roots of local indigenous plants.
Feb 2 - Bitter Sweet or Toxic? Indigenous people, diabetes and the burden of pollution - Diabetes is now widely regarded as the 21st century epidemic. With some 284 million people currently diagnosed with the disease, it's certainly no exaggeration---least of all for Indigenous people.
Videos
Don't mine us out of existence! - UK-based mining company Vedanta Resources threatens the human rights of indigenous communities in the Indian state of Orissa.
Nuclear Attack on the Yakama Culture - Yakama Nation cultural leader Russell Jim talks about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in south-central Washington and the social, cultural, economic, and political issues that surround it.
Yakama Nation cultural leader Russell Jim talks about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in south-central Washington and the social, cultural, economic, and political issues that surround it.
The talk was delivered at the University of Washington Husky Union Building in Seattle, WA, on February 23, 2001.
A board member of the Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS) and Director of the Nuclear Waste and Restoration Management programme for the Yakama Nation, Russell Jim has spent more than 20 years raising the Yakama Nation’s voice and demanding the US government clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation (HNR), one of the most contaminated places on Earth.
Built in the Yakama Nation’s “front yard,” HNR was the world’s first full-scale plutonium production reactor. It manufactured the plutonium used in thousands of nuclear bombs; including the very first one ever detonated on July 16, 1945, and in “Fat Man“, the bomb detonated over Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945.
During its years of operation (1943 to 1987) HNR also produced millions of gallons of highly radioactive waste, all of which is now stored on site in 177 underground tanks. Roughly 67 of these tanks have leaked more than a million gallons of waste into the local soil.
HNR further released more than 200 different radionuclides into the air and local waters. While most of the releases are considered to be accidental or a “natural” part of operations, on December 2-3, 1949, the U.S. Air Force intentionally released between 7,000 and 12,000 curies of iodine-131 into the air as part of a secret experiment known as project “Green Run“.
As Russell Jim reveals, there also appears to have been a “human radiation experiment on the Yakama Nation” involving the radioactive isotope “phosphorus-32″.
According to documents he reviewed, Jim explains, “in 1941, prior the Hanford Reservation ever becoming a reality, phosphorus-32 was introduced into the Yakama and Colombia river.”
“We found that it goes directly through the eyes of the Salmon and to the soft bone inside the Salmon head, which is revered by the Indigenous People. We think it’s some of the greatest food.”
“But there is a consistent denial by federal agencies and by science” he continues, “that there is no proven effects of radioactivity”. The isotope itself, is often used today in scientific research and medical treatment.
Nevertheless, Jim expresses concern about the possible impacts on the Yakama in the next couple generations. Perhaps one day, he fears, Women will no longer be able to give birth.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), phosphorus-32 is a known cause of cancer in humans and animals when it is taken internally.
Further, says the IARC, “exposure of animals to phosphorus-32 in utero led to prenatal death, reduced growth, malformations and gonadal and pituitary lesions.” It was also shown to produce “chromosomal aberrations” in humans.
Have you heard about this thing called digital copy? Well if you haven't, digital copy is this thing you can use to take DVDs that you have bought recently to get a "copy" of the movie for you iPod/mp3 players. Tomorrow we do not have school (yeah! Casmir Pulaski Day) and I am going with my mom to Chicago so I decided it would be nice to watch a movie on the way up, so I tried the digital copy thing. I go through the first questions like "what country?" and "would you like to subscribe to this?". Then I click the button to get the actual copy and it says please wait. I did. After that it says if iTunes doesn't pop-up, click it on your desktop so I do and GUESS WHAT... the iTunes computer site comes up but it wants me to download iTunes which, duh I already have. I try again and the same thing happens. So this time I click on the support tab of the iTunes window. It is absolutely useless, so I go back and click on the other tabs trying to get help. There is nothing on their website that will help. Maybe this is why I find Computers annoying; they don't do what I want them to do.
The largest and most visible organ on our body is our skin, which is why we need to take superb care of it!!
That's why I was happy when Asian Skin Solutions asked me if I would like to try out their O2 Peel Rejuvenation Facial Treatment!!
(Never too early to start to look good for my wedding teeheehee)
Ok this photo looks more artistic:
Asian Skin Solutions is specially tailored to Asian females, and that's why before my facial treatment, all sorts of questions were asked so that they can better known my skin and give the best sort of treatment to me!
Questions such as the my lifestyle, environmental conditions etc. :D
After my analysis and consultation, I was led into their rooms... Located conveniently at Orchard Central (that's the mall next to 313), they have a spacious corrider at the back where all the treatment rooms are!
The comfy bed I fell asleep on later. -_-
And here I am before the treatment!! I have no foundation on so you can see all my skin's flaws.
Ok lah here's a clearer view of my face!! I got shitloads of tiny zits on my forehead!
The first step is Double Cleansing!
It's shiok!!!
Anyway there are 8 steps in total.
Second step is the O2 Peel, then the X-lotion Steam!
Here's the bubbling water in the machine for the X-lotion Steam.
At this point I already felt that my skin was super refreshed and light!
Step 4 is Extraction, which is the most unpleasant part of any facials...
Using tools (like metal tools), the therapist will extract clogged white heads/black heads etc from your skin, and squeeze zits! Oh my poor forehead.
Luckily, this process wasn't that painful because the steam already softened my skin and loosened the pores.
It's necessary though coz in the long term clogged pores do bad things to your skin!
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It was very fun coz a jet of pure oxygen was sprayed on my skin!! Very cooling and nice after the extraction. The stream of oxygen was very intense and I imagined all my dead skin cells flying off. LOL!!
Step 6 was a Facial Massage and I could feel myself nodding off... It was so shiok.
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The therapist spread a super thick and cool paste on my face and zzzzz I have no idea what happened after that coz I fell asleep. Hahaha!
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I think that we should be able to have our phones turned on in school because: what if there is an emergency and we need to call 911 because someone is in the school and is trying to kill us or hold us in the school. We would be able to call the police and get help on the situation; if we didn't have our phones turned on we might try to turn them on to call the police and get caught by whoever is trying to harm us. Or, what would happen if someone fell the in the hallway? We could call 911 and get them help. So, all in all, I think it is a good idea to be able to have our phones turned on.
Cole Heuerman
----Mrs. Cross' Long-Winded Response----
Thanks to Cole for bringing up this hot-button issue. I, of course, disagree with having cell phones on during school hours. At St. Anthony, at any rate, cell phones should be turned off and in your locker or book bag (not on your pocket).
It is often easy to rationalize the things that we want. People can rationalize bad or inappropriate behavior, they can rationalize breaking the rules, they can rationalize their desires. "Well, in my case ____ is okay because..."
Having your cell phone turned on during school hours is unnecessary for several reasons. As for the first argument--emergency situations--everyone is in close proximity to a land line phone. In my hallway alone, five phones are within easy access. Students or teachers should not contact 911 until they have informed the office. That is as simple as shouting or running for a teacher. If an accident occurs in the hallway: get a teacher--who will then call the office, send someone to the front office (if people are standing nearby). The office will handle the rest of the situation.
The school has procedures in place for hostage situations. The job of school administration and faculty is to safeguard our students. Let us handle the situation. The police do not recommend everyone with a cell phone making an emergency call. It ties up the line of communication and can actually make the situation more dangerous. When students make other calls out during an emergency situation, people panic and show up at the school. This makes the situation more dangerous for family members, but also more difficult for the emergency services personnel who are trying to diffuse the situation and maintain calm outside the school building. Also, FYI, some incendiary devices (explosives) can be detonated via cell phones. So, making a call during a situation where these devices may have a role in the danger only intensifies the potential for an explosion. In a hostage situation (if you are in the room with the person holding the school hostage), the worst thing you could do is not follow his or her "rules" -- you make them mad and they are more likely to open fire.
Outside emergencies: Parents and others should call the office prior to making a call to the student. If a child needs to be taken out of school, the office needs to know anyway. If another situation occurs--such as a death in the family--then a face-to-face explanation is much more reasonable than a phone call. The school's faculty will be glad to pass on messages to the students. It's part of our job, after all.
So, let's get to the real reason. We all know that very few people only use their cell phones for "emergency situations." Cell phone usage has become an addiction of sorts. People cannot seem to break away from the constant need for communication. Why? I wish I could explain it. I keep my cell phone turned off during school hours. It is off before I enter the building in the morning and not turned on again until I leave at the end of the day. The only people I need to communicate with during school hours are my students and members of the faculty and staff. Why shouldn't the students be expected to follow suit?
Last week a student left his cell phone turned on and it rang during class. Now, first, I have to wonder who would be calling a teenager during the normal school day... if it's another student, can't you just wait until lunch or when you see each other in the hallway or during class? I know that last year I called my nephew on his cell phone. I was living in Florida and in a different time zone. I forgot and just called him. His phone, luckily, was turned off. The point is: the ringing cell phone was a disruption. It also got the student in trouble.
How many of you would, if you were allowed to have them on you and turned on, could resist the temptation to text during class? Many students do so anyway. I'm sorry, but the temptation is too great. Even worse: teachers using their cell phones in class. Ugh! This always makes me so mad. How can we expect students to follow the rules if we set a bad example. Back to rationalization...
Many employers are saying "No!" to cell phone use during working hours; some state governments have restricted the use of cell phones while driving. The bottom line: why do we feel the need to be in constant contact? Why can't we wait until we get home or are in private to make phone calls? Why do people make calls from a bathroom stall? Why, why, why? The only thing I can think of is that we, as humans, have become so self-absorbed and selfish that we cannot look beyond our own desires. Yes, that's it.
I say I don't write about pilots, and here I go again....
It's being reported that Dermot Mulroney has been cast as Jim Rockford in a new version of 'The Rockford Files'.
Bad idea.
And the remake of 'Hawaii Five-0' is a bad idea.
The remake of 'Battlestar Galactica' worked, but that was on a niche channel. There are higher expectations with the major networks. And remakes seldom work.
'Hawaii Five-0' should have been all about a new generation of Five-0 cops, working in the (acknowleded) traditions of the original Steve McGarrett. But there's no way this new crew -even with Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim on board - will survive comparison to the originals.
The same with Jim Rockford. What were they thinking? How can they expect to erase people's memories of James Garner in the role?
A nephew? That could have worked. Or somebody with a whole different name in the same situations. Sure, put him in a trailer on the beach with his phone in the fridge. Just don't say he's the Rockfish.
At any rate, both shows will have to be relegated to the TV dimension of remakes if their situations remain the same.....
We'll see what happens. I may turn out to be wrong.....
As I said earlier this week, I don't usually cover pilots until they've actually got the green light to go to series. But this one feels like a given, considering its pedigree.
Jim Belushi is slated to star in a legal drama called 'Defenders' that may be picked up by CBS. The reason I think it may go to series is because Carol Mendelsohn is one of the executive producers. She performs the same duties for 'CSI'.
So I can see CBS picking up the show - about two defense attorneys in Las Vegas (Belushi's role would be modeled on Mickey Sherman) - and then asking for a crossover tie-in to 'CSI' so that 'Defenders' can ride the coat-tails to bigger ratings.
I've finished the third season for 'Callan', and now that I'm hooked I just realized that Netflix put my request for season four into the "Saved" column. Hopefully they'll pick up a copy soon!
In the meantime, it's onward to another tribute - "Five Red Herrings", a 'Lord Peter Wimsey' mystery in salute to the late Ian Carmichael. (I was watching 'Callan' in memory of Edward Woodward.)
Now I've only seen the first two parts of "Five Red Herrings" and have only nine episodes of 'Callan' under my belt, but already I feel like making a theory of relateeveety that would connect the two shows!
Lonely is the low-life snitch that does odd jobs for Callan in the course of his assignments - surveillance, breaking and entering, passing messages, that sort of thing. As far as I can tell, we never do learn what his real name is or anything about his background, other than how many times he's been nicked for his petty crimes. But as for his parentage, other members of his family? I'm not so sure it ever comes up. And even if it does, it shouldn't cause a problem with this familial link, as this doesn't have to be a claim as closely connected as father and son. (Although it could be if Lonely's lineage remains vague.)
In "The Five Red Herrings", Lord Peter Wimsey has crossed over the border into Scotland for a bit of a vacation, to do some fishing. And he's found himself in a hamlet that is teeming with temperamental artists, one of whom is found quite dead.
One of these artists is Matthew Gowan, a rather hirsute Highlander..... As 'Callan' took place in the late 1960's into the early 1970's, and the 'Lord Peter Wimsey' mysteries are set in the late 1920's and the 1930's, Gowan is at least a generation older than Lonely. The case could be made for Gowan to be Lonely's father: during time spent in London when visiting his club (the Mahlstick Piccadilly), he could have fathered a bastard child. Although if Lonely is the same age as the actor who played him, he would have been born in the mid-1920's. Therefore it couldn't have happened during the case of "The Five Red Herrings" as that took place in 1932. (Betty the maid went to the cinema and saw "Mata Hari" starring Greta Garbo and Ramon Novarro, which came out in America in December, 1931.)
But it just as easily could be that the relation is not that close, and yet still the resemblance between them could be that perfect. It's the Toobworld way with tele-genetics; the best example is Corporal Randolph Agarn of 'F Troop' and all of his distantly related cousins who bore an amazing likeness to him.
So Matthew Gowan could be Lonely's uncle, or an older second cousin, some such relation. And that would theoretically link 'Callan' to 'Lord Peter Wimsey'.
[It may not be apparent what with all of that hair, but Russell Hunter, who played Lonely, also played Gowan.]
We began Black History Month with a famous American black woman, and we're going out the same way.....
ELLA FITZGERALD
AS SEEN IN: "Pirates Of Silicon Valley"
AS PLAYED BY: Cardella Di Milo
From Wikipedia: Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz vocalist. With a vocal range spanning three octaves, she was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. She is widely considered one of the supreme interpreters of the Great American Songbook. Over a recording career that lasted 59 years, she was the winner of 13 Grammy Awards and was awarded the National Medal of Art by Ronald Reagan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush.
TUCSON -- In the half moon circle of booths before the stage, children's faces were painted and Guatemalan tapestries were on display. There was the call for peace, and the paintings of torture in China. Veterans for Peace, Amnesty, the ACLU, Derechos Humanos, Borderlinks, No More Deaths, KXCI Radio and so many others were there at the Tucson Peace Fair today. The Tucson Refuge Sewing and Crafts Circle offered handmade bags made by African women who are now refugees here. Others called for the protection of the Santa Rita Mountains from copper mining.
On one table, there were tiny mementos, precious items left behind by migrants in the Sonoran Desert. There were fragments of a child's clothing, bits of toys and beads, now made into art, so they will not be forgotten. On quilt patches there are the memories and the names of those who died in the desert.
"The Migrant Quilt Project contains the names and the unknowns (desconocidos) who have died while crossing the US/Mexico border. By driving migrants into remote regions where there is no water, food or medical care, many succumb to extreme heat or cold exposure, dehydration and heat stroke. We honor all those who died trying to find a job." --International Migrant Quilt Project. http://www.losdesconocidos.org/
Jean Marsh is bringing her character of Rose from 'Upstairs, Downstairs' back to Television, and she'll be brought forward in Time!
Well, not that far forward....
That's him again behind Heathcote Land, re-emerging from behind the flag. That profile certainly suggests the look of Brian Lane to me, to put it politley. 
And here he is again, walking away and passing by Callan's snitch, Lonely.
[with Steve Jobs]
And even if it does, it shouldn't cause a problem with this familial link, as this doesn't have to be a claim as closely connected as father and son. (Although it could be if Lonely's lineage remains vague.)
As 'Callan' took place in the late 1960's into the early 1970's, and the 'Lord Peter Wimsey' mysteries are set in the late 1920's and the 1930's, Gowan is at least a generation older than Lonely. The case could be made for Gowan to be Lonely's father: during time spent in London when visiting his club (the Mahlstick Piccadilly), he could have fathered a bastard child. Although if Lonely is the same age as the actor who played him, he would have been born in the mid-1920's. Therefore it couldn't have happened during the case of "The Five Red Herrings" as that took place in 1932. (Betty the maid went to the cinema and saw "Mata Hari" starring Greta Garbo and Ramon Novarro, which came out in America in December, 1931.)
