"The Carroll County Courthouse Tragedy"

Preparing to Remember VA Courthouse Shooting a Century Later
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)
Carroll County residents are preparing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a courthouse shooting that killed five people, including three county officials.
Posted: 4:00 AM Nov 30, 2010
Reporter: LARRY O'DELL - Associated Press Writer

Carroll County residents are preparing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a courthouse shooting that killed five people, including three county officials.

"The Carroll County Courthouse Tragedy" dominated national news in 1912 until it was bumped from the front pages by the sinking of the Titanic.

For some, it remains a painful part of local history because of lingering resentments and conflicting accounts of who fired the first shot and why. That's why centennial organizers are promising a neutral approach that will promote reconciliation.

A kiss between two youngsters at a corn shucking in December 2010 started a series of events that led to the courthouse shooting, so the first event in the county's commemoration will be a shucking December 18.

©2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

"Fame Is a Beast"

Fame is a beast
It matters least
From West to East
. . But Fame's the beast.
November 27, 2010

Ideas

All design-based:

1. online design model for choosing energy efficiency options (to buy)
2. online design model for selecting Christmas decorations (indoors and out)
3. online design model for customizing cars

All work with handheld, and sell related products.

HereLive.com:

1. work with existing software
2. do a "mash-up"
3. free
4. public contributes--photos, messages, video
5. calendar of all live events running continously (geo'd and time/dated)

"It Is Love"

It is Love

. . My life

. . . . She stalks.

It is I

. . At Her

. . . . Who balks.

It is She

. . Through me

. . . . Who talks.

November 26, 2010

'An Education'

I would've liked to have gotten an education from the "audio commentary" of this 2009 film.  Alas, it was narrated and commented upon by the entirely self-absorbed and almost completely vapid actors themselves--and an only slightly more listenable and aware director. Their fatuous commentary was all about what they "loved" in a scene, as in "I just love this or that" or "I love what I'm wearing in this scene", or when things go bad "this is where I look the absolute oldest."  If they themselves weren't in the scene you'd hear not a single word about any of the other actors, unless something or somebody "just kills me" or it's "I just love it when she does that". Peter Sarsgaard even had to ask what the younger fellow's name was (Matthew Beard), after appearing in a film with him(!) Self-obsession at its most extreme; painful to watch.

God knows what the great Alfred Molina did to all of them, they said not a word about him--except when Mulligan takes the knife out to say "He wraps after this scene".

Most remarkable to me was that the director finds it "ironic" that Sarsgaard's character smokes Bachelor cigarettes, almost as if noticing for the first time. "But maybe that's right for the part," she muses.  The last time Carey Mulligan pulls these cigarettes out of the glove compartment, as she'd done so many times before, but this time we see the brand name is also the moment she discovers Sarsgaard's been married all along. One of those oh-so-smart cinematic moments of great meaning . . and yet . . the director herself apparently had not a clue.

Songs My Grandmother Sang

One of the songs my grandmother used to sing, according to my mother, was 'I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter',* something Fred E. Ahlert and Joe Young penned in 1935. First a big hit by Fats Waller in '35, it went even higher for the Boswell Sisters the next year. Bing and Sinatra sang it, too . .

I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter
And make believe it came from you
I'm gonna write words, oh, so sweet
They're gonna knock me off my feet
Kisses on the bottom
I'll be glad I've got 'em.

I'm gonna smile and say "I hope you're feelin' better"
And sign "with love" the way you do
I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter
And make believe it came from you.

Point is, I woke up singing it this morning. Maybe 'cause they play it over the PA at the hippest place in town, yes, McDonald's where they do satellite radio--some sort of Oldies station (which I love every time I'm in there). Fred Ahlert wrote a couple other hits like: 'Mean to Me', 'Walkin' My Baby Back Home', 'Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)'.

---

*Another was 'Goody Goody' (1936) by Johnny Mercer (which Ella did).