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MGM Musicals 101: The Classics
The movie musical emerged in an era of intense cultural conflict and competition: between traditional theater and cinema; between the story-driven musical and the more vaudeville-like revue; and between jumped-up jazz and music-hall pop. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer went through the same process of trial and error with musicals as nearly every other Hollywood studio, but MGM quickly developed a reputation as a place that nurtured and properly showcased talented performers, choreographers, and directors. Many—if not the majority—of movie musicals revered by fans of classic Hollywood feature the roar of the MGM lion.
The phenomenon began with The Broadway Melody, a 1929 backstage romance released while MGM was still adjusting to the sound era, which the studio embraced later than its rivals. The movie doesn't have much of a story—Anita Page and Bessie Love play a sister act who fight for the affections and talent of a Tin Pan Alley songwriter played by Charles King—but MGM poured every technical resource available into the production, including shooting a brief Technicolor sequence that's been lost to history. The Broadway Melody was a hit, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture, becoming both the first musical and the first sound picture to do so. In the years to come, the "backstage story" became a common framing device for movie musicals, allowing studios to convert the plot-light revue style—with songs chosen more for their catchiness than their narrative relevance—into something with more of a narrative. The movie also spawned a series, with Broadway Melody Of 1936, Broadway Melody Of 1938, and Broadway Melody Of 1940.
MGM's first truly great musical arrived a year later: Good News, an adaptation of a popular stage production about a group of college students who are mad about football, dancing, and sneaking off into dark corners to make out. The movie's technical qualities are crude (with the possible exception of yet another long-lost Technicolor sequence), but the depiction of university life is so frank and modern that Good News ran afoul of the Hollywood production code that was established a few years later, and the film was withdrawn from distribution for decades. The 1930 Good News is a prime example of what makes movie musicals so thrilling and timeless. Even with a battery of makeup artists, costumers, directors, screenwriters, choreographers, publicists, and acting coaches working hard to sculpt an image of chaste sophistication, once a man starts shaking his hips or a woman starts kicking her legs high, the body parts tell a different story. (That's even true of the 1947 remake of Good News, which cleans up the musical's lascivious undertones, but still adds a little pelvic thrust whenever the bodies start to move.)
By the mid-'30s, MGM's musicals had become more star-driven, and the studio signed one of its most enduring performers in 1935: 13-year-old Judy Garland. By all accounts, chief Louis B. Mayer took a special interest in Garland, working behind the scenes to turn her into a star by sheer force of will—even if he had to wreck her self-esteem to do it. Garland finally broke through with the public singing a cooing love song to a photo of Clark Gable in Broadway Melody Of 1938, which was followed by an inspired pairing with Mickey Rooney in a string of "Hey, kids, let's put on a show!" musicals and Andy Hardy movies. The apotheosis of Garland's teenage oeuvre is 1939's The Wizard Of Oz, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's fantasy novel, featuring Garland as a pigtailed naïf from Kansas who inspires the downtrodden denizens of an enchanted kingdom to confront a mysterious mystic. But Garland's best film at MGM came a few years later, as she was transitioning into more adult roles. In 1944's Meet Me In St. Louis (an adaptation of a series of Sally Benson short stories, directed by Garland's soon-to-be-husband Vincente Minnelli), Garland plays the second-oldest daughter of a turn-of-the-century middle-class Missouri family that is simultaneously looking forward to the 1904 World's Fair and dreading their father's plans to move the clan to New York City. In both The Wizard Of Oz and Meet Me In St. Louis, Garland's characters stand up for themselves and revere the concept of "home," but in the latter, she's more alive to the sensual pleasures of life, and more cognizant of life's disappointments. In Oz, Garland sings "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," pining for a better day she's optimistic she'll see. In St. Louis, she sings "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," pretending that everything's going to be okay when she isn't at all sure it will. That's called maturity.
In 1945, MGM paired Frank Sinatra with its own hard-to-pigeonhole actor-dancer Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh, a musical about two sailors on shore leave living it up in Hollywood. It's a fine, breezy programmer—featuring one spectacular scene where Kelly dances with the animated Jerry Mouse from the Tom & Jerry cartoons—but it paled in comparison with the savvier then-hit Broadway show On The Town, created by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Leonard Bernstein, and Jerome Robbins. So in 1949, Sinatra and Kelly re-teamed for their own adaptation of On The Town, co-directed by Kelly and his choreographer pal Stanley Donen. The movie version replaces a lot of the music from the original, but retains the basic premise, following sailors on the make in New York City. And unlike the more studio-bound Anchors Aweigh, On The Town was shot on location in NYC, expanding the possibilities for how a genre as artificial as the musical could reflect real life.
Kelly continued to innovate for MGM both in front of and behind the camera. In 1951, he teamed up with director Minnelli, veteran producer Arthur Freed (who wrote some of the songs for The Broadway Melody way back when), and screenwriter Alan Jay Lerner for An American In Paris, which uses the culture of Europe and the music of George and Ira Gershwin to turn a fairly thin love story into something deliriously romantic and ambitious, culminating in a lengthy ballet sequence. The movie won the Best Picture Oscar, which was a problem only inasmuch as its success likely robbed Kelly's next big musical of its due. Widely—and rightly—considered the greatest movie musical of all time, 1952's Singin' In The Rain applies the talents of Kelly, Donen, Freed, Comden, and Green to a different kind of "backstage musical," telling the story of what happened to Hollywood when sound was introduced to motion pictures. It's also a "trunk musical," relying on existing songs from Freed's catalog, though the movie often winks at the corniness of the old numbers even as it draws on their emotional power. In short: Singin' In The Rain is the musical of musicals, encompassing the history of the form and its possible future in 103 zippy, catchy, funny minutes.
Before Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen revolutionized movie-musical dancing at MGM, Fred Astaire and his choreographer partner Hermes Pan did much the same at RKO, with no small contribution from Ginger Rogers. Astaire went into semi-retirement in the mid-'40s right as Kelly's star was rising, but MGM called him back into action in the late '40s and early '50s, and made a few musicals that stand up to his '30s RKO classics. The best of the bunch: 1948's Easter Parade, directed by Charles Walters and produced by Arthur Freed, with Astaire playing opposite Judy Garland as a stern taskmasker of a Broadway star who molds Garland into a top-notch entertainer as he's falling in love with her. The Irving Berlin songs are terrific, and Astaire has a different kind of energy than Kelly, who was originally supposed to play the lead, but got hurt. Onscreen, Kelly's emotions practically drip from his pores, while Astaire in his MGM films is amiable but a little aloof, as though he's saddened that no one will ever be on his level as an artist. The great joy of Easter Parade comes from watching Astaire open up to Garland, recognizing her as a rare peer.
By the mid-'50s, MGM's various musical units were working as well-oiled machines, turning out more than a half-dozen quality films a year, many of which are now widely regarded as classics: Vincente Minnelli and Fred Astaire's Faustian 1953 backstage musical The Band Wagon; Stanley Donen and Michael Kidd's imaginative, folkloric 1954 comedy-romance Seven Brides For Seven Brothers; Minnelli and Gene Kelly's 1954 adaptation of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe's hit Broadway fantasia Brigadoon; and more. But one of the best MGM musicals of the era is one of its lesser-known, less-grandiose affairs: 1953's I Love Melvin, which re-teams Singin' In The Rain co-stars Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor as two kooky kids trying to make a name for themselves in the big city. He's a photographer for Look magazine; she's an actress stuck playing a football in a campus comedy. He pledges to get her a magazine cover, and she pledges to love him forever if he can pull it off. The stakes are low and the pretensions minimal; I Love Melvin is an example of gifted, joyful professionals doing a job they clearly loved.
After 1955, MGM's production of musicals tapered off to four titles in '56, four in '57, four in '58, and then barely one a year for the next decade. But the studio's top unit—the Freed unit—went out on a high in 1960 with Bells Are Ringing, a Minnelli-directed adaptation of a hit Broadway musical by Comden, Green, and songwriter Jule Styne. Judy Holliday (in her final film role before her 1965 death) reprises her role from the Broadway production as an answering-service operator who adopts different personas for her clients and tries to do more for them than just take their messages. From the New York setting to the hints of adult sexuality, Bells Are Ringing is a link to MGM musicals past, and though it wasn't the last good musical the studio ever produced, it does feel like the closing of a chapter.
Intermediate Work: The Subgenres
"The MGM musical" is fairly monolithic as a concept, but the studio's production units did frequently return to some themes and organizing concepts, creating odd little subgenres. One of the oddest? "Movies about Florenz Ziegfeld." MGM won the second-ever Best Picture Oscar awarded to a musical for 1936's The Great Ziegfeld, starring William Powell as the legendary theatrical impresario. That was followed by 1941's Ziegfeld Girl, a semi-sequel featuring three women (played by Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner) who compete to become Ziegfeld's latest star. The movie feels cobbled together, but it does feature Jimmy Stewart as Turner's devoted beau, and several eye-popping Busby Berkeley-designed musical numbers. Then in 1945, Arthur Freed called together all of MGM's major directors, choreographers, and stars to collaborate on Ziegfeld Follies, an anthology of songs and comedy sketches meant to approximate one of the old Ziegfeld shows.
Along the same lines, MGM produced several musicals that doubled as biopics of real-life composers and performers: 1942's Freed-produced, Berkeley-directed For Me And My Gal, starring Gene Kelly as vaudeville star Harry Palmer, and Judy Garland as the girl who urges him to serve his country in World War I; 1946's Till The Clouds Roll By, which leans on an all-star cast to tell a glossy version of the life story of Broadway composer Jerome Kern; and 1950's Three Little Words, with Fred Astaire and Red Skelton playing the songwriting team of Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. One of the most striking entries in this subgenre is 1948's Words And Music, the story of Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, with Mickey Rooney playing the troubled Hart, whose real problems are barely hinted at in the film. A hybrid between a biopic and a revue—with sparkling setpieces featuring stars like Gene Kelly and Judy Garland—Words And Music may not be historically accurate, but it's a stirring tribute to the rewards of collaboration.
Words And Music also marked the 10th and final time Garland and Rooney appeared in a movie together, capping a profitable string of Andy Hardy comedies and musicals. Their first full-blown musical together was 1939's Babes In Arms, with Rooney and Garland as precocious wannabe Broadway stars who stage their own show to prove themselves. Then they (and producer Freed and director Berkeley) repeated the plot formula in 1940's Strike Up The Band, 1941's Babes On Broadway, and 1943's profoundly nuts Girl Crazy, in which Rooney plays a bratty playboy who tries to save a floundering western college by mounting a big cowboy-themed production. The Rooney/Garland musicals tend to be plotty in the first half and then revue-style in the second half, with Berkeley's production numbers so much more elaborate than any group of kids could pull off that they come off as an intentional joke—or perhaps just a fantasy, from the leads' perspective.
In 1949, MGM released In The Good Old Summertime, a Garland-starring musical version of the 1940 Christmas romance The Shop Around The Corner, and the success of the remake inspired the studio to try more musical remakes of Hollywood classics, like 1956's High Society, in which Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra take on the Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart roles from The Philadelphia Story. The same year, the studio made The Opposite Sex, a remake of Clare Booth Luce's distaff comedy The Women. None of the remakes are as good as the originals, but it's fun to compare them, especially given how narrow the chronological gap often is between the remake and the source.
The Opposite Sex was originally meant to star MGM contract player Esther Williams, but she refused the assignment and effectively ended her career with the studio. Prior to that, though, Williams had a 15-year run at MGM, starting in short subjects before moving on to cameo roles and supporting parts, and then finally becoming the star of aquatic-themed musicals. A champion swimmer and a star in the "Aquacade" run by showbiz impresario Billy Rose, Williams was hired by MGM to be a counter to 20th Century Fox's ice-skating musical star Sonja Henie. The "Esther Williams picture" became a genre all its own, and not a very well-respected one, although the 1952 bio-musical Million Dollar Mermaid—about Australian swimming pioneer and entertainer Annette Kellerman—is a clear standout.
Similarly, MGM made good use of French actress Leslie Caron in a handful of star vehicles throughout the '50s. Trained in ballet and possessing a pixie-ish quality that made her somewhat less than versatile, Caron first shone in An American In Paris, then in 1953's Lili (playing a bumpkin who becomes a star because of the naïve way she interacts with a puppet show) and 1958's Gigi (playing a courtesan-in-training who loves hearing the worldly Louis Jourdan wax cynical about romance). In the '50s and '60s, foreign films began to have an impact stateside, and Hollywood scrambled to grab other countries' ingénues to play romantic leads in movies that often didn't work as well as they might've because their big stars didn't speak English expressively enough. But Caron was more of a homegrown product, and she became a bigger star than most of the importees because her movie career actually started at MGM. She'd learned the system.
Advanced Studies: The Artists
Throughout the MGM musical's 30-year run of superiority, talented artists flocked to the studio to try their hand, often making films that were more daring than the crowd-pleasing norm, or that reached for something just beyond their grasp, leaving a few astonishing sequences in their wake. In 1934, cinema's reigning sophisticate, Ernst Lubitsch, made his contribution to the MGM musical tradition with The Merry Widow, an adaptation of Franz Lehár's operetta about a royal lothario who woos a rich woman to try and keep the kingdom solvent. A very European film in style and attitude, The Merry Widow doesn't have the knock-'em-dead quality of the MGM product to come, but clearly filmmakers like Vincente Minnelli, Stanley Donen, and Gene Kelly kept Lubitsch in mind when they tried to make their more mature musicals in the '50s.
Like every other major studio, MGM didn't have the most exemplary record on minority hiring, but MGM was the first studio to put a black performer under contract: Lena Horne, a veteran of Harlem's Cotton Club. MGM used Horne sparingly, usually only in cameo roles, though she played a big part in 1943's Cabin In The Sky, Minnelli's directorial debut for MGM, and the rare studio film with an all-black cast. It's a good movie, too, with Eddie "Rochester" Anderson playing a hopeless sinner who tries to reform for his wife Ethel Waters, but is tempted by drink, gambling, and Horne's wiles. (Also of note: the 1929 MGM musical Hallelujah, another film with an all-black cast, directed by King Vidor with music by Irving Berlin. It's a less broadly comic take on redemption among a community of Southern sharecroppers.)
One of the most disappointing byproducts of MGM largely abandoning the musical by the end of the '50s is that the studio had just begun to nurture some exciting young talent at the start of the decade, like dancer-choreographers Marge and Gower Champion, Bob Fosse, and dancer-actor Bobby Van. The latter two star as roommates in the delightful 1953 campus comedy The Affairs Of Dobie Gillis, with Debbie Reynolds as the object of Van's unrequited affection. Reynolds also appears in Stanley Donen's Give A Girl A Break, playing an aspiring star with whom Fosse becomes infatuated, while Gower Champion plays the director of the Broadway show that Fosse wants Reynolds to star in. (Champion, however, wants another young woman, played by Marge Champion.) These were MGM's equivalent of B-movies, but like the similarly low-budget I Love Melvin, they have a youthful energy that some of the later MGM musicals could've used, and the varied dancing styles of Van, Fosse, and the Champions offer alternatives to Astaire's smoothness and Kelly's muscularity.
It wasn't just the young bucks who were doing inspiring work at MGM in the '50s. Once Fred Astaire decided to un-retire to help out the studio on Easter Parade, he stuck around for a few years and delivered some of MGM's most memorable routines. In 1951's Royal Wedding, directed by Donen, Astaire again plays a successful, fastidious performer flummoxed by romantic feelings, which have him literally dancing on the ceiling. And in 1957's Silk Stockings, Astaire got in on the "musical remakes of the classics" game by tackling Lubitsch's Ninotchka with director Rouben Mamoulian, playing an obnoxious movie producer who knows all the angles, as evidenced by the big number where he and Janis Paige tout the necessity of "glorious Technicolor, breathtaking Cinemascope, and stereophonic sound."
Gene Kelly and Judy Garland appeared together in some of MGM's best musicals and often brought out the best in each other, though their onscreen chemistry was more brother-sister than boyfriend-girlfriend. In Vincente Minnelli and Arthur Freed's wonderful 1948 romance The Pirate, Kelly plays an actor who tries to win over the resistant Garland by pretending to be the dashing buccaneer she idolizes. And in Kelly and Garland's final film together, 1950's Summer Stock (also Garland's last film for MGM), Kelly again plays an actor, who borrows Garland's farm to rehearse a show with his troupe and winds up falling in love with his host and making her a star. Both films deal with the power of theatrical illusion, and both show Kelly playing with the stages his characters trod as well as with the space of the screen, using his athleticism to showcase sweeping gestures along with the subtle sounds produced by human movement.
Kelly extended his interest in combining the broad and the graceful with 1955's It's Always Fair Weather, which he co-directed with Donen, from a Comden and Green script, produced by Freed. Donen and Kelly reportedly squabbled throughout the production and never worked together again, which is appropriate in a way, given that It's Always Fair Weather is about WWII army buddies who keep their promise to meet up again in New York 10 years after the war and discover they can't stand each other. The film was intended as a sequel of sorts to On The Town, but MGM nixed the idea of a full cast reunion, so Kelly appears alongside galootish character actor Dan Dailey and brilliant Broadway choreographer Michael Kidd, in a story that sees the three friends departing their reunion acrimoniously, then coming back together through a series of coincidences. The movie has a strikingly bitter tone, yet it features some of the most inspired song-and-dance routines of its era. (And the '50s were a fertile era.)
Kelly didn't always have the full support of his home studio. In 1952, he wrote, directed, and starred in Invitation To The Dance, an experimental musical consisting of three dialogue-free stories told in pantomime and dance. The film is more kitschy than transcendent, but Kelly's dancing is some of his strongest, and Invitation To The Dance is fascinating as a peek into the man's personal ideas of what constitutes beauty and art. Unfortunately, movie audiences didn't get that peek until later—MGM shelved the finished film, then gave it only a token release in 1956.
MGM's musical production sputtered to a close in the '60s, reduced to oddities like The Singing Nun and the musical version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips. By the '70s, the studio developed into a nostalgia factory, thanks to the successful That's Entertainment series, which excerpted the best of the MGM library to show to a new generation and their reminiscing elders. MGM did stamp its name on a couple of musicals by iconoclastic Englishmen: In 1971, it released a sloppily edited version of The Boy Friend, Ken Russell's postmodern adaptation of Sandy Wilson's pastiche musical, and in 1981, MGM released Pennies From Heaven, based on Dennis Potter's BBC miniseries about a miserable, Depression-era sheet-music salesman (played by Steve Martin in the movie) who daydreams about living in a world more like the songs he sells. Yet even with those two films—innovative as they were—MGM was largely paying tribute to its own past. The MGM musical era was over.
The Essentials
1. Singin' In The Rain. A pure happiness-delivery device, Singin' In The Rain is self-aware yet thoroughly sincere, representing the best of an American art form.
2. It's Always Fair Weather. As cynical as Singin' In The Rain is sentimental, It's Always Fair Weather applies some of the MGM factory's best techniques to a story about how romance and friendship fades. Even with a sunny ending, the movie's cloudiness is never completely dispelled.
3. Meet Me In St. Louis. The best kind of nostalgia piece: one that shows how people who lived decades or even centuries before us still experienced joy and heartache comparable to our own.
4. I Love Melvin. The true measure of a form's greatness can't just be taken from its prestige projects; this lower-to-the-ground romantic comedy shows that MGM's musical-makers could turn out top-notch entertainment even when they were out of the spotlight.
5. Good News (1947). Stanley Donen, Vincente Minnelli, and Busby Berkeley are all better-known names, but Charles Walters directed some of MGM's best musicals, starting with this ebullient remake of one of the studio's most scandalous films.


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mental_floss meets Mr. Drummond
Six Degrees of Wikipedia was a 2006 web sensation, racking up the Diggs and making the Telegraph. This application would tell you how closely Wikipedia entries were related (Viagra and mackerel? Four degrees.)
The Six Degrees machine is not working right now. So my friend Evan Schiller proposed a lower-tech version (similar to games going on in message board land), which we've been playing on and off all afternoon. Our last game started with the Holden VE Commodore, with the goal to reach Ridley Scott in the fewest clicks/links. (Holden VE Commodore --> United Kingdom --> Cinema of the United Kingdom --> Ridley Scott. I win.)
Hours of entertainment. Give it a try. Start with the Wikipedia entry for mental_floss, and see if you can get to one of the following: Conrad Bain, the Apple IIGS or Ask A Stupid Question Day.
Anyone bored enough to participate?

subset: commoncrawl


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Microsoft's top executive for mobile phones took shots at both iOS and Android today, calling Apple's operating system "boring" and claiming Google's is "a mess."
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal's All Things D, Terry Myerson, who heads Microsoft's Windows Phone group, knocked the competition.
"With Apple, I sense a lack of urgency," said Myerson. "When iOS 5 came out and there was a fifth row of icons and not much else, you say, okay, are they running out of steam, is iOS getting boring?"
Myerson was repeating contentions by others that Apple has ceded ground, not only in sales, but also in its once-unassailable position as king of cool, to rivals like Samsung.
He didn't stop there, bashing Google's Android as well as its Chrome OS project. "With Android ... it's kind of a mess," Myerson said. "Chrome [OS] and Android coming together, Chrome [OS] does not offer the flexibility of Android."
He elaborated on Chrome OS, Google's browser-based operating system that has been adopted by some Microsoft partners to power low-priced notebooks.
Chrome OS, said Myerson, is "as locked down as any locked-down pre-regulation version of Windows ever was or is," then went on to say that Google's claim it isn't planning to merge Android with Chrome OS is "just BS."
However, when All Things D's Ina Fried asked whether Microsoft would allow Facebook Home -- for now an Android-only app that sits between the user and the smartphone's usual home and "lock" screens -- on Windows Phone, Myerson dodged the question.
While he complimented some of Facebook Home's features, he did not answer Fried's question, instead saying "We'll want to work with them [but] our goal is to provide a platform such as our partners can achieve their differentiation."
Microsoft has taken swipes at Facebook Home before. Two weeks ago, after Facebook unveiled the app-slash-interface for Android, Microsoft's head of communications, Frank Shaw, belittled it as an old idea that was little more than a copy of what Windows Phone launched in 2011.
In an interview today, Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy agreed with Shaw. "Facebook stole, or copied, many of the ideas that make up Windows Phone 8," said Moorhead.
The All Things D website has posted a segment of Fried's interview with Myerson.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. His email address is email@example.com.
See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com.
Read more about windows phone in Computerworld's Windows Phone Topic Center.


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Last year's defending champion, Jelena Dokic, will be back to defend her title against some of the world's top female professionals (including No. 16 ranked player Anna Smashnova) at the Sarasota Clay Court Classic, scheduled for March 31-April 6 at The Meadows Country Club. The 2002 inaugural event drew more than 13,000 spectators and raised nearly $10,000 for charity; organizers are hoping to expand both numbers this time around. Tickets are on sale now; call 894-0040 or go online at www.sarasotaclaycourtclassic.com.
The Fine Arts Society of Sarasota's Creators and Collectors Tour tries something new this year, confining itself to the studios of working artists. Included: geometric abstractionist Steve McCallum, sculptor Dennis Kowal, visual artist Jill Hoffman-Kowal, painter Larry Forgard, painter/printmaker Pamela Sumner, Korean master potter Ki Wooh Huh, and Zen painter Frederica Marshall. You can see what they're up to from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 21 and 22 and 1 to 4 p.m. March 23; tickets are $15 and available at a variety of locations. Call 388-2473.
Sonnet Gallery. Continuing through March 6: paintings and sculpture by Ivan Rojas. Opening March 7 to run through April 13: a show featuring "Phoenix School" artists Holman, Douglas, Hollack and Kullbacki. Information: 955-6443.
L'Attitude Gallery. On view through March 7: Two Men and a Bench II, featuring works by Russ Vogt and John Turula. Paintings and crafted tables by Mary Cameron are featured March 8-April 3, with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. March 8. Information: 373-0767.
Museum of Fine Arts. The St. Petersburg Museum continues its showing of Robert Doisneau's Paris, photographs of the City of Light, through March 9. Also this month, through March 23: Drawn Toward the Avant-Garde: Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century French Drawings from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, featuring works by Ingres, Gauguin, Manet and others; and Steuben and Beyond: Contemporary Glass Sculpture from the Penny and Elton Yasuna collection. (The Yasunas, longtime Sarasotans, have collected Harvey Littleton, Dale Chihuly and William Morris, among other glass artists.) And, through April 27: Little Luxuries: Baby Rattles and Teethers from the 18th to the 20th Century. Information: (727) 896-2667.
Selby Gallery. Continuing through March 29: Sarasotans Collect II, a look at a wide variety of paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture from local collections. Information: 359-7563.
Galleria Silecchia. Inspirations, 40 new works from the Irish Memorial by Glenna Goodacre, continues on view through March 31. Also this month: reverse hand-painted glass chandeliers by Ulla Darni and oils and landscapes by William Berra, who will be in the gallery in person from 6 to 9 p.m. March 1. Information: 365-7414.
Tampa Museum of Art. Magna Grecia: The Greeks in Italy, including masterworks of Greek vase painting and sculpture in terra cotta, stone and bronze, continues through April 20. Information: (813) 274-8130.
Ringling Museum of Art. Of Hands and Fire: Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics, the Koger Collection, from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Through April 27 in the West Galleries. Information: 359-5700.
Salvador Dali Museum. The current exhibition, The Shape of Color: Joan Miro's Painted Sculpture, runs through May 4. Information: (727) 823-3767.
Sarasota County History Center. Black and white photographs of architectural landmarks in Sarasota by Arnold Berns continue on view through May 17. Information: 861-1180.
Sarasota Season of Sculpture. Large-scale public art on view along Sarasota's bayfront, through May 31. Information: 331-2008.
Apple & Carpenter Galleries. A spring exhibition of American and European Paintings (1850-1950) is on view March 1 through April 30. Information: 951-2314.
Santa Fe Trails Gallery. Works by the Acoma potters of Sky City are featured all this month at the Main Street gallery. Information: 954-1972.
Missing Link Gallery. New objects from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas on display, with selected pieces of earthenware featured this month, along with contemporary photography. Information: 366-6600.
Robert Wilson Galleries. On view are contemporary traditional realist works and impressionism; figurative works, still lifes, landscapes and marine scenes. Information: 955-7709.
Palm Avenue Gallery. Landscapes and cityscapes by Ron Lawrence are highlighted all this month. Also contemporary paintings, sculpture, glass, stoneware and prints. Information: 953-5757.
Palm Avenue First Friday Walk. From 6 to 9 p.m. March 7. Information: 366-1146.
Burns Square First Friday Walk. From 6 to 9 p.m. March 7. Information: 954-0533.
Hodgell Gallery. Glass sculpture by Martin Rosol is featured March 7 through April 3. Information: 366-1146.
Longboat Key Center for the Arts. The center offers a Jazz Concert in the Park, at 2 p.m. March 9; and also jazz concerts at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. March 11. Also this month: the Longboat Key Club Exhibition, through March 14; works by Nell Rude in the Glen Gallery, also through March 14; the Student Exhibition, March 22-April 26 (reception 5-7 p.m. March 23); and the annual Fair and Festival, March 28 and 29, featuring about 100 art and craft booths. Information: 383-2345.
Venice Art Center. Sculpture by Julia Hyman occupies the main galleries March 10-26 (reception March 14), while a Solo Salon exhibit presents works by Madelaine Ginsberg, Betty Savenor and Anne Sullivan. Coming up March 31: the Spring Members Exhibition and a Solo Salon featuring oils by Nat Krate. Information: 485-7136.
Artists Helping Artists. An auction at 4 p.m. March 16 at the Radisson on Lido follows a weeklong exhibition March 11-16 at Towles Court, with a preview party set for March 14. Information: 365-4766.
ArtCenter Sarasota. A Soul's Quest, an exhibit of large-scale digital paintings by Serge Polakoff, is on view March 13-April 12, along with paintings by Kathleen Punti and Richard Oxley. There'll be a panel discussion on Symbols, Art & Jung in conjunction with the exhibition, at 5 p.m. March 14; and a symposium with Dr. Lionel Corbett on the coexistence of art, science and spirituality March 15. Information: 365-2032.
Towles Court Third Friday Walk. From 6 to 10 p.m. March 21. Information: 955-0050.
Selby Gardens Botanical Art Exhibition. On view March 30-May 1. Information: 366-5731.
The Little Mermaid. Relive the story of the mermaid who wanted legs, at 10:30 a.m. March 8 at Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
Florida West Coast Symphony Family Concert. Music for the entire family, at 4 p.m. March 29 at Holley Hall. Adults must be accompanied by a child, and children must be accompanied by an adult for this concert (free for those 18 and under). Information: 953-3434.
The Smothers Brothers. Music and laughter from those still-squabbling siblings, at 8 p.m. March 11 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
Sarasota Ballet of Florida. The company welcomes the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, which presents new works by Doug Varone, Charlotte Griffin and Adam Hougland. At 2 and 8 p.m. March 1 and 2 at the FSU/Asolo Center. Also this month: the company's production of Swan Lake, at 8 p.m. March 21, 2 and 8 p.m. March 22, and 2 p.m. March 23 at the Van Wezel. Information: 351-8000.
Pilobolus. Contemporary dance by the ensemble, in an evening that promises-or threatens-partial nudity. Be warned. At 8 p.m. March 17 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
Aeros. Fifteen Olympic medal-winning Romanian gymnasts, choreographed by Daniel Ezralow, David Parsons and Moses Pendleton in collaboration with Stomp creators Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas. At 8 p.m. March 24 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
Sarasota Italian Cultural Events. This celebration of things Italian concludes with the screening of a new documentary on Italian-Americans, March 8 at the Serendipity Country Club, and a new romantic comedy, Remembering Mario, March 9 at Burns Court. For more information call 308-0733, ext. 651, or go to www.sicedautore.com.
Chinese Film Festival. You can watch Chinese films and have an egg roll or two, with movies costing $6 and films and dinner together $14, at 5 and 7:30 p.m. March 22 at the Players. Information: 365-2494.
Florida West Coast Symphony Association Designer Showcase. Continuing on view through March 2 at Hawks Harbor. Information: 953-4252.
Circus Sarasota. The Art of Circus ends its run March 2. Information: 355-9805.
Anna Maria Island Tour of Homes. A glimpse of some of the island's distinguished homes, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 8. Tickets available at the Anna Maria Community Center or on the day of the tour; call 778-1908.
Sunset Stroll on the Circle. From 6 to 9 p.m. March 14 on St. Armands Circle, with live entertainment, food and wine tastings, and extended store hours. Information: 388-1554.
Sarasota County Fair. The rides, the food, the swine.all on schedule for March 14-23 at the fairgrounds. Information: 365-0818.
Selby Gardens Spring Plant Fair. Pep up your garden with selections from Selby, March 15, 16 and 17 at the gardens. Information: 366-5731.
Sarasota Garden Club Flower Show. A Symphony of Seasons is the theme for the 66th annual show, set for 1 to 5 p.m. March 22 and noon to 5 p.m. March 23 at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium. Tickets at the door; call 955-0875.
Sailor Circus. Watch those lithe Sarasota students do their stuff under the Big Top on Bahia Vista, March 26-April 5. Information: 361-6350.
The Love of Three Kings. Part of the Sarasota Opera's Masterworks Revival Series, Italo Montemezzi's opera concerns a beautiful princess, married against her will, who is caught by the king with her true love. Onstage March 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 22 and 29. Information: 366-8450.
Die Fledermaus. Strauss's comic delight, at the Sarasota Opera March 2, 5, 9, 15, 23 and 30. Information: 366-8450.
Flanzer Jewish Community Center's Joys of Music Series. A Night of Gershwin entertains, courtesy jazz pianist Kenny Drew Jr., at 7:30 p.m. March 2. Information: 378-5568, ext. 215.
Selby Gardens' Sunday Afternoon Outdoor Garden Music Series. Live outdoor music featuring a variety of professional local musicians, from 1 to 3 p.m. March 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 in the gardens' lovely surroundings. Information: 366-5731.
Sinatra with the 42nd Street Band. Well, not Ol' Blue Eyes himself, but his music from the Big Band era. March 2 at Neel Auditorium; call 752-5252 or 752-5390.
Venice Little Theatre Concert Series. Two shows this month: Davey Jones/Mardi Gras at 8 p.m. March 3, and the Best of Broadway (with VLT's concert singers) at 8 p.m. March 9, 10, 16 and 17. Information: 488-1115.
Pat Boone. That squeaky-clean Mr. Boone brings audiences lots of musical memories, at 2 p.m. March 4 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
Casual Classics/Concert Lite/Enchanted Evening and Enchanted Afternoon. Come to the Cabaret takes audiences from the music of the Weimar Republic to the lights of the Great White Way, in Florida West Coast Symphony performances at 7:30 p.m. March 6, 5:30 p.m. March 7, and 8 p.m. March 8, all at Holley Hall; and 3 p.m. March 9 at Lemon Bay Playhouse. Information: 953-3434.
Oak Ridge Boys. The country legends return to the Van Wezel, at 8 p.m. March 6. Information: 953-3368.
Macbeth. The Sarasota Opera's production of the Verdi masterpieces continues with performances March 7, 14, 21 and 30 at the Opera House. The composer's original 1847 version of the work will be performed March 28 and April 2. Information: 366-8450.
Venice Symphony Classical Concerts. At 8 p.m. March 7 and 4 and 8 p.m. March 8 at the Church of the Nazarene in Venice. Information: 488-1010.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band. That New Orleans sound, at 8 p.m. March 8 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
The Pearl Fishers. Bizet's tale of two men in love with the same woman in a fishing village in Ceylon, onstage March 8, 11, 13, 16, 19, 22 and 29 at the Sarasota Opera. Information: 366-8450.
Artists Series of Sarasota. Pianist Andrew Armstrong performs, at 8 p.m. March 9 at Holley Hall. Information: 388-1188 or 388-4099.
The Chenille Sister & James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band. "Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?" is the question, at 2 p.m. March 10 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
Takacs String Quartet with Garrick Ohlsson. Pianist Olson and the quartet appear in a Sarasota Concert Association subscription concert, at 8 p.m. March 10 at the Van Wezel. Return tickets usually available the night of the performance. Information: 955-0040.
Band of the Grenadier Guards with the Scots Highlanders. The trumpets-and the pipes and drums-sound in this concert, at 8 p.m. March 12 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
Ringling Museum Concerts. Guitarist Rex Willis and flutist Julie Eriksen perform March 13 in the Rubens Gallery; the Sarasota Brass Quintet closes out this year's series with classical, popular and jazz favorites, March 27 in the courtyard. Information: 359-5700.
Sarasota Youth Opera Chorus Concert. The young choruses make their fourth annual appearance on the Opera House stage, at 5 p.m. March 14. Information: 366-8450.
Florida West Coast Symphony Masterworks. Violinist David Kim joins the orchestra for Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4. Also on the program: Mahler's Symphony No. 5. At 8 p.m. March 14 and 15 and 2:30 p.m. March 16, all at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3434.
Sarasota Opera Circa 1900. The opera's studio artists paint a musical picture of life at the turn of the last century. At 8 p.m. March 16 at the Sarasota Opera; a reception follows. Information: 366-8450.
Tenorissimo! The Ten Tenors. A Sarasota debut for this Australian ensemble, which performs works from the Bee Gees to Verdi. At 8 p.m. March 16 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
Sarasota Folk Club. Events this month include an Aquarian Quest Festival March 16 at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron, an Old Time Folk Jam March 20 at 1625 Vereda Verde; and the regular Folk Club concert March 31 at the Squadron, featuring Chuck Brodsky. Information: 377-9256.
Florida West Coast Chamber Orchestra. Leif Bjaland conducts Handel's Concerto Grosso No. 12 in b, Op 6, and Jan Bach's Concerto for Tuba and Chamber Orchestra, which features tuba player Jay Hunsberger in this world premiere piece. At 7:30 p.m. March 21 at Holley Hall. Information: 953-3434.
Venice Symphony Outdoor Pops Concert. Free, at 4 p.m. March 22 at Blalock Park, with a rain date of March 23. Information: 488-1010.
Sarasota Pops. Young pianist Andrew Lapp (and we mean young: he's a seventh-grader at Sarasota Christian) joins the orchestra to perform the Youth Piano Concerto, at 3 p.m. March 23 at Neel Auditorium. Information: 795-7677.
Gloria Musicae. In Harmony with Nature offers selections depicting scenes of nature from animals to sunsets, with early music to contemporary avant-garde. At 4 p.m. March 23 at Holley Hall. Information: 954-4223.
Sarasota Jazz Festival. The 23rd annual fest launches with Jazz in the Park, at 1 p.m. March 23, featuring British band Down to the Bone; and continues with the popular Jazz Caravan by Trolley rolling through jazz clubs March 26. Then the stars settle into the Van Wezel for three concerts: the Rippingtons with Russ Freeman and the Monty Alexander Trio, March 27; Patti Austin and guitarist Joyce Cooling, March 28; and festival faves John Pizzarelli and the Swing Seven Band, with special guest trumpeter Chris Botti, March 29. Call 366-1552 for more info.
Midori and Robert McDonald. It's hard to believe the still girlish-looking Midori has been playing the violin professionally for 20 years.but she has. She's onstage with pianist McDonald at 8 p.m. March 25 at the Van Wezel for performances of Grieg's Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op 45 and Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata. Information: 953-3368.
Apprentice Artists in Opera Scenes. Two different programs of staged and costumed opera scenes by the company's apprentice artists, at 8 p.m. March 27 and April 1. Information: 366-8450.
Smooth Jazz on St. Armands/Fourth Friday with Style. On Que Players perform on the circle, from 6 to 9 p.m. March 28. Information: 388-1554.
Venice Symphony Classical Concerts. More music from the symphony, at 8 p.m. March 28 and 4 and 8 p.m. March 29 at the Church of the Nazarene. Information: 488-1010.
Florida West Coast Symphony Salon Series. The Florida Brass Quintet and Chamber Players have a Spring Fling, with works by Ravel, Beethoven, and Plog scheduled. At 7:30 p.m. March 28 at Holley Hall. Then it's the New Artists Piano Quartet turn to take on Worldly Works, including Brahms' Piano Quartet in C, at 4 p.m. March 30 at Holley. Information: 953-3434.
Sarasota Ski-A-Rees. Free water skiing shows at 2 p.m. each Sunday through April 13, near Ken Thompson Park on City Island. Information: 388-1666.
Baseball Spring Training. For those of us not football fans, it's been a long winter. Now the wait is over. The Cincinnati Reds kick off their spring training season at Sarasota's Ed Smith Stadium against the Minnesota Twins March 1 and will also play the Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, Orioles, Devil Rays, Yankees, Tigers, Blue Jays, Indians and Marlins in games scheduled through March 31. In Bradenton, the Pittsburgh Pirates take to McKechnie Field against the Reds, Twins, Astros and other teams through March 29. For ticket info, call 954-4464 (Reds); or 748-4610 (Pirates).
Harold L. Wilde Golf Invitational. To be held March 24 at Laurel Oak Country Club, to benefit the ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) Association and Lou Gehrig's Disease Association of Southwest Florida.If you would like to participate, call 921-1851.
Ringling Museum ViewPoints Lectures. Set for 10 a.m. March 1, 8 and 15 in the museum's Asolo Theater; call 358-3180 for more info.
Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning (SILL). This month the Contemporary Public Issues series offers Human Rights and Terrorism, March 4; Have Tool Will Travel, March 11; 10 Days that Shook Florida: The Sunshine State Since World War II, March 18; and Global Climatic Changes, March 25. Arts and Humanities presents Makers of the Modern Middle East, March 5, 12, 19 and 26; and International Challenges delves into Today's Africa, March 6; the Politics and Economics of World Oil, March 13; Modern Turkey, March 20: and Global Crises: The Bush Doctrine and the World Response, March 27. (All are at 10:30 a.m. at the Players of Sarasota.) Also this month: Options for U.S. Energy Security, March 5; Six Things You Thought You Knew About Corporate Governance, March 12; Challenges of Globalization for America, March 19; and Current Situation in Iraq, March 26 (all at 2 p.m. at Venice Community Center); and Peacekeeping Missions in Troubled Areas, March 7; Putin's Russia, March 14; The Kurds, March 21; and The Bush Foreign Policy-a Two-Year Report Card, March 28 (all at 10:30 a.m. in Venice). Information: 365-6404.
Art & Wine Series. Wines with a Florida Connection are served, at 6 p.m. March 6 at Selby Gallery. Information: 359-7562.
Books & Coffee. The Selby Library series continues with a look at Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, reviewed by Dr. Robert Knox, at 10:30 a.m. March 11 at the library. Information: 365-5228.
Lettuce & Lectures. Friends of Selby also offer this series, which this month features Bernard C. Watson, author of Colored, Negro, Black: Cheating the American Dream, saying Let the Conversation continue, at noon March 12. Information: 365-5228.
Selby Gardens Tuesdays in the Tropics Fedder Science Lecture Series. Paleontologist Dale A. Russell brings us info on Dinosaurs and Plantscapes of New Caledonia, at 7 p.m. March 11 in the gardens' Activities Center. Information: 366-5731.
Ringling School Town Hall Today Series. Satirist/speechwriter/pundit Christopher Buckley entertains at 10:30 a.m. March 12 at the Van Wezel, followed by a Washington observer of even longer standing, columnist Richard Reeves, at 10:30 a.m. March 19. Information: 925-1343.
Ringling School Art Lecture. Missing Link Gallery owner Frank Breuer discusses Tribal Arts: Their Influence on American Art, at 10:30 a.m. March 17 in the school's lecture hall. Information: 925-1343.
Palm Literary Society. Ballerina supreme Suzanne Farrell guests to discuss her autobiography, Holding on to the Air, at 11:30 a.m. March 24 at Michael's on East. Tickets are $75 each; call 957-3660. And by the way, Sarasota News & Books also welcomes authors Leslie Glass, John Hansen Mitchell and Rita Mae Brown for readings and signings this month. Call 365-6332 for more info.
Some Like It Hot. Tony Curtis taps his way into the role of Osgood Fielding III in this musical adaptation of the screen hit in which he starred more than 40 years ago, at 2 and 8 p.m. March 1 and 2 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
Damn Yankees. Joe Hardy wraps up his deal with the devil March 9 at the Sarasota Golden Apple. Information: 366-5454.
Guys and Dolls. Frank Loesser's hit based on Damon Runyon's stories, through March 9 at the Players of Sarasota. Information: 365-2494.
The Lion in Winter. Tessie Hogan and V. Craig Heidenreich fight their way through James Goldman's play about King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, through March 9 in a Banyan Theatre Company production on the Theatre Works stage. Information: 952-9170.
The Wizard of Oz. Follow the Yellow Brick Road through March 16 at Venice Little Theatre. Information: 488-1115.
No Sex, Please, We're British. A door-slamming, it's-all-so-confusing farce, through March 16 at the Manatee Players. Information: 748-5875.
Guitar Girls. A musical revue spotlighting the works of such influences as Carole King and Dolly Parton, through March 22 at Florida Studio Theatre's Cabaret Club. Information: 366-9000.
Brighton Beach Memoirs. One of Neil Simon's most heartfelt, this look at Brooklyn's Jerome family boasts a fine performance by young Michael DeSantis as the playwright's teen-aged self, through April 5 at the Asolo. Information: 351-8000.
Dirty Blonde. Claudia Shear's recent hit about two Mae West fans drawn together continues through April 12 at Florida Studio Theatre. Information: 366-9000.
Nunsense II. Those nuns are up to their usual musical comedy antics in this sequel to the original hit, continuing through April 13 at the Venice Golden Apple. Information: 484-7711.
The Corn Is Green. The Emlyn Williams play about a determined schoolteacher in Wales, onstage through May 24 at the Asolo. Information: 351-8000.
The Good Woman of Setzuan. Venice Little Theatre offers just two performances of its Brechtian entry in the Southeast Theatre Conference, 5 and 8 p.m. March 2. Information: 488-1115.
Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida. Verdi's classic tale of doomed love between a Nubian princess and an Egyptian soldier, retold with a pop spin. March 4-15 in the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center's Broadway Series. Information: (800) 955-1045.
Porgy and Bess. It's always Summertime on Catfish Row. Gershwin's opera takes to the stage at 8 p.m. March 5 at the Van Wezel. Information: 953-3368.
The Imaginary Invalid. The FSU/Asolo Conservatory's students take on Moliere, March 5-23 in the Asolo's Cook Theatre. Information: 351-8000.
The Orphans. Two rich, eccentric spinsters who've lived in isolation for 25 years meet the outside world, with comedic results. March 5-23 at the Lemon Bay Playhouse. Information: 475-6756.
Art. Yasmine Reza's piece about a piece-of art-that leads to animated discussions among three old friends. Onstage March 6-23 at the Island Players. Information: 778-5755.
A Streetcar Named Desire. Tennessee Williams' still-arresting play about Blanche, Stanley and Stella, onstage March 7-April 6 at Theatre Works. Information: 952-9170.
Reaching for the Stars. A musical by Players of Sarasota director Burton Wolfe and Florida West Coast Center for Human Development's Dr. Henry Porter, about a young African-American boy on his way to becoming an astronaut. At 7:30 p.m. March 9 and 11 a.m. March 10 at the Players. Information: 365-2494.
Kiss Me, Kate. Cole Porter's classic, with a little help from Mr. Shakespeare. Onstage March 11 through May 4 at the Sarasota Golden Apple. Information: 366-5454.
Proof. David Auburn's recent hit, onstage recently at FST, turns up March 13-30 at Venice Little Theatre's Stage II. Information: 488-1115.
Filumena. A onetime Neapolitan prostitute sets out to prevent the marriage of her longtime lover to another with a faked deathbed scene-and some surprising revelations. March 14-May 24 at the Asolo. Information: 351-8000.
The Philadelphia Story. Phillip Barry's examination of socialite Tracy Lord and her wedding day problems. Onstage March 21-May 25 at the Asolo. Information: 351-8000.
Who's on First. Abbott and Costello, of course, but also material from Irvin Berlin, George M. Cohan and others from the era of vaudeville. Opens March 25 at FST's Cabaret Club; runs through May 31. Information: 366-9000.
Seussical, the Musical. Cathy Rigby stars as The Cat in the Hat in this musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty based on the Dr. Seuss oeuvre. March 25-30 at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Information: (800) 955-1045.


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2013 DSAOC Buddy Walk
Contact info email@example.com Thank you again for inviting me to share this wonderful day with you. The photos are free. You may download them by right clicking. Scroll to the right of the photo to chose the size you want. If you would like to order a print, you may purchase them at my cost of printing and shipping. I do not make any profit from this. Any questions, just ask.Read More


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Get ready to hear more political impersonations from eighth grader and bona fide internet sensation Jack Aiello.
The young teen who went viral after he gave a graduation speech while impersonating presidential candidates is set to do a new impersonation on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" — Little Donald Trump.
Jack is slated to appear in a sketch with Fallon during Wednesday's episode, where the teen impersonator will act as Little Donald Trump to Fallon's own Donald Trump.
In addition to the sketch, Jack will sit down on the "Tonight Show" couch for an interview with Fallon.
The Arlington Heights middle schooler has been a huge hit since footage of his eight-minute eighth grade graduation speech went viral.
"I've decided that since we're in the middle of an election year, that I would do my graduation speech in the style of some of the 2016 presidential candidates," the speech began.
He went on to do a series of spot-on impersonations of Trump, Ted Cruz, President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and, finally, Bernie Sanders.
Jack's parents say the teen has been doing impressions since he was a child and is very much into politics.
"He's a unique 14-year-old, but a humble kid," John Aiello, Jack's father, said.
Jack, who is as much a fan of Dana Carvey as he is of politics, hopes to have a career in politics or comedy in the future, his parents said.
"If you were to ask him what he really wants to do, he really truly does want to be president someday. He feels a great desire to be a leader," said his father, John Aiello. "A politician or a comedian, which the lines do sometimes blur."
"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" airs at 10:35pm CT on NBC.


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Our dealerships take privacy seriously and we are committed to safeguarding your privacy online and in our dealerships. We have active programs in place to ensure our compliance with federal and state laws, regulations, and polices. In particular, we have programs directed by corporate level senior officers for:
- Gramm, Leach, Bliley (GLB) Act
- Privacy Rule July 1, 2001
- Deals with how financial institutions (which in this instance includes dealerships) share information about consumers who obtain, or apply for, credit or lease products.
- FTC Safeguarding Customer Information Regulations
- Safeguards Rule May 23, 2003
- Deals with how financial institutions (including dealerships) protect finance and lease customer information.
- FTC Red Flags and Address Discrepancy Rules
- Regulations November 1, 2008 Enforcement implementation January 1, 2011
- Deals with how institutions dealing with credit (including dealerships) help reduce Identity Theft.
- Fair Credit Reporting Act 1970 and Accurate Credit Transactions Act 2003 and Regulatory Relief Act 2006 Privacy Notices
- New regulations effective January 1, 2011
- Deals with financial institutions? (including dealerships) privacy notices and policies, which in some cases allow consumers some say in how this financial information is used for marketing. These so-called opt out provisions deal with the sharing or selling of financial information to third parties and do not apply to the dealership?s direct use.
- Joint FTC and Federal Reserve Board Risk Based Lending Rule
- Rule effective January 1, 2011
- Deals with informing consumers about the effect their credit score has on loan terms and pricing. Provides for an Exception Notice in specific lending transactions or a general distribution of Credit Score Disclosure Notices.
- FTC and FCC Do Not Call Rule
- Effective October 1,2003
- Deals with telemarketing restrictions for companies that do not have a continuing or recent relationship with a consumer.
Third Party Marketing:
For the most part these Rules and Regulations deal with information collected specifically for use in providing financing and they do not apply to information collected as part of the sale of a vehicle or service. As a result, information collected as part of the sale which does not concern if, how, or under what conditions the financing was arranged is not restricted and will be shared with the vehicle?s manufacturer. In addition, information given to the Maine motor vehicle department about the sale may also be sold or made available by the state to third party organizations. We have no control over this type of distribution of information. Consumers should be diligent in reviewing offers they receive for things like Service Contracts to be sure you know exactly who is making the offer and what the terms of those offers are. This is one of the biggest areas of complaints that we receive. Consumers often misconstrue offers that are designed to look like they came from us or the vehicle?s manufacturer.
Non-Personally Identifiable Data:
Anytime you visit our Web site, we may gather certain non-personally identifiable information regarding the means you use to access our site. This information may include the type and version of your browser, your service provider, your IP address and any search engine you may have used to locate the site. We use this information to help diagnose problems with our server, administer the Web site, and compile broad statistical data. In addition, we gather certain navigational information about where you go on our Web sites. This information enables us to determine which areas of the Web sites are most frequently visited and helps us to tailor the sites to the needs and interests of our online visitors. Such information is gathered by us in the aggregate and will not be associated with a specific individual.
Use of Cookies:
Our dealership may use a browser feature known as a "cookie." Cookies are small files placed on your hard drive that assist us in providing you with a customized browsing experience. Cookies can also be utilized to help us provide you with information targeted to your interests, based upon your prior browsing on our Web sites. The "help" section of the toolbar on most browsers will inform you on how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you upon the receipt of a new cookie, or how to disable the use of cookies completely. Since our Web sites have been designed to take advantage of the use of cookies, when you configure your browser to decline their use, certain features of our Web sites may not function as expected.
Accessing Our Web Sites from Outside of the United States:
If you are visiting our Web site from a location outside of the U.S., your connection will be through and to servers located in the U.S. Any information you provide during your visit will be processed and maintained on our Web server and other internal systems located within the U.S.
External Links:
Our Web sites contain links to other sites. Our dealership is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites. To help ensure the protection of your privacy, we recommend that you review the privacy policy of any site you visit via a link from one of our Web sites.
Public Forums:
Our Web sites may make social networking tools such as forums, message boards, and/or news groups available to its users at various times. Please remember that, unless otherwise stated, any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information in these areas.We provide the Credit Score Disclosure to all customers that want availability of financing included in the research and discussion of a vehicle purchase. Once a credit check has been run, this form will be delivered to the customer at the time of delivery, or mailed to the customer the next day if delivery has not already occurred. The sample of the two forms of this disclosure is here for your use: Credit Score Disclosure
Privacy Notice and Sample Credit Score Disclosure:
Our initial Privacy Notice is provided to all customers while finalizing their purchase. It is also available here for your use: Darling's Privacy Notice
Privacy Notice and Sample Credit Score Disclosure:
Our initial Privacy Notice is provided to all customers while finalizing their purchase. It is also available here for your use: Darling's Privacy Notice
If you have additional questions, please contact our corporate office at 207-992-1740.


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Life After Life
By Kate Atkinson
(Reagan Arthur Books, Hardcover, 9780316176484, April 2013, 544pp.)
The Short of It:
Interesting premise and at times, fluid, beautifully written passages but overall, one of the most frustrating reads I've read in years.
The Rest of It:
The story begins in 1930. Ursula Todd assassinates Hitler while he is sitting in a cafe in Munich and she dies in the process. Next, the story takes us back to 1910, the night of Ursula's birth. Due to bad weather, the doctor is unable to attend her birth and the poor girl dies with the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around her neck. As Atkinson takes us back and forth through time, we see Ursula in various stages of life. Sometimes, she's a child and ends up drowning in the ocean, other times…she's older and as readers, we get to spend a little time with her family before tragedy strikes.
But tragedy does strike and over and over again, at that.
I really had a hard time with this one. The writing itself wasn't bad. In fact, much of it is beautifully written but I didn't care for Ursula all that much so seeing her die and come back so many times was a bit much for me. Oh, and it was long, which of course felt even longer with all of the back and forth going on.
The one thing that kept me reading is the idea that one small change can affect your life. That aspect of it was interesting to explore but it was ultimately lost within the structure of the novel itself.
My book club is discussing this book later this week. I'm interested in how the discussion will go because I feel as if I've spent so much time with it, that I don't want to spend more time discussing it.
Have you read this one? What did you think of it?
Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.


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This article was originally published in the November/December 1997 issue of Home Energy Magazine. Some formatting inconsistencies may be evident in older archive content.
| Home Energy Home Page | Back Issues of Home Energy |
Home Energy Magazine Online November/December 1997
Consumer's Union Rates HEPA Vacuums, Roofing & Siding. In the August Consumer Reports, Consumers' Union (CU) rated best-selling vinyl and aluminum sidings. While the CU ignored issues like moisture penetration, environmental effects, and effects on home insulation, it does rate sidings on fading, toughness, attachment strength, and rigidity, all of which are important for building durability and minimal maintenance. CU found that no vinyl siding attached as well as any aluminum siding, and that no aluminum siding was as colorfast as the worst of the vinyl. Attachment strength is most important in stormy areas, and colorfastness is most important in the Sun Belt region. The CU found that the best overall siding was CertainTeed's Monogram, a vinyl product, and the best aluminum siding is Alcoa's Horizon Collection. CertainTeed also did well in the marks of roofing materials, winning top ratings for its Grand Manor Shingle and a Best Buy for XT25. Other Best Buys were Owens Corning Supreme and GAF Royal Sovereign. In the same issue, CU rated high efficiency particulate arresting (HEPA) vacuum cleaners. These vacuums return very little dust to the indoor air, and don't have the depressurization problems of central vacuums. Surprisingly, the best vacuum tested was the inexpensive Hoover Dimension Supreme, which is not advertised as a HEPA vacuum. Next was the Nilfisk GS90, which costs four times as much; the very low-cost Bissell Micro-Lock did relatively poorly. Consumer Reports, August 1997. Consumers' Union, 101 Truman Ave., Yonkers, NY 10703-1057. Tel: (914) 378-2000.
Deciding on Siding. For customers interested in more than price and colorfastness, Environmental Building News (EBN) provides a material selection checklist for siding. Suddenly, vinyl doesn't look so good--it produces hazardous byproducts, and its incineration can release small quantities of toxic chemicals. Wood products, which can last 100 years, come out well, except that they often come from unsustainable logging, and there may be significant waste from on-site trimming. EBN gives a guardedly positive review to the new line of oriented strandboard siding from Louisiana-Pacific, the supposedly waterproof Smart Siding. Environmental Building News, August 1997. EBN, RR 1, Box 161, Brattleboro, VT 05301. Tel: (802)257-7300; Fax: (802)257-7304; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Solar Financing Through Suppliers. Touting the return on investment is often is a often good way to sell conservation systems to consumers. But then some consumers want to finance their systems. Many small suppliers of solar energy equipment don't have the time or technical ability to provide financing. Soon far more solar suppliers will be able to offer financing through the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Volt VIEWTech. A program called Solar Finance will provide consumer loans of $2,500 to $25,000, with repayment times of 5, 7, 10, or 15 years. The loans can be used for solar water heating, pool heating, or photovoltaic systems. Contact: Mac Moore, SEIA. Tel:(202)383-2613; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. Resnet Notes, August 14, 1997. Residential Energy Services Network, 12350 Old Seward Highway, Suite 208, Anchorage, AK 99515. Tel: (907)345-1930; Fax: (907)345-0540; E-mail: email@example.com.
Are Efficient Homes Too Tight? Few questions will get people's goat so quickly. Efficiency professionals maintain that their homes perform as good as, or better than, average, but there has been little evidence to indicate whether energy-efficient homes actually have good indoor air quality. A recent study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory examined five new homes in the eastern United States. Researcher Alfred Hodgson found that total volatile organic compound (TVOC) levels varied widely, but had a very high median of 2.4 mg/m3. This compares poorly with homes in a 1991 study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which found average TVOCs of 0.7 mg/m3. The good news is that formaldehyde was low in all homes. The bad news is that wood, both natural and engineered, appears to be the cause of the high TVOC levels. This makes source control difficult, so energy-consuming mechanical ventilation may be increasingly necessary. Energy Design Update, July 1997. Don Best, 65 Hallwood Dr., Surry, NH 03431. Tel/Fax: (603) 357-5689; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Partial Fuel Switch for Multifamily. The Dual Heat System from Save Energy Engineering is a device that provides hydronic heating off a multifamily building's domestic hot water (DHW) boiler. It is designed for buildings with electric resistance heat in the apartments and an underused DHW boiler. Since most boilers operate at peak efficiency at a high load factor, adding some heating load will increase the efficiency of the boiler while reducing electric demand costs and electric energy bills. The controls in the system make the boiler fulfill the DHW load first, and then the heating load. If the heating load is too big, the controls activate the old electric resistance heaters. Including radiant panels, a circulation pump, installation, controls, and other parts, an apartment can be retrofitted for about $700-$1,200. Preliminary field tests in Canada show peak electric demand coming down 22% and electric energy use down 50%, providing a 20% annual return on investment. Technologies for Utility Success, August 1997. Cutter Information Corporation, 37 Broadway, Suite 1, Arlington, MA 02174-5552. Tel: (800)964-5118; Fax: (800) 888-1816; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com.
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Due to the COVID-19 situation shipping times are longer than usual. Estimated wait times are approximately 3 weeks for all orders domestic and internationally.
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See below for how to measure sizes for our harness styles.


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Learn about the four widely recognized machine learning styles and their common uses, data and modeling methodologies, and popular algorithms for solving your machine learning problems. This paper, intended for novice and intermediate data scientists, also covers other things to consider like interpretability and automation.
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Saudi prince: not quite a game changer?
Prince Salman's accession to the throne after the death of Saudi King Abdullah on 23 January 2015 has been a game changer, both domestically and in West Asian politics. Within days, he sidelined rivals within the House of Saud, and took on Iran with a confrontational policy. But two years later, the results of his new strategy disappoint


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My son just had his 7th Birthday on July 11th. Even though he enjoyed his gifts from everyone, he loved having his friends and family around more. He reminded me how important relationships are.
He is social and he appreciates others. He gives and receives well. This is how God has designed us.
He has called us to reach out and be in community.
So how do we create long lasting relationships?
We need to be intentional and willing to live life together.
- It's important to be intentional with our friends.
On my son's birthday he wanted two of his best friends to meet. Jayden is a friend that he has known since they were four months old. He met his friend Jake over a year ago. When Jake's mom and I met we decided to get the boys together once a week for homeschooling.
During the party the boys created volcanoes, climbed trees and acted silly. Just like boys should. Justin was thrilled.
As I reflect back on Justin's Birthday, I can't help but give God praise for bringing us all together. God brings people together all the time and if we want to be involved, we need to be intentional about staying connected. My son has a strong bond with these two boys. I sincerely enjoy my two mom friends as well. All three of us have been intentional about staying connected.
Justin loved his Birthday gifts. But he loved having his friends over even more. Friendship is a real gift.
- We all want to be celebrated and we should take time out to do so.
Nanna comes every year from Texas to celebrate my kids Birthdays. The kids help me prepare her bedroom down in the basement. On the day she arrives they all go to the airport with Daddy to pick her up.
When they bring her home they help her unpack and visit with her for hours. My son loves Nanna's cinnamon toast and just about every morning while she is here our house smells yummy. It's a Great way to wake up!
When it's time for her to go home we all take her to the airport.
My kids have great Grandparents who cherish their Grandchildren. My mom has us over every Sunday and she serves Justin's favorite macaroni and cheese. She makes them feel important by treating them with a special new bowl, place mat, and cookie, cup of chocolate, ice cream, or tiny play toy. She celebrates the moments she has with them.
Their Mimmi and Papaw from Texas come with smiles, giggles, and love. Sometimes when they visit they bring breakfast. My kids wake up early, sit by the window and wait eagerly. Not because they are hungry. But because they want to celebrate life with the ones who shower them with hugs, praise, and kisses.
Justin stands tall with a heart filled with memories. He knows that he is loved.
It's important that my kids learn to celebrate those they care about by making time for others. By planning, organizing and preparing. And they do!
- We need to be there for others.
Just recently my kid's friend broke her arm in gymnastics. She had to spend a couple of nights in the hospital to recover from surgery. My kids were very upset and immediately they wanted to drop all of our family fun plans and take her a gift.
When we arrived at the hospital she asked my kids to sit with her, hold her hand, and hug her.
And I was deeply moved as I watched them bond. This is how we live together and stay together.
We make time for each other.


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Phips, Sir William
Phips, Sir William, 1651–95, American colonial governor. Born in what is today Maine, he was a carpenter and shipbuilder in Boston and became interested in sunken treasure. On his second hunt for treasure, which was financed by the 2d duke of Albemarle, he recovered (1687) some
£300,000 worth of Spanish gold off Haiti. His fortune made, he was knighted and became provost marshal general at Boston. He supported Increase Mather in the fight against Sir Edmund Andros for restoration of charter government in Massachusetts, which ended with the overthrow (1689) of Andros. In King William's War (see French and Indian Wars) Phips led (1690) the expedition that took Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) but failed to take Quebec, and he was also involved in the unsuccessful expedition against Montreal. He was made first royal governor of Massachusetts through the influence of Increase Mather and took office in 1692. In the great witchcraft mania, he appointed a commission to try those accused of witchcraft. However, when his own wife was accused of witchcraft, he ordered an end to the trials. Many disputes won him enemies, and in 1694 he was called to London to answer charges, but he died before hearings began. The name is also spelled Phipps. The biography by Cotton Mather (ed. by Carl Van Doren, 1929) is, naturally, biased.
See biography by A. Lounsberry (1941); C. H. Karraker, The Hispaniola Treasure (1924).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies


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The race-proven transfer seatpost gets lighter and tighter for 2021. Completely redesigned from the ground up, with improved serviceability, decreased weight, and notably reduced extended length - the new transfer post is ready to rise to any occasion.
Lever sold separately.
We have been riding and servicing Fox suspension for over 25 years and we feel that Fox sets the benchmark for Mountain Bike Suspension extremely high and continue to push that level with the release of their 2021 range of forks, which include the game-changing 38 Factory fork. Along with this awesome fork, they have done a whole host of updates to the majority of the range including the 40, the 36, the DHX2, the Float X2 and the Float DPX2!View Brand
This is a loan, your monthly repayments will be for months with a final repayment of . The total amount payable is . % APR representative.
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The Friends of the Townsend Seniors and the William E. May Endowment Fund Award Committee have named Jane and Ray Jackson as the 2014 William E. May Endowment Fund Award honorees.
The annual endowment fund award recognizes and honors people for their commitment and unselfish acts of kindness toward the well-being and quality of life for the residents of Townsend.
Nominations for the 2014 award were submitted this spring and the endowment committee selected Jane and Ray Jackson for their commitment to and genuine interest in the town of Townsend. They have worked to promote various organizations, activities and programs to benefit and improve the lives of citizens of all ages throughout the community.
Ray was a member of Townsend's Council on Aging for over 20 years. He served as Scoutmaster in Townsend and on the executive board of the Nashua Valley Boy Scout Council. Ray is a working volunteer member of Friends of Willard Brook, planning and building trails in Willard Brook and Pearl Hill state parks for the public to use.
Jane was active in all levels of Townsend Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts. She, along with Nancy Shepherd, co-founded the Friends of the Townsend Seniors in 2000. Jane helped to launch the Hope Community Chorus and is currently co-chair for the fifth anniversary milestone celebration of Townsend's Library and Senior Center.
Please save the date — Saturday, Oct. 18 — for the 14th annual William E. May Endowment Fund Award Dinner.
For tickets or information about the dinner, please all Bob Tumber, 978-597-8843.


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Opinion: Revisiting Obama's Rev. Wright Controversy
Many believe that President Barack Obama's past connection to Reverend Jeremiah Wright – and the influence the reverend may have had on the president's way of thinking – should be dropped from presidential campaign discussions in 2012. However, it is still a viable topic.
Obama admittedly sat in Wright's Trinity Church for twenty years and then claimed that the dramatic sermons spewed from the outspoken and controversial pastor weren't absorbed by his mind and soul.
However, this is not true.
Anyone who has read Obama's autobiography - "Dreams from My Father" - knows this isn't true. Those who have followed the president's literary career in the 2000s know it isn't true.
When Obama came to Chicago for the first time, he came to do his community service job. Being a Chicago-outsider, he had a lot to learn. The job taught him a great deal about politics and the importance of making the right connections.
Ultimately, for Obama, some of the connections he made were nearly his downfall. People have heard the names of the relationships that have discredited him - Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers are the names most-often heard negatively.
As Obama is now, he was a determined man who worked extremely hard. He worked to make a difference in the African-American community via his community work back in the 1980s. While many have scoffed at his resume highlighting his time spent as being an organizer, he was atypical. To him, it was a passion much beyond a paycheck.
According to "Dreams from My Father", when Obama was an organizer, he was advised that the active citizens would be found in the churches. Therefore, Obama set out to meet church leaders. Many of them strongly suggested that Reverend Jeremiah Wright was a church leader that he must meet. He was told that Wright had an extremely strong following.
Obama eventually met Wright at the Trinity Church on Chicago's South Side. Unlike most Black church leaders in the African-American community, Wright was receptive to Obama's community organization efforts. He wasn't skeptical of a political connection to his church as many others were.
As Obama continually tried to involve his community organization job with the churches, it was also suggested that he become a church member – regardless of which one – so that the churches he was dealing with would know where his own faith lies.
In time, Obama became a follower of Reverend Wright and a part of the Trinity Church family.
Concerning Rev. Wright, the now 70-year-old pastor was hired by his church in 1971. He took the congregation's membership from a mere couple hundred to a massive several thousand. He was undoubtedly the powerhouse he was said to be.
Rev. Wright was found on Trinity Church recordings to have stirred up his congregation by claiming that the 9/11 attacks on America were "America's chickens coming home to roost" as he blamed the U.S. for the travesty. His most famous quote was when he told his congregation: "…not God bless America. God damn America."
Obama claimed that such controversial and powerful words from Wright escaped him. Even though he sat through such sermons given by the man he chose to marry him and his wife – and also to bless his two daughters when born – he denies being influenced by Wright's teachings and opinions.
Logically, it would have better for Obama to claim that he did hear what the pastor had said but that he rejected some Wright's fiery views.
Besides, in "Dreams from My Father," Obama claims just the opposite. He very powerfully wrote that during his first experience as part of a Reverend Wright church service, he wept. A child next to him, he wrote, had handed him a tissue to dry the tears streaming down his cheeks.
Obama did hear Reverend Wright, and he emotionally reacted to him.
More than simply react to Wright's words, he embraced them. Obama remembered the name of the first sermon he ever heard Reverend Wright preach and even titled a book after the name of that first Wright sermon: The Audacity of Hope.
When confronted, Obama should have admitted that he remembered Wright's words. He obviously heard them and many of them stuck to his inner being. Obama's honesty is what comes in to question here - and honesty needs to be a part of a presidential candidacy.
About Scott Paulson
Scott Paulson writes political commentary for Examiner.com and teaches English at a community college in the Chicago area. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.
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Could your postal address go digital?
- Postal Inspector has created a "think tank" to envision the future of mail
- Ideas include replacing physical addresses with digital code; creating ad space on trucks
- Looking for ways to make the mail profitable in digital era
ARLINGTON, Va. — Do you have an idea for how the Postal Service could operate more efficiently? Someday you might mail it to David C. Williams at 35602.1092.4393.
Williams is the inspector general at the United States Postal Service — the chief watchdog at an enterprise that lost $15.9 billion last year. And in addition to the traditional function of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse, his office has been churning out a series of provocative ideas about what the mail might look like in the next decade or two.
For example: What if the Postal Service completely revamped the street-city-state-ZIP address in use for decades? Would an all-numeric address like the one above make it safer for people to do business on Craigslist? Or could a physical address be linked to a secure e-mail address, providing the kind of identity verification needed for voting, school enrollment or commerce?
Ruth Goldway, the chairwoman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, calls that "a very interesting concept," and said the ideas coming out of Williams' shop amounts to "an independent think tank for the Postal Service."
Goldway, whose five-member board regulates postal rates and services, said the Postal Service has become so strapped for cash that it has been slow to modernize. By default, she said, the inspector general has become the research and development arm of the post office. In addition to about 650 investigators and 350 auditors, Williams employs 20 people in research.
In white papers, audit reports and a blog — called Pushing the Envelope — Williams' office has floated ideas such as:
Naming rights for post offices. Naming post offices for war heroes and dead politicians is a cherished congressional prerogative. But what about creating paid ad space at post office counters, or on the side of postal trucks?
GPS for mail. Current technology allows a customer to track a letter or parcel every time it's loaded or unloaded. But what if you could track a letter's movement in real time? An audit report by Deputy Inspector General Robert Batta last year found that the Postal Service had invested $1.6 million in global positional technology for highway routes, but that contractors weren't using it.
Charging for mail forwarding. Right now, the cost of forwarding or returning undeliverable mail is "baked in" to the 45-cent stamp. But Canada charges customers $75 a year for the service. "Would a model similar to the Canada Post one work in the U.S. or would residential recipients, in particular, feel like they were being charged for a service they thought was free?" asks an IG blog post.
Hybrid mail. Part e-mail and part letter, digital documents could be printed and delivered by mail (or vice-versa). The process could save time, provide translations and certify delivery, helping provide government and legal services more effectively.
Some of these ideas are simply "ideas worth exploring," said Williams spokeswoman Agapi Doulaveris. Some are already in development — such as GoPost, a pilot project allowing people to ship parcels using self-service lockers. Congressional approval would be required for some of the ideas.
Williams' résumé makes him an ideal inspector general, but an unlikely postal innovator. He started in military intelligence, worked for the Secret Service in the Ford and Carter administrations, and investigated corruption in organized labor in Cleveland. He's served as IG for five federal agencies, appointed by presidents George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama.
Williams started out investigating the kinds of waste, fraud and abuse that are the bread-and-butter of an inspector general: disability fraud, overcharging by contractors and health care providers, and theft of mail by postal employees.
He soon realized that the biggest threat to the Postal Service was that technology had overtaken it. "As Wayne Gretzky always said, you need to skate over to where the puck is going to be," he said.
Williams sees a future for the post office in providing front-line government services, secure e-mail, even financial services.
"Up the street, there's a currency exchange that will charge you 15% to change your money," he said. "We're in the money order business already."
Despite mail's challenges — increasing costs and lower mail volumes — Williams is bullish.
"I can imagine a future when the Postal Service is doing very well," he said. "We'll make money again."


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Degaralix Joins The Armoury For Metastasised Prostate Cancer
Please Be Sure To
To Give Hope & Information
A drug which could improve the quality of life for men whose prostate cancer has spread to the spine has today (15 April 2014) been approved to be made available on the NHS in England and Wales by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).The drug, degarelix, is a form of hormone therapy which is delivered by injection. NICE has recommended that the drug be made available to men with prostate cancer which has metastasised to the spine and who are showing signs or symptoms of spinal cord compression. Men who have been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer may experience pain as a result of the disease spreading throughout the body. If this spread affects the spine, there is a risk of spinal cord compression which can cause problems such as back pain and other symptoms in the legs, bladder or bowel. Reducing the body's production of testosterone can help keep a man's prostate cancer under control for some time, however some hormone therapies can cause initial testosterone surges which could lead to flare ups of these existing problems. Degarelix can rapidly suppress testosterone production, but has a lower risk of these testosterone surges compared to other similar treatments.
Degarelix has already been approved for use in this way on the NHS in Scotland by the Scottish Medicines Consortium.
Mikis Euripides, Director of Policy at Prostate Cancer UK said:
"Men whose prostate cancer has spread to the spine are often at risk of even further damage through spinal cord compression and if left untreated this could be crippling. We fought to make this drug available and so this decision is good news which could help dramatically improve the quality of life of those men. However, whilst we welcome this positive outcome, the ruling will affect far fewer men than those currently in limbo waiting to hear whether NICE will deny them access to the life-extending drug enzalutamide.
We will continue to campaign to ensure that men with prostate cancer have access to the best treatments, not least enzalutamide."
If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms in 1998 see The TAB at the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer ….< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order, many linked to specific blog postings.
Thoughts, articles and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Left Sidebar.
You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help, also many of the links in articles and >HOT LINKS< in the Sidebar.
YOU are welcome to call me, minded that I am NOT medically trained, if you believe I can help in ANY way. .
Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins


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Font Glossary
|All the related variants of one typeface design, for example, different weight variants, width variants, upright, italic, bold, etc.
|The bottom right finish on the c and e at the end of the loop.
|Fixed-Pitch Fonts:
|Also known as monospaced fonts:
Fonts in which each character has the same standard width.
|Floating Accent:
|Accent forms which can be used with the appropriate letters, replacing the need for special characters.
|Type that lines up at the left or right margin. Also called flush left/ranged left or flush right/ranged right.
|In typography used for a page number of a book or typescript.
|Traditionally, a complete set of characters for one typeface at one particular type size. Now used more loosely as a synonym for "typeface".
|Font File:
|The font (font software) is the technical transfer of a type style into a digital file for a defined computer platform (Mac, PC) and font format (OpenType, PostScript, TrueType), and includes the character set and the digital instructions contained in the font, such as the kerning values, hinting information and feature definitions as well as other control information.
|Bottom margin.
|The margin furthest away from the spine of a book.
|Full Measure:
|Type that extends across the full width of the page or column without indentation.
|Full Point:
|(US, period): full stop