At a certain point, though, it became necessary to listen simply so that I could (I thought) refute whatever sound-byte arguments would be coming my way. So, this morning, I listened.

All I can say is – listen to this recording. While I don’t agree with everything Larry says – I’m not sure anyone could – this is am important address. It sets a marker along the road to the internet age. It points the path and shows what needs to be done and – perhaps more importantly – what shouldn’t be done.

Listen, learn and understand.

Megan McGinnis steals the show, and our hearts, from the opening minutes when she  (as Jerusha Abbott) sings “The Oldest Orphan in the John Grier Home.”

Robert Adleman Hancock, as JervisPendleton, does a very good job with a somewhat trying role as the nameless benefactor (whom Jerusha calls “Daddy Long Legs”) as well as the ardent suitor (well, “ardent” by 1910 standards!) of Ms. Abbott.

The pace is quite good, the conflicts are very believable and the ending is satisfactory. What more can you ask? Plus, the music, while nothing memorable, is done in the style of light operetta which, of course, was the precursor to musical comedy and was having it’s heyday at the turn of the 20th century.

All in all this was a highly entertaining evening reflecting well on all involved. See it if you can.

Fox stations tend to do local news from 10 – 11. So put Conan on from 11 – 12. Steal the viewers from NBC & CBS stations’ local news, then hold them during Leno and first half hour of Letterman.

If Conan goes along with NBC, he risks losing even more of his audience. Switching to Fox couldn’t possible be worse, especially with an 11 PM start time.

Bad call #1 – the shovel pass at the end of the 1st quarter. Not only was this (obviously) something that the freshman QB wasn’t adept at, but even if it hadn’t been intercepted it would have gained little and exhausted most of the time left on the clock. Either run out the clock and re-group, or take a chance going deep where a pick-off wouldn’t have much chance of being returned all the way.

Bad call #2 – Of course, Garrett Gilbert wouldn’t have been put in the position of attempting that shovel pass if the Longhorn brain trust hadn’t stupidly tried to use Colt McCoy of a QB line buck on the first series of downs!

The Texas team would have won in a walk if it wasn’t for their own inept coaching staff.

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart

I don’t think it’s about organ transplants so this must be a eupemism for “my love” or, perhaps, “my virtue”

But the very next day, You gave it away

How does that work? If I “give you my love” can you pass it on to someone else? Worse, if it’s sex we’re talking about did you start pimping me around???

This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special

So, when you gave it to me last year, didn’t you consider me to be “special”? And what makes you think you’re a better judge of character this year?

It’s a catchy tune. It’s got a good beat. You can dance to it. But don’t try to make sense of it!

The city itself has been rebuilt remarkably with few remnants of the World War II bombings. In fact, rebuilding seems to be the major business of the city. Unfortunately, the architecture is some of the worst “sharp angle” designs I’ve seen. Still, it’s clean, friendly, relatively safe and with some historic interest. Worth a couple of days on a stopover, not worth the day trip from cruise ships docking in Wernemunde, though (see this account of the whirlwind tour).

“A statesman in these days has a difficult task. He has to pursue the policy he deems advantageous to his country, but he has at the same time to recognize the force of popular feeling. Popular feeling is very often sentimental, muddleheaded, and eminently unsound, but it cannot be disregarded for all that.” Hercule Poirot in “The Incredible Theft” by Agatha Christie (1931).

There is no “wisdom” in the crowd, there never was. The mob sinks to its lowest common denominator and drags us all down with it.

“As host of ‘Star Search,’ he kept the show moving, kept the mood upbeat, never did anything to call attention to himself.

To appreciate how that style of hosting shaped ‘Star Search,’ consider ‘American Idol’ – which is basically the same show, but so tarted up with attitude that it seems to come from a different universe.”

Au revoir, Ed. We will miss you.