Friday, May 11, 2007



Quick word association: What are the first two words that come to mind when you hear “Cold River?” If you thought “cold” and “snow,” you’re not alone …

Barbara Tuchman tells us: Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Choose Books!
That is one of the key things I learned in these years, and I learned it the hard way. Anybody who thinks that "it doesn't matter who's President" has never been Drafted and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid War on the other side of the World -- or been beaten and gassed by Police for tresspassing on public property -- or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons -- or locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower: that is when it matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief. That is when you will wish you had voted
The voice of Hunter S. Thompson in my head helped me write Cold River A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity

Mix of Ideas Wishing to do things early in our lives
The amazingly well informed blogger Bill Ives, who looks at May 2, 2004 as a day when he started his first post, notes that Jim McGee had a great post on the Fast Forward blog, Balancing diligence and laziness.

He begins with a reference to the work of General Erich Von Manstein (1887-1973) on the German Officer Corps. Erich mapped a 2 x 2 matrix with laziness/diligence on one side and smart/stupid on the other. He said the stupid lazy people can be ignored as they do no harm. It is the stupid diligent people that are the biggest threat to the organization. The smart diligent people become middle management and the smart lazy people become senior management. Jim adds to this, …our Puritan/Calvinist heritage still dominates reward and evaluation systems. Regardless of the actual importance of thought and reflection to long-term organizational success, you are better off looking busy than looking like you are thinking.


The Laziness – Busyness Dimension; [Blogging for dollars There are many other ways to make money that the Globe did not mention. It is hard to keep track of them; There is no end to the wonders of the web for someone who grew up in the 50s and 60s Bob Dylan on You Tube ]
• · St Clare’s College in valuing knowledge, integrity and community in the Franciscan Tradition, equips each young lady to continue her life’s journey so that she “may go forward securely, joyfully and swiftly on the path of prudent happiness” First Letter of St Clare to St Agnes of Prague They also value areas Where Wikinomics Meets Learning ; In the 2007-08 Federal Budget, the Government announced the following measures concerning film production: * a new Producer Rebate, to apply from 1 July 2007, will replace the Div 10BA and 10B schemes - it will provide a 40% refundable tax rebate for eligible domestic feature films, and a 20% refundable tax rebate for other eligible domestic media productions, including TV series and documentaries; * from 1 July 2007, eligible international films will receive an improved Location Rebate of 15% (currently 12.5%) on qualifying expenditure under the international component of the producer tax rebate. This producer rebate incorporates the refundable film tax offset; NEW TAX INCENTIVES FOR FILM PRODUCTION: On good authority, merging of film bodies signals action
• · Finding a distributor is the last link in the Hollywood chain holding back the indie filmmaker from reaping the profits,” says Cicchino. “I created IndieOrbit.com as an alternative.” Exhibitor of the Week: IndieOrbit.com ; A new kid moved onto the block
• · · Since I began this blog, people have been sending me blogs and websites they like and love. The quality they share that jumps out at me is personality and imagination. Top of my list has got to be the wonderful website written, or should I say created, by actor Jeff Bridges...The Iron Curtain Man ; YouTube is currently the world’s hottest technological phenom—allowing any one who wants it the ability to make his or her own short movie and stream it online to a worldwide audience. That’s sort of the same concept Guy Magar had in mind when he began the Action/Cut Short Film Competition four years ago. YouTube ; Book Not Ready for Print? You Can Whip Up an Audiobook for a Podcast for Now

• · · · If you only use one telephone with one phone number, this column will not be of any interest to you. Skip to another article, you eccentric, you. But first, count your blessings. Millions of people have more than one phone number these days — home, work, cellular, hotel room, vacation home, yacht — and with great complexity comes great hassle. Solving the phone number blues - Find phone number anywhere in the world; LET’S SPEAK TANGO! Why not Karina & Fabian Suite A, 263 Broadway Road, BROADWAY - Sophia & Pedro Alvarez
• · · · · Restaurant Recruiter Blog ; A pill might one day achieve the same calorie-burning effects of vigorous exercise New Drug Counteracts Overeating; The urge to cook honest Italian food has taken a low-key cafe to culinary highs. Gelateria Caffe 2000 Homemade and handmade. A quick trip to a trattoria in the back streets of Rome; The Women's Weekly series is excellent (Cooking Class Cakes is a recent release), well illustrated, inexpensive and most importantly, all recipes are tested three times. Rise and shine