If there’s a human interest film genre, where instead of a plot there’s a premise that provides the basis for character interaction, Fourteen Hours belongs in it. Two excellent actors, Howard da Silva and Jeff Corey, were about to be blacklisted from Hollywood, while Grace Kelly and Jeffrey Hunter were making their screen debuts.
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Vampirious Basterds
It’s good to know that Transylvania cannot be a doorstep to the Ukraine.
http://dailymotion.com/video/x8gpwvu?start=2345
Another TV Break-Up
Long before I was declared, with Morley Safer’s approval, to be a member of the CBS Family, I followed The CBS Evening News.
Growing up, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley on NBC seemed cold, off-putting and intimidating to me. They conveyed a sense that “beware, the world is a scary place.”
Walter Cronkite on CBS was a firm authority figure, while also being warm, welcoming and reassuring that, “we can get through this.” I was a big fan of Cronkite’s series The 21st Century. That was when I first heard about lasers over fiber optic cable. Having been myself, albeit not in a big way, a broadcast journalist, I consider Cronkite to be the reference standard for integrity.
By today’s age standards, Cronkite was required to retire much too soon, but I thought Dan Rather was a capable successor. I remember watching his infamous 1974 exchange with Nixon as it happened.
After Rather, CBS News lost its way, especially when the news division was put under the entertainment division. Consistency and stability were finally restored to the evening newscast by Nora O’Donnell. Now Nora is gone, and I am not surprised by this news item.
CBS News Ratings Collapse After Norah O’Donnell Exit
https://www.tvinsider.com/1177996/cbs-news-ratings-norah-odonnell-john-dickerson-maurice-dubois/
I disliked the new format so much that after two nights I switched to NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. So ended my sixty years following The CBS Evening News, and now Lester Holt has announced that he’s leaving!
Fortunately, there is The PBS News Hour, that I began watching when it was the MacNeil/Lehrer Report. They’ve been providing excellent, professional coverage of the chaos that has gripped the nation with the return of Trump to the White House.
Oh, Canada!
I’m staying at a hotel near Mass General Hospital. Having almost no clue about professional sports, I’m glad Samjay told me there’s a big hockey game at Boston TD Garden, and that I shouldn’t be surprised if the hotel has a lot of Canadian fans. They’re here, and I’m not surprised. Good thing I made my reservation a month ago, eh?
The Mystery of the Orange Line
I noticed an orange line going all the way across the end of my driveway. What is it? I called the DPW and was told it wasn’t something the they did. Orange? They suggested it could be from Verizon or Comcast.
I went back outside to examine the line again. Ah. I know. Too thin for spray paint, and it isn’t chalk. So it must be rust from the snowplow blade.
Update: Further investigation revealed the culprit was none other than my own snow blower.