Okay people. You've been enjoying this fine entertainment all day but have you picked up that computer and clicked on my Twitter link? No! What the fuck!! Do you think is easy? Do you think I like posting some new piece of shit entertainment every two hours? I haven't slept in three days!! What am I asking for here people? One click? One simple fucking goddman click? Are the people you are following so much more fucking interesting than me? "Saw INCEPTION". Pretty cool." Wow!! That guy is sure worth following. My tweets couldn't nearly be as entertaining as that!

We're winding down. I have no tote board but trust me, I'm hopelessly behind. I had been saving the best for last. More as a way of thanking you folks. But now I don't know. I don't know if you deserve him.

Oh well, he's here. And Jesus, if this guy doesn't knock your socks off then I don't know what the fuck to do. So I'm going to let him come out. But again. I better see you joining my Twitter community.

Alright. Christ I'm pissed! Sorry, wait, let me settle down a moment. Okay. I'm better.

Ladies and gentleman, I'll just say two words. SINATRA!!! JUNIOR!!!!

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My Twitter telethon continues. Hoping to get another 5,000 followers... this hour. Or at least gaining more people than I lose. Come on people. It's for a great cause -- me maybe getting something out of it. Just go here.

In the meantime, the AMAZING entertainment continues!!!! Oh, will you laugh!! Here she is, funny lady extraordinaire!!! The high priestess of hilarity, Jessica Glassberg.

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It's hard to believe there can be so much sizzling entertainment on one blog but all these incredible performers have come together for this oh-so worthy cause -- me gaining more Twitter followers. I especially thank the ones who are no longer alive (performers, not new followers).

Like this incredible late entertainer. Give it up ladies and gentleman to the incomparable SENOR WENCES!!

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Maybe this will finally entice people to follow me on Twitter. That's what this is all about. That's why all these great entertainers have lent their time and talent. I need more Twitter followers so I can maybe get a goddamn book deal. The staple of any telethon is the plate spinner. Ah, but this guy is not just ANY plate spinner. As astounding as it may seem, he can also build a small table! Right there on stage!! You've got to see it to believe it!

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Unfortunately, Ed McMahon is not around so there's no reason to have a tote board. But we're falling behind people. I've had actually more people drop out. This is the first telethon that lost money. Is that even possible?

I'm trying to get enough new Twitter followers to at least be as popular as the guy who tweets knock-knock jokes.

And while you're signing up, enjoy our fine entertainment. You'll want to sing along with this one. The actual Eurovision winner in 1969, here's Lulu singing the haunting "Boom Bang-a-Bang".

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Okay, I'm sure these telethons take awhile to really get going and I should not be discouraged that I've only added three new Twitter followers. But the dazzling entertainment continues. As blog reader Mark correctly proclaimed, there is no telethon without Joey Heatherton!! So here she is fellas, singing her greatest hit and using her greatest prop! You can sign up here.

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Okay, let me say, straight up, that I like FaceBook.

Well, mostly.

I especially like that I can stay in touch with our children and grandchildren. I love, love, love it when they post pictures.

I like that I can find friends I haven't been in contact with for years.

I like that I can check in with friends. We send each other important news items, silly songs on YouTube, send each other 'private' messages on our "wall," and can even send "instant messages" and "chat" in "real time."

And, it's all "free".

Well, mostly.

Lately, I've been getting requests to "friend" people I don't know. Okay, that happens a lot. I always check the basic profile, looking especially at their profile picture (if there IS one), and any "mutual friends".

I usually click "accept".

What's been happening a great deal this past month is requests to "friend" people I don't know, who have Very Little information in their profile, no picture and no mutual friends.

I always click "ignore".

That's because once, I didn't, and O.M.G.! I was getting late night "pokes" inviting me to "web cam" or "Skype" with "hot sexy men and women."

Do these people not have lives?  I mean, real lives, in real time?

Just this week, I got a request to friend from someone who had a profile picture and 16 mutual friends. He described himself as a pastor from Nigeria "like you," he wrote in the message that accompanied his friend request.

I thought, "Okay, God knows we need all the friends we can get in Nigeria." So, I clicked "accept". 

Yesterday, he wrote and asked for my cell phone number and a good time for him to call me.  That raised my left eyebrow in suspicion.  I told him I didn't give out my cell phone number.

He wrote back this morning saying that he was an ordained pastor in the Apostolic Church in Nigeria, had a degree in Theology, and wanted to know if any of my "organizations" would give him a full scholarship to the US to further his studies.

Having been to his country and others on the continent of Africa, I appreciate his situation.  Really. I do. I also appreciate his creativity and innovative approach to advancing himself out of what can often be a desperate situation.

I mean, "that's what friends are for", right?

Well, yeah, but being a "friend" on FaceBook is not exactly - or always - like being a "friend" in "real time" and a "real place," is it?

Besides, none of "my" organizations provide the kind of assistance he needs or wants.

I fear I'm going to have to "unfreind" (or is it "defriend"?) him, eventually.  Not because I fear he will ask for money in the future or become aggressive.  I worry about who has access to my information through his information.

I mean, y'all have gotten those emails from Nigeria, right?  The one from "Mrs. Okiekie" whose husband died and left her $5 million and she needs an "overseas" bank, so if you would be so kind as to send her your social security number, bank routing number and date of birth, she'll give you $1 million for your troubles.

Sigh.

It's not that I don't want to be in communication with a wide circle of diverse people. Neither is it that I'm not an adventurous sort or am seriously risk-averse. I'm a pretty trusting person - Ms. Conroy (who RARELY friends anyone on FaceBook) will tell you that it's one of my strengths and weaknesses.

It's just that, well, I don't trust FaceBook.  I like it, but I don't trust it.

I'm amazed - shocked, actually - at how much of my information is readily available on the Internet through FaceBook.

I recently learned that my cell phone number - and the phone numbers of ALL my 'friends' - are just a few mouse clicks away for anyone who wants it. I immediately reset my applications.

By anyone, I mean, anyone I might 'friend' or anyone my 'friends' have 'friended'.

That's how FaceBook makes its money, you see.

What kind of information does FaceBook give the application developer access to? Practically everything. According to the Application Terms of Service,

"Facebook may...provide developers access to...your name, your profile picture, your gender, your birthday, your hometown location...your current location...your political view, your activities, your interests...your relationship status, your dating interests, your relationship interests, your summer plans, your FaceBook user network affiliations, your education history, your work history,...copies of photos in your FaceBook Site photo albums...a list of user IDs mapped to your Facebook friends."

Some applications may make use of all this data, but as researchers from the University of Virginia have detailed in a recent report, FaceBook provides applications with access to far more private user information than they need to function.

Adrienne Felt, a student and lead researcher on the project, reports that of the top 150 applications they examined in October 2007, "8.7 percent didn't need any information; 82 percent used public data (name, network, list of friends); and only 9.3 percent needed private information (e.g., birthday).

Since all of the applications are given full access to private data, this means that 90.7 percent of applications are being given more privileges than they need."

Here's the big eye-opener: The applications don't actually run on FaceBook's servers, but on servers owned and operated by the application developers.

Whenever a FaceBook user's profile is displayed, the application servers contact FaceBook, request the user's private data, process it, and send back whatever content will be displayed to the user.

As part of its terms of service, FaceBook makes the developers promise to throw away any data they received from FaceBook after the application content has been sent back for display to the user.

Yeah, that's the ticket. Make them "promise".

The check is in the mail, and I'll still love you in the morning.

The truth is that once the data leaves FaceBook's servers, the company has no way of knowing what happens to it.

Many FaceBook users set their profiles to private, which stops anyone but their friends from seeing their profile details. This is a great privacy feature that can protect users from cyberstalkers and is completely gutted by the application system.

So, as my grandmother used to say, "You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends."

Here's what I've learned about how to restate things--if you set your profile to private, and one of your friends adds an application, most of your profile information that is visible to your friend is also available to the application developer--even if you yourself have not installed the application.

The good news is that Facebook lets you configure the amount of your own private data that your friend's applications can see.

The bad news is that it's hidden away, requiring several clicks through menus to find a page listing specific privacy settings (Privacy -> Applications -> Other Applications).

Furthermore, the default values are extremely lax, such that a user who has yet to discover the preference page is essentially sharing his/her entire profile by default.

This friend data-sharing "feature," and the ability to protect against it, isn't mentioned anywhere else on FaceBook's site, nor are users informed about it when they install an application.

Which really makes me suspicious. Which takes a lot because I really am a trusting person.  Which really makes me angry because I hate to be put in situations where my natural inclination to trust is called into question and examination.

So, this is a shout out to all my friends in cyberspace whom I've never actually met - and, even those I've known for years: 

Please don't be offended if I don't respond to your 'pokes'. 

Please don't ask me to play "Farmville" or any other FaceBook game. 

Please don't be insulted if I don't join your "group" page - no matter how worthy the cause, or accept your birthday/Christmas/vestment/flower/tree gift - or click on "like" to you or your group's cause page.

And please, please, please - reset your applications to the highest privacy setting available (see above for instructions).

Be careful.  I'm being careful.

It's a brave new world out there.

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So I hear if you have a gazillion followers on Twitter you can get a book deal. And since I'm writing a book, I thought "hey, what can I do to attract new followers?" The answer is a simple. The blog equivalent to a Jerry Lewis telethon. So throughout the day I'll be chiming in with shameless pleas, pathetic begging, and browbeating. But I'll also be providing you with the kind of spectacular entertainment you can only find on a telethon.

So click on the Twitter icon or just click right here, tell all your friends. Let's get me a book deal while I'm still young enough to know what that is.

Thanks. You're all beautiful human beings.

So let's get things started with a bang. Here he is! Mr. Dynamite. TONY ORLANDO AND DAWN!!

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I've been doing a lot of walking lately.

It's not only great exercise, but it helps to clear the mind. It's also a great way to pray.

If I jog, I have to think of too many things. My breath. My pulse. The road ahead. Cars, sometimes. Pedestrians, other times.

And dogs.

Some of them get very upset and bark Very Loudly. Enough to wake up the dead as well as some babies who might be sleeping. Sometimes, they run out after you, thinking, I suppose, that you may be running off with something that belongs to their pack.

It's hard to think, much less pray.

But, walking is a very different sort of exercise. Not as good, perhaps, as a jog, but it depends, I suppose on what parts of your body you want to exercise.

I like engaging my mind, my heart and my soul as I use my body. A good, long walk will accomplish all of that.

I have found it deeply satisfying.

My kid brother walks all the time. He's found that it's the one thing he can do, now that he has Alzheimer's. The disease has progressed to the point where he can't drive a car or ride his bicycle. He's lost half the vision in both of his eyes and half the hearing in both of his ears.

There is no end to the cruelty and indignity of Alzheimer's Disease. The horror is that there is more to come. We all know this. We take one day at a time.

My brother has risen above it. I learned a long time ago from a man with 40 years of recovery under his belt that "You don't always get what you want. You don't always get what you need (with apologies to the Rolling Stones). You get what you get and you make the best of what has been given."

And, my brother does exactly that. He's a continual inspiration to me.

I have a wonderful walking stick which I plan to give him when I go up to the Boston area to visit with him again. I got it in Ghana when I was there several years ago. It's hand-crafted. Elegant. Lovely. I think he'll enjoy it very much. And, I suspect, it will be useful to him, as well as aesthetically pleasing.

I had a dream the other night that startled me and caused me to reconsider my gift.

I was walking, alone, without my walking stick. A First Nation woman suddenly appeared up ahead on my path. I recognized her immediately as the woman who had been my Spiritual Guide when I first began the journey on the path that led, eventually, to ordination in The Episcopal Church.

She died a few years ago. While I grieve her loss on this earthly plane, I often feel her Spirit. She comes to me, sometimes, in dreams. Very vivid dreams.

Other times, she comes to me during the day and whispers to me from beyond. Wise words. Words of comfort and healing. Words of chastisement. Words of inspiration.

Not always what I want or what I think I need, but words I always try to make the best of because I know they are gifts from her.

I approached her with great joy. It is always good to see her again. While she seemed pleased to see me, I could tell she was not exactly pleased.

"Where is your walking stick?" she asked, more than a little annoyed.

"I'm giving it to my brother," I answered, thinking she'd be pleased with this response. "Besides, he needs it more than I do."

She smiled warmly at me and said, "Yes, this is true. This is good."

Then, looking annoyed again she said, "Wait here. Do not continue on this journey. I will get another walking stick for you."

My dream ended then. I awakened startled but with a sense of anticipation. As the day wore on, I wondered if I should reconsider my gift to my brother. I wondered what she would bring me.

My old friend, Worry, came and kept me company for a while, until I asked her to leave. I told her that I trust my Spiritual Guide. She left, reluctantly, peaking around trees and rocks here and there as I tried to wait patiently.

Just this morning, a friend sent me a message on FaceBook. She has a gift for me, she wrote. Could she tell me about it? Sure, I said, distracted by multitasking.

It's a Native American walking stick, she wrote.

I immediately burst into tears.

These kinds of things don't always happen to me, but they have happened enough over the years for me to know that there is something to Jung's idea of synchronicity.

One of Jung's favorite quotes on synchronicity was from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, in which the White Queen says to Alice: "It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards".

'It's very good jam,' said the Queen.
'Well, I don't want any TO-DAY, at any rate.'
'You couldn't have it if you DID want it,' the Queen said. 'The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday--but never jam to-day.'
'It MUST come sometimes to "jam to-day,"' Alice objected.
'No, it can't,' said the Queen. 'It's jam every OTHER day: to-day isn't any OTHER day, you know.'
'I don't understand you,' said Alice. 'It's dreadfully confusing!'
'That's the effect of living backwards,' the Queen said kindly: 'it always makes one a little giddy at first--'
'Living backwards!' Alice repeated in great astonishment. 'I never heard of such a thing!'
'--but there's one great advantage in it, that one's memory works both ways.'
'I'm sure MINE only works one way,' Alice remarked. 'I can't remember things before they happen.'
'It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,' the Queen remarked.

My friend is bringing my new Native American walking stick with her when she comes to church on Sunday.

I will bring my old Ghanaian walking stick to my brother next week. It has taken me as far as it can. It's time to pass it on.

I'm going to be starting a new journey. I'll be living backwards into my forward and backward memory so that I can walk into the future.

It's called synchronicity.

It's the work I'm apparently called to do, now.

But first, I think I'll have some jam to-morrow and yesterday.

It's the rule.

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A theme for today’s Friday questions: CHEERS.

Steve asks a multi-parter:

Many, many shows struggle with the issue of how to keep sexual tension between the leads without alienating fans annoyed with the "when will they do it?"question, or what to do once they finally do it.

All these years later, what's your take on how Cheers handled the Sam & Diane relationship? What do you think would or should have happened if Shelley Long stayed on the show? And what did you think of the Sam and Rebecca relationship? Finally, any general thoughts about how to handle this difficult but common issue?

I think it’s much harder to sustain sexual chemistry now because couples in real life hook up much sooner. It just isn’t real for a TV couple to be playing cat and mouse with each other for two full seasons, or even one. They start to act like grown ups still in Junior High.

I don’t know how the Sam & Diane relationship would have evolved had Shelley remained on the show. I sort of felt we were treading water her last two seasons.

Sam and Rebecca were never meant to have sexual chemistry. But the actual relationship between them kept changing as Rebecca’s character kept changing. At first she was a real martinet. But that didn’t work. Once she became an emotional disaster area then she was comic gold.

One season our arc was that Sam was going to try to get into her pants. For the entire year he resorted to one unconscionable ploy after another.

NBC tested the show that season and Sam tested the highest. Why? Because the audience found him sympathetic, with high morals, and very protective of everyone at the bar. Huh??? What fucking show were THEY watching? Sam did everything but slip her a roofie.

In Splat’s own words:

I have some rather anal questions about the "Cheers is filmed before a live studio audience" announcement.

a) What prompted it?
b) Was there some rule about which actor would introduce each episode?

We were getting complaints from viewers who thought we were leaning on the laugh track too hard. They didn’t believe that the laughs were real (which they were). So the decision was made to tell the viewers that the show was filmed in front of a live studio audience. Of course the complaints continued. People still didn’t believe that the laughs were genuine (which they were).

There was no rule as to which actor voiced it from week to week. They all recorded the disclaimer and the post production guys just rotated them I guess.

Anonymous (please leave a name) wonders…

… if any of the other Cheers writers have blogs/websites or plan on getting them in the future.

Earl Pomerantz has a fabulous blog. Tom Leopold has a website. Rob Long does a weekly commentary on KCRW that is a must. Sam Simon is on Twitter. @simonsam. You might want to follow him. A number of CHEERS scribes have Facebook pages but they’d have to confirm you as a friend. And I’m trying to get my partner to start his own religious cult.

Been falling a little behind on the questions. Will try to sprinkle in a few more question days throughout the next few weeks. So keep ‘em coming. As always, THANKS!

Now tomorrow I'm experimenting. Join me for my blog telethon. It's for a GREAT cause and I've lined up some unbelievable talent. That's tomorrow. Many posts. All day. I better get some sleep now.

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It was 1974. July 29th. The Feast of Mary and Martha of Bethany.

It was a time, Lord, it was a time!

It was the time when women were beginning to rouse ourselves from the cultural anesthetic of the status quo for women.

The Episcopal Church was beginning to propose changes to the canons of the church to allow for divorce. Those canons would change in 1976.

It was the time of the easy availability of the birth control pill.

Roe v. Wade had been passed in 1973, making abortion safe and legal for women.

The 1979 BCP, for the first time, would reflect this status of reproductive choice in the change to the words describing marriage to include: " . . . and when it is God's will, for the procreation of children. . . ."

In 1974, The Episcopal Church was also well launched into the revision of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  All sorts of books of "experimental" liturgies made their way into the pews - which included the radical revision of the italicized male pronoun, signaling a permissive rubric to - wait for it - change the pronoun to female when appropriate and necessary.

In 1974, Patti Hurst was abducted. Her kidnappers demand $70 of food be given to every needy Californian.

That same year, and for the first time, girls were officially allowed to play Little League softball.

'Born Innocent', staring Linda Blair from 'The Exorcist', also released in 1974,  was televised. The film depicted the physical, psychological and sexual abuse of a teenage girl, and included graphic content never before seen on American television at that time.

In 1974, Ellen Burstyn won the Academy Award for the film, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," a film depicting the travels of a widow and her preteen son across the country in search of a better life.

The famous skeleton "Lucy" was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974. It was estimated that Lucy lived between 3.9 to 3 million years ago.

In 1974, President Nixon - the only man twice elected as Vice President and President - was about to become (in August) the first president to resign while in office.

When understood in this cultural context the Ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven seems almost tame. One is apt to shrug one's shoulders and ask, "Are you kidding me? The only question is, why didn't it happen sooner?"

I was a very young wife and mother, caring for my second child, just 14 months old, who had been born to "save my marriage."  I was just beginning to awaken to the fullness of my identity, and beginning to understand the delicate interconnections of love, intimacy, trust and sexuality.

As a faithful, practicing Roman Catholic at the time, I had not yet begun to consider the possibility of my own vocation. My energies were otherwise consumed with the heretofore unthinkable possibility of divorce and the "love that dares not speak its name". 

I suppose, in retrospect, I shouldn't be surprised that when the NY Times news of the ordinations in Philadelphia reached me, it made me angry. Very angry.

How could these women do that?

Living with that question helped me to face other questions I had been running from all my life. 

Once I began to consider the possibilities, I began the life-long journey of living into the questions of my life.  I'm still discovering the answers.

Where were you on July 29, 1974?

Today, I give thanks and praise for the courage and witness of those eleven women and all those men and women who put their faith into bold, prophetic action who embody the best of both Mary and Martha. 

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Rush - 1979-06-04 - Geleen, Holland
Pinkpop Festival
A Right To Passage bootleg
Media: 1 CDR
Soundboard

DISC 1: (Time: 55:49)
01 - A Passage To Bangkok 3:55
02 - Xanadu 12:43
03 - The Trees 5:12
04 - Hemispheres Prelude
05 - Closer To The Heart 4:10
06 - La Villa Strangiato 10:07
07 - 2112 9:06
08 - In The Mood / Drum Solo 7:12
09 - Something For Nothing 3:10

Download links here in a txt file

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Rush - 1981-12-20 - Hartford, CT, USA
Civic Center - Moving Pictures Story bootleg
Soundboard

DISC 1
01 - 2112: Overture Temples of Syrinx 6:40
02 - Freewill 5:58
03 - Limelight 4:45
04 - Hemispheres: Prelude 4:31
05 - Beneath, Between, Behind 2:53
06 - Subdivisions 4:54
07 - The Camera Eye 11:02
08 - YYZ / Drum Solo 8:58
09 - Broon's Bane / The Trees 6:12
10 - Xanadu 12:27

DISC 2
01 - The Spirit of Radio 5:48
02 - Red Barchetta 6:44
03 - Closer to the Heart 3:29
04 - Tom Sawyer 4:50
05 - Vital Signs 5:03
06 - Working Man/Hemispheres: Armageddon/Bytor and the Snow Dog/In the End/In the Mood/2112: Finale 12:21
07 - La Villa Strangiato 9:44

download links here in a txt file

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Rush - 1984-09-21 - Toronto, Canada
Marple Leaf Gardens
Fear bootleg
Soundboard

DISC 1
01 - The Spirit of Radio
02 - The Enemy Within
03 - The Weapon
04 - Witch Hunt
05 - New World Man
06 - Distant Early Warning
07 - Red Sector A
08 - Closer to the Heart
09 - YYZ
10 - 2112 (The Temples of Syrinx)
11 - Tom Sawyer
12 - Vital Signs
13 - Finding my Way
14 - In the Mood

download link here in a txt fire

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Rush - 1991-11-07 - St. Louis, MO
Soundboard
The Arena
Row the Boats Bootleg

DISC 1
01 - Thus Spoke Zarathustra > Force Ten 5:31
02 - Limelight 4:26
03 - Freewill 4:07
04 - Distant Early Warning 4:31
05 - Time Stand Still 6:15
06 - Dreamline 5:10
07 - Bravado 7:02
08 - Roll the Bones 6:21
09 - Show Don't Tell 6:18
10 - The Big Money 6:10
11 - Subdivisions 3:34

DISC 2
01 - The Pass 5:23
02 - Where's My Thing ? 5:15
03 - The Rhythm Method 7:12
04 - Closer to the Heart 4:53
05 - Xanadu 6:50
06 - Superconductor 5:15
07 - Tom Sawyer 5:55
08 - Medley: The Spirit of Radio~ 5:12
09 - 2112: Overture~ 3:23
10 - Finding My Way~ 2:09
11 - La Villa Strangiato~ 3:17
12 - Anthem~ 1:43
13 - Red Barchetta~ 1:36
14 - The Spirit of Radio (reprise) 2:21

download links here in a txt file

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With the announcement Tuesday that Steve McPherson would be stepping down as head of the ABC Entertainment Group I got a few emails from friends asking how this would affect me? To answer, I’d have to go back through my history with ABC.

The last time David and I sold a pilot to the alphabet network it was 1981. We’ve done two pilots for ABC. Neither was shot. One was a family comedy. They were also developing a family comedy that year for Erma Bombeck. We were told they were greenlighting hers, not ours because they had a deal with her. “But if it’s any consolation,” they said, “Yours was much better.” Yeah, GREAT consolation.

We also rewrote a pilot for ABC that did get made but we didn’t get screen credit. And the pilot was never picked up. That was in 1979.

Interestingly, throughout our very lengthy (and lucky) career we’ve done very little for ABC. Our first staff job was on THE TONY RANDALL SHOW for ABC but we left to go to MASH, we’ve written episodes for a few short-lived series, and I’ve directed a number of shows for ABC including DHARMA & GREG. It’s just that the long running series we were involved with seemed to be on every network but ABC.

And yet, you’d think in almost thirty years we could have sold one goddamn pilot there. We used to joke that we couldn’t sell the Super Bowl to ABC.

In fairness, ABC has always been lovely. We certainly can’t blame one or two individuals and say it was anything personal. We must’ve pitched to 200 different regimes. Two of the buildings that we pitched in have now been torn down. Some of the executives we pitched to are dead, or worse -- out of the business.

But ABC has always been receptive to us bringing in ideas. The meetings are always respectful and I always get the impression they will buy an idea if they like it. But it’s us. We just never bring them anything they seem to like. I’d say at least 50% of the pilots we sold elsewhere were originally passed on by ABC. We started going there first because we felt it was like a practice pitch. They’d never buy of course (we could pitch DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) but at least we got to give our presentation a test spin.

Here’s how not-in-the-cards it was for us. When ALMOST PERFECT premiered we got a extremely nice call from the then-head of ABC saying how much he loved the show and wondered why we didn’t bring it to them. I told him we did plan to go to ABC first but they called the day before and wanted to postpone the meeting for three weeks. So we took it to CBS the next day and sold it in the room. It just wasn’t meant to be.

Meanwhile, we helped out on other peoples’ ABC pilots. Quite a few of those. Although, come to think of it, very few of those ever got picked up. I’m telling you, it’s US.

But that’s just for writing, directing, and producing. In terms of ACTING, ABC is our home. David and I have had cameos in two episodes of shows we wrote – OPEN ALL NIGHT and THE MARSHALL CHRONICLES and both of those series were on ABC. We can’t sell a show but we are the face of the network. That’s more consolation than the Erma Bombeck incident.

Anyway, back to the original question – will Steve McPherson’s exit have much of an effect on me, I say no. Paul Lee has been named to succeed him, not my dad. And even if my dad were named President of the ABC Group, he’d still say he liked our idea but already bought something similar from my brother.

That said, I'm sure Paul will do a great job. My best to him and everyone at ABC.

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When I came to St. Paul's eight and a half years ago, the Memorial Garden which had been started in the 80's was in very sad repair.

One of the major projects I have been working on is to make this place a sanctuary for those who are interred here and all those who grieve their loss and come to meditate and pray.

If you look at the far wall, you'll see a gas light - our own "eternal flame" - which was added when we "renovated" the Memorial Garden.

The columbarium, which is located across the way from what you see on your left,  was, well, in a word, distasteful.  There was nothing to indicate that it was a columbarium.  It looked rather like a very stark brick bureau.

No names anywhere. Just a brick structure with "niches" for ashes above and a large repository for urns below.

We put new doors on the repository. Those interred in the niches had their names placed on a plaque which we installed on the shelf in the columbarium.

There was a garden trellis on the wall you see in the picture on your left which had rotted and covered with overgrown vines.

We took down the garden trellis, which was above a grate which had shelves on which to place flowers, and covered it with stones.  The garden benches you see were donated by a family whose son, who was delivered stillborn, has his ashes interred in an urn in the repository. Until they moved away last year, we used to take it out on the anniversary of his death and have a little service of remembrance. 

We erected a plaque on the wall with names of those interred in the repository which you can see on the wall to in the picture above and to your left. 

This is the latest addition to our memorial garden.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but it is a lovely water fountain.  It was given in memory of a woman who died last year after an eleven year battle with ovarian cancer.  She was one of the bravest woman I've even known.

Since we've renovated the Memorial Garden, I often go out there to say one of the Daily Offices.  There's such a sense of peace there.  It is even more so now with the water fountain.

One of the things I love about this space is that the room behind the wall you see above is the "nap room" for the Day Care that was started over 25 years ago by one of my predecessors.

There is a play room perpendicular to this room where the sound of children's laughter often floats and swirls over the garden.  Something tells me that the residents of the Memorial Garden do not mind having their eternal rest "disturbed" by their delightful expressions of childhood happiness.

Ah, but the sound of water is the sound of life. The sound of that which flows through all of life. The sound of that which sustains life.  The sound of our baptism.

I will be dedicating and blessing it on Sunday, right after I preside at my 75th baptism in eight and a half years at St. Paul's.

I can't imagine a more appropriate time for a tribute to a woman who fully lived her baptismal vows while she was alive. 

Sometimes, the joys of being a priest far outweigh the costs of this impossible vocation.

This is one of those times.

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Paul McCartney Live at Hyde Park 2010-06-27
Very good soundboard, extracted from YouTube HD feed.

Format: DVD
Size: 4.32 GB
Resolution: 720 x 576
Frame Rate: 25
Audio Quality: 9
Video Quality: 9
Video Codec: MPEG-2
Audio Codec: AC3
Menu: Yes

Band members:
Paul Mccartney - Bass, keyboards and Vocals
Rusty Anderson - Guitar
Brian Ray - Guitar
Abe Laborial Jr. - Drums
Paul Wickens - keyboards and backing vocal

Setlist:
01. Jet
02. All My Loving
03. Letting Go
04. Got To Get You Into My Life
05. Let Me Roll It
06. The Long And Winding Road
07. Let ‘Em In
08. My Love
09. I’m Looking Though You
10. Blackbird
11. Dance Tonight
12. Mrs Vandebilt
13. Eleanor Rigby
14. Band On The Run
15. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
16. Back In The USSR

download links here in a txt file

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Here’s another chapter in my early checkered radio career. The first installment is here.

1971 and I’m doing weeekends at KERN in Bakersfield. I was five at the time. (All TV writers older than twenty who hope to work lie about their age.) As mentioned before, the station was this shack out in the middle of nowhere. And since Bakersfield itself is in the middle of nowhere, the station is really REALLY in the middle of nowhere.

It was my second week. I was holding down the coveted Saturday 6-midnight shift. At about 10:00 the doorbell rings. Who would be coming to call at this hour? Maybe the Jehovah's Witnesses work late in this town. I put a record on and like an idiot went to the front lobby and opened the door.

There was a full gang of Hell Angels – probably thirty of the scariest leather clad, chain wielding, tattoo sporting (before it was fashionable), chopper riding, engine revving, ass kicking (and in my mind, Jew hating) dudes you’ve ever seen. And their girlfriends who could beat the shit out of me.

So I’m Jello in a windstorm. Picture Ralph Kramden as the “Chef of the Future”. “Hummina hummina hummina” The leader (at least I thought he was the leader. I didn’t ask for ID.), growls, “You the fucking guy on the radio?”

“Hummina hummina”.

“What?”

“HUMMINA hummina hummina.”

I’m thinking, “What offensive thing did I say that is going to get me killed?” And “This will be a good indication of how many people are actually listening to KERN. Let’s see how long it takes for someone to discover my body."

Mr. Leader of the Pack says, “Do you have Sweet Cream Ladies?” (A late 60s moderate hit by the Box Tops)

A request? That’s why they’re there? To make a song request?

Somewhat relieved I mumble “Sure.”

He signals to the others and they roar off to terrorize someone else. I lock the door, check my underwear, and go to the record library PRAYING that it's in there.

There is a God! They had it.

I run back to the studio and cue it up. It’s my next record. I completely break format but who gives a shit! I could be dead by the time the format says to play an oldie.

A half hour later the doorbell rings again. What to do? They know I’m in there. And they all smoke so they all have matches. Any one of them could set the building on fire. I could just see them dismantling the tower and welding it into more bikes.

I reluctantly open the door. There they are again. The leader hands me a beer and says, “Thanks, man.” They drive off.

Usually I don’t drink beer while on the air but not that night. Anything to settle my jangled nerves.

The next week, same thing. At about 10:00 they're at the front door to request Sweet Cream Ladies. A half hour later they return with a beer as thanks for playing it.

The following week I just play the song at 10:00 and at 10:30 receive my reward.

Thus began a ritual that lasted almost a year. And it really proved to be a Godsend on Halloween.

Houses get T.P.ed, and cars get egged and vandalized on Halloween in Bakersfield. It’s a proud tradition. And my car is alone in a lot next to the shack in a dark empty field. I figured I’d get off of work and there would be nothing left but a drive shaft and maybe one hub cap. Instead, the car was completely untouched. Guess word got around that I was BFF with the local Hells Angels.

Sorry to say me and the gang haven’t stayed in touch. Especially during network note meetings.

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THE PASS - TRAP OF MIRRORS 256 kbps
New Wave, Pop

Louisville, KY, USA. I've always had a eye on the Pass since 14th January. At that time they got attention by their EP release 'Crosswalk Stereo'. But now here it is. The first single 'Trap of mirrors' of the outcoming album Burst. The track is great and raises our hopes for more the Pass sound. Will Roberts (Bass, Electronics), Kyle Peters (Vocal, Guitar, FX), Brain Healey (Synth, FX) and Neil Lucas (Drums) made a good Job. I expect Crosswalk Stereo is on the album, too. My personal favorit. And because it's not enough the Pass. I also give you the music video 'Colors' below. If you still can't get enough of the Americans, you maybe should check out there MySpace-Page.




CUT COPY - WHERE I'M GOING 320 kbps
Indie, Pop, Dance

All you need is a dream and a lover, too

Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Recently I  heard a lot of Cut Copy. But I don't now if I should love it or hate it. 'Where I'm going' is one of these tracks which I think that I gonna love it. And maybe anytime the whole sound of the Australians. Anyway, they gonna release a new album, if it's finished. The second album, no, already the 3rd album will it be. I can't believe it. The 3rd? Wow! Dan Withford, Tim Hoey and Mitchell Scott hid their sound for me. I can't believe it agian.

THE SUZAN - HOME 320 kbps

Indie, Rock, Pop

Tokyo, Japan. I don't know why but the foursome Japanese impress me. This track is groovy and the xylophone makes me dancing. The Asian touch has something refreshing. I can't describe it with words. So, I'll let the track speaking.

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My apologies. Today has been a bit of a whirl.

Tonight promises to be a veritable tornado. I'm scurrying as I write this.

What I did have time to write today, was this post on HOB/D - that's House of Bishops/Deputies listserv - an internet communication tool of bishops and deputies elected to General Convention.

A wee bit of context: We've been having a discussion - believe it or not - on the scintillating topic of "Hate the sin, love the sinner."

No, I'm not kidding.

One of the more air headed of the conservative members of the list started us off. He annoyed me by referring to HOB/D as a "chat room."

No, I'm not kidding.

Another of the 'good ole boys' chimed in with quotes from CS Lewis on the matter.

We were then treated to guesses about possible scriptural source until we learned that the source of this quote came from the root of all thoughts about (sexual) evil, St. Augustine.

His letter 211 (c. 424) contains the phrase "Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum," which translates roughly as "With love for mankind and hatred of sins."

The phrase has become more famous expressed as "Love the sinner but hate the sin" or "Hate the sin and not the sinner" (the latter form appearing in Mohandas Gandhi's 1929

There followed other posts by otherwise intelligent people citing how it was, actually, possible to "hate the sin" but "love the sinner".

About 35 or 40 posts into this "chat", my last, poor tired nerve got pulled.

Here's what I wrote.

Oh, for Pete's sake!

It's summer, people. Can we give it a rest?

First of all HOB/D is not a "chat room". Oh, I suppose, in the strict definition of the ever-evolving language of the Internet, this is a place to have "light conversation". But, this topic - as are many of the topics on this listserv - is not "chat" - light, polite, fairly meaningless social banter.

There are people's lives involved here. Human lives. Human lives with hearts and minds and souls.

Mine. Yours.

Yes, yes. "Hate the sin, love the sinner," is solid Augustinian theology.

Yes, yes. It has many applications which ring true for many of us on this listserv.

I would bet my favorite fiercely guarded recipe for freshly brewed Summer Ice Tea (given to me years ago by a Southern woman and everyone knows that every Southern woman has her own brewed Ice Tea recipe), that those who might embrace this particular modern version of his ancient aphorism would leave his theology of sexuality in the dusty annals where it belongs.

Those of us who are LGBT know from our own lives that "Hate the sin, love the sinner" has been used as a club to beat us down and keep us "other". Less than fully human. More sinful than the rest. Even if that's not "really" what you mean.

It's the difference between "intent" and "impact."

Now that you know that, why do some of you persist on using it in the strict application?

Women have said, "When you call me, 'baby' or 'tootsie' or 'girlie' and you don't know me (especially if you are in a position of authority over me), it hurts because it makes me feel less that a adult human being. Please stop." And, we have.

People of color have said, "When you call me the n-word, it hurts because it is a word that has a painful history and makes me feel less than an adult human being. Please stop." And, we have.

Why is it that when LGBT people say, "When you call me 'faggot' or 'dyke' or use the words 'Hate the sin, love the sinner', it hurts because it has a long history of hurtful discrimination and makes me feel less than an adult human being. Please stop.", some people feel they can continue to say these things with impunity?

Why can't some on this list hear that? And, stop?

Maybe you don't have anything better to do? Perhaps staying inside, "chatting" on the internet while the AC is on is a good way for you to avoid the summer heat? So, you crank up the heat on the "chat", target a group of people, and make it uncomfortable and unbearable for them.

Are we not Christians on this listserv?

So, if you are feeling the urge to engage in idle chat, why not call a friend? Brew up some of your own special blend of Ice Tea, and sit on the deck or porch or stoop or lawn chair in the back yard where you can catch a breeze and "chat" to your hearts content?

Or, what if you went to where other people have no AC and "chat" with them about their lives - bring something cold with you to drink and share it with them as you "chat"?

Here's a great summer time activity, especially suited for the apparent maturity level of some on this list: Set up a lemonade stand and sit under the shade on your front lawn and invite some of your friends to "chat" with you while you await your next sale.

Could we just stop this? Now? Please?

It hurts.

Now you know. Now you have a choice.

No matter what you choose to do, even if someone deems it 'sinful', we'll still love you.

How does that sound?

All these many hours later, I still feel good about what I wrote.

The airhead conservative and his cohort who originally started the "chat" have stopped chatting. Well, they've at least stopped posting.

Sometimes, I despair for the state of the church.

Other times, I think there's no greater time to be a Christian, or an Episcopalian.

If 'the glory of God is (hu)mankind, fully alive", then God is surely glorified by these times "fully alive" times.

Off I go then. Talk amongst yourselves.

I'd love to know your thoughts.

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Comic-Con, the destination for everyone who ever got beaten up in high school. Or Day Care. One of my spies took these pictures this weekend. Thought you might enjoy this glimpse into the Apocalypse.
"Yes, I feel I'm very qualified to run for the senate. I was an intern for Barbara Boxer, I vaporized North Korea, and unlike my opponent, I can relate to the common man."
Fuel Pump Man is back and is pissed!
This is how the Jewish Orthodox will dress in the future.
Imagine coming to the convention dressed in this sad costume?
This is what happens when sports team mascots go bad.
"Up against the wall, maternal anthropoid biped fornicator!"
"Oh, Superman, thank God you're here! For the life of me I don't know how get Final Draft to open."
Lady Gaga's parents stopped by to say hello.
"What do you mean, what part did I play in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS?"
Trash Can Man and the Jaundiced Lantern meet to compare notes.
Behold the greatest pizza delivery man in the galaxy!
As always future scribes, you're welcome to suggest your own captions.

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Rush 1973 debut single

Side A. Not Fade Away (3:19)
Side B. You Can't Fight It (2:54)

The Rush version of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" was their debut single,
released in 1973.

The B-side of this single, "You Can't Fight It," credited to Lee & Rutsey,
was the first original song Rush released. This Moon Records single is rare
and highly sought-after by collectors!!!

Personnel
Geddy Lee - lead vocals and bass guitar
Alex Lifeson - guitars and vocals
John Rutsey - drums and percussion

download megaupload links in a txt file here (mp3@320) or here (shn)
mirror hotfile mp3 or shn

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When I was a kid, my mother always made us take an afternoon nap.

I hated it. Really, really HATED it. It seemed like such a gross waste of time.

When I became a mother, I began to understand wisdom inherent in a nap.

In recent years, I don't consider that I've really had a day off unless I've had an afternoon nap.

Sunday afternoons - after church and pastoral calls - there's nothing like falling asleep with a cooking show on the television, with the volume set to low, and the New York Times magazine section opened on my lap, while I drift off into a short, delicious sojourn into the Land of Nod.

Delicious is the key word here.

There's a certain ritual to the afternoon nap - certain criteria that must be followed - that make it 'delicious'.

First, the things that aren't allowed:

It can't be in the afternoon, after a long night in the emergency room or at a hospice bedside and before an evening meeting. That's not a nap. That's survival.

Every now and again, on a day off, I finish my second cup of coffee and feel a cosmic punch to my sleep center and crawl my way back into bed for a coupl more hours of sleep. I know scientists say that you can't 'make up lost sleep'. My grandmother would say, "You must have needed the sleep." I think my grandmother was right. That is not a nap. That's exhaustion.

It can't be in the afternoon in my PJs with all the blinds and curtains shut tight. That's not a nap. That's a migraine.

On my day off, it must be in the late morning or toward the end of the afternoon. The curtains must be open. I must be fully dressed. I must "look" like I'm doing something else (I don't know or really care who might be watching, but it's an important part of the ritual) - reading, watching TV, writing, doing my needlework.

And then, "Oops!" It's all of a sudden forty-five or sixty minutes later when I open my eyes and always, always, always (this is an important part), I feel surprised that I've napped off.

I sometimes apologize to Ms. Conroy, although she and I know I don't really mean it.  Indeed, we both giggle wickedly when that happens, especially if she's joined me in the snooze.

On Sunday afternoon, if there's been a diocesan something scheduled in the afternoon - after two services, an adult forum, coffee hour (wherein someone from the Vestry and/or church committee snags me to do business and then later complains that I never talk to the visitors during Coffee Hour), and pastoral calls/hospital visits - that I've elected not to attend (I mean, really? What are they thinking?), the nap feels even more delicious.

Not only have I "stolen time" for myself, I also have the deep satisfaction of a sense of the minor rebellion I remember from my adolescence.

You wouldn't know it to see me on Sundays or in most social situations, but I really am an introvert. The last time I took one of those Myers-Briggs thingies, I was an I/E NF P/J - with a stronger tendency toward the "I" and "P".  I am clearly a strong NF, and I can "pull" from the shadow of my "E" self, but it takes more energy.

I need a nap, see?

If given the choice of going to a dinner party or staying home to work on my sermon, I'm home. No question. Depending, of course, on who's at the party and why. If it's a 'church' occasion, to me, it's all work anyway, and I'd rather spend that time in the company of the Holy Spirit and Jesus, with God looking over my shoulder. That's about as much company as I can stand, anyway, after a full day's work.

Actually, there's lots of research that indicates that more of us take naps than one would think or even imagine.

According to the PEW Research Center, which was reported in July, 2009,

"Napping thrives among all demographic groups, but it's more widespread among some than others, according to a Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,488 adults."

They also note:

"More men than women report that they caught a little snooze in the past 24 hours -- 38% vs. 31%. This gender gap occurs almost entirely among older adults. More than four-in-ten ( 41%) men ages 50 and older say they napped in the past day, compared with just 28% of women of the same age. Below the age of 50 men and women are about equally likely to say they napped in the past day (35% vs. 34%)."

The survey also asked respondents if they had trouble sleeping in the past 24 hours -- and, not surprisingly, it finds a correlation between nap-taking and trouble sleeping.

You can find the full report at pewsocialtrends.org.

It's important to note that the question did not specify what is meant by a nap. Presumably for some respondents it might mean dozing off for just a few minutes while for others it might mean a more prolonged sleep.

To each his own, but I find anything less than 45 minutes not satisfying. And, anything that comes close to two hours - except is very rare circumstances - is just an overindulgence.

Or, a warning sign.

Turns out, we all benefit from a short nap in the middle of the day.  Science Daily reports that,

"A ninety minute daytime nap helps speed up the process of long term memory consolidation, a recent study conducted by Prof. Avi Karni and Dr. Maria Korman of the Center for Brain and Behavior Research at the University of Haifa found. "We still don't know the exact mechanism of the memory process that occurs during sleep, but the results of this research suggest the possibility that it is possible to speed up memory consolidation, and in the future, we may be able to do it artificially," said Prof. Karni."

The Boston Globe recently reported that midday naps can also save your life.

In a study released yesterday, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and in Athens reported that Greeks who took regular 30-minute siestas were 37 percent less likely to die of heart disease over a six-year period than those who never napped. The scientists tracked more than 23,000 adults, finding that the benefits of napping were most pronounced for working men.

Not only that, a recent study by The National Institute of Mental Health indicates that we should all stop feeling guilty about that "power nap" some of us take at the office during the day, as it prevents burnout and perfects our skill sets.

Evidence is mounting that sleep—even a nap—appears to enhance information processing and learning. New experiments by NIMH grantee Alan Hobson, M.D., Robert Stickgold, Ph.D., and colleagues at Harvard University show that a midday snooze reverses information overload and that a 20 percent overnight improvement in learning a motor skill is largely traceable to a late stage of sleep that some early risers might be missing. Overall, their studies suggest that the brain uses a night's sleep to consolidate the memories of habits, actions and skills learned during the day.

Well, that's all well and good but, for me, a wee bit of guilt is what makes a nap so delicious.

I don't nap every day. Couldn't, I don't think. That feels way too self-indulgent. A "delicious" nap has to feel different. Stolen. A special treat.

Otherwise, it's just survival.

How boring! Just thinking about it makes me sleepy.

It's probably just a wee bit of rebellion left over from the days of my mother's "enforced" naps.

Oh, I no longer speak disparagingly of the taking of naps. Indeed, I sing its praises. It's just that, for me, it must be something one does while otherwise looking like one is doing something . . . important. . . .

. . . productive. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .busyyyyy . . . .

. . . .ZZZZZZZZ . . . . ..

Oh, I'm sorry.

Must have nodded off there for just a wee bit.

(Giggles wickedly and clicks on "publish post")

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Led Zeppelin – Copenhagen 1969 and more

Quality: DVD5
Format: DVD Video
Video codec: MPEG2
Audio codec: AC3
Video: 720x576
Audio: Dolby Digital
Size: 4,16 GB

DVD Contents:

COPENHAGEN 1969

Communication breakdown
Dazed and Confused
Babe, I'm gonna leave you
Introduction
How many more times

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 1988
Kashmir
Misty mountain
Heartbreaker
Stairway to heaven

PROMOTION CLIPS
Over the hills and far away
Travelling riverside blues
Whole lotta love

ZENITH THEATRE PARIS 1969
Rehersals and live performance
Communication breakdown
Dazed and confused

TV FOOTAGE
Commercial clips
TV ad #1
TV ad #2
TV ad #3

download links here in a txt file

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Rush - 2010-07-01 - Kansas City, Missouri
"The Sense of Possibilities"
Starlight Theatre
2nd night of the Time Machine Tour

recorded from 4th row, center; outdoor venue
recorder: Ed Broll
lineage: SP-CMC-9 (AT898) > Edirol R-9 Wav (16bits/44.1kHz) > CoolEditPro/GoldWave/CDWave > FLAC 5 sector boundary-aligned
length: 2 hrs. 45 mins.
There is a loud "POP!" sound effect once in Marathon and once in Far Cry.

Disc 1 (67mins)
1. The "Real" History of Rush, Act 1 (intro short film)
2. The Spirit of Radio
3. Time Stand Still
4. Presto
5. Stick It Out
6. Workin' Them Angels
7. Leave That Thing Alone
8. Faithless
9. BU2B
10. Freewill
11. Marathon
12. Subdivisions

Disc 2 (58mins)
1. The "Real" History of Rush, Act 2 (intro short film)
2. Tom Sawyer
3. Red Barchetta
4. YYZ
5. Limelight
6. The Camera Eye
7. Witch Hunt
8. Vital Signs
9. Caravan
10. Love 4 Sale (drum solo)

Disc 3 (40mins)
1. Alex solo acoustic
2. Closer to the Heart
3. 2112 (Overture/The Temples Of Syrinx)
4. Far Cry
5. La Villa Strangiato
6. Working Man
7. I Still Love You Man (outro short film)
8. Closer to the Heart (polka version) (while walking out)

download links here in a txt file

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