While I knew that Carl Reiner was in his 90s, I didn't realized that he was that far along into the decade. And yes, there's something wonderful about not only doing anything on your 97th birthday, let alone having a 97th birthday, but tweeting on it.
I remember being at a small Academy screening of Hustle & Flow, the film that won a Best Song Oscar for "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp."). When Carl Reiner showed up, the guard checking in guest had to ask his name -- Reiner was incredibly polite, with no petulance at all at not being recognized...however, the few of us in the screening room saw all this and burst into laughter. When Reiner walked in there were a lot of "thumbs up," and he just graciously shrugged. Mainly, I admired that Carl Reiner -- then 83 -- went to Hustle & Flow
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I absolutely love that somewhere there is a law firm dancing around and popping champagne corks because Devin Nunes (R-CA) is actually paying them a lot of money to sue Twitter for people making fun of him.
(In an ironic twist, the lawsuit proves the ridicule, thereby making winning the lawsuit even more unlikely, if that's even possible.) By the way, I think it is as close to a sure bet as one can be that film is indeed getting paid upfront and not taking the case on contingency, getting more on the off-chance they win.. "No, no, Rep. Nunes, we'll pass on that. You can keep all the winnings. Here's your monthly bill." Making all this even more ludicrous is that the lawyer who Devin Nunes hired to handle his suit is William Biss, who my friend Don Friedman, an attorney himself, describes as a "solo practitioner of very small firm with a slightly shady past." How slightly shady? Don says that Bill was suspended from law practice in 2009 and then was suspended again for violating the first suspension! Geez, you'd really think that a U.S. congressman -- the Ranking Member of the House Intel Committee -- knew plenty of lawyers and could find someone even half-decent. But then, that's the aforementioned challenge of getting a respectable attorney to take this idiotic loser of a case. Unless you find someone willing see this as an easy payday at the expense of his client. Giving new meaning to the expression Ignorance is Biss. By the way, for anyone on the far right who supports this ridiculous Nunes lawsuit with great "You go get 'em, boy!!" enthusiasm (and that includes Trump who has been public in favor of it), It's also worth sending a valuable heads-up to them all. Remember: IF Nunes wins (Side Note: he won't, it probably will get thrown out of court without being heard), then every liberal Democratic official will themselves be able to sue for what is said to them that's mean and insulting...! Just imagine the evidence they'd be able to pile up from Trump tweets alone. For that matter, just imagine the billion-dollar payout that Hillary Clinton alone could get! But yes, Devin Nunes -- and Trump -- you sue because the public ridiculed you. Show everyone just who you are. For any people who haven't figured it out already. After all, it's not likely this country wasn't founded on the public ridiculing it's political leaders so much that they started a revolution -- and made the very FIRST Amendment about the freedom of speech. Yes, you go and sue because you were ridiculed. Clearly for very good reason. No, this isn't from The Onion, and it's not April Fool's Day yet, that's not for another 11 days. Hey, it's not even just a stupid quote and nothing more -- no, this is actually a full op-ed written by that ace expert in international affairs, Don Jr. for London's The Telegraph. Because, yes, taking his dad's advice (that's right, he doesn't even make an effort to give it substantive heft like calling it "President Trump's advice," no, just a whiny little "my father's advice") on...well, pretty much anything at this point seems like the best thing to do. You can read the whole thing here -- if you actually have the internal spirit to. Or are the United Kingdom and want to take, "Nyah, nyah, told you so" after-the-fact petulant advice from someone's offspring who thought it was a really great idea to hold a conspiratorial meeting with Russian officials that may land him in federal prison. Today, Trump tried to ridicule George Conway for supposedly being rejected by Trump because of not getting the job, Assistant Attorney General, that Trump claims Conway "so desperately wanted."
This is not normal. Because here is the letter from Conway telling Trump he didn't want the job being offered. I mean, seriously, folks, among many bizarre things about this is the sheer stupidity of it, does Trump not think there are records of such things???!! Yes, yes, I know the various explanations of how he operates, and that Trump never thinks he'll be caught, but still... This is dealing with a very high-level lawyer. Even low-level lawyers keep documents. Has he not learned that YET? Hey, he should know that some lawyers even record their conversations with you! The only thing that makes a hint of sense to me is that Trump is so nuts that he can't take rejection and in his mind George Conway didn't turn him down, and he (Trump) really was the one doing the rejecting. As I've noted here, every once in a while I get burned out writing about Trump and am happy to let others jump in and carry the ball for a few days. There are more than enough falling over themselves to chime in online, not to mention investigate (both in the judicial system and journalism) and report it all, so we're in good hands -- as the batteries recharge.
So, today instead I'll bring up something benign and of most worth locally, but which I've wanted to write about for a while, and this is as good a chance as any. When I moved into my new home 2-1/2 months ago, a couple of things made me wary about the front door. The first is that while it had a great lock with a wonderful "snap" (that I love), it didn't seem to lock smoothly, which struck me as pretty important. Also, the door was set in a way that it swings closed and does so very fast, and then locks. As sure as the sun rises, I was absolutely certain I would lock myself out at some point. So, I made more spare keeps than usual and gave them to as many friends who live close by as possible. The other day, the hinky front door got hinkier, and it became difficult to unlock. Not a good thing. Actually, it did unlock fine, just not smoothly, it became a two-handed job where you have to grab the handle and pull the door towards you, and turn the key at the same time. (I'm mentioned the door issue before closing escrow, but the inspector didn't seem to thing it was worth noting. Like a few other things I've had to repair.) Though the door was passably okay, I thought it best to deal with it now, rather than later. And checked out Angie's List, which I haven't used much, but have had very good luck the couple times I have. And chalk up yet another. If you live in Los Angeles, the fellow is David Leiderman at D Locks. Though he's based in the Valley, he'll go all over -- and as it happens, when I called he was in Santa Monica about 10 minutes away, and had just finished up his prior job. So, great timing. He showed up fast, was very personable, explained everything well and in detail, has a great and wry sense of humor, and got it all fixed quickly and properly, at a very reasonable price. But the best thing is that I explained that I had another door issue -- that swinging shut fast thing. And even though it wasn't really a locksmith matter, other than the door locks when it closes, I said I wanted to at least mention it. And I'm glad I did, because it turned out he knew the issue and was able fixed it and in only about five minutes. At no charge. (I had an odd moment a couple weeks later, when the lock wouldn't turn without much difficulty. David was very responsive, thought it was a minor, understandable issue that was explainable (short version, he thought it might be weather-related and described what why) but had an employee call me a few days later when he was in the area to come over. I wasn't going to be in then, so we put it off -- and the matter hasn't cropped up again in the past month. And all seems well.) So, I now know of a very good locksmith if I need one. My only quibble is that he doesn't take credit cards, but that's not a deal-breaker. The wonderful service is what matters. And I like too that he's a licensed locksmith. So, if you're in L.A. and want to add a locksmith to your list of Home Service People to Call When In Need, you can find his website here, or call 818-209-0973. Or write David@Dlocks.net. Actually, it's worth checking out his website anyway, even if you don't need a locksmith right now or live in another city -- that's because he has a very information FAQ section with things to know about problematic locks and ways you might be able to fix some basic things on your own. I've written about a few such business near me who provide great service at fair prices -- I write letters of complaint all the time, and I always figure that if I'm going to complain when things go wrong, I have a responsibility to praise those who do things right. So, I'm very happy to add one more to the book... [UPDATE: It's come to my attention over time that many locksmiths have software that looks for blog articles across the country that mention locks or keys or locksmiths and then send out spam about their companies. I've tried to keep track of them and delete the postings, but some slip through the cracks and I don't get to them right away. So, the best I can do is leave this note with the admonition that if any of these companies spamming the site here are in your area, to know that they operate with abusive business practices, not the ideal foundation when looking for a locksmith.] If you missed it, here is John Oliver's main story for Sunday. It's a good, entertaining one on Public Shaming, mainly as an Internet phenomenon, but in general with all its nooks and crannies, even admirably taking a look at how his own show handles it. That then leads into a long interview with someone who famously went through it on a high level -- and I'll just say I have mixed feelings about the interview from a wide scope of perspectives, and ranging from absolutely wonderful to quite a bit less-so, |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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