This is an odd, poorly short video, but a real treat and so lucky to have, whatever the quality. On June 30, 2010, a West End revival of Oliver! celebrated the show's 50th anniversary. And for the finale, they brought out a special guest -- 86-year-old Ron Moody, who not only played 'Fagin' in the Oscar-winning film (getting a Best Actor nomination himself)...but he was the original 'Fagin' in that first London production. He makes an entertaining, often funny speech honoring the original production, and then with a bit of begging by the young actor who plays 'Oliver,' (properly imploring, Please, sir, I want... oh, you know) and then after faux-insisting it's been far too long and he doesn't remember the words, he leads the company in "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two." As I said, the cell-phone camerawork here is dismal, and the sound is sometimes hard to make out. But credit to the fellow for recording it and uploading the piece of treasure. For the most part it's fairly watchable. It takes place over two videos, and there's a bit of overlap. So, in order to get the song all in one piece, my suggestion is that just after the 8:03 mark of the first video, stop it and then go to the second video. There'll be a bit of overlap, starting with Moody's introduction again for some reason, and the jumping to him greeting the youngster playing Oliver, about a minute in. The actor playing Fagin is a fellow named Russ Abbot, and he has some pleasant byplay with Moody, but this is really Ron Moody's moment, and he shines. It's all the more poignant knowing that he passed away only a few months ago in June, at the age of 91, so it's all the more a pleasure to have this, whatever the quality. Remember, jump videos at the 8:03 mark when Moody and young Oliver greet each other.
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Amazon, which makes the popular Fire tablet that runs on Android, announced a bunch of new devices yesterday. They all deserve discussion, but one leaped out that I'll mention here. It's their very low-end 7" tablet which they're selling for only $50. And no, that is not a typo. I haven't seen any reviews, or even much information about the specs, so it's hard to comment much. What I did see is that the processor, of course, won't be as powerful, and the screen won't be as high resolution. But for what is almost literally a "throw-away" device, I suspect it will be fine for people who want something very basic that works solidly, just not as crisply as better models. Also, I believe that the screensaver will show ads, though you can get rid of that for $15 more. Further, Amazon is assuming that families might want to get these tablets for everyone in the family to eliminate sharing, or so they can be left around the house, and selling a "six-pack" for the price of five, which drops to price to about $42 a unit. It'll even be sold like a six-pack. Also, speaking of families, Amazon is doing something interesting, selling a kids-friendly version of the tablet. It will cost more, $100, but apparently will be a bit more protectively made to guard against being dropped, and also the browser will be configured so that only pre-approved age-appropriate websites (about 20,000 of them) and YouTube videos can be accessed. Early this year I wrote about HP selling their new Stream line of 7" Windows tablets that sell for only $100, This crushes even that. (I've been using one for the year, and it's terrific -- and to be fair in comparing prices, running Windows as it does, it's a real, full computer on which you can do serious work, and also it includes a free one-year subscription to Office 365, which is a $99 value, plus 1 terrabyte of OneDrive cloud storage for free, another significant added value. So, depending on your needs, it's the equivalent of free -- or even getting money back. I don't mention this for comparison purposes, but for the sake of accuracy.) The reason Amazon is offering such an incredibly low price is because they are taking on Apple. Apple devices are high end and cost a lot, which is where Apple makes its money. Amazon, however, wants you to buy its services, like Amazon Prime, and that's where they make their money. If you want to read a little bit more on all this -- details on the device and everything else that Amazon announced are sketchy -- you can read it here.
This week's contestant is Dan Larkin, from Windsor, California. The hidden song should be very easy to guess, I think, and probably pretty early on. There were three composers I thought it might be in the style of. I had one in mind, but changed -- and it was the contestant's guess, as well, but it wasn't that. It also wasn't one of the other two. So, I was wrong. But I should have gotten it. And I think others have a good chance of getting it.
So, you will recall the piece I wrote here last Thursday about how the invitation by Republican House Speaker John Boehner to Pope Francis for speaking before a joint session of Congress would cause a problem for Republicans, because of the Pontiff's stance in support of the Iran deal and Climate Change action.
Well, it only took a few hours. Later that same day (and I'm not suggesting he reads these pages here, but it certainly is suspiciously impressive timing if he doesn't...) the first Republican, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) wrote an op-ed, which you can read here, for the conservative website Townhall explaining why he would be boycotting the Pope. I'm sure he believes that he has very fine reasons supporting his decision. But just imagine if it was liberals who said they were boycotting the Holy Father... Among other things, Mr. Gosar wrote -- "If the Pope plans to spend the majority of his time advocating for flawed climate change policies, then I will not attend. When the Pope chooses to act and talk like a leftist politician, then he can expect to be treated like one." [No doubt if Rep. Gosar agreed with Pope Francis speaking like a reactionary politician, he would have no trouble treating the pope merely like a pope.] And -- "The earth’s climate has been changing since God created it, with or without man. On that, we should all agree." [What we should also agree is that 97% of climate scientist all agree that man's actions have accelerated that change at unprecedented levels, and zero articles in peer-reviewed science publications have refuted the science.] Also -- "If the Pope plans to spend the majority of his time advocating for flawed climate change policies, then I will not attend." [Okay, that whole "97% of climate scientist all agree that man's actions have accelerated that change at unprecedented levels, and zero articles in peer-reviewed science publications have refuted the science" thing makes the only "flawed" thinking that which is coming from Climate Change Deniers like Rep. Gosar.] Not to mention -- "It is my hope that Pope Francis realizes his time is better spent focusing on matters like religious tolerance and the sanctity of all life." [It is my belief that that is not even remotely Mr. Gosar's actual hope, because it would mean the pope speaking on religious tolerance towards the Muslin religion, and the sanctity of gays and lesbians. I say this given all the right-wing criticism towards Pope Francis towards his more liberal and open statements in the past.] Anyway, if Rep. Gosar or any Republicans or anyone in Congress chooses not to attend the pope's address, that's perfectly fine and their choice. It just makes it more difficult for those who have long placed religion and the infallible pope high upon a mountain to keep doing so when they want to use that total grace for their political benefit. By the way, since then, conservative Republicans have also been upset that Pope Francis is visiting Cuba. And they're still upset that the Pontiff supports the Iran nuclear deal. Infallibility just isn't what it used to be. A couple days later than usual, in part thanks to the W.C. Fields centennial, but It still was a quiet week back in May 2014. From the archives, fishing season begins and fishermen return to their pursuit of the famous walleye Old Pete, Luann cuts her hair very short, the town analyzes photos of Pastor Liz in Rome, and Pastor Haugen irritates his secretary Marlene.
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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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