DECEMBER 13 UPDATE

CARE TO GIVE THE VERY BEST?

For him.  The 2007 BMW M6 is a bargain at $105,095.  Feeling like he deserves more free time, cut his airline travel with his very own Diamond D-Jet, for $1.4 million. Louis Vutton has 20 special-order watches – the Tambour LV Cup Regatta – for the sailor in your life, at 75 large each.  If he’s athletic, the Volkl Supersport S5 Titanium skis are $1,065.  Or, if he’s got a touch of that carrot-topped Olympian, the Vapor board will send him soaring for $950.  The Heretic motorcycles sell for $65,000 to $140,000, depending on how many horses your man can straddle.  A gift that will measure his testosterone: a $100,000 close up and personal swim (in dive tanks for the two of you) with great white sharks at Isla Guadaloupe Biosphere.  My favorite: $1,000 to drive a Ferrari at a race driver training school.

For her.  She would look great in an azure Bentley Continental GTC.  Feeling like $300 K is too much, be one of the few to buy the $25,000 lacquered case from the Meiji period to hold her business cards.  Take her to Bali where Bulgari’s new villas rent for a thou a night.  Cartier is recommending exquisite chocolates with a solitaire diamond in the center.  Live in a hamlet, too much traffic?  Try Yamaha’s new C3 scooter for $1999.  Sea Sense is offering courses in power boating for women, at $400 a day.  And for a car which says “elegance with spirit,” buy her a Fisker Tramono convertible – a stylized rework of a Mercedes SL 55 – for $234,000 ($350 K with options).

Reckless spending?  Not at all.  A couple bid against each other, finally paying $250,000 for the dress Judy Garland wore in Wizard of Oz.  And an unknown booster of the arts just paid over $800,000 for that simple little black dress Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffanys.

AND IF YOU’RE RALLY STUMPED FOR GIFT IDEAS…

Exclusive USA Softball EBAY Auction   ASA PRESS RELEASE

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – It's time to pick up that last minute Christmas gift that is sure to be a hit on Christmas day. Here is your chance to bid on your very own Authentic USA Softball autographed memorabilia. From December 12-19, USA Softball will be hosting an EBAY auction on selected autographed items, including:

Limited edition autographed merchandise, all auction items will benefit the USA Softball team as they attempt to win their fourth consecutive gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. All merchandise is USA Softball Authentic signifying the validity of material and signatures. Each item will be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by ASA/USA Softball's Executive Director along with a “USA Softball.  Bid via ASA website.

IN MEMORIAM

Martha Tilton.  Sang with several big bands in the 40’s and 50’s, memorably with Benny Goodman.  For Goodman’s historic 1938 Carnegie Hall jazz concert, composer Johnny Mercer and trumpeter Ziggy Elman collaborated on a classic based on a Jewish hora – And The Angels Sing. Tilton, known as “Liltin’ Matha Tilton” sang the vocals which led into Ziggy’s virtuoso solo.  Tilton and Ziggy reprised their roles for The Benny Goodman Story which made the moody Goodman more likable than he was in real life, and totally wasted Donna Reed’s acting talents.  All the big bands had signature vocalists – Tommy Dorsey had a bus full, including crooner Frankie Sinatra.  Harry James had  Doris Day (Sentimental Journey); Larry Clinton featured Bea Wayne on his  My Reverie.  Jimmy Dorsey and Helen O’Connell scored with Tangerine.  Glenn Miller, the best big band, had Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, the Modernaires and the inimitable Tex Beneke.

Jeane Kirkpatrick.  The intellectual neo-con, Jeane was a pillar of the conservative movement in political science, and a principal at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, before becoming the US Ambassador to the United Nations, which gave her Cabinet rank in the Reagan Administration.  After serving as Ronald Reagan's foreign policy adviser in his 1980 campaign, she was nominated as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and was the first woman to hold this position. She is famous for her "Kirkpatrick Doctrine," which advocates U.S. support of anticommunist governments around the world, pitting authoritarian dictatorships against totalitarian regimes. Along with Empower America co-directors William Bennett and Jack Kemp, she called on the Congress to issue a formal declaration of war against the "entire fundamentalist Islamic terrorist network" the day after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center.  Never reticent, Jeane famously said, “What takes place in the Security Council more closely resembles a mugging than either a political debate or an effort at problem-solving."  An ardent anti-Communist, Jeane was married to the late Evron Kirkpatrick, an OSS hand who then served in the CIA before becoming head of the American Political Science Association.  While not agreeing with either on all occasions, I have long considered myself fortunate to have studied under the Kirkpatricks at Georgetown University.  We once shared a laugh at the UN about both being from small towns in Oklahoma.

Yves Montand.  Montand died in 1991 but has gained new popularity with the release of an album of French songs, some dating back to his early years as a café singer.   Famous initially as a French chanson discovered by Edith Piaf, Montand, who was not French but a Jew from Tuscany or a Catholic from elsewhere in Italy, depending on biographer, made many memorable films, including Grand Prix, Is Paris Burning, The Wages of Fear and was regarded as the classic French Chanteur et acteur populaire.  Montand starred in what many critics regard as the best political film of all time, Z. Later in a life which featured his wife, Simone Signoret, Montand was superb in the French classic Jean des Florette. He was Marilyn Monroe’s lover, and fathered a child with assistant Carole Amiel.  Montand lived for many years in one of my favorite towns, St Paul du Vence.

Ray Perri.  The Gwynedd-Mercy College Athletic Department and Community is morning the loss of head softball coach Ray Perri. "We are saddened by the sudden passing of our friend Ray. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this difficult time. Ray was not only our softball coach but dear friend and trusted colleague in the athletic department," said Athletic Director Keith Mondillo. "During his short time here at Gwynedd, Ray established himself as a key member of the college community, touching the lives of many. Ray cared deeply for his players and worked tirelessly to give them the best experience possible. The Gwynedd-Mercy College Family will miss him dearly."  Perri was also the head coach at LaSalle and Drexel before starting at Gwynedd-Mercy in the 2003-04 year.

Kenneth Taylor.  With squadron mate George Welch, they became the first US pilots to strike back during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor – their exploits (6 kills) were famously portrayed in Tora, Tora, Tora.

DC’s downtown Waffle House.  The prime location on 10^th Street finally sparked a gleam in a developer’s eye.   No matter that regulars gathered there for breakfast and coffee breaks for more than 30 years.  Progress?  Today, people grab a Starbucks and head for the office; panel trucks serve construction sites; etc.  Such cafes were more like neighborhood institutions.  I can remember the courthouse crowd going to Skinny Harrison’s café twice a day for coffee, and on Sundays the powers that be gathered in Senator Nance’s newspaper office for coffee and decision-making politics.  Downtown had already lost Scholz’s cafeterias and Little White Castle.  What price tradition?

HOISTED ON MY PETARD

A reader commenting on “Flatulence” – an attempt at humor – wrote that she remembered me during my military days and was not surprised that my CO was on my case because she remembered me as cocky and at war with the Army; she also remembered an incident at Oklahoma University my sophomore year when I challenged a professor’s thesis and proved her wrong – the reader says I was a 17-year old intellectual smart-ass.  Those words stung – especially coming from my sister.

And They Ask Why I Like Retirement!

a contribution from Dennis Fraidy
Question: How many days in a week?
Answer: 6 Saturdays, 1 Sunday

Question: When is a retiree's bedtime?
Answer: Three hours after he falls asleep on the couch.

Question: How many retirees to change a light bulb?
Answer: Only one, but it might take all day.

Question: What's the biggest gripe of retirees?
Answer: There is not enough time to get everything done.

Question: Why don't retirees mind being called Seniors?
Answer: The term comes with a 10% percent discount.

Question: What is considered formal attire among retirees?
Answer: Tied shoes.

Question: Why do retirees count pennies?
Answer: They are the only ones who have the time.

Question: What is the common term for someone who enjoys work and refuses to retire?
Answer: NUTS!

Question: Why are retirees so slow to clean out the basement, attic or garage?
Answer: They know that as soon as they do, one of their adult kids will want to store stuff there.

Question: What do retirees call a long lunch?
Answer: Normal .

Question: What is the best way to describe retirement?
Answer: The never ending Coffee Break.

Question: What's the biggest advantage of going back to school as a retiree?
Answer: If you cut classes, no one calls your parents

Question: Why does a retiree often say he doesn't miss work, but misses the people he used to work with?
Answer: He is too polite to tell the whole truth.

QUESTION: What do you do all week?
Answer: Mon to Fri. Nothing, Sat &Sun I rest up!

POLAR BEAR BLESSING

From reader KellogMon                                                                                



Wishing  you        
In   your busy life,

 
 

Time   for Relaxation    
Good  Sleep   


Good  Health  with Exercise  



Someone  to  Dance With



...  a Bit of  Adventure  



Good   Looks  


But  Most of  All ...

I Wish You  Lots of Bear Hugs  



    And  The  Comforts of Real Love  

Many   Blessings...


May   you always have love to share, health to spare, and friends  that  care.     


But  watch out for those darn penguins!


 

Do  you ever feel like doing this to someone?  

     Now  forward this to everyone you consider "A  Friend".

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