THEATRE GUILD ON THE AIR-NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR

NBC, April 26, 1953, starring Richard Widmark as Winston Smith.

This is a very good adaptation of Orwell's classic and prophetic novel. The story moves along at a good pace and grips you very well.

I also enjoyed the angle "Theatre Guild" took of inserting scenes featuring O'Brien and another man plotting against Winston. It was a necissary adaptation for the medium of radio. In other hands, it could have turned out really lame, but fortunately in the hands of this particular program these extra scenes added to the story.

ED KOCH DEAD AT 88

Ed Koch, the mayor of New York City from 1977-1989, died Friday morning at the age of 88.

I remember in law class our teacher used to bring in tapes of "The People's Court" hosted by Ed Koch for us to watch.

I also remember listening to "The Right Perspective" and enjoying Frank From Queens making fun of Koch and how he would say "uh" after every word.

THE STRAY CHILD ON WATTPAD

I was cruising around Wattpad today when I came across a story that looked like it was written for children. I thought, "That's cool that a children's author is coming on this site. I haven't seen anything of that genre on here before." After a little further reading of the story, I found out the story was actually written by a child.

Wattpad has a rule you can't join if you're under thirteen, because goodness knows age restrictions are such an effective tool at stopping people from doing things on the internet. I would peg the author of this particular story at about nine years of age. It sounded like the child really wants to be an author, and I wish them well at this endeavour. However, this story is written in the typical style of a nine year old or thereabouts.

In an age where anyone can be an author or a singer or what have you and have an instant stage for what they're presenting, it means stuff will get out there that really shouldn't get out there. Maybe in a few years this child will produce some stories that really blow people away, but for now they're a typical nine year old or whatever, as far as their writing is concerned anyway. This is the age where they should be writing their stories for the fun of it and not putting them on social networking sites where trolls and other neferrious kinds of people will make fun of them.

RADIO-RELATED STUFF

Good to hear "Star Date" on WBBM. I haven't heard it for years, ever since I used to listen to it on The WRVO Playhouse.

CBC Radio 2 was coming in really well from last night till I changed the station tonight.

Picked up Kruz-fm (CKRU-fm) tonight with commercials.

DON'T BE LATE!! -- SONG CIRCLE AT THE BEAUFORT

Hey up!


The Acoustic Song Circle @ the Beaufort Pub in Belleville is rolling round again.

This coming Monday (January 28th), starting at 6 pm and running through the evening until we’re done. Bring your instruments, your voices and your music. It’s all unplugged and it’s all good!

Through rain or hail or wind or snow (and even days of freezing cold!), the Acoustic Song Circle happens the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month. If you didn’t join us last time around, you were missing out; it may be time to shake a leg and come on down....

Thanks to Kim and Taryn and the wonderful staff at the Beaufort for the welcome and the space to get together and play. The Beaufort Pub, 173 Dundas St. E. (South side of Dundas at the East end of the TSC Plaza).

Our friend Mr. Paul King being away down south, sampling the delights of the ‘Redneck Riviera’; we’ll be keeping his seat warm in absentia and the circle ‘unbroken’ until he returns.

Any questions? Drop me an email or give me a call.

Looking forward to see you this Monday evening.

INTERNET STUFF

I rejoined Fiverr. Figured I might as well give it one more kick at the can.

Good to see short stories on Wattpad.

Speaking of Wattpad, why is teen fiction categorized under humour in the emails I get from them?

YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY ROOM WISHES YOU A HAPPY GUN APPRECIATION DAY

Not sure about the mainstream media in the United States, but the media up here has been making fun of the injuries that occurred at gun shows in the U.S. Saturday, Gun Appreciation Day. This is of course an attempt on the media's part to say the United States needs stricter gun control (gun confesgation) laws.

However, there is a side to this story no mainstream media outlets are reporting.

According to what I heard on Kurt Wilson's program, "The Armchair Survivalist", on SFAWBN Sunday, the man who caused the injuries at the North Carolina gun show was an undercover cop.

Wilson also reported what went on at a gun show in Santa Rosa, California, that he attended. He saw a man come in, pick up a few guns, and leave. A little while later, another man came in, picked up a couple guns, put one against his hand and pulled the trigger. The gun was loaded. The man was then heard to yell, "They said it wouldn't hurt."

While Wilson was treating the wounded man in a nearby bathroom, the man said he had been dared to do what he did.
I think these two incidents show collusion on the part of someone. Gun owners and distributors would not bring loaded guns to gun shows because of the obvious safety risks. I speculate this is either the mainstream media or the government's attempt to demonize gun owners in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.