Friday Oysters

Good Morning,

Quote of the day:

“My girlfriend and I thought we were in love, but it was benign.”

                                              Woody Allen

Why is America is waaayy down the list when it comes to pre-college education level? I can see it now, a person walks into IBM, Fluor, Halliburton, Microsoft, Citibank, etc. and applies for a job. He/she is NOT going to hear OK you are hired but we will not expect as much production from you because you had crappy parents or your neighborhood was gang infested. What he/she WILL hear is that you are expected to complete your assignment on time and within budget and I don't want the hear what has happened to you in the past because it is irrelevant...the past is today. The best job I ever had was one in the piping design business. The supervisor assigned me a specific area of a proposed plant addition and said “I won't be back to supervise but I want the piping drawings extracted and checked by by July third.” He handed me some P&ID's and equipment drawings, walked off and I never saw him again except when I was unsure of a specific item. I worked at my own pace knowing what the expectations were and what was at stake. Yes...I finished on time and under budget and I got a bonus...four bottles of Jack Daniels. These days it is apparently more important in America for the student to meld with his peer group than to get prepared for life as an adult and make a living. It is Asia (Japan in particular) that is far, far ahead of the world in education standards. The Japanese don't give a damn if your feelings get hurt, you had better produce or get left behind. That is the way the world is, folks...and our kids had better learn it...but on the other hand, maybe they would rather learn to be more efficient in video games and the use of an I-Pad. All of this indicates a lack of leadership at home...that is what I think and so did George Carlin, Billy Graham, etc., etc.

I was watching a show about the migration of Sandhill Cranes. These magnificent birds travel north in the Spring coming from hundreds of places in the southern tier headed for the Alaska and Canadian tundra to breed. They come by the hundreds of thousands to the Platte river delta in Nebraska to fatten up before the final push to the breeding grounds. Geologists have found fossils of Sandhill cranes on the Platte that are thousands of years old. Think about it. During the thousands of wars, turmoil and bloodshed that have existed since recorded history, the Sandhill crane has been following this same path season after season with no thought of whatever else is out there. It gives me peace to think of that. By the way, if you think this nation is in trouble now, just think of the American Civil War from 1861-1865. That was the worse shape this country had ever been in. We were an eyelash from being torn apart as a nation...but it did not happen...that gives me peace also.

This Date in History October 16

1925 Angela Lansbury is born in London. Angela was the daughter of an actress and started studying acting at an early age. At the outset of WWII and the bombing of London, Angela was sent to New York. At the age of 18 she was signed by MGM and was in the movie hit “Gaslight” with Ingrid Bergman and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for Oscars in “The Picture of Dorian Grey” and “The Manchurian Candidate”. She did her best work on the stage and won Tonys for “Mame” and “Gypsy”. In her later years she made the TV series “Murder, She Wrote” which is seen to this day. What a great talent.

1973 American negotiator Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc To are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Kissinger rejects his by saying “True peace has not been achieved”. Henry has some class, y'all

1973 In Phoenix, Arizona apartment neighbors of Agnes LeRoi and Hedvig Samuelson hear screaming in the night but do not call the police. A day or two later Agnes and fellow worker Winnie Judd uncharacteristically do not show up for work. Winnie showed up at a train station with two large suitcases dripping a dark red substance. When this is pointed out by a station agent, Winnie turned and ran away. After opening the suitcases the dismembered parts of Agnes and Hedvig are found. After a few days Winnie surrendered at the behest of her husband. Winnie tells a tale of large sex orgies orchestrated by Agnes and Hedvig in their apartment one of which got out of hand. Winnie is convicted and sentenced to life. Winnie played the lunatic most of the time in prison but was paroled in 1971 and was never heard from again. Forty years in the joint will do that.

Births and deaths:

1894 Poet/author Oscar Wilde in born in Dublin, Ireland. Oscar received a good education including a degree from Oxford with honors. Oscar once said “To lose one parent may be considered misfortune but to lose them both seems like carelessness”.

1888 World famous playwright Eugene O’Neill is born. When asked about critics he said “Critics? I love every bone in their heads.”

1958 Actor Tim Robbins is born. When a column writer wrote a disparaging article about Tim’s family he tactfully retorted “If you write another f______g article about my family I will find you and f______g hurt you”. Tim was upset.

1794 Marie Antoinette died on the guillotine. Just before going to meet her maker she said “I was a queen and you took away my crown, I was a wife and you killed my husband, I was a mother and you took my children from me, all I have left is my blood, at least do not make me suffer.” They didn’t.

1994 One of my favorite authors if not the most favorite, James Michener died. In my opinion James wrote some of the most engrossing books of all time, especially Texas, Centennial and Hawaii. My middle daughter and I have read Texas more than once. In this book he described the domestication of longhorn cattle led by a bull named Mad Max and a cow named Big Bertha. Max would tear through fences of any sort to get at Bertha. To this day there is a cattle brand of MMBB on their bloodline. James once said “I think it is remarkable that I write the things I do, intricate, lengthy and with no sex or violence and have the readership that I do”. James was humble to the end. I miss him.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow