Saturday, October 29, 2005

More Fay Wray

(Quoting a letter from her husband, Bob Riskin.)

[...] it is interesting to note [...] the number of books on religion which are successful in wartime. You see, people need goodness to lean on in times of wickedness and evil. The need to remind themselves that the human race...of which they are a part...is not all evil...that its impulses are virtuous and charitable and unselfish.

Fay Wray keeps her priorities straight

[Her WWII-era husband] came home one evening to ask me, "Do you know what's happening?"
"Their sending you overseas!"
"No. This hotel is on fire. The lobby is full of firemen!"
"Thank God! I thought you might be leaving!"

The underdog had a good heatbeat. - Fay Wray

Bob Dylan - Lonesome Day Blues

The things you have the hardest time parting with are the things you need the least.

A Little Help From My Friends

If you want to help pull a friend out of the mire, don't hesitate to get a little dirty.
- Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov)

Saturday, October 22, 2005

A Good Laugh

"...But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter / Harry Turtledove Connection

Way back in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book #2), our charming trio needed Boomslang skin for the Polyjuice Potion. I assumed that Boomslang was yet another mythical creature. Then I'm reading along in a Harry Turtledove book, and they go to the Boomslang Tavern. It winds up, the boomslang is a highly poisonious tree snake in southern Africa. Who knew?

But In The Long Run....

Even the end of the world can have short-term advantages.
-A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge

Kidding on the square...

...when you were "just joking," but not really.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Am I A Bad Jew?

Or maybe I'm just a scaredy cat? I don't want the messianic age to come "soon and in my time." I kinda want to lead a nice boreing life. (Not that there's been much of a chance of that!) I don't want to say those prayers with the theme of "hurry up alread." Really, take your time.