GOLDFINGER

"Goldfinger" is my favorite James Bond movie. I've seen it over 50 times and look forward to another 50. I recently purchased some special DVD edition that had the director and others talking about making the film as you watched it. If you are a baby boomer, this is probably one of your favorite 007 films as well.

I wanted to share some things that I had never known and learned from this edition.

1. Gert Frobe who played Goldfinger was a German character actor who spoke no English. They had him just mimic his lines in the best English he could imitate and then his voice was dubbed in later in its entirety by another actor. I never suspected that. The dubbing was impeccable.

2. The opening scene in Miami Beach was filmed without Sean Connery, Gert Frobe or other major characters. They were later matted into the poolside scenery and other closeups were matched by recreating the scene in a studio. Again, 45 years later, this was news because it all looks so seamless making you believe they all filmed at the Miami hotel poolside.

3. Even when the blonde girl is giving cheating instructions to Goldfinger from her hotel balcony, that was done in a studio. It was matted against real footage taken at the hotel from the same angles.

4. The actor who played OddJob, Harold Sakata, was exactly the opposite of what he portrayed on the screen. Everybody called him the sweetest and kindest man they had ever met.

5. 007's Aston Martin had some other tricks which got edited out or were never used at all.

6. Pussy Galore was a lesbian in the original book. Various censors did not approve of her name for filming and only because it was appealed by the producers did it become ok to use. In a bubble gum trading card set for kids about the film, the name is completely left out.

7. The government would not allow the producers into Fort Knox. There were not even any photos available to study. The set designer just created his own vision on the inside of a studio set. Only the front existed in the building copy they made for the film. Complete shots were taken flying over the real thing.

8. The author Ian Fleming died just a few weeks before the film's premiere.

I will add anything else that stood out.

GEORGE BUSH APOLOGIZED TO AMERICANS TODAY FOR HIS EIGHT YEARS IN OFFICE

GEORGE BUSH APOLOGIZED TODAY TO AMERICANS FOR HIS EIGHT YEARS IN OFFICE

Good morning, and thank you for joining me. Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me. I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in. I know people want to find out how I could be so selfish and so foolish.

I am also aware of the pain my behavior has caused to those of you in this room. I have let you down, and I have let down my fans. For many of you, especially my friends, my behavior has been a personal disappointment. To those of you who work for me, I have let you down personally and professionally. My behavior has caused considerable worry to my business partners.

But still, I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you. I have made you question who I am and how I could have done the things I did. I am embarrassed that I have put you in this position. For all that I have done, I am so sorry.

I have a lot to atone for, but there is one issue I really want to discuss. What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame. I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them.

I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me. I brought this shame on myself.

I've had a lot of time to think about what I've done. My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before. It's now up to me to make amends and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I've made. It's up to me to start living a life of integrity.

Parents used to point to me as a role model for their kids. I owe all those families a special apology. I want to say to them that I am truly sorry.

It's hard to admit that I need help, but I do. For 45 days from the end of December to early February, I was in inpatient therapy receiving guidance for the issues I'm facing. I have a long way to go. But I've taken my first steps in the right direction.

As I proceed, I understand people have questions. Some have written things about my family. Despite the damage I have done, I still believe it is right to shield my family from the public spotlight. They did not do these things; I did.

I recognize I have brought this on myself, and I know above all I am the one who needs to change. I owe it to my family to become a better person. I owe it to those closest to me to become a better man. That's where my focus will be.

I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it. Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age. People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously, I lost track of what I was taught.

As I move forward, I will continue to receive help because I've learned that's how people really do change. Starting tomorrow, I will leave for more treatment and more therapy.

Finally, there are many people in this room, and there are many people at home who believed in me. Today, I want to ask for your help. I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again.

Thank you.

SOUNDS LIKE IT'S MADE UP--BUT IT'S NOT

An affluent high school in suburban Philadelphia has prided itself on the fact that it is technologically advanced and gives all of its students an expensive lap top to borrow as part of the curriculum.

What they didn't tell students was that they could remotely turn the camera on, and view and record them. Apparently when an administrator told a student that the school didn't approve of something he was doing at home, this whole story just opened up.

It sounds like a made up story, but it is not. Harriton High School is now being sued by a number of families who also believe they were spied on by the school.

The students are now placing tape over the camera and microphone on the computer.

The school district will only say that it uses the remote technology when a computer is lost and stolen and they want to see who is using it.

Ironically, the book "1984" by George Orwell is required reading at the school.

An Education - Worthy Of Best Picture

The British film industry is most prolific at making films about life in England. They accomplish this royally once again with "An Education," a low budget comedy-drama that takes place north of London in 1961. This extraordinary film works on numerous levels and despite a lack of big name star power is charming one moment, challenging another and is absolutely worth seeing if you are tired of blockbuster 3-D science fiction extravaganzas. If you love reading novels, were captivated by films like "34 Charing Cross Road" and find the very early 1960's to be special, you really need to see this. It's up for our own Best Picture, but those 3-D science fiction extravaganzas tend to be chosen first.

Happy Valentine's Day From America

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY FROM AMERICA!

February 14, 2010

1. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Two missiles fired from an American drone aircraft killed at least six.

2. MARJAH, Afghanistan ---12 Afghan civilians were killed when two stray rockets hit a house near the town of Marjah.

OOPS, SORRY ABOUT THAT!

Ringo Starr Gets His Star

It was great fun last night watching Ringo Starr get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood in front of Capitol Records. Ringo was his usual witty Liverpool self and gave a wonderful off-the-cuff speech. What was really funny was when the Mayor of Los Angeles (who recently said he was firing 1000 workers to balance his budget) was unanimously booed when he introduced Ringo. The most surprising part came when Ringo introduced his "brother-in-law," Joe Walsh of The Eagles. Everybody thought he was joking until he revealed that just a while back, Walsh married the younger sister of his wife, Barbara Bach, actually making Joe Walsh his real brother-in-law.
I personally was surprised and here's why. The last time I saw Joe Walsh is when he was hanging around Amoeba Records in Hollywood when Paul McCartney was in town and at the store. At that time, I was standing talking to Joe Walsh when a limo pulled up and Ringo stepped out. I was yelling "Ringo," and Joe Walsh said nothing and didn't seem very interested.
So when I heard that Walsh was now his brother-in-law, I realized that it obviously happened after I ran into him on Sunset Blvd. Sometimes its fun living 5 minutes from Hollywood.

Hope You Are Celebrating Life

Tim Tebow and his mother were the stars of a series of commercials during the Superbowl which "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life" and were paid for by the right-winged Christian organization Focus on the Family.

When your government continues to send flying drones into Pakistan that arbitrarily kill innocent men, women and children...that's not celebrating life and family, is it?

When your government's presence in Iraq results weekly in the slaughter of dozens of innocent men, women and children...that's not celebrating life and family, is it?

When your government's lack of action results in the death of dozens of Americans weekly due to lack of access to medical care and food, that's not celebrating life and family, is it?

Will you ever see Focus on the Family and the Tebows address these issues? Highly unlikely.

I hope you enjoyed the priority of most Americans--the Super Bowl.

You BETTER Be For The Saints

Fascism is alive and thriving in American high schools! With Superbowl fever at its peak, especially in New Orleans and Indiana, the students at a New Orleans high school were told they can wear Saints' jerseys to school to show their support. One student, who had moved from Indianapolis to New Orleans, decided to show his support for the Colts instead by wearing their jersey.

Called in to the principal's office, suspended and sent home for his outlandish discretion, the ACLU has, with good reason, gotten involved and has told the school to remove the suspension.

Trivial you think? Fascism has been creeping into our society since George W. Bush SENIOR came into office in the 1980's. Each little incident like this moves us closer and closer to a society as seen by George Orwell.

AIG STILL SUCKS

THEY ARE DOING IT FOR A SECOND TIME.

THE INSURANCE COMPANY WHICH YOU SAVED BY GIVING IT ALMOST 200 BILLION OF YOUR HARD EARNED WORK TAXES, MUST SIMPLY GIVE OUT ANOTHER $100 MILLION IN BONUSES THIS WEEK. THE AVERAGE EMPLOYEE WILL RECEIVE A BONUS OF $400,000 AND DOZENS WILL RECEIVE $1 MILLION EACH.

WHAT DID YOU GET FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS BONUS IN DECEMBER IF YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE A JOB?

AND THE AMAZING THING IS THAT AIG CONTINUES TO JUSTIFY THIS BY SAYING THAT THESE EXTRAORDINARY EMPLOYEES WILL SIMPLY LEAVE IF THEY DON'T GET THEIR BONUSES. AFTER ALL, THERE IS NOBODY TO REPLACE THEM.
YES, NOBODY COULD POSSIBLY SCREW UP LIKE THEY DID.

THERE WAS AN OUTRAGE THE FIRST TIME THEY DID THIS AND THEY KNEW IT WOULD ALL DIE DOWN. AND THEY KNOW BY DOING IT THIS WEEK, IT WILL ALL DIE DOWN AGAIN BY SUPERBOWL WEEKEND. IT WAS TIMED THAT WAY.

YOU CAN PROTEST BY TAKING YOUR INSURANCE NEEDS TO ANY OTHER COMPANY THAT DID NOT RECEIVE BAILOUT FUNDS.