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This page includes posts from
November 5-18, 2006 in the usual reverse
order. Each posting on the home page is perma-linked to these
archive pages.
November
18, 2006 Last month I bought a replacement PC for an increasingly balky Dell that I had used for four years. The folks at Ameritechnologies* were very helpful, and I ended up with a Lenovo 3000 J Series that is working fine. Transferring programs and files was perhaps the biggest concern that I had in making the switch, especially for the website pages for two sites and the uploading software I use for that purpose (FrontPage 2002 and WS_FTP). The other possible complication was that I use two different web site hosting services, each of which has it's own uploading protocol. As you can tell, this turned out to be not much of an issue for this blog site, but I wasn't as confident about the more complex requirements for Hole By Hole. Between that mild concern and other demands on time, I didn't update the golf site with the weekly columns for over a month. Now it's up to date, and available for your perusal:
Hope you like them. *(Don't let the company's relatively cheesy web design bother you. They might not be webheads with the flashiest approach to modern web site appearance, but they know what they know).
November
15, 2006 Blogging was even lighter than usual this past week, as I spent a startling number of hours working on various aspects of this year’s Independent Film Festival. Much of my time was spent with some great volunteers at the Box Office, handling the demands for thousands of tickets. At least once a day, however, I was able to take a break in the action at the Festival tent and go see some movies. The big surprise this year is that there were six sell-outs before the doors opened for the gala event on Wednesday night. Fifty-two more sell-outs occurred during the rest of the four-day extravaganza, a new record in the event's nine-year history. On the other hand, most of the nearly one hundred features, documentaries, and shorts were shown at least twice, if not three times. A few of the audience feature favorites ran four times, and sold out on each occasion. The opening night party was highlighted by a showing of a restored copy of Lon Chaney’s 1929 edition of The Phantom of the Opera. The partially colorized print was accompanied by Dorothy J. Papadakos, the former Cathedral Organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and a lively, witty performer. As in prior years, below are mini-reviews of the movies I saw during the Festival, with links if possible. I also use the five-step ratings used to determine the Festival award winners, who were announced at the closing night party on Sunday. Sweet Land--Outstanding. It won the Festival award for Best Debut Feature. Cave of the Yellow Dog--Outstanding. This is a classic film festival feature. Where else are you likely to find a German-made movie about a nomadic Mongolian family, their herd of sheep, and a young dog and his little mistress? Keeping Mum—Outstanding. This Maggie Smith/Rowan Atkinson comedy took second place in the Best Feature category. Estamos Aqui--Very good. A fairly balanced documentary overview of a troubling local issue--the burgeoning Guatemalan presence in southern Delaware. French Language Shorts
Speaking the Same Language Shorts
International Shorts
November
8, 2006 A while ago, my wife saw a notice in the local paper, seeking World War II veterans who had qualified for a Bronze Star but hadn’t yet received it. It just so happened that she had recently gone through her late father’s papers and saw that he fit this unusual description. As noted here previously, Mr. Bill served with distinction in the U.S. Army’s 77th Division in the Pacific Theater, earning his staff sergeant's stripes before his honorable discharge in 1946. In 1952 Congress enacted a law awarding a Bronze Star to every infantryman involved in direct combat operations during the war under conditions that had already qualified them for the Combat Infantryman Badge. My wife had found that badge, as well as the notice that Mr. Bill had earned the Bronze Star, but the medal itself was nowhere to be found. She followed up on the announcement, and today we accompanied her mother to a surprisingly full gymnasium for the award ceremony. Four World War II veterans or their survivors had responded to the notice. My mother-in-law was one of the very proud recipients of a huge ovation from the entire high school student body, including dozens of junior ROTC members, as she gracefully accepted the medal and certificate.
In addition to the Bronze Star awards, the assembly also included a special recognition for school district staff who were veterans of the five military services, as well as a moving speech by the mother of a recent Cape grad who died while serving in Iraq. Just before the ceremony began, I chatted with George Stone, the school district superintendent, who came to the Cape district a little more than a year ago. He told me that he was surprised to learn last November that the school did not hold any special assemblies or other commemorations for Veterans Day. It appears that he did something about this perception.
It was very much appreciated.
November
7, 2006 Voting today was pretty uneventful. I had spent most of the morning fixing up a new batch of oatmeal raisin cookies for the upcoming Film Festival, and writing my weekly golf column. Once both of those were finished, we made the short hop over to Rehoboth Beach Elementary School to vote. Thanks to Christine O'Donnell's write-in campaign, the volunteers seemed really anxious to make sure there were no problems for anyone trying to use that feature instead of the usual button-pushing. It seemed as if they made an announcement to the assembled multitude (about a dozen to fifteen voters) after every third voter entered the booths. From what I've heard thus far, the day's voting was fairly slow and steady elsewhere throughout the state. The quiet atmosphere inside the school was in stark contrast to what was on display outside.
November 6, 2006 I’m not usually a one-issue voter--but this year I’m making an exception. Like some other folks, I could be described as a Lieberman Democrat, although I don’t subscribe to all of the Connecticut senator’s views on domestic matters. Nonetheless, we’ve adopted the same hawkish stance about the primary threat we face from those who want to see us all dead, liberal or conservative, mostly because we don’t or won’t adhere to their troubled interpretation of their religion. I was sorry to see Lieberman lose in his Senate primary, because it signaled that too many fellow Democrats just don’t seem to appreciate the real source of danger to their way of life as Americans. No matter what they say, the risk is not coming from a former frat boy from flyover country, whose initial election to high office was largely a result of a wholly different collection of Democratic miscues. To continue to adopt this stance at this late date is to show that their powers of denial remain too influential. Fortunately, the citizens of Connecticut seem to have a better grasp on reality. From the information noted by Tom Maguire and others it looks like the Joementum will return with a vengeance by tomorrow night. It also appears that a lot of other folks share this view about the primary importance of persistence in continuing the fight against Islamofascists. This group also includes some other Democratic bloggers such as Ann Althouse, Donald Sensing, and Orson Scott Card. If you have an opportunity to show that you agree with us tomorrow, please do so. Maybe yet another loss at the polls will help the current Democratic leadership finally come around to our way of thinking about the true menace to our existence. |
Contact Information: Fritz Schranck fschranck-at-sneakingsuspicions.com
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Official small print disclaimer: This is, after all, a personal web site. Any opinions or comments I express here are my own, and don't necessarily reflect the official position of my work as a government attorney or any of my clients. That fact may become obvious later on, but it needs to be said here anyway. © Frederick H. Schranck 2002-2006 |
