Or Jimmy Stewart's Cure for Bad Eyesight

As a reminder when Jimmy Stewart was "never born" and wasn't having kids - the Donna Reed character needed glasses. My favorite overlooked aspect of the movie. (Via)

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day." - Jim Rohn 

"Your library is your paradise." - Desiderius Erasmus

"No man is a failure who has friends. Unless he has no money. Then he's a miserable failure." - Henry F. Potter (from It's a Wonderful Life)

"They own everything... They don't care about you... They got you by the balls." - George Carlin

It's A Wonderful Life (in 30 Seconds)

It's a Wonderful Life in 30 seconds.

And recreated by bunnies. 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- This looks like a cool exhibit

- Just love this photo - Stonehenge's groundskeeper mowing the grass in 1955 

- It's a Wonderful Life in 30-seconds (re-enacted by bunnies)

- Ho Ho Ho

- Santa Claus was a shroom-tripping shaman?

- Santa painted into great works of art

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Have you exercised your tongue muscles lately?

- Wait - what? Does Jimmy Stewart say "fuck me" in It's a Wonderful Life?

- This is an example of why members of the military love General Mattis

- When they put up or sign or pass a law telling you not to do something stupid it is always because someone did something stupid. I'd love to hear the origin of this law.

- Economic growth from Octavian to Obama. We live in an era of abundance.

- This is a wicked cool little library

- Started this off by talking about exercising your tongue muscles so it seems fitting to end it talking about exercising your foot muscles. 

It's a Wonderful Cure for Bad Eyesight

It's a Wonderful Life is a staple of Christmas and a tradition for many on Christmas Eve but just thinking of it make me need to nitpick on this one little thing that has always bothered/amused me. 

When Jimmy Stewart is alive and him and Donna Reed are busy making kids - her eyesight is perfect. No eyeglasses for Donna Reed. But when Jimmy never existed - all of a sudden the librarian / spinster Reed needs eyeglasses. What happened? 

Now you can argue that she needs glasses because as a librarian she reads more books but I'm not buying that. I think Frank Capra was trying to send out a pro-sex message. Sex is so good it makes your eyesight better! Jimmy Stewart's cure for nearsightedness (that would be a good name for a band - well maybe not). 

It's a Wonderful Cure for Bad Eyesight

Now that the Christmas season is upon us let me nitpick something that bugs me about the classic movie It's a Wonderful Life.   

When Jimmy Stewart is alive and him and Donna Reed are busy making kids - her eyesight is perfect. No eyeglasses for Donna Reed. But when Jimmy never existed - all of a sudden the librarian / spinster Reed needs eyeglasses. What happened? 

Now you can argue that she needs glasses because as a librarian she reads more books but I'm not buying that. I think Frank Capra was trying to send out a pro-sex message. Sex is so good it makes your eyesight better! Jimmy Stewart's cure for nearsightedness (that would be a good name for a band - well maybe not). 

It's a Wonderful Life (in 30 Seconds)

It's a Wonderful Life (in 30 Seconds).

And re-enacted by bunnies.

Merry Christmas.

Top 5 - Otters in US History

Here are what I consider to be the Top 5 Otters in US history. List in reverse order of significance:

5. Obadiah Otter - he was a curious otter who happened upon the Donner Party in 1846. These were the first humans Obadiah ever encountered and as it worked out also the last. He is historically significant because he kept the Donner Party from resorting to cannibalism (for an additional 36 hours).

4. Jeremiah Otter - his wife and adopted son were killed by a Crow Indian raiding party. He spent the rest of his life tracking down Crow Indians and ripping out their necks while they slept. He became a Rockie Mountain legend and some say a myth. Some even say he's up in those mountains still.

3.  Sergeant York Otter - while it was widely reported that the Navy experimented with strapping bombs to dolphins it is lesser known that the Army had a similar project utilizing otters. Sergeant York Otter was named after the WWI hero and died during a training accident.

2. Sacagawea Otter - the only female otter on the list. She was the mascot of the Lewis and Clark expedition party until she was killed by Meriwether Lewis and her pelt was exchanged for some corn meal.

1. Bedford Otter - this otter is significant because as a youth he used to live in a pond in Bedford Falls and one winter when he was young he was poking around under the ice to the point where he caused a few cracks.  These cracks broke when a young Harry Bailey was sledding onto the ice. In one timeline Harry's older brother George was able to save Harry but in another timeline George wasn't around to save Harry. In a third less publicized timeline - Bedford Otter didn't nose around under the ice and Harry never fell into the icy waters. In that timeline George Bailey was a whole lot less necessary to the happiness of Bedford Falls.

Just missing the list - Otter from Animal House.

It's a Wonderful Cure for Bad Eyesight

It's a Wonderful Life is a staple of Christmas and a tradition for many on Christmas Eve but just thinking of it make me need to nitpick on this one little thing that has always bothered/amused me. 

When Jimmy Stewart is alive and him and Donna Reed are busy making kids - her eyesight is perfect. No eyeglasses for Donna Reed. But when Jimmy never existed - all of a sudden the librarian / spinster Reed needs eyeglasses. What happened? 

Now you can argue that she needs glasses because as a librarian she reads more books but I'm not buying that. I think Frank Capra was trying to send out a pro-sex message. Sex is so good it makes your eyesight better! Jimmy Stewart's cure for nearsightedness (that would be a good name for a band - well maybe not). 

It's a Wonderful Cure for Bad Eyesight

It's a Wonderful Life is a staple of Christmas and a tradition for many on Christmas Eve but just thinking of it make me need to nitpick on this one little thing that has always bothered/amused me. 

When Jimmy Stewart is alive and him and Donna Reed are busy making kids - her eyesight is perfect. No eyeglasses for Donna Reed. But when Jimmy never existed - all of a sudden the librarian / spinster Reed needs eyeglasses. What happened? 

Now you can argue that she needs glasses because as a librarian she reads more books but I'm not buying that. I think Frank Capra was trying to send out a pro-sex message. Sex is so good it makes your eyesight better! Jimmy Stewart's cure for nearsightedness (that would be a good name for a band - well maybe not). 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous Christmas Night thoughts and observations.

If I was to start a new blog today I'd name it Occasional Reflections on Several Subjects after the book by chemist Robert Boyle. I just like the name... Heh heh - words of wisdom from Henry F. Potter "No man is a failure who has friends. Unless he has no money. Then he's a miserable failure"... Bacon Wrapped Steak Fries...I can't believe I just learned of this!... Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer And Friends: Where Are They Now?... If you are a boxing or poker fan this is well worth your time - interview of Billy Baxter a member of the Poker Hall of Fame and a man who was accused of fixing the Hagler-Leonard fight... Terry Francona's son Nick - the Wharton School graduate and second lieutenant in the USMC. Cool story by Gordon Edes... Hall of Fame pitcher Pud Galvin was born Christmas 1856. He was nicknamed Pud because he made hitters look like "pudding" at the plate not because he was a dick... Ernie Harwell's touching Christmas card to all of Detroit... Fun fact: The official signal for the scramble to evacuate the US Embassy in Saigon 34-yrs ago was the playing of Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’... After tonight's loss the Tennessee Titans are now only 1-9 ATS vs. teams with winning records and is now 0-6 the last 6 times playing the Chargers... Them Crooked Vultures - how could I have not heard of this band?... Hope everyone had a good Christmas...

The Ghost of Todd Karns Inteview

A Large Regular is lucky to have gotten the chance to interview the Ghost of Todd Karns best known to most as the man who played Harry Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life.

GOTK: See that right there was my biggest problem. I was just 25 when that movie was made and despite my good looks and acting background - both of my parent were actors - after that movie I was forever known as the guy who played Harry Bailey. Talk about being typecast. After It's a Wonderful Life I was relegated to either bit TV guest roles or uncredited movie roles because every time went into a casting office the people would say, "Hey - it's Harry Bailey." I had to open my own theater in Mexico to get away from it.

ALR: I'm sorry. I didn't realize.

GOTK: Oh don't get me wrong. I loved that movie. It was great working with all of those folks. Jimmy Stewart, Frank Capra and Donna Reed were as nice in real life as you could possibly imagine. It's just that I guess I get a little bitter that for some reason I was the only one type-cast. It's like Mark Hamill in Star Wars to a lesser degree I guess.

ALR: One of my favorite actors was Ward Bond. He was always great as the buddy or the foil or just an added character in a movie. Besides It's a Wonderful Life he was in Sergeant York, Fort Apache, Gentleman Jim, Mister Roberts and perhaps my favorite Ward Bond role as Father Lonergan in The Quiet Man. I bring him up because there's always been something that bothered me about his role are Bert the Cop in It's a Wonderful Life. At the end when Bert was supposed to have been rushing you from the airport he shows up at George Bailey's house not just with you but also with an accordion which never gets played. What was up with that?

GOTK: You know I don't know but now that you mention it that is strange. It's like a random prop. Why an accordion? If you think about it - it's just as strange as if he showed up with a fishing pole or some other random item. Maybe Ward was supposed to play Ode to Joy on it or something but that got cut. I had never thought about that, "Hey Harry I know we are in an awful rush but can you hold on a minute while I grab my accordion?" That's just strange now that you mention it.

ALR: Thank you so much for your time.

GOTK: You're welcome. And a Merry Christmas to all of your readers.