Oh, wow - great story! And being a grandma myself, I'm totally down with this!

Where's my umbrella? :D

Cool bit of history there. Glad to see someone who's not blathering about what a righteous dude John Brown was. Sheesh. Don't people even read history any more? Facts, people! Cherish 'em.

This puts me in mind of something I once saw when I accidentally turned on Charlie Rose one night. His guest was that heinous idiot, Quentin Tarantino, who was in the process of declaiming that the GREATEST AMERICAN WHO EVER LIVED - the one all schoolchildren should be taught to look up to and emulate - greater than Lincoln or Washington or ANYONE - was John Brown.

Well, I always knew there was a reason I've never watched one of Tarantino's movies - apart from the gratuitous violence, of course - and this just confirmed it! The man is as nutso as John Brown, who was crazy as the original bedbug, and murderous as well. And heck, if I remember correctly, the first man he got killed at Harper's Ferry was a free black man! Some hero.

You are so right, Simon. I'm about 3/4 of the way though Liberal Fascism and although I consider myself something of a historian (amateur but well-read), I'm learning an incredible amount from Mr. Goldberg. I cannot recomment this book highly enough!

Not a fan of late-night tv, except for an occasional bit of Craig Ferguson, but I always thought Conan was a dreadful replacement for Leno, who at least manages to interview interesting guests without acting like a hyperactive five-year-old. Of course, nothing would make me watch Letterman, who's the most condescending, annoying, ego-inflated host on tv - well, except for some of those "ladies" on The View.

I'd say that NBC (aka Nothing But Crap) was done, except that there's still one bright spot on Monday night, which has sparked a new nickname - Nothing But Chuck! Hehehehehe.....

Hmmm... I'm going to see the film with a young friend (not THAt young, she's 21) tomorrow and I'm frankly curious now about just how dark it's going to be.

Not that I mind the dark stuff. I just hope the film contains at least one of those wonderful moments (part of what Tolkien called the "eucatastrophe") that lift your heart and make your spirit soar. Such moments are rare and usually depend partly on marvelous music underlying the action but they do happen - heck, there was one in the recent film "UP!" And another which I've always remembered is in "The Dark Crystal" when Jen and Kira leap onto the Landstriders and race off to save their world from the evil Skeksis. Just for a few seconds, music and action and a sense of wonder literally take one's breath away!

Thank you, Mr. Bernero, for standing up for what is right. (Should I mention that Criminal Minds is my fave network show?)

I'd sure like to know what my old high school buddy, the current editor of the Hollywood Reporter, thinks of all this, but she never answers her e-mail. *sigh*

You don't have the slightest clue about Islam, either. Because I don't have time to argue, I suggest that you go and read Brigitte Gabriel's new book, "They Must Be Stopped" and then come back and apologize for being an uninformed moron.

THANK YOU! As a historian, I get rather annoyed with blanket judgments on an entire decade when, as you said, the target should be '68 and the next few years. Heck, during the early sixties, I was in high school and we had great music! Lots of soul and R&B and even great pop songs, many of which I have stashed on my MP3 player for when I need to listen to Really Good Stuff.

And sorry to disagree, Robert and Ren, but there were some damn fine music that came out of the late '60s and early '70s - I know, I was listening! You may not "like" some of it but c'mon, let's not be like the libs and over-generalize, 'k?

Oh, puh-leeze!

But hey, I heard a talking head (young Cuomo?) on GMA this morning talking about the Peepul's "right" to health care. Er... excuse me?

My response to the news this morning?

"Somewhere... Mary Jo is smiling."