Johnny Carson Great Gift

Johnny Carson died in January 2005, but even after he died, he continues to be one of the nicest most generous fellows in all of Hollywood. In case you missed the news - he contributed over 150 million dollars to his foundation, the John W. Carson Foundation, which is known for its annual gifts to a wide variety of charities - including the education of children. Lots of people do not understand how foundations work - basically it is a huge chunk of invested assets that are required by law to give away at least 5% of their assets every year. So, if the directors of the foundation do a good job of investing, and say for example they are able to earn 10% on the foundation's assets - the foundation can give more and more money to charity every year - in perpetuity if they continue to invest it well. Oddly enough, Albert Einstein once said man's greatest invention was the power of compounding interest - and indeed, if you follow this example of making 10% compounded on the assets, and giving away 5% - it does not take that long to double the money of the foundations assets, and in turn, double the amount of annual giving. How long? well - about 15 years. 

Okay - enough of the math games.... Johnny Carson of the Tonight Show - TV Comedy at the highest levels of humor. here's Johnny.

A few of my favorites - if time is short. Clip 1 - Clip 2 - Clip 3

To Kill a Mockingbird turns 50!

Fifty years ago, on July 11, 1960 Harper Lee published the most acclaimed American novel - To Kill a Mockingbird (move over Melville, though Mobie Dick is probably a better book. Personally - I would vote for something by Samuel Clemmons, aka Mark Twain... but I digress). While perhaps not the greatest book ever written in America, it is required reading in most high schools across the USA. And indeed, it is a great book. And a few years later in 1962, a great movie was made about the novel, featuring Gregory Peck as Atticus Fitch, Robert Duvall as Boo Radley and William Windam as the very creepy attorney who tried to railroad the innocent black man, Tom Robinson, played by Brock Peters.

So - it is a great time to check out a wonderful movie you probably haven't watched in a long time. One of my favorite parts of the film is the amazing soundtrack by Elmer Bernstein. You can watch right here at LikeTelevision - free. No need to pony up anything more than your time. Enjoy the show. To Kill a Mockingbird.

Skydiving - version 5.0

Yee Haw - For those who have never experienced it, skydiving is a great way to spend a slow day in early days of June. This was my fifth tandem skyjumping try - perhaps the last tandem jump before I venture out and go for it on my own. The process to go for it on your own is different from location to location - where I skydive @ Skydive Carolina - you can read all the details at their web site. It involves a series of jumps, on the first solo, you have two instructors with you the whole time to make sure you pull the ripcord at the proper altitude, and you pretty much have to make a decent landing after getting a bunch of instructions on how one should go about doing this. Anyway - for my fifth tandem jump, I wanted to simulate as much of that as possible with an instructor attached to me the whole time, ummmm - just in case. The steering to the landing zone was no problem, but I still came in a little hard and fast and need to be more cognizant of the flare at the end. If you are looking for a soft and mellow landing, you have to fully extend and pull down hard to de-power the parachute before landing. 

In any event - it was a great time. I included the video below in case you're interested. Skydive Carolina is in the middle of a cool festival that lasts all week - with jumpers from all over the place, and tents with vendors selling techno gear, parachutes, vitamin water was free - and the best part - the people. Truth is - people who jump out of airplanes - are really interesting people as you might imagine. I hope to get out there again sometime over the weekend just to take it all in. What a great time !!!

Igor Sikorsky was one Cool Cat

Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was born on May 25, 1889 in Kiev Russia. He was one major cool man and was a huge innovator in the world of aviation - in both helicopter technology and fixed-wing aircraft, in some ways maybe even more important than the Wright Brothers. He emigrated to the USA on March 11, 1919. You can catch a short video with Sikorsky here. 

Wikipedia has a very good article to learn more about his life. Another very cool aviation film to watch if you like airplanes and aviation history is called Conquest of the Air, with Lawrence Olivier.

Also of note - Sikorsky was a man of great faith. Hey, you'd have to be to invent a working helicopter. Let me close my brief tribute to Sikorsky with a quote:

Our concerns sink into insignificance when compared with the eternal value of human personality - a potential child of God which is destined to triumph over lie, pain, and death. No one can take this sublime meaning of life away from us, and this is the one thing that matters.

Lena Horne Sang like an Angel

This morning I was greeted by the sad news that the great Lena Horne died yesterday, May 9, 2010 at the age of 92 in New York City. She was born in Brooklyn on June 30, 1917 and was aclaimed not only for her talent, but also for her role as an active member of the civil rights movement.

In reading over her obituaries, so much ink is given to her role in breaking barriers in the olden days of entertainment - and she certainly did a great deal. I recalled Halle Berry giving Lena Horne credit when she won the Oscar in 2001. And I am happy to give Lena Horne HUGE credit for all the hardships she endured in those days. Part of what made Lena Horne amazing was her tireless work for justice and equal rights. But I grew up as a child in the 1960s and anyone with an education was pretty aware that racism was just stupid. Yes, I know pockets of racism remain, but it is far removed from my universe. My problem is with racists, not people with a different skin color or culture than me.

What I will always remember about Lena was how she could sing a song. I will never ever forgot - WOW, Lena Horne could sing like an angel. So, allow me to write about how great a singer she was. About how her heart just overflowed and burst on every note. She was THAT good.

I heard her perform as a young boy at a place called Melody Top in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Melody Top was a giant tent at a place called the Schlitz Pavillion. The sound system was very good for its day and because it was a huge tent, and a singer could sing without all the room reflections creating a gargle of echos that made it difficult to hear. And as a young kid of maybe 9 or 10 - I was able to just listen to her sing without all the back story of racial tensions, breaking barriers, and civil rights. As I think back about it - how lucky I was to have this opportunity. And even though four decades have passed, I still get goosebumps remembering that day. This little boy was convinced she was an angel, and that this is what angels must sound like when they sing. No doubt about it - Lena Horne sang like an angel.

Anyway - give yourself that same blessing. Just close your eyes, and listen to Lena Horne sing.You can wring your hands about all the troubles in the world in just a few short minutes. Go into a world of childlike wonder - and ask yourself, I wonder if this is what angels sound like? Rest in peace Lena Horne. And may God bless you and keep you safe.

Audrey Hepburn Rocks!

On May 4. 1929 - Audrey Kathleen Ruston, a.k.a. Audrey Hepburn, was born in Ixelles, Belgium. She spent her childhood growing up in Nazi occupied Arnhem, Netherlands during World War II where she learned to be a little ballerina (and you thought her graceful movements just came naturally). When she was 21, she moved to London to continue her ballet training and also got some work as a model. In a few short years, she moved to New York and got the lead role in the Broadway show Gigi in 1951.And two years later in 1953, she was starring with Gregory Peck in one of her best films, Roman Holiday. During her film career, she worked with many other stars including Humphrey Bogart, Rex Harrison, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Peter O'Toole, George Peppard, and Albert Finney.

One of my favorite Audrey Hepburn movies is Charade, where she plays a woman who gets tangled in a crazy web of international intrigue and falls in love with a man (Cary Grant) who loves her, but is also not very truthful to her because of his job as a secret agent of sorts. The film also stars Walter Matthau, James Coburn, and George Kennedy, The film is directed by the great Stanley Donen, with a killer musical score by Henry Mancini.

Classic Tax Videos - Granny vs. The Revenue Man

Time to repeat an olde post - that is always new each year at this time. 
You asked for it, here we go again with some higher taxes! To mitigate the horror, we've provided some TV comedy classics about the tax man. First place goes to Granny, who is ready to shoot the revenue man since he might also wanna mess with her still by the cement pond that makes her Spring Tonic. The episode is called Jed Pays His Taxes. Now imagine the I.R.S. has a worst nightmare, what would that person be like. Well look no further - I think Grace Allen would win this prize. Check out 2 hilarious episodes where Gracie's spacey intellect get the best of The Tax Man and the Property Tax Assessor.

You might also want to check out the Frank Random preview of My Man Godfrey, where Eugene Pallette laments that his family spends 50% of his income while the federal government wants 60% for taxes. One final tax video concerns Al Capone, who went to jail for tax evasion.

Ooops, we forgot to mention this yesterday - but April 14th is the day the Titanic sunk after it hit an iceberg. Make sure you check out the One Step Beyond episode about the Titanic called the Night of April 14th. We offer that episode with 2 other episodes as a DVD iso download to subscribers or a la carte. But no worries TV fans, the Flash and Real streams are free to watch.