Hello!

Partly inspired by John Kirk’s efforts twenty years ago to locate a missing musical number called ‘Coffee Break’, Joe Baltake takes on the larger issues behind the show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, both on stage and film. It is indeed a favorite, partly because the writer-director David Swift befriended me back at MGM. Baltake’s September 4 entry at The Passionate Moviegoer is the one to read, but I will put in a plug for my short piece that stirred the pot on this issue back in 1998: Wanted: The Missing ‘Coffee Break’ Scene.

A great article by Beth Daniels over at Smithsonian.com caught my fancy — it’s How Bullwinkle Taught Kids Sophisticated Political Satire. That’s Bullwinkle J. Moose, I’ll remind you. Thanks to Edward Sullivan, who gave me the tip for this item. Unlike Savant, author Daniels was too young to see The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle when it was new. Since we kids in 1960 hadn’t a clue about many of the show’s cultural and political references, she must really have been confused ten years later, when kids had no way of knowing what a big deal Hula Hoops were.

Actually, I only think it was Edward that sent me this link … Edward Sullivan has been sending me meaningful and useful notes and links forever. I checked, and since he started in 2005, there have been 571 emails from Ed, all of them with something really valuable enclosed. I up ‘n’ blab that information in this way because I’m against the Facebook idea of a rolling obituary, where we only find out who the good guys were, famous or just friends, after they’re gone. So thanks, again Ed.

And, as Gary Teetzel reminds me, the holidays are just around the corner, and you know, I never felt it was a bad idea to, you know, suggest little gift ideas when they arise! Gary found the ideal item, and now we just have to figure out the price. A part of my completely non-binding ‘gift suggestion’ today appears in the photo above. Assuming the link still works, you can see all of it at this Bonham’s Auction Page link. Hey, thanks in advance! I won’t ask for new car until next year.

Thanks for reading — Glenn Erickson