Very funny cartoon today about the economy, but I think that even with the abuses, we will somehow get out of this mess that we have dug ourselves into. Today in history was the beginning of Paul Revere's ride in 1975. He was an amazingly handsome gentlemen and I still say my friend Tony Westbrook resembles him. Today also would have been the birthday of the great Leopold Stokowski of "Fantasia" fame. He died way back in 1977. What an amazing presence this amazing man commanded in the professional classical musical world. Also today Grace Kelly married Prince Rainer way back in 1956. I actually rode a tour bus on that infamously notorious road that she was killed on way back in 1977. What a bumpy ride that miserable road was-- especially at night. And today is the twentieth anniversary of the students riot for democracy in China. I can still see that student standing in proud defiance in front of that approaching Chinese tank. And today is also the anniversary of the first baseball game played in Yankee Stadium in 1923. The Yankees won against the Boston Red Sox in an almost shut out game of 4-1. And hurray, "Little Bit of Broadway replaced its missing cast member and we had a great rehearsal yesterday. It was really nice to see that happen. Oh yes, today also would have been the birthday of Lucrezia Borgia (she lived only to the age of thirty-nine) Dear old Lucrezia you know murdered a lot of men as the legend goes. John and I became interested in writing a musical about her when we discovered in research that she was actually the illegitimate daughter of a reigning pope! Good Lord! John and I have this idea that maybe dear old Lucrezia murdered all the men she did out of revenge for being the illegitimate daughter of this same pope-- maybe a female "Sweeney Todd". And today was significant in yet another way-- the great San Fransisco earthquake struck early this day in 1906, killing three thousand innocent people and took the city down by fire. Another fact few people know. Enrico Caruso performed in San Francisco the night before and was actually stuck at the city's dock in a bold escape from his burning hotel. Caruso blamed himself for the quake-- because, now get this-- he actually thought that the quake was God's punishment for what he sang ("La Boheme") the night before. So distressed was the great artist, that he vowed never to perform in San Fransisco again-- and he never did. Wow, talk about a guilt trip! John and I would like to write a musical about his night on the docks. What might he have imagined in this disturbed and panicked state of mind? We shall see what happens with this subject.