HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Today is day one hundred and thirteen of the year 2010 and today would have been the birthday of the "Great Bard of Avon", himself, William Shakespeare. I wrote a celebrated musical back in 1982 (I actually began in 1980) in which dear old William was a central character --cousin to my protagonist, Nicholas Atwood. It was called "Skylark" and it was produced locally and in New York and someday I will get it back on its feet. Shakespeare was only fifty-two years old when he died on this very same date in the year 1616. A brief life for such a genius. Such is the way with great minds-- they tend notto have strong bodies to match. On this date in 1969, Sirhan, Sirhan, the assassin of Robert Kennedy was sentenced to death-- later to have his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. I adored Bobby Kennedy. I really thought our lives would be seriously improved with his election as president. Literature wise, April 23rd is the date we lost the author and Spanish poet Cervantes-- who also gave us Don Quixote. In the category of great mistakes, this was the day that the Coca-Cola company announced it was changing its secret formula. Do you remember the outcry of that poor decision? You never saw anything reversed so quickly! In California on this date the world lost labor leader Caesar Chavez and the sports world lost Howard Cossell who died at age seventy-seven. How well I remember dear old Howard, Today in history George Washington and Martha moved into the first Executive Mansion-- no, not the White House: it was the Franklin House in New York City. Today is also "YOU TUBE'S Fifth birthday-- it uploaded its first video only five years ago. For music fans, this was the day that the Rolling Stones released their hit album "Sticky Fingers". Amazingly today is the 82nd birthday of former child star Shirley Temple. That should make you feel old! Lee Majors, the Six Million Dollar Man turns seventy-one and in music history one of my very favorite composers Sergey Prokofiev, composer of "Peter and The Wolf" was born on this day in 1891. He died at 62. It's a beautifully sunny day here after three days of rain and overcast.

EARTH DAY AND REMEMBERING ELIAN GONZALEZ

Happy Earth Day everyone. Today is the 40th anniversary of the newest unofficial holiday. Today we try to observe conservation and appreciate the good things of this earth. Recycling waste and counting our many blessings. The author of Earth day was former Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson. How about that--Wisconsin has provided someone noble after giving the country a real rotten egg-- Joseph McCarthy in the 1950's. Today in 1994, Richard M. Nixon breathed his last after suffering a stroke only four days earlier. In 1864, Congress authorized the phrase "In God We Trust" for the first time on US coins. Interestingly enough, it would have been the birthday of Isabella the First-- who died at fifty-three. Isabella of course was the very rich queen who gave Christopher Columbus the money to discover America-- well sort of as we understand it now! But interestingly enough it is also the 10th anniversary of the round up of Elian Gonzalez, the ten year Cuban refugee who was placed in a crude row boat with then others to find freedom in America. I wrote a lyric about way back then (ten years ago) and I thought I would share it with you all:

ELIAN ELIAN_____
Adios Amigo, Elian

Little boy lost who has found his home
Cuba called your name.
Your portrait there was everywhere
But all this was a game
Now down have come the billboards
From the streets and byways there
The silence: almost deafening
Could it be they just don’t care?
Anymore,_________

Elian Elian
Adios Amigo, Elian!
ELIAN ELIAN_____
Adios Amigo, Elian

Little boy lost who has found his home
Cuba called your name.
Your portrait there was everywhere
But all this was a game
Now down have come the billboards
From the streets and byways there
The silence: almost deafening
Could it be they just don’t care?
Anymore,_________

Elian Elian
Adios Amigo, Elian!

ELIAN ELIAN_____
Adios Amigo, Elian

Little boy lost who has found his home
Cuba called your name.
Your portrait there was everywhere
But all this was a game
Now down have come the billboards
From the streets and byways there
The silence: almost deafening
Could it be they just don’t care?
Anymore,_________

Elian Elian
Adios Amigo, Elian!

Gone away: the imposing crowds
Have they gone home for good?
Gone away: That little one
Before he ever should
Sequestered from the public view
A symbol Castro played
Like an inexpensive violin
While the mesmerized just prayed

Missing you, Elian
Adios Amigo, Elian
Elian, Elian
Adios Amigo, Elian

What will his bold great future hold?
On this dying isle?
No magic here; its disappeared
So long ago it died
We must listen to our children
They will tell you what they feel
What’s inside their hearts each day
If its make believe
Or real_______________

Elian, Elian,
God is with you, everyday
Dear Elian

Our Freedom’s land
Should not be banned from this boy’s view
Why make him stay
Where people pray
To run away to find their joy
He’s just a little boy
Why must the minority

Decide which dreams come true?
Elian Elian
Love your father now
You’ll return somehow
To the land OF the free
Elian, Elian
In your heart your dream will earn
Reality, Reality___________
Elian, Elian,
Adios for now
You’ll return somehow
Elian, Elian
Obey your father now
You’ll return somehow
Elian, Elian!
Adios Amigo, Elian!

Gone away: the imposing crowds
Have they gone home for good?
Gone away: That little one
Before he ever should
Sequestered from the public view
A symbol Castro played
Like an inexpensive violin
While the mesmerized just prayed

Missing you, Elian
Adios Amigo, Elian

And now it’s done
What will become of this boy’s dreams?
He’s but a paragon, a symbol
So it seems
The sacrifice his mother made
Is lost forever too
Cuba has been cruel
Perhaps she’s made a fool out of you

Elian, Elian
Adios Amigo, Elian

What will his bold great future hold?
On this dying isle?
No magic here; its disappeared
So long ago it died
We must listen to our children
They will tell you what they feel
What’s inside their hearts each day
If its make believe
Or real_______________

Elian, Elian,
God is with you, everyday
Dear Elian

Our Freedom’s land
Should not be banned from this boy’s view
Why make him stay
Where people pray
To run away to find their joy
He’s just a little boy
Why must the minority

Decide which dreams come true?
Elian Elian
Love your father now
You’ll return somehow
To the land OF the free
Elian, Elian
In your heart your dream will earn
Reality,
Reality___________
Elian, Elian,
Audious for now
You’ll return somehow
Elian, Elian
Obey your father now
You’ll return somehow
Elian, Elian!
Adios Amigo, Elian! (Fade out)

Gone away: the imposing crowds
Have they gone home for good?
Gone away: That little one
Before he ever should
Sequestered from the public view
A symbol Castro played
Like an inexpensive violin
While the mesmerized just prayed

Missing you, Elian
Adios Amigo, Elian

And now it’s done
What will become of this boy’s dreams?
He’s but a paragon, a symbol
So it seems
The sacrifice his mother made
Is lost forever too
Cuba has been cruel
Perhaps she’s made a fool out of you

Elian, Elian
Adios Amigo, Elian

What will his bold great future hold?
On this dying isle?
No magic here; its disappeared
So long ago it died
We must listen to our children
They will tell you what they feel
What’s inside their hearts each day
If its make believe
Or real_______________

Elian, Elian,
God is with you, everyday
Dear Elian

Our Freedom’s land
Should not be banned from this boy’s view
Why make him stay
Where people pray
To run away to find their joy
He’s just a little boy
Why must the minority

Decide which dreams come true?
Elian Elian
Love your father now
You’ll return somehow
To the land OF the free
Elian, Elian
In your heart your dream will earn
Reality,
Reality___________
Elian, Elian,
Adios for now
You’ll return somehow
Elian, Elian
Obey your father now
You’ll return somehow
Elian, Elian!
Adios Amigo, Elian! (Fade out)

ONE HUNDRED YEARS WITHOUT MARK TWAIN

At 6:20 pm EDT (3:20 pm, here on the coast, I would hope there might be a moment of silence and ultimate respect. For it was on this date that Samuel Clemens, the great"Mark Twain passed from this weary Earth one hundred years ago this very day. The man who was born in the year of Hayley's Comet and died in the year of a returning Hayley's comet died after a full day of peace albeit of a broken heart. Mr. Twain had lost much in his life (a wife, two daughters, an infants son not to mention a fortune in wealth) but he was bar none one of the best authors of the entire world. My favorite sayings of his are "I think God created man because he was disappointed in the monkey" and "It's man idea, you see that the Deity sits up night and admires him" and perhaps the funniest "Man is actually God's second favorite creature. He's right there between the housefly and the French" The day of his passing is so inspiring. Death was very kind to Mark Twain. Although the end had been foreseen by the doctors and would not have been a shock at any time, the apparently strong rally of the morning of this day had given basis for the hope that his passing would be postponed for several days. Mr. Clemens awoke at about 4 o'clock this morning after a few hours of the first natural sleep he has had for several days, and the nurses could see by the brightness of his eyes that his vitality had been considerably restored. He was able to raise his arms above his head and clasp them behind his neck with the first evidence of physical comfort he had given for a long time. His strength seemed to increase enough to allow him to enjoy the sunrise, the first signs of which he could see out of the windows in the three sides of the room where he lay. The increasing sunlight seemed to bring ease to him, and by the time the family was about he was strong enough to sit up in bed and overjoyed them by recognizing all of them and speaking a few words to each. This was the first time that his mental powers had been fully his for nearly two days, with the exception of a few minutes early last evening, when he addressed a few sentences to his daughter.
For two hours he lay in bed enjoying the feeling of this return of strength. Then he made a movement asked in a faint voice for the copy of Carlyle's "French Revolution," which he has always had near him for the last year, and which he has read and re-read and brooded over. The book was handed to him, and he lifted it up as if to read. Then a smile faintly illuminated his face when he realized that he was trying to read without his glasses. He tried to say, "Give me my glasses," but his voice failed, and the nurses bending over him could not understand. He motioned for a sheet of paper and a pencil, and wrote what he could not say.
With his glasses on he read a little and then slowly put the book down with a sigh. Soon he appeared to become drowsy and settled on his pillow. Gradually he sank and settled into a lethargy. Dr. Halsey appreciated that he could have been roused, but considered it better for him to rest. At 3 o'clock he went into complete unconsciousness. Later Dr. Quintard, who had arrived from New York, held a consultation with Dr. Halsey, and it was decided that death was near. The family was called and gathered about the bedside watching in a silence which was long unbroken. It was the end. At twenty-two minutes past 6, with the sunlight just turning red as it stole into the window in perfect silence he breathed his last. The people of Redding, Bethel, and Danbury listened when they were told that the doctors said Mark Twain was dying of angina pectoris. But they say among themselves that he died of a broken heart. And this is a verdict not of popular sentiment alone. Albert Bigelow Paine, his biographer to be and literary executor, who has been constantly with him, said that for the last year at least Mr. Clemens had been weary of life. When Richard Watson Gilder died, he said: "How fortunate he is. No good fortune of that kind ever comes to me."The man who has stood to the public for the greatest humorist this country has produced has in private life suffered overwhelming sorrows. The loss of an only son in infancy, a daughter in her teens and one in middle life, and finally of a wife who was a constant and sympathetic companion, has preyed upon his mind. The recent loss of his daughter Jean, who was closest to him in later years when her sister was abroad studying, was the final blow. On the heels of this came the first symptoms of the disease which was surely to be fatal and one of whose accompaniments is mental depression. Mr. Paine says that all heart went out of him and his work when his daughter Jean died. He has practically written nothing since he summoned his energies to write a last chapter memorial of her for his autobiography.He told his biographer that the past Winter in Bermuda was gay but not happy. Bermuda is always gay in Winter and Mark Twain was a central figure in the gaiety. He was staying at the home of William H. Allen. Even in Bermuda, however, Mr. Clemens found himself unable to write and finally relied on Mr. Allen's fifteen-year old daughter, Helen, to write the few letters he cared to send.His health failed rapidly and finally Mr. Allen wrote to Albert Bigelow Paine that his friend was in a most serious condition. Mr. Paine immediately cabled to Mrs. Babrilowitsch, his surviving daughter, who was in Europe, and started himself on April 2 for Bermuda, embarking with the humorist for the return to New York immediately after his arrival. On the trip over Mark Twain became very much worse and finally realized his condition."It's a losing game," he said to his companion. "I'll never get home alive."
Mr. Clemens did manage to summon his strength, however, and in spite of being so weak that he had to be carried down the gangplank he survived the journey to his beautiful place at Redding. The first symptom of angina pectoris came last June when he went to Baltimore to address a young ladies school. In his room at the hotel he was suddenly taken with a terrible gripping at the heart. It soon passed away, however, and he was able to make an address with no inconvenience. The pains however, soon returned with more frequency and steadily grew worse until they became a constant torture. One of the last acts of Mark Twain was to write out a check for $6,000 for the library in which the literary coterie settled near Redding have been interested for a year; fairs, musicales, and sociables having been held in order to raise the necessary amount. The library is to be a memorial to Jean Clemens, and will be built on a site about half a mile from Stormfield at ... Cross Roads. It is certain to be recalled that Mark Twain was for more than fifty years an inveterate smoker, and the first conjecture of the layman would be that he had weakened his heart by overindulgence in tobacco. Dr. Halsey said to-night that he was unable to say that the angina pectoris from which Mark Twain died was in any way [related to] nicotine poisoning. Some constitutions, he said, seem immune from the effects of tobacco, and his was one of them. Yet it is true that since his illness began the doctors had cut down Mark Twain's daily allowance of twenty cigars and countless pipes to four cigars a day.
No deprivation was a greater sorrow to him. He tried to smoke on the steamer while returning from Bermuda, and only gave it up because he was too feeble to draw on his pipe. Even on his death bed when passed the point of speech, and it was no longer certain that his ideas were held, he would make the motion of waiving a cigar, and smiling expel empty air from under the mustache still stained with smoke. So at 3:20 this afternoon on the West Coast and 6:20 on the east let us raise a glass to the great Mark Twain: one of the best authors of all time. One of the wittiest and greatest writing talents who ever lived. I am glad to hear that Mr. Hal Holbrook will again be doing Mr. Twain on stage in "Mark Twain Tonight", especially now that his own wife Dixie Carter has passed. Mr. Holbrook is amazing as Mark Twain I will tell you that! God love you, Mark Twain! You have brought much joy into my life. I even portrayed you once at a tribute to a makeup artist who spent a great deal of time making me up to look like you! It was a grand day-- and it actually led to my association with the Gallery Theatre and my writing of musicals. Funny in life how one thing leads so amazingly to another!

FUNNY THEY DON'T LOOK LIKE KILLERS

Funny-- they don't look like killers. But here is Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold who on this day (Adolph Hitler's birthday) in 1999 conducted one of the worst violent sieges upon a high school ever witnessed. The high school was Columbine. The state was Colorado. The town was Littleton. As a songwriter I had written a song called Littleton & Columbine as a comfort to the great citizens and students of this besieged institution. I received a beautiful thank you card. The lyrics for the song went like this:

LITTLETON AND COLUMBINE
MIGHT I CALL YOU FRIENDS OF MINE?
FOR I HAVE SHARED
THESE YEARS OF YOUR GREAT SORROW
I KNOW THE TEARS THAT CLOUD YOUR EYES
I FEEL THE FEARS YOU SHOW
I KNOW THE ANGUISH OF YOUR CHILDREN
I LOST MY SON TO VIOLENCE

SO
LITTLETON AND COLUMBINE
MIGHT I SHARE THAT CUP OF WINE
DO NOT DESPAIR FOR I AM THERE BESIDE YOU
YOU WONDER IN YOUR HEART
WHY VIOLENCE PLAYS A PART
IN THIS GOOD EARTH
THAT I HAVE GIVEN FREELY

Bridge:

I’VE SENT MY MESSAGE
TO THE WORLD FOR AGES
THE PAGES OF YOUR HISTORY
KNOWS THIS WELL
THOSE WHO FOLLOW FAITHFULLY
THE TEACHING OF MY SON
WILL SEE THE RIVERS
FILLED WITH QUESTIONS
EMPTY TILL THERE’S NOT A SINGLE ONE

LITTLETON AND COLUMBINE
DON’T QUAKE AT THIS EVIL SIGN
FOR I LOVE THE WORLD
LIKE THE VERY DAY I MADE IT
BUT I CAN NOT SHIELD YOU
FROM THE EVIL ‘THAT COMES 'ROUND YOU
THE BANEFUL ONE WILL LOSE HIS BATTLE
IF YOU JOIN YOUR HEARTS
IN PRAYER


OH LITTLETON AND COLUMBINE
HERE’S A RAINBOW IN THE SKY
MEMORIZE EACH COLOR AS A BLESSING
COME TOGETHER EVERY ONE
THERE’S A JOB THAT MUST BE DONE
THE SOULS YOU KNEW
ARE HERE TO PLEAD WITH YOU

DETERMINE THAT YOU’LL CHANGE THINGS
DON’T JUST RE-ARRANGE THINGS
NO ONE LOVES YOU ALL MORE THAN ME
NO ONE LOVES YOU MORE THAN ME

Copyright 1999 by Mike Ricciardi

APRIL 19tTH --A VERY BIG IDAY N HISTORY

On this date in 1775, The American Revolution began with the battle of Lexington and Concord. It is also the birthday of one of the five original writers of the Declaration-- Mr. Roger Sherman. The others being of course Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Robert Livingston. Did you know that we actually did better in the Revolution than we did in the war of 1812-- which technically we lost and surrendered after the British burned down Washington D.C. We somehow came out on top because before the news of the surrender reached the southern battle states there came the stunning victory at the Battle of New Orleans thanks to Andrew Jackson and his collaboration with the pirate king Lafitte. Thankfully, the British didn't want the colonies back at that time - the whole issue of the war had been Brittan press ganging our merchant sailors into the British navy to fight Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars. Actually, France was doing the same thing and there was great debate (especially after the XYZ affair) on which country to go to war with. All the presidents that we had in this period wanted America to be neutral in all wars as Switzerland is today! Too bad we didn't follow dear little Switzerland's example. And this day in history is significant for even more famous events. General Douglas MacArthur gave his farewell address to Congress after being fired by President Harry S. Truman. I personally think he was right. I believe sometimes just like our Revolution, one must strike as the iron is hot. MacArthur said on that fateful day: "Today I am closing my 52 years of military service. When I joined the Army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that "old soldiers never die; they just fade away." And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Good Bye. But this day holds more. The fifty-one day siege at Waco ended on this date in 1993 and the Oklahoma Federal Building Bombing happened on this day in 1995. The Pope celebrates his five year anniversary of being elected and dear Mel Brooks had the ultimate success of his life when great crowds formed for the opening of his first musical on Broadway "The Producers" based on his 1968 film. That movie was supposed to be a musical way back then, but as Mel was shopping around New York City, every producer in town told him that he had "too many sets" and should only be a movie. Evidently Mel thought no more about it until his late wife Anne Bancroft talked him into taking "The Producers" to Broadway in 1999. Today in the "I feel old" department Tim Curry turns sixty-four years old and Elinor Donahue, the eldest daughter in Robert Young's television classic "Father Knows Best" turns seventy-three. I'm off to Disneyland today to turn in my paperwork for availability for the upcoming Summer season.

A KILLER QUAKE IN 1906 AND A FAMOUS RIDE

On this date in 1906, the largest known California earthquake struck San Francisco all before 6am on that most fateful day. Enrico Caruso had been performing in the city only the night before. When the quake hit the next morning that literally knocked him out of bed, he became convinced that he had caused the quake by performing in an opera disliked by God. You laugh? Caruso vowed he would never sing in the city again for the rest of his life and he never did. Three thousand people died not so much from the earthquake itself, but from the devastating fires that followed. People were still homeless and living in tents up to twp years later. Also on this date Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charleston to Lexington warning the American colonists that the British were coming. How many of you know that world famous poem that goes "Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere"? Today also was the day that the Irish Republic was proclaimed . Since I was born in 1947-- that makes me older than the Irish Republic by two whole years! -- good grief! Also on this date, actress Grace Kelly married Prince Ranier of Monaco in 1956 and most important this was the day that Chinese students rebelled against the Chinese government in Tianamen Square. I find it fascinating that the last of the Communist governments began to be challenged by underdog students on the very day that Paul Revere made his historic ride. And on this day in 1923. the first baseball game was played at Yankee Stadium in 1923. And in the this ought to make you feel old department actress Hayley Mills (yes, friends, dear old Pollyanna turns sixty-four years of age today. Imagine that! It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon here in the Valley and I have the day off-- how nice! And i still say Paul Revere resembles my dear friend Tony Westbrook!

ASH IN THE AIR--STILL

What a mess it is for stranded air travelers in Europe! That Iceland volcano that hasn't blown its top in more than two hundred years has certainly made up for lost time. Travelers endured spreading chaos on Saturday, as an Icelandic volcano continued to spew ash that winds pushed south and east over an increasing portion of the European continent, causing more airports to shut and thousands of flights to be canceled. Volcanologists had no reliable prediction of how long the eruption would continue, as travelers scrambled for train reservations, rental cars and hotel rooms. Others simply searched for comfortable benches in airports, which were considerably calmer and emptier than on Friday as passengers realized that no flights would be going in or out. Europe’s three largest airports — London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Paris-Charles de Gaulle — were all shut on Saturday, with officials hoping that flights could resume sometime Sunday or, more likely, Monday. Britain, France, Germany and Ireland banned most commercial air traffic for another day. Britain extended its ban until at least 7 a.m. on Sunday, while France said its main airports would be closed until at least 8 a.m. on Monday. European airlines said that up to 70 percent of flights scheduled for Saturday were canceled as backlogs increased. Historians take note! An Historical day is today-- for way back in 1961, The United States participated in the forced overthrow of Fidel Castro and his Communist government. This little fiasco was better known as the Bay of Pigs invasion. Well sometimes good ideas go very badly and this went as badly as any covert operation ever could. On this day in 1790, we lost the wise and wonderful Benjamin Franklin at the age of eighty-four. What an amazing statesman, inventor, politician and ambassador dear Mr. Franklin was. And on this day in 1964, the Ford Motor Company released the first Mustang in 1964. This is my last working day at Disneyland today for a couple of weks at least. I sure wish I could just get to be a CR and avoid this nonsense! John and I made another Vermont deadline and we are quite happy about that.

AN HISTORIC DAY

A very historic day is today. For on April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed by actor John Wilkes Booth at a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. The lithograph of the event is one of the finest reproductive renderings of the event still around. As a reminder, Abraham Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated. The brother of Booth, Julius Booth was also (and even more so) a famous actor than his disturbed brother. Following the death of Lincoln, dear Julius, beset with grief retired from the stage for two long years after the assassination. Of course most people know that Lincoln's guard John Frederick Parker supposedly fell asleep (which today would have gotten him executed) but other accounts claim that he went off to a tavern with Lincoln's footman and just never returned to his post (same difference) But what most people do not know is that the death of Lincoln might have been prevented except for the hatred of two women: Mary Todd Lincoln and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant. Grant and his wife had been invited to Ford's theatre that fateful night and Booth planned to shot Lincoln and stab Grant, while others were to kill William Seward and Andrew Johnson,the vice president. But Booth's wife threatened to divorce Grant in public if he "compelled her" to sit in that same theatre box with "that woman". Grant had a bodyguard that would have made others pale in comparison. He was a huge mountain man. There was simply no way that John Wilkes Booth could have gotten past this huge "mountain of a man". That same afternoon when Grant very quietly declined Lincoln's invitation because of the two women's conflict, Major Henry Rathbone accepted instead along with his fiancee Clara Harris. The original plot had simply been a kidnapping of the president, but after Booth heard Lincoln proposing to give voting privileges to black, Booth declared that that was the last speech Abraham Lincoln would ever give. It was. The play that night was "Our American Cousin'. Booth knew not only Ford's Theatre layout very well, but knew the play backwards and forwards. Booth knew where all of the "laugh lines" were. That night on stage, actor Henry Hawk was performing as "Cousin Asa" and remarking to the matron actress the following line: "Well, I guess I know you well enough to turn you inside out, old gal: you sockdollingy old man trap" -- There was a big a laugh from the audience: Booth leaned forward and shot Lincoln directly into his head. Lincoln slumped forward, Mary Todd screamed and Major Rathbone lunged forward and tried to stoop Booth from escaping. Booth stabbed in the arm and as he tried to escape Rathbone tried again and got stabbed again. Wilkes Booth climbed over the box railing. His riding spur caught on the US treasury flag. He landed on the stage and broke his fibula. The rest as they say is well known history. It is amazing that a mere three days before his assassination Lincoln dreamed that he was wandering a weeping and wailing White House. When he asked "Who is killed in the White House?" The answer was "The president." Amazingly enough the day of his killing, Abraham Lincoln was in the happiest mood he had been in a long time. Mary Todd didn't like his optimism and called it "bad luck" Lincoln ignored her. Amazingly enough on the very day of the killing Lincoln met with Vice President Andrew Johnson: their first meeting since Johnson had shown up at the White House intoxicated on Inauguration Day. Can you imagine the ramifications of Wilkes Booth original plan: the murder of Frant, the murder of Andrew Johnson and the slaying by knife of William Seward. Seward was to cause Andrew Johnson great trouble in his succession term of Lincoln and it was Seward who had arranged for the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Seward was ridiculed for that little buy out. Can you imagine what would have happened without it? By the way, dear readers, next April 12th-- in 2011 will be the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War. This indeed is something to think of. Just how far this nation has gone in a brief century and a half.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEL GREY

Happy 78th birthday to one of my favorite all time performers, Mr. Joel Grey. What a sweet and very friendly man. I got to meet him once working for Ritz Camera. Actress Jenifer Grey is his daughter. Joel originated the role of the Master of Ceremonies in the Broadway musical Cabaret in 1966 for which he won the Tony Award. Additional Broadway credits include Come Blow Your Horn (1961), Stop the World - I Want to Get Off (1962), Half a Sixpence (1965),the title role in George M! (1968), Goodtime Charley (1975), The Grand Tour (1979), Chicago (1996), and the role of the not so wonderful Wizard of Oz in the Stephen Schwartz mega hit Wicked (2003). In November 1995, he performed as the Wizard in The Wizard Of Oz In Concert called Dreams Come True a staged concert of the popular story at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT) in November 1995, and released on CD and video in 1996. Dear Joel won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1972 for his performance as the Master of Ceremonies in the film version of Cabaret. His victory was part of a Cabaret near-sweep, which saw Liza Minnelli win Best Actress and Bob Fosse win Best Director, although it lost the Best Picture Oscar to The Godfather. Joel won over front-runner Al Pacino for the Best Supporting Actor while Fosse won over Francis Ford Coppola as Best Director. For that role, Joel also won the BAFTA award for "The Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles" and a Tony Award six years prior, making him one of only eight people who have won both a Tony Award and an Academy Award for the same role. He has performed at The Muny in St. Louis, Missouri in roles such as George M. Cohan in George M! (1970 and 1992) , the Emcee in Cabaret (1971), and Joey Evans in Pal Joey (1983).
Grey appeared as a panelist for the television game show "What's My Line?" in the 1967 season, as well as being the first mystery guest during its syndication in 1968. He was the guest star for the third episode of The Muppet Show in its first season in 1976, singing "Razzle Dazzle" from Chicago and "Willkommen" from Cabaret. In 1991, he played Adam, a devil, in the final episode of the TV series Dallas (1991). In 1993 he received an "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" Emmy nomination for his recurring role as Jacob Prossman on the television series Brooklyn Bridge. In 1995, he made a guest appearance on Star Trek: Voyager as an aging rebel seeking to free his (deceased) wife from prison. In 2000, Joel Grey played Oldrich Novy in the film "Dancer in the Dark" and had recurring television roles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer He has appeared on the shows House and Brothers & Sisters (2007), on the latter of which he played the role of Dr. Bar-Shalom, Sarah and Joe's marriage counselor. He appeared as Izzie's high school teacher who needs treatment for dementia in Grey's Anatomy (2009). Mu condolences to dear Hal Holbrook. Hal's wife of over twenty-five years Dixie Carter passed away on Saturday. Dixie used to come in into Ritz Camera all the time. I once found a purse she had drooped at the store which contained all of her and Hal's credit cards! Boy, was she grateful to get that back. The last full week of Easter break crowds will arrive and leave Disneyland today, but the park will remain open until 11pm the upcoming week to accommodate the late Easter Breakers. John and I made our Vermont deadline again and we go on trying to win this competition. It;s expected to rain today after a week of beautifully warm sunny weather.

DISNEYLAND 2010 SPRING BREAK CROWDS

I have now been working at two different holiday seasons at still my favorite place in the world: Disneyland. This picture shows a small sample of Easter Break 2010's crowds. Now trust me when I tell you: I come from a long long history in retail sales, but I have never seen such a constant flow of happy people happily spending money as if there were no recession and no money worries. I worked for Ritz Cameras for many years and if they had had even one third of the crowds my little Disneyland Emporium gets, they would still have the almost thirteen hundred stores that they once enjoyed. I came to work at 8pm last night (A Thursday)- the crowds at my register never stopped. The average purchase was well over a hundred bucks plus and people who came from British Columbia, Washington State, Arizona and the Bay Area was absolutely outstanding. Those Mad Hatter hats complete with red frilly hair sell in droves-- can you imagine spending forty bucks plus tax on a hat t=you could only wear at Halloween and at Disneyland? Of course, we all should knows that the movie starring Johnny Depp did absolutely amazing box office. I think it would really please Walt Disney to see just how much acceptance by the public everything that he produced or created has been absolutely embraced by the American public. Its absolutely mind blowing. I try to keep up the magic in the park by pointing out some secrets of Disneyland and watching the faces of the guests light up like a Christmas tree. Just to illustrate the crowds, allow me to tell you that the theme park officially closes at midnight, but Main Street USA closes an hour later at One AM. My last customer exited the building at One Forty-Two AM-- imagine that! I wonder what might have happened if Ritz Camera had joined up with Disney in the mid-90's-- they might have gone bonkers in sales instead of losing almost everything that once proud chain ever owned. Well now, i am working six days a week. It's just about the hardest challenge I've ever faced in my entire retail career. Oh only, if I still earned a commission on all of my sales!