Folded Hands

Leonardoville
I am pleased to announce the posting of something I wrote back in 1982, a section from an idea for a comedy about how Leonardo da Vinci came to meet and paint Mona Lisa. It is called, "Leonardoville," and is now available to read at Archive.Org. It is decidedly not for those who are pleased to see Mona Lisa only in the precise pose presented by da Vinci. Can one respect that work and its creator yet transplant them into something like, "Leonardoville"? Only if one feels certain that da Vinci and his Mona Lisa will endure in spite of my comedy. Yes, they will, I have not yet grown that influential!

To Your Health
After I read an article Friday, January 15th that made it clear exactly how precarious the current prospect of healthcare reform legislation has become, I devised an idea that may or may not help. I emailed this idea to an old friend of the Kennedy clan, someone who was in my class years and years ago at CalArts. This person always opens and reads the emails I send him (according to Didtheyreadit.com technology). I also sent the email to people who have great influence with Saturday Night Live, and who have, for years and years, been responsible for getting particles of ideas I send in for SNL onto that week's show:

"Due to the fact that the passage of healthcare reform OR NOT has suddenly become contingent on the outcome of the January 19th Senate race in Massachusetts for the seat left vacant by the death of Senator Kennedy, here is my extreme idea:

"A whole bunch of Kennedys appear in-person on a Saturday Night Live sketch tomorrow night. They have been called to action by the ghost of Ted Kennedy to do something at the 11th hour before it is too late. His idea is for them to all go on SNL and sing, "Can't Buy Me Love," his ghost promising that this will sway the Massachusetts voters and Coakley will win. So they make their plea to Lorne Michaels, who gives in ("Now you're absolutely sure it was the ghost of Ted, right?"). The Kennedys then sign "Can't Buy Me Love", completely out of tune. The room is dead silent. The ghost of Ted Kennedy is the only one who applauds, which he does with great enthusiasm. The Kennedy's turn to look at him, their expressions saying, 'bad idea.'"

Half The Wisdom Of Solomon Is Better Than Nothing
In my blog immediately preceding this one, I described how a certain individual appearing on a certain TV show secretly confirmed that a certain message I had left for a certain individual (Stuart Cornfeld, who runs RedHour with Ben Stiller) had been received. I also described how that individual appearing on that TV show would have been in that loop. A subsequent TV show appearance by that same individual just happened to include a piece of information that clearly suggested I should modify the loop description. Specifically, Maggie said her fiance is co-starring with Cruise, who is also slated to be in the movie about the grown up Hardy Boys, which RedHour (Cornfeld/Stiller) is producing, and which Stiller is co-starring in. Not to mention the Cruise/Spielberg connection, which is also of relevance to the matter at issue.

None of this has to do with Stiller's involvement with a Haitian charity, which preceded the current Haitian crisis, and which is now being redirected to assist with aid to those in Haiti now in need. Nothing contained in my message for Cornfeld can be seen as contributing anything in this direction. It does not take the wisdom of Solomon to appreciate that, though I am bothered that Cornfeld has failed to more directly respond to me, my issue does not rise to any level of real importance when seen alongside efforts to truly help. That is Stiller's baby, and more power to him.