FRACTURES, WRESTLING, FLIP-FLOPPING AND THE LOSS OF 'SOUL!'

First of all, thanks for asking and yes, my fractured foot is healing. I saw my foot doctor yesterday and he said I'm 50% cured. My next appointment with the doctor is February 22. That evening, we'll be able to watch the next Republican debate. It'll take place in Mesa, Arizona and you'll be able to see it on CNN.

Did you hear about what Senator John McCain said about the Republican debates? He wants them ended because (in his view) they're too much like MUD WRESTLING and virtually NOTHING about PROBLEM SOLVING! McCain, a former presidential candidate his own self, is worried that if these debates continue, the four candidates will have been responsible for handing a second term to Barack Obama without Obama having to do anything except show up and say the word, "Present!". PRESENT, you (might) ask? People who have done their homework will know I'm being sarcastic and what the sarcasm is in reference to.

Back to Senator McCain. I agree with him, but as a guy who's seen every one of the debates, I want them to continue because they're so darn entertaining.

But seriously, folks....Have you heard any of these four candidates say ANYTHING in the way of good ideas on how to get jobs for the millions of Americans who are unemployed? Oh, there's been a lot of talk about getting rid of Obama Care, a lot of talk about Obama not knowing anything about how the private sector works, the claim that Obama is blah, blah, blah, but there has been no evidence of even ONE big idea that would lead to jobs for unemployed Americans. Not one. I've seen every debate. And if I had heard a good idea, I would have written about it. Hell, if I had heard even a big BAD idea, I would have written about it.

Instead, what we've gotten from an amount of debates I've lost track of are a lot of things that have absolutely NOTHING to do with what Americans are concerned about most. And so many of these "nothing" things have to do with personal attack things. Or as Senator McCain says, "Mud Wrestling!"

And as a viewer who likes to be entertained, I hope these debates continue for another few months.

Okay, enough sarcasm from me.

I would honestly like ONE of these four guys to come up with a good idea about how to get Americans back to work. Actually, I would prefer that all four of these guys would come up with BIG ideas about how to get Americans back to work and then have the other three guys comment about how to possibly sweeten the idea. Or not. If and when THAT were to happen, we would finally be watching a DEBATE! Instead of Mud Wrestling.I know. From a viewer's standpoint, the Mud Wrestling stuff is so much more entertaining, but here's a newsflash for our Republican candidates. If any of you guys have a big and (hopefully) good "jobs" idea, you better bring it up or no matter which of you ends up getting nominated, you are going to get your ass kicked when the voting for president begins. Unless of course, an 11th hour candidate gets selected while the four of you get thrown out with the bath water.

Just sayin'...

MITT ROMNEY:

Right now, he seems to be considered the best candidate the Republicans can put up against President Obama.

I respectfully disagree with that. This guy is someone who if he said to me, "The sun is shining.", I would get my raincoat.

Look at his record, folks. He has changed his mind on soooo many things that we've lost count of. In the debates, he has come up with no ideas, big or small about how to get jobs for Americans. What he HAS shown us is that while performing his private sector duties, he has been RUTHLESS! Yes, his comment the other day about not caring about poor people was taken out of context, but while trying to set the record straight, he said (in essence) that he's the guy who's best suited to improve things for our "middle class" which (I think) is most of us. What a load of horse manure THAT is! The record shows that when Mitt Romney shows up, his way of fixing things is to fire a bunch of people. A BIG bunch of people!

And this is a guy the "middle class" is supposed to count on if Romney is our next President of the United States?

Just sayin'.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

A lot of entertainment stuff to write about. Most of it good, some of it bad.

First, the bad stuff.

Don Cornelius:

He's the guy who invented and for many years, was the host of "Soul Train". Don killed himself a couple of days ago. He was 75. I knew Don. I hadn't seen him since the 80's when we'd have a few drinks at a hot celebrity "watering hole" known as "Nicky Blair's" on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. The music community was shocked when they heard about this and a lot verbal tributes were stated. All I can say is that I knew him when life was good for both of us and we had some very pleasant times together. R.I.P., Don Cornelius.

Patrick Emory:

People here in the Los Angeles area who have long memories, will remember that Emory did some very good radio work here and some very good work as a TV anchor here.

I met Patrick Emory in San Jose, California when I was about to begin a rock 'n roll d.j. job at KLIV that kick-started my career and he was ending his job at KLIV in what was the beginning of a terrific news-guy career. Ten or so years later, we were both working for CBS in St. Louis. Along the way, Patrick Emory made a big name for himself as a news anchor for CNN. And because of his good looks, him finding female companionship was never a problem.

A number of years ago, Patrick Emory finally met the woman who would end Patrick's roving eye and roaming tendencies. Brigitte was her name and she was Patrick's soul mate. She was also quite a bit younger than Patrick and that's why her sudden "passing" was a shock to many, especially Patrick.

R.I.P, Brigitte and I'm sorry I never had the chance to meet you. And Patrick? My friend and legendary radio column writer Claude Hall has a simple statement that applies to all of us; "We come. We go." Sadly, it's as simple as that.

Patrick, I can hardly imagine how you're feeling. All of us who know you are very sorry for your loss.

On a happier note, Paul McCartney:

McCartney will be honored as the 2012 MusicCares Person Of The Year, Friday, February 10. If you're interested in attending this event, call 310-392-3777 for ticket information and anything else you'd like to know. Two nights later, McCartney will be singing at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards.

McCartney also has a new CD that has been released. It's called, "Paul McCartney KISSES ON THE BOTTOM". Legendary music guy Don Graham sent me the McCartney CD. It has 14 songs and you get more than 49 minutes of music. In addition to McCartney, you will also be treated to an all star group of supporting players that include Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma, Diana Krall and her band, Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder.

I listened to this CD three times. Or in other words, almost two and a half hours. This is not a rock 'n roll, CD. It's what I refer to as "saloon music". In other words, imagine yourself going to a high class restaurant with a date. The atmosphere is terrific, you and your date are "clicking", suddenly the music begins, you look into each other's eyes, you stand up and you begin to dance. Slow dance. And you continue to dance. When you leave the restaurant and you both have that "look", a look that requires no words, by the time your evening and or morning has ended, you're quietly thanking Paul McCartney.

FILM & TELEVISION STUFF:

Because of my foot injury, I didn't see any new movies this past week, but here are some observations about what I DID see.

TV shows first...

If you saw the new episode of "The Good Wife" this past Sunday, I'm sure you'll agree with me when I tell you that the episode was SOOO good, I didn't want it to end. And now we have to wait until February 19 before we'll get another new episode of "The Good Wife".

Lots of other shows are still on hiatus, but I very much enjoyed Monday's new episode of "House" a show that's in danger of not being renewed. The show that followed "House" was the third episode of the great new show on Fox, "Alcatraz".

On Tuesday, I thought the "Glee" episode featuring Michael Jackson was very good. A lot of pretty people on that show. And they're also people who have learned the art of "good moves" to go along with their singing.

Also on Tuesday were two more terrific episodes of "Southland" on TNT and "Justified" on FX.

And as if Tuesday nights aren't already crowded enough with good television ("Parenthood" is also a Tuesday show), "The River" will make it's debut on ABC NEXT Tuesday. And this show has gotten some terrific reviews.

Renewal notices have been given to three Showtime shows that are Sunday night shows; "Californication" will have a 6th season, "Shameless" will have a 3rd season and "House of Lies" will have a 2nd season.

The new show, "Luck" on HBO? I thought the first episode was so-so.

A couple of films I saw on cable:

"Soylent Green", a 1973 film on TCM. This is a film that stars Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson and it's a film I hadn't seen since 1973. One of my last celebrity interviews was with Charlton Heston shortly before he died. When I asked him what he thought his best performance had been, he said, "I haven't done it yet!" I loved his answer, but he did mention a few films in which he'd had a lot of fun doing and "Soylent Green" was one of them. If you haven't seen this film, it's a futuristic story about how some high level people who have unique and scary ways to control an out of control population explosion.

"Rebel Without A Cause", a classic film on TCM that I had never seen. It starred James Dean, Sal Mineo (who was nominated for an Oscar), Natalie Wood, Dennis Hopper and several other fine actors. Near the beginning of this film, the James Dean character gets into a knife fight with a young actor who (shortly later) plays a dangerous game with the Dean character involving cars. The Dean character lives, but the other character known as Buzz, dies when his car goes over a cliff.

I liked this film a lot, but there's more to this story.

I arrived (here) in Los Angeles the day after Thanksgiving in 1979. A few years later I began a good run as a nightly sports anchor on a couple of TV stations here. Shortly after I had begun, I got a call from a guy named Corey Allen who liked what he was seeing. He was going to be the director of a play here and there was a small but critical role he wanted me to play. I told him I had never done a play but he said (in essence) "not to worry" because he was convinced this was something I could handle.

There was no money being offered but I did it, it was fun and I forgot about it until a year or so later when I heard from him again. He was now directing television shows and he hired me for small roles in Movies of the Week and other shows. I've forgotten how many. And yes, I was paid money for every one of these TV shows and in some cases, quite a lot of money.

A few years ago, Corey Allen died. Because he never talked about himself, I knew him only as a guy who asked me to be in a play for no money and who hired me for a sizeable number of TV shows for good money.

When I saw "Rebel Without A Cause", I was shocked when I realized that the "Buzz" character who had the knife fight with James Dean and who ended up dying in another scene with Dean, was in fact, Corey Allen. My first theatre, television and film benefactor.

Memories!

Oh! The Super Bowl? New England is favored by 3 points and as of now, the over-under number is 54. I like New England. 35-28.

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I'll respond to you, ASAP. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address which means I wouldn't be able to respond to you. All "Anonymous" emails are ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, late Thursday night, February 9 or very early Friday morning, February 10.

I hope that you and yours have a great weekend and that the team you'll be rooting for will be the team that wins the Super Bowl.

And don't forget, AMERICA FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!