AV Club's Top Ten MASH episodes

You can find it here.  Happy to say my writing partner, David Isaacs and I made the list with POINT OF VIEW.   We also made honorable mention with NIGHT AT ROSIE'S.   I agree with many of their picks and have personal favorites I would have chosen over some of theirs.  I would have included THE GENERAL FLIPS AT DAWN (written by Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum) and THE MORE I SEE YOU (written

Why I hate Direct Sales

I was talking with a friend of my mother who hailed from China, and he said something about Malaysia being "heaven for direct sales". So I paused to contemplate, and I did recollect countless attempts from friends and acquaintances to drag me into the scene, which I dislike greatly.

One huge reason I dislike direct sales, also known as multilevel marketing (MLM) is, for one, the sheer hypocrisy that it instills into the minds of our youngsters. I have heard the following ridiculous statements over the years:

"It doesn't matter how good our product is, we are selling a business opportunity"

"If you don't have enough money now, you can borrow RM50 from each of your friends, small amount like that no need to return"

"We are not doing direct sales, instead we are doing multilevel marketing"

The last statement makes me want to faint.

An even larger reason why I dislike direct sales is that the entire business idea ABUSES the normal structure of friendship in society to push itself. I suspect the inventors of direct sales had the following brainwave:

1. Usually if a friend asks you out for tea we tend to oblige.
2. This is a good opportunity for pushing the marketing plan.
3. We find it hard to refuse friends, especially close ones.

Voila!

The logical result of this is that we are now all very wary when a friend we do not normally see asks us out. Indirectly this affects the dating structure too - if a guy asks you out it may not be an indication of interest. This applies even more if a girl asks you out.

Therefore, I conclude that the idea of direct sales is indirectly damaging the very foundation of friendship in society. It is akin to driving 20-ton vehicles on roads not meant to sustain such weights. Sooner or later the road system gets damaged.

I miss Jerry

The Labor Day weekend just isn't the same without Jerry Lewis hosting the telethon.   I unabashedly loved that show. I looked  forward to it every year…for both the right and wrong reasons.
It
does benefit a very worthy cause, the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
The videos of the kids are both heartbreaking and inspiring. Let’s hope
someday there’s a cure.But the JERRY LEWIS TELETHON was the

After 40 Years, She's Still the One

40 years ago today I married the prettiest girl I ever saw. She is also the sweetest girl I have ever known. She is also the kindest and most honest person I've ever known, and for some reason, she is crazy about me. I'm a LUCKY DOG! LUCKY DOG! LUCKY DOG!

Happy anniversary my sweet one!

TWITTER STALKER SUSPECTED IN GIRL HOMICIDE

HANNAH TRUELOVE MURDER
POLICE INTERVIEWING HER FRIENDS

www.classichitsandoldies.com - Police in Georgia said they are interviewing the friends of a slain teen who tweeted days before her death that she had a “stalker,” trying to find a lead regarding who might have killed the girl. Hannah Truelove, 16, was found dead last week in a wooded area near the apartment she shared with her mother, one day after she was reported missing, police said. LaCrisia Larkin, the principal of Gainesville High School, where Truelove was a student, said she was not aware whether Truelove had any issues with a “stalker.” “She had a very supportive group of friends she hung around,” Larkin said. “She was a sweet young lady, very mannerable and respectful.” 
Sgt. Kiley Sargent, spokesman for the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, said investigators are “looking at different avenues,” including whether someone had been stalking the teen. “We have to determine what she meant by stalker,” Sargent said. “A stalker to a 16-year-old might not be a stalker to what may be Georgia code official.”

Truelove had obvious signs of trauma on her body, but the results of an autopsy are being withheld to avoid compromising the investigation, Sargent said. “Most of the leads we are getting are from people who are living in and around the neighborhood,” he said. “We are following each one.” Hannah tweeted days before her disappearance that she was being stalked. “I got me an uglyass stalker,” she tweeted Aug. 12. “So scared right now,” she wrote Aug. 18. And on Aug. 22, the day before she disappeared she wrote: “I need to move out of these dang apartments.” Just two weeks into the school year, students and staff at Truelove’s high school are trying to cope with their shocking loss, Larkin said. 
A large rock at the front of the school usually reserved for messages and reminders was turned into a memorial for the teen. Students helped paint the rock with messages of love, including a large “Heart for Hannah” and “R.I.P.” “What is surprising is so many times the students give the adults energy,” Larkin said. “We are just rallying around each other.”

Twitter may hold the key to the death of Georgia (USA) teen Hannah Truelove, 16, who tweeted that she was being stalked. Shewas found dead in a wooded area near the apartment she shared with her mother a day after being reported missing. "We think at this point it's not a random crime. We think that this was a crime that involved persons who knew each other. We have no indication it was random," Maj. Woodrow Tripp of the Hall County Sheriff's Office said. If a person - specially young people - is virtuous, he or she will be a subject of easy exploitation for all the cunning rascals of this world. In this plane of existence we have to face the malice of cunning and relentless men and women who feel envy to others and try to destroy them.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

There is a beautiful lake of very sweet water in the Yamuna which bears the name of Kaliya. This lake happened to be infested by a most venomous Serpent from whom the lake derives its name. On a certain day while the cow-boys of Braja were out pasturing their calves on the wooded banks of the Yamuna they happened to feel thirsty and not knowing that the water of the lake had been poisoned by Kaliya drank of its water which resulted in their instantaneous death. On being apprised of their plight Krishna came to the spot and restored them to life. ... The taming of Kaliya is one of the Brindaban Pastimes of Boy-Krishna. Kaliya is the type of cunning and malice. He is the embodiment of unrelenting cruelty. There is no place for Kaliya in the happy realm of Braja. Deceit and cruelty are as poison to the artless loving nature of the denizens of Braja. It is quite conceivable for the confiding chums of Krishna not to entertain any suspicion regarding the malicious intention of cruel and deceitful persons whose purpose is to poison them against Krishna. They may even unwittingly fall into the counsel of such evil persons. But Krishna is sure to rescue His Own from the wiles of His enemy.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thākura Prabhupāda :
“The Serpent Kaliya”
An essay printed by The Harmonist - May 1932
http://issuu.com/bhaktisiddhanta.com/docs/demons_of_krsna-lila

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/

Eddie Murphy is in the small screen adaptation of "Beverly Hills Cop"

"Beverly Hills Cop," a new TV show Eddie Murphy is currently working on. This isn't the first we've heard about the planned TV show, but it is the first time the series has seemed like it could actually become a reality. Vulture has learned that Murphy has teamed up with "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan to develop the "Beverly Hills Cop" series pitch, and that the duo have partnered with Sony Pictures Television to adapt the story to the small screen. Murphy would act as executive producer and also play an on-camera role. That team started pitching the "hour-long crime procedural" to broadcast networks yesterday.

“What I’m trying to do now is produce a TV show starring Axel Foley’s son, and Axel is the chief of police now in Detroit,” he said. “I’d do the pilot, show up here and there. None of the movie scripts were right; it was trying to force the premise. If you have to force something, you shouldn’t be doing it. It was always a rehash of the old thing. It was always wrong.”

The show, which is being called a “buddy cop” affair, will be an hour long, and it may fare better on a network that can get away with a bit of raciness. Murphy is working with “The Shield” creator Shawn Ryan on coming up with a script, and although rehashed movies are a dime a dozen, this is one that could actually work well if it’s done right. As long as they keep the theme song, I think we’re good.

My day with Johnny Carson

Back in Los Angeles. Travelogue of my road trip with the Mariners will follow sometime next week. In the meantime, got a Friday question yesterday that I get receive often.  It's from Thomas Tucker:

Did you ever meet or work with Johnny Carson?

A few years ago I did a post on this but it's been awhile and I've picked up three new readers since then so I'm re-posting it today. Plus, it's