Hello, gang! Politics and baseball, a few passings....Shall we begin?

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BATTER UP!
I've held off my comments on the following subject, hoping that smarter heads would prevail. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. Let me bring you up to speed. The National Baseball Hall of Fame had planned a celebration of the film "Bull Durham," which is celebrating it's 15th anniversary. The event was to feature a special screening of the film, along with appearances by writer/director Ron Shelton and actors Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Robert Wuhl. However, hall president Dale Petroskey took it upon himself to cancel the event as he did not agree with Robbins' and Sarandon's antiwar sentiments. He went so far as to write them a letter telling them that their appearance at the function "ultimately could put our troops in more danger." As if the Iraqi Republican Guard was contemplating surrender then decided to launch an all out assault against our troops because Tim Robbins said so. It's a shame that our society has come to the state it is in. I understand that Sarandon was to make a charity appearance at a United Way function in Florida, but was then asked not to come because of her views. Jesus! Do people really think that these actors are going to show up at a charity event and start espousing their beliefs? I mean, Sarandon had the eyes and ears of a billion people on Oscar night and the most political thing she did was flash a peace sign as she walked on stage! And hey, after all, we know how up and up the United Way is. Only this past February, the head of the Washington D.C. chapter pleaded guilty to stealing almost $2 MILLION from the charity over a seven year period. And what kind of message are we sending to those poor Iraqi people? We're telling them that we are fighting for their right to express themselves while at the same time showing them that we punish those that do!

PASSING ON
Graham Jarvis, probably best known to television viewers as Charlie Haggers in the cult 1970's series "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," passed away last Wednesday from multiple myleoma. He was 72. A popular character actor in both tv and film, Jarvis' roles ran the gamut from the music teacher in "Alice's Restaurant" to the head of the Schooner Tuna company in "Mr. Mom." One of my favorite performances of his was in the film "Middle Age Crazy," in which he and Bruce Dern both struggle with their mid life crisis's. Mr. Jarvis was also a regular during the 1996 season of "7th Heaven."
David Greene, multiple Emmy award-winning director, passed away Monday at the age of 82. Cause of death was cancer of the pancreas. Mr. Greene began his directing career in the late 1950's, working on Shirley Temple's television show. He received widespread notice when his film version of the musical "Godspell" was released in 1973. He also directed the Charlton Heston/Christopher Reeve submarine thriller "Gray Lady Down." However, it was in television that he received his highest acclaim. His work on television's first mini series, "Rich Man, Poor Man," earned him his first Emmy as best director. He followed with another win the next year for his work on the first episode of the epic "Roots." He won the award again in 1979 for his work on the telefilm "Friendly Fire."

Well, that's it for now. Have a great week. See ya!