A More Personal Note on Robert Goulet

On a more personal note ( B-flat, I believe), I've always felt a curious and silly connection with Robert Goulet.

It comes from this.

When I was in my late teens, I was sitting in the dining room at the Charterhouse Hotel in downtown Winnipeg. Goulet sat down practically next to me. I remember that he was shorter than me and impossibly handsome. He was already a big star in Canada, but this was before the "Camelot" role that made him famous. We struck up a warm and utterly forgettable conversation. He was pleasant.

Later, I learned that he had starred in at least one show at Theatre Under The Stars in Stanley Park.

I couldn't possibly have predicted, sitting in that booth in the restaurant in Winnipeg in about 1960, that I would star in "Guys & Dolls" (1972), "The Pajama Game" ('73), "Bye, Bye Birdie" ('75), and "Oliver!" ('87), also at TUTS.

Goulet wasn't my all-time favorite singer or actor, but he had a glorious voice and sometimes, with the right song, he was unbeatable.

As well, his famous story about landing the part of Lancelot in "Camelot," opposite Julie Andrews and Richard Burton is the stuff of show biz legend.

Lerner & Lowe had exhausted all usual sources looking for the right singer/actor for this role and were so unhappy with the results, after seeing literally hundreds of men, that they were about to go to Europe to continue the search.

A very sceptical Goulet rushes down from Montreal or Toronto, picks up the sheet music for "If Ever I would Leave You," opens his throat and the rest is history.

Robert Goulet Dead

Robert Goulet, 73

DAISY NGUYEN

Associated Press

October 30, 2007 at 7:48 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES — Robert Goulet, the handsome, big-voiced baritone whose Broadway debut in "Camelot" launched an award-winning stage and recording career, has died. He was 73.

The singer died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles hospital while awaiting a lung transplant, said spokesman Norm Johnson.

He had been awaiting a lung transplant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after being found last month to have a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis.

Goulet had remained in good spirits even as he waited for the transplant, said Vera Goulet, his wife of 25 years.

"Just watch my vocal cords," she said he told doctors before they inserted a breathing tube.
The Massachusetts-born Goulet, who spent the majority of his youth in Canada, gained stardom in 1960 with "Camelot," the Lerner and Loewe musical that starred Richard Burton as King Arthur and Julie Andrews as his Queen Guenevere.

Goulet played Sir Lancelot, the arrogant French knight who falls in love with Guenevere.

He became a hit with American TV viewers with appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and other programs. Sullivan labelled him the "American baritone from Canada," where he had already been a popular star in the 1950s, hosting his own show called "General Electric's Showtime."

Since YouTube has changed their format, I cannot simply show you a video. But you can click the link below to see and hear the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lYcaQnALYc

Adrian Mastracci Reacts to the Federal Tax Revisions

KCM, Insight on InvestingPerspective from Adrian Mastracci, Portfolio Manager

"Canada's economic update"For Immediate ReleaseVancouver, BC (October 30, 2007): Some brief comments on today's proposals by the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance:

There are a number of tax incentives that touch everyone: individuals, small businesses and corporations. It's a welcome approach to reducing the tax loads for the long term.

As an example, the lowest personal income tax rate will be reduced to 15% from 15.5%, effective January 1, 2007. The amount that all Canadians can earn without paying federal income tax will be increased to $9,600 for 2007 and 2008, and to $10,100 for 2009.

The Finance Minister estimates that these two measures together will reduce personal income taxes for 2007 by more than $400 for a typical two-earner family of four earning $80,000, and by almost $225 for a single worker earning $40,000.

The markets are likely to applaud the measures as positive steps.

If Canada's economic situation improves from here, look for the Loonie to rise further from current levels. Hence, our exporters may face more challenging times ahead in keeping their costs in check.

Small businesses, who provide the majority of jobs, will be happy to see lower rates. Especially, if the Provinces and Territories join the rate reduction bandwagon.The one caution is that today's measures are only proposals. They must be passed into law first.Of course, tax reductions from any Government in power are really a return of some of the revenues collected by the Government.

I welcome your questions, comments and opinions.

Regards,

Adrian MastracciPortfolio Manager, R.F.P.,KCM Wealth Management Inc."Private-Client" Portfolio Managers & Financial Advisors Suite 1500, Box 1078, 885 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 3E8 Tel: (604) 739-4500 Fax: (604) 739-0234 Visit Our Website: <http://www.kcmwealth.com/>

Let Youth be Served

Just when you're feeling like a dinosaur, a dodo bird, a relic from the junk heaps of the Dodge Cities of Christmases Past...well, along comes the conformation.

Susan Lyne, the former president of ABC Entertainment says, "Anything that is complex narrative story-telling - one-hour dramas, narrative miniseries, character-driven movies for television - advertisers don't believe there is an audience under fifty for these kinds of shows."

O.K. We know what that says about us - we've had the biscuit, we're over the hill, we're done, toast, gone.

But what does it say about the next gen?

Mindless boobs with the attention span of a spaniel.

Lovely.

Let's All Hold Hands Now, Class

"We tried to talk it over, but the words got in the way."

The lyrics from a sappy hit of yesteryear.

But appropriate for so much of what passes for public discourse these days.

An SFU egghead waxes large and loud about a teacher who refused to give her grade 3 kids a test.

He calls her a revolutionary hero. He says the teacher was defending these poor little victims from "psychological & educational vandalism."

He tells a graduating class that this woman's "character, conviction and willingness to act" should be "an inspiration to you."

All beautifully said. All politically correct.

All completely wrong.

We are tested every day.

But we mustn't give the little kids any tests, god forbid, because it might cause them some stress.

We pass kids from one grade to another who cannot read or write or compute.

But we don't want to test them.

You know why?

Because the test scores might reveal what lousy and ineffective teachers we are.

Public Information Lag

Will we ever be told why Victoria's Police Chief has been asked to step aside?

ANNOUNCEMENT!

On Wednesday, Oct. 31st, at noon I will be the guest speaker at the Rotary Club, Chinatown branch at the Floata Restaurant on Keefer St.

The title of my speech is: THE TRUTH ABOUT ADDICTIONS - HOW GOVERNMENTS ARE WASTING YOUR MONEY AND HELPING NO ONE.

Please join us.

Parenting - The New Surrey Crime

The headine says, "Car Thieves Take Surrey Tot for a Ride."

But that's not the story.

Not by a mile.

The story is that the idiot irresponsible father of a 2-year old girl leaves the child in his Lexus SUV while he goes into a so-called convenience store at 10 pm!

Why is he not charged with leaving his car running, abandoning his child, bad parenting, aiding and abetting a criminal act and generally being a danger to his community?

Two years ago, I encountered exactly this circumstance in the shopping district on West 10th Avenue, an infant alone in a van. I looked everywhere for a parent. I hollared. Finding no one, I called the police. Before they arrived, the genius "mother" emerged from a tanning salon with a magazine and a ciggie.

"Is this your baby?"

"Yes."

"I called the police."

"What for?"

The police arrived, nothing happened except that I was viewed by the woman and one of the two officers as a meddling alarmist old fool.

Next time I see a baby abandoned in a van, guess what?

I'm going to call the police again.

Chretien Calls Kettle Black

"Shoot the messenger" is one of the oldest, most transparent, and oddly effective political tricks in the book. I think it pre-dates the Greeks.

So why be surprised that Chretien has risen from his golf course to accuse Judge Gomery of being "media obsessed."

There are at least 2 great clouds hanging over recent Canadian history. One is the Air India murders and the other is the Sponsorship Scandals. Neither of these files is closed, neither nears anything resembling justice.

In the Sponsorship/Gomery case, Chretien and Paul Martin were certainly culpable. It is not possible that skulduggery of that order could have occurred in the Liberal party without their controlling knowledge.

The Next BIG THING?

A Californian (who else?) has come up with an enormou$ plan to get us into electric cars - thousands of recharging stations dotting the landscape.

Read the story here.

The problem with this idea, which has of course already attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in investment funds, is that it is based on the same flawed model as our current (ha!) electrical grids.

Somebody who controls the flow makes up some arbitrary value for so many units of something flying through the air and charges you and me on that basis.

This provides for untold fortunes for a handful of companies and total blind obedience for everybody else, who just assumes this is he way things are supposed to be.

What if I had a small generator in my basement or backyard? What if every condo building had one?

City Completely Dysfunctional

A good friend spends much of his time these days around City Hall.

If I told you half of what he tells me, we'd all be sued.

Suffice it to say that the themes are consistent.

Nobody can get anything done.

No large projects are moving forward.

The Mayor has no idea about any of this or what to do about it.

The staff don't talk to the Mayor.

The Mayor, devoting all his time to re-election and getting drugs to addicts, is completely out of the loop at City Hall. His interest in the daily affairs of state is less than zero, and that is only matched by his knowledge of current affairs.

Nevertheless, the pathetic NPA have given this idiot a complete Pass; his candidacy will not be contested.

Which leaves COPE and Vision to come up with a winner, without splitting the vote.

Lord help us that they have the strategic wisdom to join forces and push the little fellow down the OUT ramp next November.

A banker sitting next to me at a fundraiser last Sunday had this comment after Sam received an underwhelmingly damp response:

"At first I was proud of this city that we could elect a quadriplegic as mayor. But it soon became evident that it's all about Sam. He's dreadful."

Playing to the Dangerous Doesn't Help

Doctors Withouts Borders withdrew from North Korea in 1998. Think about that.

Now the NY Philharmonic is considering a concert there after its upcoming tour in China.

This would be a dreadful mistake.

Read the editorial in the NY Times and tell me if you agree.

Our Juvenile Offender Programs are as Sophisticated as The Borstal Boy

The grass is always greener somewhere down the hill, and so called "experts" are fond of telling us how fabulously ahead of us the Europeans are in handling social problems (These are the experts who have never walked though the infested gauntlets in the main streets of Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Zurich and Dublin.)

Having said all that, do have a look at a little item in this morning's NY Times regarding the new approach that the state of Missouri has been using for juvenile offenders. It looks sensible and promising. I guarantee you we have nothing close to this in Canada.

My Answer to Peter Ladner's Oh-So-Cavalier Suggestion about Asking for a Refund From the City With no Services for 3 Months

I survived 3 months of no garbage pick-up.

That's a clear indicator that garbage pick-up could easily be once every TWO weeks.
But that's not going to happen is it?

Nor are any of the thousands of cost savings that are possible, because there is no political will to do so.

Children at Risk Sacrificed for Other Glories

Nine foster kids in one placement.

A home that has already been flagged for mistreatment.

A child dies.

Inter-office communications break down.

Check the list of fools who have held this portfolio - Ministry of Children & Families - in the last 10 years.

Not one person has known enough about children or children at risk or social work to do an effective job.

And how could they when there are huge staff shortages?

Of course there are going to be huge staff shortages...there are no foto ops, like the ones that come with Lance Armstrong and 2010 and the Trade and Convention Centre.

Gordon Campbell understands the underbelly of history. Years from now, people can look at the edifices he has strung together and say, "Wow. That was Premier Campbell."

They are not as likely to say, "Gee, that Premier Campbell saved children's lives."

The Doctors' Voices

In their respective health care editorials in today's Sun, Dr. Penny Ballem and Dr. Brian Day, each hit out of the park for me.

Ballem says we've got to stop creating "policy on the run."

Remember that she walked away from Gordon Campbell's team most precipitously.

Clearly this simple caution is loaded with criticism of a government that only makes policy as it suits their short-sighted, egotistical political aims.

When and where will be find the politicians who will go beyond these self-serving motives, to the larger considerations?

Then, Day says that we've got to stop block funding for hospitals. Many of us have been saying exactly that for years. Hospitals and their funding should spin exactly on the needs of patients.

Until we put that kind of system in place, we will continue to buy box car loads of stents and bedpans simply to complete budgets.

Air India - The Daily Report

And speaking of lawsuits...

The AG is suing Malik for the $6.4Million we gave him as a loan so he could get acquitted from the bombing he was involved in that only killed 331 people.

Of course, Malik has been and is a millionaire, rich in properties. So, why did we have to lend him money?

Well, we did and now we're asking that he return it. That's the good news.

The bad news is that we'll never get that money. But we will spend another million or two fighting with this guy in court.

And the really, really bad news, that will make you laugh until you cry is that Malik is suing us, the Province of BC and the government of Canada, for "malicious prosecution."

How about we all sue the government for malnutritious prosecution?

India is Hip

Hip replacements in India?

Now, that I didn't know.

It is rare that I actually learn a new thing reading the paper.

Mostly, I react to the news.

But in today's massive Health issue of the Sun, I actually was surprised to learn how many BC people are flying to India to pay for private surgeries.

Why not sue Gordon Campbell and Stephen Harper for re-imbursement?

Hollywood North is, of course, A Cruel Ilusion

The local press loves to wax rhapsodic about all the great successes of the local movie industry.

But no one that I know has gotten below the shimmering surface of this nonsense.

It is difficult to get excited by Brightlight's announcement that they made $100 Million on one of their recent, desperately bad projects.

Yes, millions of dollars flow into the local economy and that's a good thing.

Thousands of truck drivers, caterers, cab drivers, costumers find work.

But let me tell you the truth about Vancouver actors.

The best of the best are starving.

Most Vancouver film and television actors, even those with long and exemplary resumes in the Biz, get little work. And the work they do find is tragically underpaid.

Brightlight and other local companies have been paying actors 25% below scale and getting away with it for years. "Small budget," is what they'll cry in their notes to agents and actors.

And, if longshoremen and city garbage collectors had a union like the one that pretends to take care of local actors, they'd all do a Jimmy Hoffa right soon.

I know of at least half a dozen actors who have said, "Thanks, folks, that's all." Most have moved on to completely different careers where they are, oddly enough, well paid and treated like human beings and not necessary evils.

The next time you read about Hollywood North, just remember that reading either a press release or a Valentine from a newspaper writer who is just blindly sick with love for Show Biz.

The poor sap.

The Guilty were Always Known. JUst Couldn't Close the Case - Air India Revisited

It's always reassuring to learn that what we knew all along is what we knew all along.

Thus, how happy and relieved are we to learn that a retired CSIS agent (More! More! Retirement suits this gang.) confirms that everyone knew from the first day that the Maliks and Bagris were the lunatics who murdered 331 people in the Air India massacres.

Little catch. Couldn't prove it.

Yes, we noticed.

$50 Million of courtroom and trail and heartache later.

What an invitation this case must be for all the bombers-in-waiting.

"Hey, come to Canada. You can blow up hundreds of people, and their police are so stupid, even if you're caught with detonators in your hand, they'll believe you were on your way to your daughter's Halloween party. Hahahahaha."