Today is James Hong’s 97th birthday.

I am impressed. I used voice recognition to record something on my iPhone’s Note app instead of typing it and it handled my accent almost flawlessly. (A friend once said I sound like Christopher Lambert in “Highlander” although I never carry a sword around.)

Out on June 30... www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-art-of...

I just finished Madeleine Robbins' Regency mystery novel "The Doxies Penalty". Recommended.

SiriusXM just played the soundtrack from Huston’s “Moby Dick” and it occurs to me that, since its script was by Ray Bradbury, who was a friend of one of my dearest friends, I am only very few Degrees of Separation from many awesome figures of Hollywood.

John Glenn’s flight was 64 years ago today… youtu.be/Zg4FWP8dY1Q?...

Writing... Life got in the way of finishing that chapter's final scene. Good thing too. I woke up last night and realized that, if I did as planned, this'd be such a major plot event that it'd have to become the focus of the story. And I don't want that... Back to the scribbling pad then...

“Murder She Wrote”.. . Jessica refuses to believe the editor of her latest book committed suicide. Her editor now? Is anybody safe near her?

Let sleeping dogs lie.

One of Bernard Hermann’s many great scores.. youtu.be/g75xXT6eCcg?...

Chaplin’s “Great Dictator” speech with an “Andor” background.., youtu.be/cwJ8glTKWRY?...

Anybody else noticed that the new ad for “Mandalorian” features an alien who sounds a lot like Martin Scorsese? That’s because that was Scorsese himself providing the voice.

TCM right now… “Brush up your Shakespeare!”

From Last Kiss…

I wonder when Season 3 will premiere… youtu.be/pNMtW76IPxQ?...

The late Werner Klemperer - aka Col. Klink - with his wife…

News from our tax consultant… We get a refund from the Federal… We owe the nearly same amount to the State… I can live with that.

Writing... That chapter's final scene is slowly taking shape.

Not Robert Duvall’s most famous movie, but… youtu.be/Au47y23N-QM?...

Just had lunch at Fuddrucker with a friend… I found that, as a kid, he knew Cab Calloway because his father’s bowling league would go to Calloway’s bowling alley.

Robert Duvall has passed away.

AI makes deep fakes even easier, and there's a new development that may make Hollywood join writers' fights against unauthorized use of IP www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/m...

Hugo Award nominees... Dramatric Presentation - short form... (My final choice) MurderBot... Season One... Episode 10... "The Perimeter" Since one can't nominate a series' full season, I nominate its final episode.

TCM… Not one single presidentially themed movie in today’s schedule… It’s almost like they feel the same way I do about this year’s President’s Day.

Writing… The chapter’s last scene is half-written. And hopefully not half-baked.

One thing I’ve noticed about Wyler’s “The Big Country” is how often two characters are having a conversation without words, but thru just a glance. youtu.be/pWcTEizBW74?...

A romance cartoon for the @theguardian.com

Reading and enjoying Madeleine Robins’ latest Regency mystery about Sarah Tolerance, agent of inquiry and swordmistress.

I’m disappointed that nobody else has brought up this adaptation of “Wuthering Heights”. youtu.be/BIMEPPZxzyg?...

Hugo Award nominees... Dramatric Presentation - short form... (My 4th choice) Strange New Worlds... Season 3... Episode 6... "The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail" Kirk gets his first command when his captain is incapacited, and Kirk isn't yet the self-assured man we know. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ8z...

I know that Love is NOT all you need, but I like the song anyway. youtu.be/-BrDo7TEFXw?...

Hugo Award nominees... Dramatric Presentation - short form... (My 3rd choice) Andor... Season 2... Episode 7... "Announcement" “It’s so easy to lose faith.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=HelI...

Hugo Award nominees... Dramatric Presentation - short form... (My 2nd choice) Andor... Season 2... Episode 10... "Make It Stop!" youtu.be/mClrPkLFBu4?...

I don’t remember any episode of “little house on the Prairie” where any woman shot a puppy.