A Month of Tributes to Maestro Morricone

I love spaghetti Westerns for many reasons, but one of the biggest is the musical scoring. What would “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” be without that haunting theme song? A great movie, perhaps, but not the same movie by a long shot.

We have Ennio Morricone to thank for that and 40 years of other wonderful movie and television scores. It’s a gross understatement to say the guy’s had a prolific career. And one lucky NY Times reporter got to talk to the maestro himself about his life and his work. (Among other things, he explains the musical meaning behind the instrumentation of the aforementioned famous movie theme.)

This Saturday, Morricone is making his American concert debut at Radio City Music Hall, launching a month of tributes to him. Festivals of his films will be held at the Museum of Modern Art and Film Forum and a tribute album, “We All Love Ennio Morricone”, will be released, featuring such diverse performers as Bruce Springsteen, Renee Fleming, Herbie Hancock and Metallica.

On Feb. 25 he’ll receive an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement, to make up for the five times he was previously nominated, but didn’t win.

Bravo! Eccellente! Splendido!

Indie Bookstores Still Alive . . . and Growing

Great news–the independent bookstore is not dead. In fact, if membership in the American Booksellers Association (ABA) is any indication, their numbers are growing. Even though ABA membership has dropped dramatically since the mid-1990s, 187 new members have joined in the last two years–a much higher number per year than at any other time since 1996, during which annual indie bookstore openings could be counted on two hands.

Although bookselling remains a risky business for those devoted enough not to mind a slim profit margin for their efforts, indie store owners believe there are also good, pragmatic reasons for getting into it. Independents can serve small towns or revitalized neighborhoods overlooked by big chains. They often focus on a niche or provide a level of personalized service the big box stores can’t. In short, they still have a reason for being. Giving us all another reason to be happy.

Don’t Put Off Reading This

Procrastination. A University of Calgary psychology professor has spent ten years reviewing all the research on it and come out with a comprehensive report on who does it, why they do it, what tasks people tend to put off and the damage procrastination causes to finances, health and well-being.

Don’t wait too long to read the article. It took me almost a week to get around to posting it and it’ll cost you to access it after enough time has gone by.

Save for Retirement–But Not Too Much

Is it possible to save too much for your retirement? Some economists think so, even though we are living longer and pensions and Social Security will allegedly fall short of meeting our future financial needs.

According to these economists, the financial services industry is overstating how much money a person needs to retire and, in their opinion, one can get by saving as little as half the typical recommendation made by many financial planners.

While the financial planning industry is skeptical of this pronouncement and takes the position that it never hurts to save more money than necessary as a safety net, the economists contend that there can be drawbacks to not spending while you’re young.

“There is risk in saving too much,” according to Laurence J. Kotlikoff, a Boston University economics professor. “You could end up squandering your youth rather than your money.”

Or you could die before you ever get around to enjoying what you save.

California to Phase Out Perc in Dry Cleaning

Once again the Golden State shows it’s a “green” state. It will become the first state to phase out the use of perchloroethylene, or perc, a chemical used by commercial dry cleaners that has been linked to bladder, esophageal and other cancers.

The California Air Resources Board voted unanimously yesterday to ban the purchase of new perc machines as of 2008 and to phase out the use of perc by 2023, the LA Times reports.

Many dry cleaners have been preparing for this. Over the last three years, the percentage of all dry cleaners in California that use perc has dropped from an estimated 85% to 70%.

At the national level, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rejected a proposal in July to phase out all perc machines, choosing instead to phase them out only at dry cleaners in residential buildings. The Sierra Club has a pending federal court lawsuit against EPA over this.

Philip Marlowe Returns to the Big Screen

Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment are planning a new movie series based on Raymond Chandler’s detective novels. And they’ve chosen Clive Owen to play Chandler’s famous gumshoe, Philip Marlowe.

Owen’s narration and performance in “Sin City,” a noir movie based on a graphic novel series, apparently helped land him the role of the cynical, wise-cracking private eye.

“The Big Sleep” and “Farewell My Lovely” are among the stories to which Strike Entertainment has bought the rights. The producers are still deciding which story to film first.

Studio execs say they want to maintain the noir spirit of the Chandler books, including the 1940s Los Angeles setting. Sounds most promising. Just please don’t set it in England like that terrible remake of “The Big Sleep” with Robert Mitchum.

A Penny for Your Nickel

The rising values of copper and nickel have rendered pennies and nickels worth less as coins than the material they’re made from. This has led to concerns about the hording and melting of these coins for profit.

Although the U.S. Mint has issued regulations limiting the melting and exporting coins, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago says the best solution to the problem is to “rebase” the penny by raising its value to five cents. This would kill two birds with one stone by increasing the number of five-cent coins in circulation and getting rid of the almost worthless one cent coin.

I’m no economist, but it just seems wrong to have a coin worth five cents unless there’s another coin around to give the word “cent” meaning. So, if a cent no longer exists, the idea of five cents makes no sense. Right?

A penny for your thoughts.

More on Barbara Seranella

The Orange County Register ran an obituary on Barbara Seranella today. It tells a bit about her amazing life and the similarities between herself and Munch Mancini, the main character in most of her books.

I look forward to reading all the books in her Munch Mancini series and her latest book, DEADMAN’S SWITCH, featuring new protagonist Charlotte Lyon. The new book is expected to come out in April. It’s a shame there won’t be more.

Barbara Seranella RIP

It saddens me to report that mystery author Barbara Seranella lost her struggle with liver disease and died yesterday, while awaiting a third liver transplant.

Barbara authored a series featuring mechanic-turned-limo driver Munch Mancini. I read the first book, NO HUMAN INVOLVED, and loved it. It showed Munch at a particularly down-and-out stage of her life, and I understand the character grows and improves her lot as the series progresses. (Much like the author herself, it’s been suggested.)

I’ve seen her at mystery conferences and heard such wonderful things about her, I truly regret that I never got to know her.

Bangor Clears the Air for Kids in Cars

In another blow to smokers’ rights (i.e., their purported right to pollute air whenever and wherever they want), Bangor, Maine has enacted a ban on smoking in cars with children present.

Bangor is thought to be the first city to do this. However, Arkansas, Louisiana and Puerto Rico have passed similar bans, and three more states (California, Connecticut and Maine) are thinking about it.

At least seven states ban or sharply restrict smoking around foster children in homes and/or cars. (Who knows why they limit the law to foster children. Don’t children living with their natural parents suffer just as much from second-hand smoke?)

Smoking has even been raised as an issue and influenced decisions in child custody cases.

With apologies to Big Tobacco and all its customers (i.e., victims), none of this breaks my heart.