DESPITE MY ERROR - WVRC on the 17th of January

Alas, for the first time in recent memory (that's about ten minutes, at my age)
an error crept into last week's Windmill.  The Sweetheart Brunch will still be on Saturday, at the Beau Rivage in Malibu - but the correct date is Feb 9th.  And with the alert audience we have, I got a few calls with that correction.  Thanks to all.

Our usual beginning featured TERRY WHITE as he successfully took us through the Flag Salute.  LENNY FRIEDMAN and JACK HARRIS combined for the song, but only after JACK asked if either LYNDON PARKER or GREGG ELLIOTT were present.  
When they both failed to answer this summons, JACK assumed the keyboard himself.
LENNY announced the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and after a few minutes we mostly began to sing - the good news is that we finished together!  DICK ROBINSON provided a good Invocation, possibly helped by our being allowed to sit down enroute.

DAN PRICE announced our two Rotarian visitors, Dave Bortman, an attorney from Century City, and District Governor Len Wasserstein, from Beverly Hills.  DON PARK introduced his Special Guest, Alon Doron, who is with Image Publishing.  PP HOMER NEWMAN spoke of his Special Guest, Lillian Kleiver, who was also with us last week.
Hey, you two - DON and HOMER - we salute your efforts in promoting membership - note that we have recently lost FIVE members, (three last week) plus PAUL BECKSTEAD, who has a time conflict, and TODD GURVIS.

Pres. GEORGE then thanked MARK BLOCK and JOHN SINGLETON for their help to the victims of 9/11 - we sent New York Rotary our check for $620. which will be well used.  We were reminded that our regular meeting of February 14th will be off-site, at the LAX Marriott, so we can hear a message from Rick King, our International President.
We have reserved four tables, and you will of course be reminded again - think about car-pooling, also.  Pres. GEORGE then congratulated Coach Steve Lavin and his Bruins for beating the # one team in the nation, Kansas, by ten points.  There were some mummers from our members with an across-town background, and so GEORGE hastily added that USC beat the Bruins a couple of days before UCLA played Kansas.

JINBECK LEE, our Scholar from Korea, has completed his course at UCLA - his counselor was SUSAN ALLEN - and will be returning to his home.  As his studies wound down here, he was interviewed by one of the Big Five (or whatever number it now is) and has been offered a job with the firm in Korea.  He spoke about the CPA exam, but YOE isn't sure if he has taken it, or if he plans to do so shortly.  In any case, JINBECK, we wish you Godspeed and much success as you return to the land of your birth.

Pres. GEORGE next introduced a touching volume he unearthed somewhere, with the catchy title, You Were Born on a Rotten Day.  Sure enough, our January birthdays were then noted, with the specific fault or disaster for each of these lucky celebrants.  HARLAN LEWIS started the parade, on January 8th in Redlands.  That date makes him susceptible to a horde of LOCUSTS - and that's a pretty accurate start for You Were Born on a Rotten Day! PP RON LYSTER also arrived on the 8th, and his cross to bear is that he will someday ride his Harley in a STEEPLECHASE - doesn't sound like much fun to me.  PP BOB LUSK came along on the 10th, and he should be looking forward to a memorable day yet this month - but we won't know when!   Next up was PAUL SORRELL, with his birthday on the 14th - and it is no surprise that he will be doomed to lose his lawsuit against the city because the doorways are too low. DAVE MATSON, on the 15th, appeared to be doing OK depositing some money to the account of the Westwood Hills Christian Church - except they turned out to be Dea Dollars. SANDY SANDERSON  - it is rumored that he got some bad advice from his doctor, and now he can't remember which advice he should follow. Finally, DENNIS CORNWELL, on the 26th - he will need a new lease on life, and he is, indeed, thinking about moving his office somewhere else nearby.  This is good stuff, GEORGE - keep it up, please.

KEN LEVER, as a commentator, joined Gil Cates, our speaker, at a small table on the stage, and Pres. GEORGE formally introduced Gil to us. He and GEORGE are two halves of a mutual admiration society, and GEORGE pointed out some of the many honors Gil has received over the years. Currently he is the Director of the Geffen Playhouse, next door to the new Ralph's in the Village, and the Geffen provides all sorts of experimental theatre, based on the very intimate500 seat capacity of that venue. As Gil's list of credits were given, it became obvious that he is entirely at home in all aspects of entertainment - film, live theatre, and TV - and that alone makes him exceptional.  In the ten Academy Award shows that Gil has produced, he received 51 nominations, and 15 Oscars - that's quite an average. Gil brought GEORGE down from Berkeley ten years ago, and GEORGE'S part of the action as Assistant Dean was the financial end of the operation.  Under GEORGE, they always made a profit .  I think GEORGE summed up Gil's career at UCLA when he pointed out that Gil is a true Renaissance Man.

Gil pointed out that the average age of WVRC members is 55 (oh, if only!) and that is the same average age of Geffen attendees - and so we would all feel right at home in that location.  One quick Academy story - David Niven was the Presenter, and a flasher darted out and crossed the stage, holding out his trench coat as he ran.  Niven's immediate comment - "Whoever said all men are created equal?"  As a matter of fact, Gil still suspects that this was a planned setup.  And then LEVER, never one to let it alone, pointed out that we had just heard "The Naked Truth"!

Q&A - PP STEVE ADLER, what do Oscar nominations do for individuals and studios. Individual salaries invariably go up, and of course studios want to win because of the later income produced by cassettes, European and Asian rights, etc.  You can't buy that kind of advertising.  There are now eleven or twelve award shows - where will it end?
Commentator LEVER - what effect does promotion have.  We still don't know what works, but promotion does help - it's hard to measure.  AND NOW, here's your trivia question of the day!  Where did the Bronx get its name?   The section was named for Edmund Bronx, who ran a large dairy farm there!  Gild had another story about Sven Knudsen, a name adopted by a Chinese immigrant as he waited in the immigration line - that was the name of the guy ahead of him, and when his turn came, the Chinese simply said, "Sam Ding.".

CLARK MCQUAY - who pays for all the videos.  The Academy, and they send them out, to protect the privacy of who receives them.  If the studios fudge, they are penalized in two specific ways - by the number of seats at the Awards they receive, and by the number of tables they get at the various parties afterward.  Obviously, crime doesn't pay.
YOE - who does the nominating.  Each specialty gets a list of the movies made that year, and they then vote for five.  The top five are thus nominated.  From then on, EVERYONE votes for all categories.  The nominees are screened all over, in LA and NY.  PP JOHN SINGLETON - do they publish the final count.  No - but Gil thinks it would be worth doing.  The Academy has 9500 members, of who about 3000 are actors.
Who chooses the Emcee?  The producer - and it isn't easy to get people to step up, since it can be a downer, if you bomb - and EVERYONE'S watching.  Afterward, I asked Gil who gets paid.  Presenters are not paid, performers get scale (which means it costs them a hell of a lot of money to appear), and the Producer gets $7500.  Sounds to YOE like it's a tough way to make a buck.

KEN, GEORGE and GIL - thanks for a most entertaining and informative meeting.  We could have kept you up there all afternoon.

YOE, Ernie. Wolfe

 
DESPITE MY ERROR - WVRC on the 17th of January

Alas, for the first time in recent memory (that's about ten minutes, at my age)
an error crept into last week's Windmill.  The Sweetheart Brunch will still be on Saturday, at the Beau Rivage in Malibu - but the correct date is Feb 9th.  And with the alert audience we have, I got a few calls with that correction.  Thanks to all.

Our usual beginning featured TERRY WHITE as he successfully took us through the Flag Salute.  LENNY FRIEDMAN and JACK HARRIS combined for the song, but only after JACK asked if either LYNDON PARKER or GREGG ELLIOTT were present.  
When they both failed to answer this summons, JACK assumed the keyboard himself.
LENNY announced the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and after a few minutes we mostly began to sing - the good news is that we finished together!  DICK ROBINSON provided a good Invocation, possibly helped by our being allowed to sit down enroute.

DAN PRICE announced our two Rotarian visitors, Dave Bortman, an attorney from Century City, and District Governor Len Wasserstein, from Beverly Hills.  DON PARK introduced his Special Guest, Alon Doron, who is with Image Publishing.  PP HOMER NEWMAN spoke of his Special Guest, Lillian Kleiver, who was also with us last week.
Hey, you two - DON and HOMER - we salute your efforts in promoting membership - note that we have recently lost FIVE members, (three last week) plus PAUL BECKSTEAD, who has a time conflict, and TODD GURVIS.

Pres. GEORGE then thanked MARK BLOCK and JOHN SINGLETON for their help to the victims of 9/11 - we sent New York Rotary our check for $620. which will be well used.  We were reminded that our regular meeting of February 14th will be off-site, at the LAX Marriott, so we can hear a message from Rick King, our International President.
We have reserved four tables, and you will of course be reminded again - think about car-pooling, also.  Pres. GEORGE then congratulated Coach Steve Lavin and his Bruins for beating the # one team in the nation, Kansas, by ten points.  There were some mummers from our members with an across-town background, and so GEORGE hastily added that USC beat the Bruins a couple of days before UCLA played Kansas.

JINBECK LEE, our Scholar from Korea, has completed his course at UCLA - his counselor was SUSAN ALLEN - and will be returning to his home.  As his studies wound down here, he was interviewed by one of the Big Five (or whatever number it now is) and has been offered a job with the firm in Korea.  He spoke about the CPA exam, but YOE isn't sure if he has taken it, or if he plans to do so shortly.  In any case, JINBECK, we wish you Godspeed and much success as you return to the land of your birth.

Pres. GEORGE next introduced a touching volume he unearthed somewhere, with the catchy title, You Were Born on a Rotten Day.  Sure enough, our January birthdays were then noted, with the specific fault or disaster for each of these lucky celebrants.  HARLAN LEWIS started the parade, on January 8th in Redlands.  That date makes him susceptible to a horde of LOCUSTS - and that's a pretty accurate start for You Were Born on a Rotten Day! PP RON LYSTER also arrived on the 8th, and his cross to bear is that he will someday ride his Harley in a STEEPLECHASE - doesn't sound like much fun to me.  PP BOB LUSK came along on the 10th, and he should be looking forward to a memorable day yet this month - but we won't know when!   Next up was PAUL SORRELL, with his birthday on the 14th - and it is no surprise that he will be doomed to lose his lawsuit against the city because the doorways are too low. DAVE MATSON, on the 15th, appeared to be doing OK depositing some money to the account of the Westwood Hills Christian Church - except they turned out to be Dea Dollars. SANDY SANDERSON  - it is rumored that he got some bad advice from his doctor, and now he can't remember which advice he should follow. Finally, DENNIS CORNWELL, on the 26th - he will need a new lease on life, and he is, indeed, thinking about moving his office somewhere else nearby.  This is good stuff, GEORGE - keep it up, please.

KEN LEVER, as a commentator, joined Gil Cates, our speaker, at a small table on the stage, and Pres. GEORGE formally introduced Gil to us. He and GEORGE are two halves of a mutual admiration society, and GEORGE pointed out some of the many honors Gil has received over the years. Currently he is the Director of the Geffen Playhouse, next door to the new Ralph's in the Village, and the Geffen provides all sorts of experimental theatre, based on the very intimate500 seat capacity of that venue. As Gil's list of credits were given, it became obvious that he is entirely at home in all aspects of entertainment - film, live theatre, and TV - and that alone makes him exceptional.  In the ten Academy Award shows that Gil has produced, he received 51 nominations, and 15 Oscars - that's quite an average. Gil brought GEORGE down from Berkeley ten years ago, and GEORGE'S part of the action as Assistant Dean was the financial end of the operation.  Under GEORGE, they always made a profit .  I think GEORGE summed up Gil's career at UCLA when he pointed out that Gil is a true Renaissance Man.

Gil pointed out that the average age of WVRC members is 55 (oh, if only!) and that is the same average age of Geffen attendees - and so we would all feel right at home in that location.  One quick Academy story - David Niven was the Presenter, and a flasher darted out and crossed the stage, holding out his trench coat as he ran.  Niven's immediate comment - "Whoever said all men are created equal?"  As a matter of fact, Gil still suspects that this was a planned setup.  And then LEVER, never one to let it alone, pointed out that we had just heard "The Naked Truth"!

Q&A - PP STEVE ADLER, what do Oscar nominations do for individuals and studios. Individual salaries invariably go up, and of course studios want to win because of the later income produced by cassettes, European and Asian rights, etc.  You can't buy that kind of advertising.  There are now eleven or twelve award shows - where will it end?
Commentator LEVER - what effect does promotion have.  We still don't know what works, but promotion does help - it's hard to measure.  AND NOW, here's your trivia question of the day!  Where did the Bronx get its name?   The section was named for Edmund Bronx, who ran a large dairy farm there!  Gild had another story about Sven Knudsen, a name adopted by a Chinese immigrant as he waited in the immigration line - that was the name of the guy ahead of him, and when his turn came, the Chinese simply said, "Sam Ding.".

CLARK MCQUAY - who pays for all the videos.  The Academy, and they send them out, to protect the privacy of who receives them.  If the studios fudge, they are penalized in two specific ways - by the number of seats at the Awards they receive, and by the number of tables they get at the various parties afterward.  Obviously, crime doesn't pay.
YOE - who does the nominating.  Each specialty gets a list of the movies made that year, and they then vote for five.  The top five are thus nominated.  From then on, EVERYONE votes for all categories.  The nominees are screened all over, in LA and NY.  PP JOHN SINGLETON - do they publish the final count.  No - but Gil thinks it would be worth doing.  The Academy has 9500 members, of who about 3000 are actors.
Who chooses the Emcee?  The producer - and it isn't easy to get people to step up, since it can be a downer, if you bomb - and EVERYONE'S watching.  Afterward, I asked Gil who gets paid.  Presenters are not paid, performers get scale (which means it costs them a hell of a lot of money to appear), and the Producer gets $7500.  Sounds to YOE like it's a tough way to make a buck.

KEN, GEORGE and GIL - thanks for a most entertaining and informative meeting.  We could have kept you up there all afternoon.

YOE, Ernie. Wolfe