Saturday Report

Was very sad to hear about Paul Newman's death this morning. He lost his battle with cancer at age 83, but leaves behind some of the greatest films every made and a legacy of philanthropic endeavors for the needy and children that is second to none. People laughed when he first released his Newman's Own Salad Dressing, but that product and the many others he created generated hundreds of millions dollars for charity. Some of my favorite of Newman's early films: The Long, Hot Summer, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, The Sting, The Hustler and Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. However, I think he was doing his best work in the 80s and beyond. He was more nuanced and subtle. Loved him in Fort Apache The Bronx, The Verdict, the brilliant Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, Twilight, Nobody's Fool and Road to Perdition. 

If you check out the MySpace page, you can hear new recorded versions of "Patty Hearst On The Occasion Of Her Presidential Pardon" and "Katrina Origins" which both appear in After the Poison. 

I'm now a Goodreads author. I was very hesitant about joining yet another online community, but Goodreads is pretty cool. It's like Facebook for authors and book lovers. Check it out. 

Unbelievably, Atlanta is still in the middle of a gas shortage. We're a week into this now and there are still hour long waits at gas stations and many have no fuel. Since I filled up on Monday, I have restricted my driving. I still have nearly a full tank. 

The polls this morning show that Obama won the debate last night. The numbers vary -- from a slight lead to a big one -- but obviously McCain did not get the big knockout victory he needed to regain momentum in his campaign. Biden and Palin debate Thursday and that is going to be a night of comedy. Check out the Kansas City Star's round-up of all the polls.