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Assistant Editor / Co-moderator: Terence Nuzum Established A.D. 2000, March 19. Now in our eleventh calendar year! Number 543 (Vol. 11, No. 34). This edition is for the week of August 16--22, 2010. Good Times Starting two years ago or so, we beheld an onslaught of "Consolidated Debt" ads aimed at the growing market of struggling consumers buried in credit card debt or home foreclosure, or both. With any relief of The Great Recession nowhere in sight, angry and desperate people flocked to these outfits, only to find that for the most part, they were out a lot of money to scheisters, the highly-touted-but-dubiously-implemented programs failed, and they were still left in lots of trouble. The answer for so many of them all along was to declare bankruptcy, but the hassle and stigma scared them off.
So, now I'm starting to see an increasing number of .... *drumroll, please* .... we can help you declare bankruptcy ads! Now that the "consolidated debt" market has not really proven to be the panacea that everyone thought, the big money is in bankruptcy (ironies abound).
It wouldn't be so disgusting if it wasn't so obviously exploitative all along. Now, don't get me wrong, if anyone tried debt consolidation and it was successful, you have my sincerest support and congratulations.
Ye Olde Editor has been through similar financial/legal hassles more than once (sorry to say), but all I want to leave you with is this: Do your homework, think it through carefully, and most importantly, if it sounds too good to be true, it very likely is. Bankruptcy laws are there to protect you and are a proven legal recourse, albeit a last resort. I know "bankruptcy" is a big scary word. But "debt consolidation", the kind we see advertised so frequently, is, IMHO, much more rife with risk. Proceed with caution.
Last night's Alfred Hitchcock Presents (CH 32.2, I believe), featured CLAUDE RAINS (The Invisible Man, father to The Wolfman) as a down-on-his-luck aging actor, begging his agent/writer (James Gregory, instantly recognizable character actor of the day) to overlook his past problems with alcoholism and get him a part...any part. Hopefully, a part in the writer's latest play.
All goes well until he "auditions" for the play's sponsor, a former mobster. Rains delivers a startling performance of a mob informer that's too realistic and he winds up getting himself killed.
Since I missed the first few minutes, I didn't catch the title, so had to look it up. Turned out to be "The Cream of the Jest" from 1957. I also learned that Rains starred in FIVE episodes of this series. Looks like I got some catching up to do!
Regular PCR readers are aware of my infatuation with our local Retro TV stations, 8.2 (Retro TV) and 32.2 (THiS). During vacation, I discovered the weekend TV schedule is not the same line-up as during the week. Not sure why I found that so surprising, but it's mostly paid programming and a smattering of movies.
I did discover, however, that Off Beat Cinema which I'd lost track of as a Friday night thing, appears on Retro TV 8.2 Saturdays at midnight. Last weekend's offering was The Devil's Hand, a 1962 B&W affair starring Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon from the '60s TV Batman, albeit with dyed black hair), as the leader of a religious cult that manipulates and terrorizes its members with devil voodoo dolls. Deliciously awful lo-budget stuff, but I was riveted until the last frame.
Moving on, days later and just before beddy-bye, I discovered an episode of the '70s Incredible Hulk that co-starred Craig Stevens, Peter Gunn himself(!) as a ranch owner with race horses. I'm sure I saw this when it was new, but this is the first I remember it registering that it was the Craig Stevens. Twenty years after Peter Gunn and the ol' boy didn't look bad at all! Also co-starring in this episode was Ned Romero who was in a bazillion '60s shows (among them, Death Valley Days, Dan August), usually playing Indian parts, here again played a ranch hand/medicine man with a possible herbal cure for David Banner's anger-management issues.
Many thanks to all who wrote in, called, and especially were present during my big Friday the 13th birthday weekend! It was quite a whirlwind romp and I had a great time. I still have a few days left of R & R and I plan to put them to good use.
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