Update 9-28-10

Hi,

It was 102 today.  Which, of course, is a lot cooler than it seems because there's no humidity in LA.  Right.  But we do have electricity, and we have air conditioning, so it's okay.

Another piece of science fiction, from Eric Hilton:  Allen Moss' note reminded me of a few movies I saw at the Valley Stream movie theater.  They scared the crap out of me and gave me nightmares.  Vincent Price in The House of Wax -- I think it was in 3D, but I don’t remember. The House on Haunted Hill, also with Vincent Price.  Near the end, a skeleton went floating across the theatre on a wire, and everyone screamed.  And the last one, which had me running out of the theatre before the end, The Bride of Frankenstein.
    The Valley Stream movie theater has great memories for me.  When I was in 6th grade, I would take guitar lessons at Downs’s Music, which was located on the side of the theater, and then on Saturday, I would go see a movie.  I also remember the old lady matrons dressed in white with their flashlights.  As I've said before, they'd yell at you to get your feet off the railing -- I liked to sit in the balcony, first row.  That's where I watched Godzilla and, of course, the scariest horror movie of them all, Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein.  Truly fine cinema.

Related to movies and horror stories, forwarded by Mark Perlman:  October 2nd starts Banned Book Week.  Everyone needs to go to the library and check out a banned or challenged book.  The old standbys, Tropic Of Cancer and Ulysses, are always on the list, but did you read Catcher In The Rye and Catch-22 in high school?  Banned in some schools.  Were the 60s more enlightened than the present?  This year the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary made the list -- someone objected to some of the words.  Other repeat offenders: To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl.  I can see why books may not be in some school libraries because of age appropriateness -- but Harry Potter, The Twilight Series, The Lord Of The Rings?  In the past, I've even seen the Tarzan books on the list. The AARP newspaper for this month has a short list of banned and challenged books on the last page, and if anyone is interested www.ALA.org has them all listed.  The motto for this year for Banned Book Week is, "Think for yourself and let others do the same."

Not related to fiction at all, Valerie Nelson Gillen assures me:  The dog drank from the pool.  She didn't swim in it.  The water was clean.  Always one wise guy in the group.

[Rich -- Valerie, of course, also reminded me that she was joking.  As was I.]

A serious question, from Ellen Epstein Silver:  I have a question I want to pose to our classmates.  I am a candidate for cataract surgery for both eyes.  The eye surgeon feels I should go for the Tecnis Multifocal Lens, which is not covered by insurance and will cost $2600 per eye.  After doing some research when we got home, we found that there are trade-offs to this surgery.  This lens enables you to see at near, intermediate, and far distances without glasses but at the cost of losing some of the sharpness of your vision.  Even with glasses, the loss of sharpness may become worse under poor visibility conditions, such as dim light.  Other side effects could be halos and glare from lights at night.
    There are other choices:  the single vision lens is covered by insurance.  With it, you can see distance clearly but will need reading glasses.  Doctors can also reverse that, so you won't need reading glasses but will need prescription glasses for driving and movies.
    I just wanted to know if any of our classmates have been faced with these decisions, and what feedback they could give me on the cataract implant they've chosen.  I guess as we age, there will be lots of health issues we need to deal with, and any feedback is helpful in making informed decisions.

[Rich -- For a start, I wrote Ellen:  A quick answer from me about the cataract surgery -- which I'm also approaching.  For 35 years now, I've had my glasses corrected so that one eye is good for distance, and one is good for close up.  That's the way contact lenses are set up, and it's kept me from needing two sets of glasses.  I believe you can do the same thing with your lenses after cataract surgery.
    The way it works is the brain only takes the clearest image it gets, so it considers the information both eyes are feeding it, and then it chooses what it needs to see.  Ask your eye doctor about the lens choice.  Then ask another eye doctor for a second opinion.]

And Ellen wrote back:  Thanks for getting back to me.  I tried to wear those monofocal contact lenses, and they gave me a headache, so I was not a candidate.  I didn't mind wearing reading glasses over the contacts when needed.  I think it is a good thing to ask our classmates how they are handling the health challenges we face as we age and to get feedback to help us make choices.  So thank you all for taking this on for me.  I'm interested to see the responses.

A couple of links for the week:
    From Robert Fiveson:
http://abstrusegoose.com/strips/but_at_least_I_am_beating_the_billions_of_people_living_in_poverty_
WOO_HOO.PNG
    From Barbara Blitfield Pech:
http://www.screanews.us/LongIsland/SuffolkFrom.htm

A reminder, from Emily Kleinman Schreiber:
    Homecoming 2010 is on Saturday, October 2, 2010.  The class of 1960 will be honored, beginning at 11:00 AM at South.
    Also, come help celebrate Booker Gibson’s 80th birthday on Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 7:00 PM.  The Bordeaux Wine Bar, 324 Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centre.

Finally, a note and a list from Joanne Shapiro Polner:  One of my neighbors in Valley Stream was Dave Herbeck, and we've kept up as acquaintances over the years.  He lives in South Carolina now, and I'm not sure he'd come to New York for a reunion, but our class -- 1960 -- is about to have its 50th.
    I asked Richard Zappa, the contact person for the reunion, if he'd share the sign-up list, and he nicely did, so now I'm encouraging other people to come.  I've already gotten out my yearbook and looked over pictures of the people on the list.  A couple of forays into Google even brought up several current photos on Facebook.
    Who would I like to see again?  Linda Mancke and Leilani Cox and Emmett McCabe.  I'd just like to look in awe at Emmett for this:  when we at Clearstream Avenue School in 5th or 6th grade, I thought it was the most terrible thing that Emmett was asked to repeat a grade.  I just had a feeling for him that has been in my mind and heart for my whole life, and I was so happy when he graduated from South, just slightly off schedule.
    Otherwise, all is well here.  We had another fabulous summer -- good weather, beach time, culture, and social life -- on Martha's Vineyard.  Best regards to all.

    South High School's Class of 1960's 50th Reunion.  October 2, 2010.  Oceanside, New York.  Knights of Columbus.  1 to 5 PM.  $60 per person.  Contact Richard Zappa at:  guyzap@aol.com

Attendee List as of 9-23-10
Agurkis, Doloris Murdock -- maybe
Akers, Janet Preslan
Barkman, Artie
Calise, Bill
Caravaggio, Rose Marie Iovino
Case, George
Ciliberti, Rosemarie Smolinsky
Cohen, Bern
Coleman, Terry Cunningham
Cox, Leilani Craypa
Diamond, Rachael (Fingerhut)
Fenton, Gail Silverman
Fiorillo, Joe -- maybe
Getnick, Richard
Giambalvo, Rosalie Albergo
Hajjar, Alyce
Lanzilotta, John
Lenzo, Mike
Leonardo, Frank
Manke, Linda Harris
McCabe, Emmett
McDowell, Alice
Napolitano, Bob
Newman, Carol Ann
Orest, Andy
Russo, Angela -- maybe
Yannacone, Rose Hauptman

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65.blogspot.com

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb.google.com/SouthHS65


Rich