the "SOD defense"

 A retired policeman, speaking in a video on You Tube, told his listeners what the "SOD defense" is - sod stands for "some other dude."  Some other dude did it, not the defendant.

I never heard of that, before.

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news article

Massachusetts

Should Mass. police officers need a college degree?  Proposal would up requirement

By Eli Rosenberg

Published May 28, 2026

There's a push in the Commonwealth to increase the bar for what it takes to become a police officer.

"We desperately need to elevate policing," said Dennis Galvin, a retired state police officer and president of the Massachusetts Association for Professional Law Enforcement (MAPLE).

MAPLE is pushing a law that would require anyone wanting to be a police officer here to complete 60 college semester credits - the equivalent of an associate's degree.

As it stands now, recruits must have a GED or high school diploma.

MAPLE doesn't think this new requirement will hurt recruiting.

"There is a lot of concern that we are not recruiting or we can't find candidates, well, if you go and take a two-year degree at a junior college which costs you nothing you should be eligible for employment," Galvin said.

The idea is gaining steam.  Wisconsin has a college credit requirement for police recruits, as does Minnesota.  Same with the Chicago Police Department.  And the NYPD in New York City requires 24 hours of college semester credits.

Experts who study this say there are definitely some advantages.

"I like the idea, I know it sounds a little self serving having an academic say that, but I think it is a good idea," said Chris Harris, a professor at UMass Lowell.

In recent years, Massachusetts has dealt with several high profile police issues, including the Karen Read trial.

"There is some research, although not a lot, that seems to suggest that college-educated officers seem to perform better, they tend to get fewer citizen complaints, they tend to use less force," Harris said.

MAPLE says it has heard mixed reactions so far.  Right now, this is a Senate bill, so there's a lot to track as it makes its way through Beacon Hill.

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always busy

 I was looking for more information about Sol Saks, because the Wikipedia entry was pretty skimpy.

        The Los Angeles Times article that came out when he died in 2011 had more background and interesting details.

        Sol Saks wrote the pilot script for the TV series Bewitched (1964 - 1972).

        Born in New York City.

        Died in Sherman Oaks, California at the age of 100.

--------------------- [excerpt from L.A. Times article] ------------ Saks was a long time member of Theatre West, the nonprofit arts organization in Hollywood.

"Sol was the elder statesman of the group, an amazing man," said Stu Berg, who directed several of Saks' plays at the theater, including "A Dream of Butterflies," in 2003.

        "One of the interesting things about him was the incredible amount of energy he had and how sharp he was well into his 90s," said Berg.  "He was working on new things and sharpening up some things he had previously worked on.  He was always busy.  He was kind of an inspiration to all of us."

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"...don't come back up here"

         At the end of that Deliverance scene from yesterday, the tourist who was playing the song with the local kid, Drew, is kind of high with delight over the spontaneous musical collaboration they just did - he's so happy in the moment, he says, "I could play all day with that guy!" - And he holds out his right hand, enthusiastically, to shake hands with the boy - who keeps both his hands on the instrument and swiftly turns his face away - looks off to the side.

It isn't as dramatic or horrifying as some other scenes in the movie, but to me it's a significant, mystifying, predictive moment.

        Critics say the movie is about ecology and the environment - the need to preserve and protect the environment instead of wrecking it.

        1973 Academy Awards:  this movie had three nominations, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing.  It did not win.

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dueling banjos

On You Tube, type in

Deliverance - Dueling Banjos (HQ)

uploader / channel: Gilded Entertainment Group

...and play

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you can stand here with me if you want, but you'll have to agree not to talk about the heat

Jack Cassidy in an episode of Columbo

        The first episode of the Columbo series has the title, "Prescription:  Murder."  It was a TV movie in 1968.

        Compared to other episodes, the style of Columbo's personality is a little different.  He is more harsh and aggressive.

        The "People Who Decide And Advise" must have watched and said, "Soften his character.  Make him more gentle, more subtle, more circumspect."

        Some of the dialogue in Episode 1 sounds like the old movies that were based on the "hard-boiled" detective novels by Dashiell Hammett, or Raymond Chandler.  That's different from other episodes, where the way the people talk is more typical, common, perfunctory Early-1970s style.

The old-movie-type of dialogue is more stylized - like Burt Lancaster in Sweet Smell Of Success ("I'd hate to take a bite out of you - you're a cookie full of arsenic") or Kathleen Turner in Body Heat ("You're not too smart, are you? - I like that in a man").

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5, 6, 7, 8!

a video on You Tube - title:

Maria & the Captain dance the Laendler

uploader / channel:  Rodgers & Hammerstein

        (1 minute and 47 seconds)

Play! - and rock out!  (Or, maybe - politely enjoy...)

        Also on You Tube, there's a tutorial for how to do this dance.

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"a smile relieves a heart that grieves"

J.A. Preston; William Hurt; Ted Danson in 1981 film, Body Heat

Saute celery:

soy sauce

garlic

rice vinegar

        (and, of course, celery)

20 minutes

...to put in a pasta salad

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        One of the aspects of Columbo that one might notice, in the year 2026, is the ubiquity of Police Detective Columbo's cigars.  He has a partially-smoked cigar between a couple of his fingers - not every time, but many times, as he goes about trying to solve a murder case.

He enters people's homes with the cigars; restaurants; public buildings....there's one scene in one episode where he is smoking a cigar in - an art gallery.  (? ! ?? !! ??? !!!)

        The early Columbo seasons were made in the 1970s, when the idea of not smoking everyplace (and later, maybe not anyplace) was just beginning.

I thought about this when I watched the 1981 film Body Heat, and after the courtroom hearing at the beginning, Ned Racine (played by actor William Hurt) and Peter Lowenstein (played by Ted Danson) go into a local cafe to have a refreshment and William Hurt smokes a cigarette right by the food being brought out of the deep-fryer near the counter.

        The first time I saw that movie, in 1982, I didn't bat an eye at that scene.

        Decades later, re-watching it for however-many-times, one day I thought, "Wait a minute, he's smoking right by food that's just been prepared and is going to be served to - somebody else...??!"  lol

        Awareness - had been taught to us, and - increased, over the years....

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On You Tube, type in the song "Waiting On A Friend" and listen and enjoy.

It has a lot of atmosphere.

I'm just standing in a doorway

I'm just trying to make some sense...

actor Peter Falk in TV series Columbo

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