Mark Knows It All

I decided a long time ago that no one knows better than me what I want for Christmas. So each Christmas I buy for myself a gift for my wife to give to me that I will be sure to love. This year, it was a digital DVD camcorder. I saw it on QVC, and said to her that is what you can give me for Christmas. I ordered it, and gave it to her to wrap and to put under the tree along with an appropriate card expressing her sentiments of the season. I dutifully acted surprised on Christmas morning when I opened it up. How did she know that is exactly what I wanted? But like the bloom off the rose, I sat down yesterday to try to learn how to run thing. I knew I was in trouble when the instruction “booklet” was the size of War and Peace . And it was in three languages: Spanish, French, and English. And it had lots of charts, especially to explain what kind of disc to buy that would work with the dang thing. Then I then had to make sure it was compatible with my DVD player that is attached to my tele...

"It snowed last year, too; I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea." Dylan Thomas Here's hoping the whole world sits down and has a cup of tea. Merry Christmas from The Mangie Family

For those of you who refuse to believe that when you vote a certain way, you get the whole package, consider this article reprinted without permission from the San Francisco Chronicle, one of the most liberal newspapers in the United States. There are always those who know what is good for you, and they will go to any lengths to insure that you follow their dictates. If we get a national health insurance plan of the sorts that is being proposed by several of the presidential candidates, what San Francisco is trying to do will be just a small sample of the government tyring to get into your refrigerator. Food Police may seem like a joke now, but just wait. TAX IT AND THEY'LL DRINK MILK Tuesday, December 18, 2007 We heartily agree with Mayor Gavin Newsom that soft drinks, loaded with high-fructose corn syrup and caffeine, are unhealthful. But there is also something unhealthful about a politician's attempt to selectively target one source of calories for a new tax - the ...

From time to time, I have written about Seraphim, the community chorus in which I sing. Choral music has always been my passion. I have either sung in and/or directed choirs since I was 14 years old. My high school music teacher left me to direct the 9th grade mixed chorus in front of the curtain while she prepared the A Cappella Choir behind the curtain on performance nights. For 4 years of high school I accompanied the chorus and she taught me how to direct the music. I was hooked. I am an OK musician with a better than average choral baritone voice. I can play the piano and organ, but most of it is faking as my fingers don’t want to go where the music says they should. I should have practiced my Schirmer exercises. But it is enough to enable me to assist in a meaningful manner those who truly know what they are doing. What people don’t understand about choral music is it is possible to get the same effect athletes describe as an endorphin rush. To be blunt, you can get high. It does...

My apologies to those of you not from around here as I lament the passing of another local institution. Youngstown, Ohio, has always been a self contained area with its local newspaper, and numerous radio stations, and three local television stations representing affiliates with the major television networks. It created a cocoon of sorts, as we were, and still are, totally insulated from the news in the rest of the state. Akron, for example, has its own newspaper, but no television stations. The folks there watch the Cleveland stations. My in-laws are from Mansfield, again with no television stations. They watch stations from Cleveland and Columbus. Not us, we watched, and watch, all things local. Ohio newspapers have always been statewide, with folks all over the state reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Toledo Blade, the Columbus Dispatch, and the Cincinnati Enquirer. But not here in Youngstown. We read the Vindicator, and for the most part, only the Vindicator. When I went to Oh...

Today Mitt Romney gave his speech about faith. It was intended to quell issues relating to his Mormon religion. He made his point that no religion, including his own, would stand in the way of his doing what was right for America. But the speech was much more. I am not a Romney supporter. But I know a good political speech when I hear one. Romney gave today what will go down in political annals as the definitive statement of Faith in America. It is a topic that politicians are hesitant to address. It is a topic that has been lost in this era of political correctness. It is a topic that goes to the root of the lost values that we so sorely need restored to gain back the soul of the country. He said in part: “Perhaps the most important question to ask a person of faith who seeks a political office, is this: Does he share these American values — the equality of human kind, the obligation to serve one another and a steadfast commitment to liberty? They are not unique to any one denominati...

These past few weeks have been particularly difficult for me for a number of different reasons. So I was feeling a tad put upon when a friend of mine, Richard, told me about a musical event in which he was a participant. He thought I might want to attend. It was held at the Butler Museum of American Art during the lunch hour this past Wednesday. Richard is a music aficionado of sorts, and likes to compose modern classical music. He belongs to an organization affiliated with the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University whose purpose is to foster and develop various artists with this type of talent. The event was designed to showcase their original compositions, performed by students from the Dana School. It was a dreary day, and my mood was not the best. My wife encouraged me, however, to attend the recital, saying I should do something for myself. As lunch approached, I left the office early and drove to the north side to watch the performance. When I got to Butler, I was su...