by TChris

This man in Pretoria is a lucky fellow:

Telkom senior manager Petrus Mthethwa on Wednesday escaped unhurt after two alleged assassins broke into his house at midnight and opened fire.

The botched assassination attempt was Mthethwa's third escape from death.

In an attack last October, one of the security guards provided by Telkom sustained gunshot wounds to the neck and was admitted to hospital.

In another incident, Mthethwa was followed while driving home from work. The occupants of the car fired several shots but he escaped unharmed.

Our pick for inspirational story of the day....volunteers in Berkeley gather weekly to wash the feet of the city's young homeless.

The service is part of a youth clinic program run primarily by UC Berkeley undergrads near campus with funding from the university and other sources. ...The 4-year-old clinic also provides counseling, acupuncture and legal advice. No one is sure how the foot-washing started, but Ryan Houk, 20, a Cal student who helps coordinate the clinic, said he thought it probably started for religious reasons (in the Bible, Jesus washes his disciples' feet as a gesture of humility) but evolved into simply a nice thing to do for people who are out on their feet all day.

There are about 500 homeless kids in on the streets in Berkeley. The interviews with some the kids and their responses to the footwashing really make the article. Here's a few of them:

On another night, I met a 23-year-old guy who gave his name as Spencer. He wore black, a silver ring through his nose, a gigantic safety pin dangling from one of his belt loops. He said besides the obvious pleasure of having a beautiful woman like Cal student Birdie Nguyen wash his feet, the ritual made him feel homey and safe, the way you sometimes feel when you're taken care of as a little kid. ''It relaxes me completely. It makes me feel a lot better.''

We're still reading all the post-mortem reviews of last night's Sex and the City finale, which we loved--and just came across The Sex and the City Quiz--supposedly it will tell you which of the four women you most take after.

Our score: 30% Samantha; 30% Miranda; 30% Carrie; 10% Charlotte.

[for male readers, no need to leave a snarky comment, just go on to the next post.]

Rolling Stone has released its list of the top 500 albums ever. We found the link over at Sideshow, and we agree with Avedon that Let it Bleed is better than Exile on Main Street. We're also amazed that we have about 40 of the top 50 on LPs in our basement.

We've been on the road again today, this time to Canon City to visit a client at the state penitentiary. A two and a half hour drive each way with great mountain views and no traffic. The prison staff couldn't have been more accomodating and the bathrooms were spotless. With cloudless skies and daytime temperatures in 40's to 50's since the weekend when we left in the opposite direction for Vail and Eagle, we are once again reminded that it's a privilege to live in Colorado.

We've missed blogging at our usual pace the past few days, but we'll be catching up quickly.

It's midnight and -3 degrees outside. Doubtful it will get warmer by the time we leave for court at 7:30 am. So we're calling it a night. We'll be dreaming of beaches with soft white sand and aqua color water--and fishing--and wishing we were headed there soon. Thanks to all who stopped by today.

In a new autobiography, My Prison Without Bars, Pete Rose admits for the first time that he bet on baseball games. He hopes to end his lifetime ban from baseball and be admitted into the Hall of Fame.

Rose says he was a big-time gambler who started betting regularly on baseball in 1987 but never against the Reds, according to excerpts from the book released to Sports Illustrated for its issue that hits newsstands Wednesday.

"Yes, sir, I did bet on baseball," Rose told commissioner Bud Selig during a meeting in November 2002 about Rose's lifetime ban.

"How often?" Selig asked.

"Four or five times a week," Rose replied. "But I never bet against my own team, and I never made any bets from the clubhouse."

"Why?" Selig asked.

"I didn't think I'd get caught."

Rose repeated his admission in an interview on ABC News' "Primetime Thursday," parts of which aired Monday on "Good Morning America."

We give him credit for the honest answer. We sat in the row behind him a few months ago on a plane somewhere (he was in bulkhead and we were in row 2.) There was a steady stream of passengers coming up to him. He was polite to all of them. He wears a lot of gold jewelry. A lot. And he's a very beefy guy.

So will the book do it for him and will he get back in?

This cow is mad and he's not gonna take it any more. (warning, explicit language.)

We're saddened to learn that writer John Gregory Dunne has died at 71. While we enjoyed his books a lot, his wife, Joan Didion, has been our favorite author for the past 30 years--since we first read Play it As it Lays in 1972. Our condolences to Ms. Didion--and to Mr. Dunne's brother, author Dominick Dunne.

The grandson of an Irish immigrant, Dunne often focused on the Irish-American experience, particularly in his novel ``True Confessions.'' The 1977 breakthrough book involved a Los Angeles murder and its effect on two Irish-Catholic brothers, one a detective, the other a priest, neither untainted by corruption. Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall starred in the movie, which Dunne adapted with Didion. ``'True Confessions' was a major novel, one of the best books ever written about politics,'' said Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam, a friend and fellow writer. ``He was a very important writer, and a wonderful friend--talented, edgy, combative.''

More countries are banning U.S. beef. A second herd has been quarrantined because it contains a calf from the cow that had mad cow disease. We haven't been too worried, thinking it's an isolated instance, but this has us a little concerned:

The animal that came down with the nation's first case of mad cow disease had been made into hamburger and probably eaten before the U.S. Agriculture Department received test results.

It's "Sir Mick" from now on. The New York Times runs this editorial on it.

Keith Richards called the honor a "disgrace." Mick thinks he's jealous:

"I think he would probably like to get the same honor himself," Jagger told reporters. "It's like being given an ice cream - one gets one and they all want one. It's nothing new. Keith likes to make a fuss."

Jagger was accompanied at the ceremony by his 92 year old father and two of his daughters, Karis and Elizabeth. How come no Jade?

Congratulations to Mick. He's been one of our all-time favorites since:

Our all time favorites are:

Our favorite song is You Can't Always Get What You Want (from Let it Bleed.) Runner-up is Dead Flowers (off Sticky Fingers) -- but that's because it's their only song we can still play and sing by heart on the guitar.

The death of John Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980 outside his New York Apartment building around 10:00 p.m has always held a special meaning for the TalkLeft family.

I was 3 1/2 weeks overdue with my first child. On Dec. 8, I went to the hosptial in the afternoon to be induced. It didn't work, they sent me home. At bedtime, my then-husband and I were in bed-- he was watching Monday Night Football, I was reading a book. All of a sudden, Howard Cosell's huge voice boomed out: "An unspeakable tragedy this evening in New York City. John Lennon has been shot."

The minute I heard that I gasped and felt a pop--the shock of the news had caused my water to break. We went racing to the hospital. We learned John Lennon was dead. Within 2 hours, at 1am on Dec. 9, our son Nic was born. I have always believed, and told him, that when John Lennon's spirit went out, his came in. So for the past 23 years, this day is not only a celebration of a birthday, but a time to reflect on the nature of the extradordinary soul who has touched my son's soul.

Nic is in his first year of law school. But his first passion is for his music--he plays guitar. Whenever we are in NY together, we visit sidewalk art shows in lower downtown and pick up some Lennon memorabilia. Nic feels the connection too.

So, on this birthday eve for Nic, I wish him success at whichever endeavor --law or music, he chooses. And to John Lennon, we wish eternal peace.

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