Quote of the Night- Dashiell Hammett

The subject of today's quote, the last in our series of quips from American writers, comes from the mystery noir pulp writer Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961), whose name is all too easy to spell incorrectly.

Here are some quick facts about the writer:

_Famous for detective/mystery novels including "The Maltese Falcon" (1930, later immortalized in a Humphrey Bogart film of the same name), "The Glass Key" (1931) and "The Thin Man" (1934).

_Had a 30-year relationship with playwright Lillian Hellman

_Along with Hellman and countless other creative people, Hammett was blacklisted as part of a witch hunt by HUAC in the early 1950s, when anti-communism paranoid ran deep in America.

_Played by actor Jason Robards in the film "Julia" (1933), Jane Fonda played Hellman in the same film.

_Is buried at Arlington National Cemetery for serving in both World Wars.

Here is his quote:

"Feed the lettuce to the bunny and eat the bunny."

Quote of the Day/Week- George W. Bush

I once saw a bumper sticker in Strasbug, Va., which said: "GOP- God's Own Party."

Giving that my laptop shut down when we tried posting this quip on Friday, I have to personally wonder about that!

Though I'm a Democrat, I would give George W. Bush the respect that any former American president deserves. Since we don't agree on much, I'd probably ask him what his favorite Humphrey Bograt movie is. He would probably say "Casablanca." My favorite Bogie movie is "The Maltese Falon." Bogart son his only Oscar for "The African Queen" some 60 years ago.

Here is Bush's quote:

"I have a different version of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together."

In the News_ American Postage Stamps Increase

On Monday, domestic postage stamp rates for letters go up here in the United States. So, if you want to send a congratulations card to Newt Gingrich for winning yesterday's South Carolina Republican Primary, you are already too late. Of course, those of you who know us well, realize we will not be among those sending the former House Speaker greeting cards anytime soon.

The Humphrey Bogart stamp (1997) shown here was part of a Legends of Hollywood series, which also included a Marilyn Monroe stamp.

SIDEBAR: Kudos to the nationally ranked men's basketball team from Harvard as they beat Dartmouth yesterday on the road in Hanover, NH, by a 54-38 score. But, interestingly enough, the school's Athlete of the Week is Haley Mendez, who plays women's squash?!

Also our congrats go out to the North Carolina State women's gymnastics team as earlier in the week sophomore Stephanie Ouellette was named EAGL Conference Gymnast of the Week. The Wolfpack also received honors for junior Rachel Fincham who was named EAGL Specialist of the Week, and freshman Lane Jarred who was named EAGL Rookie of the Week.

Over the weekend, the Wolfpack continued their success with a road victory over the University of Illinois-Chicago, which is, of course, located in the Windy City.