Your thoughts on this matched mine, and you expressed them much better than I could or would have.

I've never seen the play or the movie, but I did read the book by John Buchan which was quite good. I got it from Project Gutenberg.

Just to clarify, I was referring to Baxter Black, and a story he told that I'd heard on the radio more than 35 years ago.

Yeah, I agree with that sentiment, though Clarksville, Tennessee stopped being rural a long time ago; its population is something over 100,000 and of course Ft. Campbell and the 101st Airborne are right next door. But I live decent on just over 38K annually. No mortgage (paid off in '09), no car payment, no debts of any kind, especially credit cards; 60K put away in a strictly-emergency account.
Prices on groceries and all are as high here as just about anywhere else, and we don't do impulse buying. I've never in my life had much money (I'm 73) but I've always had enough; I'll qualify that, however, by saying there were (and sometimes still are) times when it was barely enough. But everyone here knows That's Life...

He was a great story-teller, too; there was one about a vacuum a cleaner salesman who knocked at the cabin door of a feisty 80-years-old Grandma to try and sell one to her. He went straight into his pitch, extolling the machine's great qualities & performance, talking right over her when she tried several times to say something, going on and on about how great it was, and illustrating by way of dumping all manner of stuff on the floor, from coffee grounds to chicken bones, and grinding it in by walking over it, talking a blue streak the whole time. He finished up by saying "and ma'am, if this wonderful machine cain't pick up ever' last bit of all this stuff, Ah will eat it right off the floor!" To which the Old Gal replied "Better get out yer chopsticks, sonny, I ain't got no 'lectricity!"

Hugh Laurie, the English actor who portrays the American Dr. House, has a totally convincing native-born-sounding American accent when he's in character (and is a darned good musician, too).

Man oh man, that was some kinda piano solo! The whole piece was GREAT, but that guy was totally in orbit...

[quote=SteveL]Please respond with up to 3 songs that you really like that you feel I should listen to...

Like so many others on this thread, I had a hard time sticking to just 3 songs. Hope you like them; there's plenty of variety:

Take Five - Dave Brubek Quartet - Album: Time Out (1959) (Jazz)

Walk Right In - The Rooftop Singers - Album: Walk Right In (1962) (Folk)

Regards From Chuck Pink - Leo Kottke - Album: Chewing Pine (1975) (New Acoustic)

Our Town - Iris Dement - Album: Infamous Angel (1992) (Country)

Step Right Up - Tom Waits - Album: Used Songs (1973-1980) (2001)

Hillbillies From Outer Space - Stevie Ray Vaughn & Jimmy Vaughn - Album: Family Style (1990)

Johnny Guitar - Johnny Winter - Album: Hey, Where's Your Brother? (1988) (Rock)

Hot Rod Lincoln - Jim Varney - Album: Soundtrack from The Beverly Hillbillies (1993)

Copperhead Road - Steve Earle - Album: Copperhead Road (1988) (Country Rock)

I believe it's because the kind of people needed to produce shows like that are virtually non-existent in these benighted times...

That reminded me of the old (heck, ancient!) Art Linkletter TV show "Kids say the darndest things!" I remember one instance where he was talking to a little girl, maybe six years old, who said she wanted to be a nurse when she grew up; Mr. Linkletter then asked her what she would do, as a nurse, if he had a hole in his head. Her immediate response: "I'd put a cork in it."

Same here; utilities and broadband are all on monthly autopay from my checking account. Quick and convenient, no extra fee.

I get it now. And you're exactly right.

Given Mr. Adams' wonderfully artistic eye, if he'd had that kind of equipment available to him during his time..heck yeah, he would have been even better than he already was; there's no telling what kind of images he'd have produced, but they would something to see. Just my opinion...

Is this what you were saying?: Mirrorless cameras are what cameras in general are evolving into, so it makes good sense to learn about them, get one, and practice, practice, practice; you'll become a better photographer. Nothing at all wrong with that in my view, although I'm old and slow and will thus stick with what I've got; if I was 20 years younger, though....

You quite obviously know a lot more about this than I do (or for that matter, most likely ever will!) so I'll stick to what's actually available to me with my particular camera, which actually isn't at all bad; I might not be able to make those really Artsy-looking long exposure shots where the shutter stays open for 15 or 20 minutes and the whole scene looks quite ethereal, but there's plenty that I can do and have a good time doing it. I do thank you for the valuable information you took the time & trouble to provide.