Inside baseball: Making the film Casablanca was just one comeback after another

Casablanca is one of the most revered and famous movies of all time.

But the only reason it got made was because of the passion of producer Hal Wallis. He had to fight the studio, he didn't get the director he wanted, he didn't get the lead actress he hoped for, the script didn't quite work, and even deep into the shooting, he didn't have an ending.

But Hal Wallis believed in the picture, and risked his reputation to save it.

The rest, as they say, is Hollywood history

The above, from CBC program Age of Persuasion with Terry O'Reilly.

Better yet, listen to the amazing program, get the mp3.

THE POWER OF STORY, by Jim Loehr, reading notes

THE POWER OF STORY, Rewrite your destiny in business and in life, Jim Loehr

A rather remarkable book we stumbled across not long ago. Here are some salient quotes for your consideration.

Story is everywhere. Your body tells a story. The smile or frown on your face, your shoulders thrust back in confidence or slumped roundly in despair, the liveliness or fatigue in your gait, the sparkle of hope and joy in your eyes or the blank stare, your fitness, the size of your gut, the tone and strength of your physical being, your overall presentation – those are all part of your story. P 7

The most important story you will ever tell about yourself is the story you tell to yourself. P 14

If an idiot were to tell you the same story every day for a year, you would end by believing it. p 15

Jot down 10 moments of joy you had in the last 30 days. P 32

I want to be sunshine. (vis-à-vis no. 1 tennis player in the world) -- importance of choosing the right goal. p 50

When Steve B., the man at the start of this chapter who seemed to have it all, recognized, at age fifty-three, the fundamental flaw in his story – that his private voice was not his own but his father’s, that for decades he hadn’t really lived his own life, that he had experienced so little joy in a life that should have been overflowing with it – he broke down. P 106

Monday, February 07, 2011.

RIP Fitness Pioneer Jack LaLanne

One of the great comeback stories, his interest in fitness sprang out of his chronic sicknesses as a teen. Set many records, broke many barriers along the way. He was 96. More....

Pianist plays despite pain

From CNN. I had the honor of hearing Mr. Janis perform in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, back in the 1970s, as part of the Allied Arts series. He is still productive, in spite of his arthritis, now at 83....

NY TIMES says JS Bach No. 1

Top 10 composers list of all time.

Gratifying that JS Bach was named to the honor; we covered his story in "Extraordinary Comebacks". During his lifetime, he was regarded as "not good enough" by the locals when they were considering who to hire for town composer.

Amazing, but true....what a comeback.

Comes back to the same job -- 28 years later

Hats off to new Gov. of California, Jerry Brown, who comes back to the same job he had 28 years ago. With an unimaginable deficit, however, it's not really the "same job," is it? Here's a rather downbeat look at his prospects to stem the tides of financial destruction facing California (and most other states). One might ask, is he 'worried,' or is he counting on his (formerly) rich Uncle Sam to bail him out? And, who, pray tell, bails out Uncle? His Asian friends? If so, for how long? These are the questions, dear reader, that must be grappled with this new year, 2011, and we think, for years to come.

Posture Matters! Who Knew!

In one of the more interesting stories that came out in the last quarter of 2010, TIME magazine reports on studies showing an increase in testosterone from merely standing or sitting in a "power position."

Quoting from TIME:

More powerful people — i.e., those who make more money and have higher-status jobs — reliably show higher levels of testosterone (no matter their gender) and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol than people lower on the totem pole. The researchers reasoned that if you put low-power people in high-power postures, their hormones might respond accordingly.

To see if the researchers were right, I went to a Columbia lab, sat down in my typical slouch and spat into a little tube. Have you ever tried to spit on demand? It's harder than you think. Columbia assistant professor Dana Carney gave me a piece of gum to help. Then Carney put me in the hawk and feet-on-the-desk power postures, and 15 minutes later, I spat into another tube.

Carney sent both spit samples to a lab at Penn State. When the results came back a couple of weeks later, it turned out my testosterone had doubled in the short amount of time I spent in the power positions.