Preserving Our Integrity

  The year was 1947 when I first got my California drivers permit. I was fourteen years old. Whether I was a good driver or not was debatable. At the time, in the state of California, a fourteen year old wasn’t permitted to drive after dark. Two years quickly past and I became eligible at age sixteen for a regular drivers license. Watch out world, day or night, wet roads or dry, sleepless, or well rested, I was as most boys of sixteen are: integrity-free while driving a car. A thwarted mind behind the steering wheel of an automobile, usually going a little too fast for society to cope with. And speaking of going places… my buddies and I never had to concern ourselves with the cost of gasoline; 25 cents per gallon in 1947.

I rather doubt if any of us had heard the word integrity as yet. Personally, I had no idea what it meant, up and until I heard my high school baseball coach use it as a description, praising his men who were players on the city of Los Angeles. Our Coach "Harry Brubaker" was given a standing ovation when introduced as the man who led his men to a national record of forty-three straight wins, over a two year period. “During my long career as a teacher and a coach”, he began “I’ve been privileged to work with many fine athletes and students. But never ever had a group of young men to put on this magnificent display of team integrity before. Men I’m indeed proud to have worked with you all!”. My Father, who was in attendance, was absolutely beaming with pride. That evening, I looked up the word integrity. Like father and son privately we celebrated unabashedly! It was seventy two years ago, hence, thank God the burning remains.

Above all

Burn with it

Learn from it

Teach with it

Allow it to grow

Where there is truth

Integrity will abound

Yours to sustain forever

HK / 12 / 23

                                                  

                                            -da harv

Integrity: the quality of being honest hand having strong moral principles; moral uprightness: he is known to be a man of integrity. 2 the sate of being whole and undivided: upholding territorial integrity and national sovereignty. º the condition of being unified, unimpaired.

An “Oy Vey”! Day at K & K

 (But we ain’t complaining)

 

Place: da villa on “da hilla”

 

Da harv to Cathy via intercom at 6:06 AM

 

He: on the third floor (his bathroom)

 

She: that would be her, Cathy in our first floor office

 In case you’re interested we built this place about sixteen years ago. For any of you out there who may be contemplating attempting to accomplish the same fait accompli, please wait until we explain the extreme tribulations of self-construction, destruction here in our great city of Los Angeles. 

Like I started to say, Cathy was down in our office on the bottom floor of our house (in her office) at 6:06 AM completing a last minute voice casting call from an ad agency producer who, as usual, found himself in desperate straits (as he described himself). As usual, they contacted us because they had tried saving some money by attempting to cast the voices themselves.  FYI, it had become a do-or-die adventure for him that required us to complete on the very same day. She was just completing the call with him, guaranteeing he had nothing to worry about. Cathy had already completed our work order simultaneously while she was on the phone with him. 

          In summary, here’s what the casting specs called for: Man or woman who sounded like an authentic Italian baker, as he or she welcomed their customer or customers into the bakery.

          One might think that would be a rather easy assignment for the world’s best (acknowledged) “Queen of the voice casting runway” to deliver.

Well, it did come to pass. That very same day, Cathy was able to make it happen. But it should be pointed out to any and all in our business, almost without exception, our clients, advertising agencies and production companies are financially much better served by coming to us first before putting a call out there in the marketplace on their own. 

A way with words

                    

                     "If you wait, all that happens is that you get older."

                                                            -Larry McMurtry

"Don't ever wait to grow older. S**t will happen no matter what age you happen to be or become". 
(It's why the caveman began wearing shoes during the hunting season). 

                                                                   -Harvey Kalmenson

BEST CAVIAR BIRTHDAY EVER!

 Keep the past present…

Opening the pages of a book

As if given a gift

Though difficult to explain

Knowing becomes magical

Often, when we least expected

Another’s writings stimulate

Forever yours to read well

From a great distance

An old story

A new storyteller has to tell

Surprise becomes a man’s theme

I do muse

Often times a lot

From many years in my past

Reliving a scene or two

This lady recalled a distant muse of mine.

Did cypher from my personal remembrance space musings

Hers became mine

From thirty-one years of trying

What partial divines has wrought

Mere musings of this storyteller

My ninetieth birthday

November 28, 2023

 

Thank you, Catherine! It was sublime!

 

 

 

“da harv”

 

And to all of my friends out there who took part in the Cathy Kalmenson & Kalmenson home movie celebration of my 90^th birthday, one more “muse”.

(All I ask) “Please say hello to anyone out there who knows me”.

 

-      Harvey Kalmenson.