In answer to Sam Birenbaum’s letter to the editor [Nov. 18, Sam speaks out]:

I have volunteered for various charities that benefit Malibu and its city, but the difference is my motives are not self-serving.

Since there are only a handful of cable companies in Southern California, I took the liberty of calling them regarding the cable franchise services for Malibu, and that Falcon Cable’s franchise is up for renewal, and none of them gave any interest of anxiously jumping in with a bid to replace the incumbent which leaves Falcon as the only company, so far, willing to do business in Malibu unless the Birenbaums plan to start their own cable company and bid for the franchise. Further research revealed that Falcon does not have an exclusive right to provide services to Malibu, the area is open to other video services providers, satellites and cable and always has been during the duration of Falcon’s tenure.

I will repeat that Councilman Tom Hasse was brave and courageous in firing Nidia Birenbaum, just as he was brave and courageous in appointing her to the commission in 1998.

James Scott

Friday, 9 a.m., Nov. 12, major luck saved our area from a calamity. The purpose of this letter, however, is to call for greater punishment for such incidents rather than a fine. To explain, a loaded unmarked gasoline truck and trailer was illegally heading down the long grade of Kanan-Dume road west of the first tunnel when the driver realized he wasn’t going to have brakes before he reached PCH. His brakes were overheating. He stopped about a mile west of the tunnel. He attempted a U-turn; his rig straddling the entire road, when a van coming down the grade around a curve crashed into the trailer. Luck came into play because the van crashed into the front wheels of the trailer, and not into the tank. Thus the pyre fueled by 12,000 gals of gasoline, brush fires in upper Ramirez and the adjacent slopes, and a meltdown of the road was avoided.

The driver was cited by the CHP for being on Kanan-Dume with a hazardous load. After repairs the truck drove back up to Mulholland where he turned left to Encinal Canyon, and then on down to PCH without his brakes failing! At PCH he turned west without stopping at 20 MPH. The CHP was there to ticket him.

For such disregard of life he gets two tickets. The truck should have been weighed and impounded (no doubt the driver was avoiding the scales on 101), his driver’s license suspended and the company heavily fined. Some kind of penalty for gross endangerment of life and land is in order.

These details were given me by the CHP officer handling the crash scene. I passed the scene minutes after it happened and did not know if the tank had been ruptured.

Tom Lubisich

As members of the Malibu Stage Ensemble who have appeared in several productions with the company, we were outraged to learn that there is an effort, instigated by two board members (Aron Schiffman and David Weintraub), to flout the artistic mission of the theater and turn it into an amateur stage where virtually “anything goes.” There is a gigantic difference between a professional theater for the community and an amateur-driven “community” theater.

The main strength of Charles and Jane Marowitz’s efforts at the theater is that they are able to present first-class artists in fully professional productions — which is exactly what the Malibu community, through their donations, have indicated they want. To try to change that policy is to cheat the community of the theater which, for over 10 years, they have actively supported.

We wish to register our strong protest against this small contingent who, with no knowledge or background in theater, appear to be trying to effect a hostile takeover of a theater company which has been in existence for over a decade. We urge all those who have donated funds to the original vision of the theater to join in this opposition.

Kevin Carr, Thomas C. Elliott, Kathy Bell Denton, Mark Bennington, Todd Conner, Jack Kandel and Shannon Holt

What can you say about a civilization that says that God is dead and Elvis is alive?

The Lilly’s Coffee Shop 8:00 am group has a hypothesis on all subjects, including God and Elvis. If I recall the explanation regarding Elvis, Doug O’Brien remarked that it has something to do with global warming. Speaking of global warming, jovial Malibu Lion Jon Kaplan has joined the group and the 8 a.m. coffee bunch has been arriving earlier as the holiday season is approaching.

Golden friends of dissimilar background, politics and religions are congregating, with one common topic. “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?”

In the impartiality of Malibu gossiping and with the Thanksgiving spirit in the air, I inquired of the Lilly’s Coffee group what were they thankful for this Thanksgiving. Some of their responses are listed below.

I’m thankful for:

The mess to clean after Thanksgiving dinner because it means I have been surrounded by family and friends.

The taxes I pay because it means that, unlike last year, I’m employed this Thanksgiving.

The clothes that fit a little too snug, because they remind me that I have enough to eat all year long.

My lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.

The lady behind me at Sunday Mass who sings off key, because it means that I can hear.

My hearing aids that allow me to turn off the lady behind me at Sunday Mass who sings off key.

Weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.

Getting too much e-mail bogs me down, but at least I know I have friends who are thinking of me.

My favorite from George Wing: The alarm that goes off every morning, because it means that I’m still alive to delight in another day.

And me, I’m thankful for being allowed to gripe about our Malibu City government because it means I have freedom of speech.

Tom Fakehany

Thanksgiving is a special time,

A special time of year —

When gratefulness and awareness

Are close and very near.

There’s joy in those that love us,

Our relative’s and friends.

There’s love and happiness that shows,

From other’s without end.

There is Nature, and the Sun and Stars,

Which are companions too.

There are creatures, pets,

And some we’ve met,

Which give affection due.

From the smallest of the Giving,

To the great of outer form —

There’s much to be thankful for,

Like even being born

The sunlight of the bright clear days,

And then the clouds and rain —

Provide the needed changes

For gratefulness to claim.

And all around us, is so much,

To appreciate and feel —

That Thankfulness is a form of Love,

That reveals the right appeal.

The Celebration of Thanksgiving,

Is reflective in each day —

Where Thankfulness, and Love, and Joy,

Brings Happiness our way.

H. Emmett Finch

This letter is a call for support from the residents and business owners of Malibu. After a modest debut in 1999, the Malibu Film Foundation is presently gearing up for the 2000 Malibu Int’l Film Festival, scheduled to begin Feb. 25, 2000.

The Malibu Int’l Film Festival is good for the city of Malibu. The festival boosts the economy during a time of year when business and traffic are slow. The festival is good for the youth of Malibu, creating a venue to showcase their work and inspiration in the early years of their filmmaking careers.

Last year Malibu residents Jack Schultz & Princess Lily Lawrence, donated vast resources and money to support the festival. In order to produce the 2000 Festival, the foundation again requires community support through donations. This is a formal request to the residents and business owners of Malibu. Please be so kind as to send a tax deductible donation to: Malibu Film Foundation PMB 2846 Malibu, CA 90265. As we are a nonprofit organization, the festival operating costs will be funded solely by your donation.

The first 5,000 contributors will receive one screening admission ticket to be used at the 2000 Festival for each $10.00 donated. All contributors will be recognized as supporters of the event, their names listed in the festival program and in local newspapers. Major contributors (over $5000) will be recognized as sponsors of the event. For more information on major sponsorship, please call 310.456.6683. Check out our web-site at: www.malibufilmfestival.org.

The success of the Malibu Film Festival is in your hands. Please respond today.

David Katz, chairman

M.G. “Mick” Mills, community relations director

Dear Skateboarders:

As a follow-up to an open letter written to you in October:

On behalf of the gallery and its neighbors at the Country Mart, thank you for your prompt and positive response to our request for more considerate skateboarding practices while away from your park.

You have returned to us the calm of arriving to work each day, to an environment that is as we left it, and we sincerely appreciate your collective support.

Denyse McLean

McLean Gallery

“Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables. … These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. …

“Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars … It was hard to believe there was a ceiling at all, and that the Great Hall didn’t simply open on to the heavens.” – “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

It’s like this, Pilgrim. For Gina Armfield’s third-graders at Point Dume Marine Science Elementary, Thanksgiving came a week early. ‘Twas ne’er a more fanciful feast than Friday’s celebration of the first Harry Potter book, which chronicles the boy’s ascent from a drab, unloved existence to challenge and triumph in the realm of wizardry.

With the magic of parents Christel Shaw, Nancye Franzoni, Tammy Gainer and Laura Rosenthal, Armfield transformed her classroom into the scene of the seventh chapter, “The Sorting Hat.”

Beneath a handmade canopy of the night sky, ivory tapers wrapped in gilded stars dangled over lavishly dressed tabletops. Stately banners announced the four houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry-Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Dressed as their favorite Potter characters, children were greeted outside by a portrait of the Fat Lady and by their teacher, magnificently costumed as headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Prompted by her clue, kids whispered a secret password to gain entry into the Great Hall.

Armfield conducted the sorting ceremony, assigning each student to one of four groups. The kids crafted magic wands and whet their appetites with home-baked scones and Devonshire cream before playing Harry Potter Bingo.

Then came a quiz of Seven Magical Questions, with a Beanie dragon awaiting each child who answered all correctly. The sport continued with Harry Potter Word Search, where teams of three competed for prizes.

Shaw conjured up a proper English luncheon of bangers and mash, Cornish pasties and Treacle pudding. The most elaborate and authentic of party favors followed.

There were coins of Gringott’s bank — golden galleons, sickles and knuts in rich chocolate. And a goodly portion of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans: “When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor.” Lastly, Milificent’s chocolate frogs accompanied a quartet of wizard trading cards on parchment. Armfield molded the frogs, created the cards and assembled more than 60 treat bags.

The Malibu mom began reading J.K. Rowling’s first novel aloud last semester. “I’d turn out the lights, put on my green banker’s lamp and my fake English accent,” said Armfield. “When it was time for P.E., some of the boys would beg, ‘Please, keep reading!’ If boys are willing to miss P.E. to hear a story, then you know you have them.”

She’s got them, all right. Armfield rounded up present and former students to attend the Westlake stop on the national book-signing tour. Along with nearly 1,000 fans, she spent five hours in line on Oct. 17 to meet Rowling, a former teacher.

Further to the Potter phenomenon, she urged, “Regardless of how old kids are, parents should read to their children. Show them how to use inflection and emotion, and where to pause and the kids will emulate it.”

In just two years at the Point Dume campus, and without benefit of broomstick, Armfield clearly has cast a spell on students. “I have a great time,” she said. “I figure if it’s fun for me to teach it, then it’s fun for them to learn.”

I want to walk in the woods again

When October comes to the hills,

And bittersweet shines along the lane,

And a woodpecker drums and drills

On a dying tree. And sweet

And plaintive I hear the trills

Of a flock of roving chickadee.

And all alone on the bare blue sky

A hawk is a pasted silhouette.

And a truant serpent, gliding by

Slips o’er the path and through the wet

Dank logs that steam. And the sun

On the earth casts a warm vignette,

Making last night’s frost but a dream.

Here the warmth of summer lingers

On the lonely hills and the stream,

But the touch of icy fingers

Cuts the air, and I seem

To feel them in my heart. As the leaves

Flash and gleam and fall

So must we part.

And the tan of summer lingers

On your lovely face and brow.

But the touch of autumn’s fingers

Has flushed your cheek, and how

I thrill at the blend of seasons

That is in your face, and now

I know this is the end.

But we shall walk in the woods again

When October comes to the hills,

And you’ll pick bittersweet in the lane

And hear the woodpecker at his drills

And I shall see once more the seasons

Blend in your face, and thrill

To have you close to me.

Bill Dowey