Walt Disney made his mark in animation, but now his life is to be told as an opera.

New York City Opera has commissioned composer Philip Glass, whose inspirations for more than 20 operas have ranged from a vision of Albert Einstein strolling on the beach to Gandhi preaching nonviolence, to compose an opera on the co-founder of The Walt Disney Company titled "The Perfect American."

Based on the recent novel "Der Konig von Amerika" (translated into English as "The Perfect American") by Peter Stephan Jungk, the opera is due to open the New York City Opera's 2012-2013 season.

"The world premiere of this work, the 24th opera by Philip Glass, will honor the 75th birthday of the distinguished composer, whose association with City Opera dates back to the 1980s," the New York City Opera said in a statement.

Sing Mickey, sing!

Wall Street banks are seeing a glut of resumes from Lehman Brothers, as staff there are contacting colleagues at other firms directly to find new jobs after their investment bank went bankrupt. Some banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse, have told headhunting firms looking to find jobs for former Lehman Brothers employees that they will not pay the firms for putting them in touch with these job candidates, because they are already inundated with direct applications.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, which filed for bankruptcy last week, has 26,000 employees. About 10,000 have been given jobs through at least the end of the year, after Barclays Capital bought Lehman's North American capital markets business and other assets.

Headhunting firms said they are receiving scores of resumes from anxious former Lehman employees, but banks aren't interested in paying headhunters to interview these staffers.

Click here for the rest of the article.

Blog Guy, I keep reading political stories from England that talk about a "shadow government." As I understand it, this is sort of an opposition party team in the wings?

Yes, but it's very sensitive stuff. For security reasons, these politicians can only be photographed in dark shadows and murky blue lighting.

You mean like the Smurfs?

Sort of, now that you mention it. The "shadow government" is super-secret, known only to a few of us. The members are  terrified of being revealed, hence the Draconian photo precautions you see here in my blog.

But can't people just find out who they are by reading your captions down below?

D'oh! Excuse me for just a moment, please...

We'll take anybody! Join the Oddly Enough blog network!

above: Britain's shadow chancellor George Osbourne leaves the stage in Birmingham, England, September 29, 2008.

below: Britain's shadow foreign secretary, William Hague, walks on to the stage in Birmingham, England on September 28, 2008.

REUTERS photos by Stephen Hird

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HONG KONG, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nomura Holdings plans to match last year's bonus pool for Lehman Brothers' Asia group, according to sources familiar with the matter, in an effort to prevent Lehman bankers from leaving.

The move is also aimed at showing Nomura's commitment to Lehman bankers, who are still reeling from the collapse of the 158-year old New York institution.

The exact size of the bonus pool and exactly who is entitled to it is unclear, with top performers expected to get first claim.

Lehman's Asia-based bankers will be offered cash for their 2008 bonus, the sources say, adding that in some cases, 2009 bonus money will be guaranteed as well.

Click here for the rest of the article.

John A. Challenger is chief executive officer of global outplacement and business coaching consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The opinions expressed here are his own.

The turmoil that is shaking Wall Street to its core could eventually go down as the worst financial crisis in American history. We are already hearing comparisons of the current situation to the bank failures and stock market crash that ignited the Great Depression in the 1930s.

While we will have to wait to see the full historical impact of the credit market collapse on the economy, one thing is already certain: the crisis has reaped a heavy toll on financial sector jobs, leaving tens of thousands unemployed and with little hope of re-employment in the same line of work.

Since August 2007, when the collapse began in earnest, financial institutions have announced nearly 200,000 job cuts. This year, job cuts in the sector have reached 103,000 through August. When the dust settles from the most recent flurry of bank closings, seizures and rescues, we could see another surge in layoffs, which would probably push 2008 job cuts beyond last year's record total of 153,105.

Unfortunately, the job cuts are not isolated to those who created this situation. They impact everyone, from the fund managers and traders to human resources professionals and administrative assistants.

The big question on the minds of the newly jobless: what now?

Click here to read the rest of the article.

LONDON (Reuters) - A wave of job cuts in the wake of the financial markets meltdown is causing hundreds of City bankers to turn to UK charities in search of work.

Charities are keen to hire the former star bankers to help them raise funds and are able to pay better salaries than in the past, said forum3, a recruitment agency.

"Charities need good quality skills, the right attitude ... it is an increasingly professional sector," Deborah Hockham, a director at forum3, told Reuters.

Nearly 500 bankers looking for a job in the sector had approached the group over the past few weeks, a 30 percent increase from the year-ago period, forum3 said.

Depending on the size of the organization, financial directors could expect to be paid anything between 48,000 pounds and 90,000 pounds per year in a charity.

"You're not going to get the million pound bonuses that used to exist," Hockham said.

"But you're going to be relatively well-paid in an interesting environment and everything you do is going to a social end rather than to shareholder pockets."

Photo: People dressed as gorillas start the Great Gorilla Run to raise money for charity, in London on September 27, 2008. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (BRITAIN)

Actor Kevin Costner has gone country.

After scaling back his movie career to about one film a year,  the Oscar-winning director of "Dances With Wolves"(1990)  is about to release his first album, building on a 20 year history of off-screen music making with a number of bands.

His first album, called "Untold Truths" is a country music collection of 12 songs all written or co-written by Costner and fellow members of the band,  Kevin Costner and Modern West.

The first track "Long Hot Night" is available for download immediately and the album will be released on November 11.

Costner, 53, was one of the hottest film actors of  the late 1980s but  has struggled in recent years to replicate the success of hits like "Field of Dreams" and "the Bodyguard".

His latest movie, the political comedy  "Swing Vote", took only $16 million at U.S. box offices despite heavy promotion and fair reviews.

No word on whether Costner plans to switch careers, but the band plans to tour later this year and in 2009 to support the album before his next movie "The New Daughter" comes out in March.

McClatchy Co, fresh off amending the terms on paying back its debt, is busy making some changes at its newspapers. The owner of the Miami Herald and Sacramento Bee has replaced three publishers in the past two days. We don't yet know if this is coincidence or part of a coordinated move.

Here's where we are so far:

The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, California: Bruce Ray takes over from Chip Visci, who is retiring, according to a press release. Ray previously was chief financial officer at the paper. Visci, according to McClatchy Chief Executive Gary Pruitt, is starting "the next chapter of his life." Visci's previous chapter was as a Knight Ridder guy before McClatchy ate up the chain and incurred all those billions of dollars in debt.

(Visci just called back and left a message, which is worth reporting for its humorous candor: "I can assure you that there's no such shuffle underway... If there really were something up, I probably wouldn't have called you back.")

The Bradenton Herald in Florida: Robert Turner Jr succeeds William Fleet, who will become president and publisher of McClatchy's Fresno Bee in California. Turner is a 29-year veteran of the Herald, according to another press release. Fleet was in California and unavailable. Turner was in a meeting, so we left a message.

The Fresno Bee: Fleet replaces Ray Steele Jr, who is retiring. No word about the next chapter in his life. He has worked for McClatchy for 41 years.

So what's the news, McClatchyites? Write to robert dot macmillan at reuters dot com and let us know.  We won't rat you out.

John McCain's crowd-pleasing chants of "drill here, drill now" and "drill baby, drill" seem like distant echoes of a quainter time -- before the debacle on Wall Street.

America's quarter-of-a century ban on offshore drilling officially ended Tuesday but the focus on expanding exploration and the concern over surging oil and other commodity prices are being swept away by the financial tsunami in the broader economy.

Congress was inundated with a raft of energy bills but it is probable most will fall by the wayside as lawmakers deal with the $700 billion bailout later this week.

McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, scored points on the campaign trail this summer with his call to open up America's coasts to more drilling, in a bid to aid the beleaguered driver paying almost half a sawbuck for a gallon of fuel.

At the time Democrats, including Barack Obama, were dead against the rigs again setting up off America's shores.  Environmentalists scorned drilling as a panacea for high gas prices. Yet in August, with the polls showing support for drilling and oil still near record levels, the Dems made an about face to support limited offshore drilling.

Now Congress is subsumed by the bailout and members are itching to get on the campaign trail.

Many legislative efforts could go on hold for several months, and this could have wide ranging ramifications for industry. Congress  passed its stop gap funding bill last weekend and did not, as expected, tuck in wording to extend the ban on offshore drilling.

The Democrats vow to reinstate the ban but it likely won't be next year. So don't expect big oil to make a dash for the Grand Banks just yet, especially with weakening oil prices.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is happy to discuss her views on social issues like abortion and homosexuality, but reluctant to list what she usually reads to keep up on world events.
 
That's the takeout from a series of interviews the Alaska governor did with CBS anchor Katie Couric, which aired on Tuesday night.
 
Palin, whose opposition to abortion rights has ignited support among social conservatives, some of whom were wary of presidential nominee John McCain, discussed whether rape or incest victims should be allowed to have an abortion.
 
"Personally, I would counsel the person to choose life, despite horrific, horrific circumstances that this person would find themselves in," she said. "If you're asking, though, kind of foundationally here, should anyone end up in jail for having an ... abortion, absolutely not."
 
When asked about her views on homosexuality, Palin talked about a close friend who is gay.
 
"One of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly," Palin said. "She is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice I would have made. But I am not going to judge people."
 
Palin has faced criticism for lacking experience in foreign policy. Before becoming governor some two years ago she was the mayor of a small town.
 
Couric asked Palin what newspapers and magazines she read regularly before becoming McCain's running mate "to stay informed and to understand the world."
 
Here is her response, according to a transcript provided by CBS:
 
Palin: I've read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media. 
 
Couric: What, specifically?
 
Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years. 
 
Couric: Can you name a few? 
 
Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn't a foreign country, where it's kind of suggested, "Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?" Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage. 

Photo credit: REUTERS/Stephen Mally