I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie, Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled London: Port City— with artifacts, films and photos depicting what were once the busiest docks in the world (including a focus on its close links to the transatlantic slave trade) — will be at the Museum of London Docklands, England to February 13th.
CHEERS to the fledgling coalition government in Israel, who passed a 2021 budget (which if it had not passed, would result in yet another national election) and a day later, a 2022 budget — achieved with eight disparate parties (including right-wingers, centrists, leftists and Islamists) — that came together in their shared desire to oust the indicted former leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Bud E. Cat— who recently marked eight years of service as facility Manager of Rodent Control at the Nyrstar Zinc Plant in Clarksville, Tennessee.
YOUR WEEKEND READ is this short essay by Robert Kuttner in The American Prospect, believing that the trade arrangement agreed-upon with the EU was deftly balanced, thanks to Joe Biden.
FRIDAY's CHILD is the late great Weller the Hero Cat— named after the guitarist Paul Weller (of The Jam) — who awoke a man at 2:30 AM when their York, England house was on fire, with the man able to escape with his life … alas, not Weller.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz (no common questions).
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at a a nondescript, phlegmatic PA announcer — quite a contrast with today — yet Paul Morris was a voice that English-speaking Canadians heard on many a Saturday night for thirty-five years.
Programming Note: As I departed on an overnight trip, the poll was posted on Saturday afternoon — so there may be more write-ins than normal.
SEPARATED at BIRTH— Australian TV star Sharna Burgess (Dancing With the Stars) and Israeli film star Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman).
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… no time for a full profile (way too hectic a week) … but as the veteran bluesman John Mayall announced his retirement from extensive touring next year — he will turn age eighty-eight at the end of this month — it coincided with the release of a new album, The Sun is Shining Down. And as with some of his recordings this century, each track has a guest musician …. here is one with the late Tom Petty’s long-time lead guitarist, Mike Campbell.