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— with this past Friday being the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in (and a recent book by Garrett Graff shedding new light on the whole affair) — an exhibition entitled Watergate: Portraiture and Intrigue is at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. to September 5th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ is this by Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect about the surprise announcement by Microsoft that it will remain neutral in union organizing efforts company-wide … and what he sees as the calculations behind it.
THIS PAST THURSDAY was the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday— the June 16th day featured in James Joyce’s Ulysses — and literary fans celebrated in period dress.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Lucky the Kitten— a ten week-old Virginia kitteh rescued from a storm drain by the use of food and … pre-recorded kitten sounds.
IT’S NOT JUST IN THE U.S. where our friend Elon Musk has difficulties — one of his Tesla plants in Germany faces a difficult union contract renewal over unequal wages and his dislike of hybrid work conditions.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Spuds the Hero Cat— a Northern Irish kitteh credited with rescuing a family of six (including a newborn) by awakening a father when fat drippings from a Christmas turkey cooking overnight engulfed the house with dangerous levels of smoke.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at at a monarch mostly known today for a famous quote on royalty — yet King Farouk of Egypt (forced into exile in 1952) became known as the King of Bling (for reasons you can guess) yet generates some nostalgic thoughts today.
DIRECT DESCENDANTS? — facial reconstruction of Stafford Road Man (who would have been part of one of the earliest Saxon migrations to Great Britain) and musician David Crosby.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… with no time for a full profile: I was hoping to find the late David Frye’s impression of Richard Nixon singing (a modified version) of “Folsom Prison Blues” … no such luck.
Instead, the late great Tom T. Hall (1936-2021) — composer of Harper Valley PTA and Pamela Brown (that Leo Kottke does a wonderful version of) — left us Watergate Blues:
They broke into Watergate and tapped people's phones The FBI and CIA would not leave folks alone The people in the White House were bursting with pride When the votes were all counted: it was a big landslide The USA bought a new used carRussia and Vietnam and China were cool The American press, they could not find any news So they dug into Watergate and the further they went It seemed as if they might just run into the President You know it was a big shock
Where there was Haldeman and Gray and Mitchell and Dean A whole lot of folks were shaking on the White House scene They patched up the cracks but the dam broke loose Watergate was all you could read in the news And Dickie said, "That's news to me"
But there's Lincoln and Roosevelt and Truman and Ike All turning over in their graves every night And somehow my mind goes back to Betsy Ross Nobody knows what this country has lost I will repeat, it's a hard life
Well, somewhere in this country there's a hard-working man Reading his paper as he tries to understand Are there no honest people left anymore? One might well heed hear a pounding on his door If it gets that way, Lord help us all
Addendum: on Friday’s C&J posting … someone whom the humorist Dave Barry would describe as an Alert Reader (in this case, klynb) was able to find the audio recording of David Frye I could not locate … didn’t have Folsom Prison in the title).