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 Powerful Partnerships: Civil War-Era Couples— from the photography studio of Mathew Brady (who took many Lincoln portraits) — is at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. to mid-2025.
YOUR WEEKEND READ is this essay in Politico about the support group formed for those testifying at the January 6th hearings … specifically the young women (who receive far more abuse than Pat Cipollone and other men do).
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Rowdy the Cat— whose family was returning to the U.S. (after an army deployment to Germany) when Rowdy escaped her cage upon landing at Logan airport in Boston … before being located three weeks later.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay in the New Yorker by Susan Glasser— with the title, “A President Asking for Civil War”.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Rabbit the Cat— a Mexican kitteh who regularly went to a store begging for treats .. then would leave. Until a woman followed him and learned he lived in a field, then adopted him (caring for his wounds) and named him Rabbit for having a … missing tail.
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 Top Comments diary looking at a constitutional amendment (proposed by James Madison in 1789 that lay dormant) ... then a University of Texas student's term paper suggesting it could be ratified (yet receiving only a "C" grade) led him to become a maniac-on-a-mission, and after receiving help from a Maine senator: enabled the 27th Amendment to be ratified ten years later. Then an additional twenty-five years later, his term paper .... was re-assessed.
OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS?— Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (a/k/a Baghdad Bob or Comical Ali) and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… no time for a profile, so just an old song that deserves some belated attention.
After the Jefferson Airplane’s original drummer (Skip Spence) left after their first album to co-found Moby Grape, one song he had written was recorded by the band during the late 1966 sessions for their landmark Surrealistic Pillow second album. Yet it did not make it onto that album, and was left for subsequent archive album releases (after the band broke-up).
A pity, as J.P.P. McStep B. Blues has a hybrid sound of the band’s first two albums …. and also fits the ethos of its time.
Got a feeling coming from inside A love for you my friends that I can't hide And on these words that come I hope you ride And I hope that my feeling and meanings come throughOne short moment and I knew you Like lookin' in a mirror I looked through you My night-time rider has flown to you And I hope you can see me — like I've been seeing you
This is a song of your hand Written so you would understand A special feeling taken by my stand And I know you're going to love me — like I've been loving you
And because you had a hand to lend And you know the sands of time are just made of sand Even though you might be in another land I know I am with you forever my friend