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 involving poetry, original works of art, and dramatic photographs entitled Men of Change: Power. Triumph. Truth— showcasing figures such as Muhammad Ali, James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, W.E.B DuBois, and Kendrick Lamar — opens this weekend at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte, North Carolina thru March 12th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is this article in Salon by Chauncey Devega, on the possibility of 45 being under either state or federal indictment by the end of the year (that Neal Katyal believes possible) with George Conway convinced that 45's ego will never permit him to admit guilt as part of a plea bargain agreement.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Harriet the Cat— a California kitteh who (after having gone missing for nine years) was found in Idaho via her microchip … and after the welcome surprise, the California woman agreed to let Harriet stay with a shelter employee (concerned that Harriet would not remember her).
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay in The American Prospect by Eric Alterman who — while not pleased at the withholding of information for a book — was pleasantly surprised at Maggie Haberman’s book, believing that “It’s not merely a primary source for future historians but also a contextually reported story of Trump’s rise that actually helps make sense of Trump, and shows how he bent both the Republican Party and the mainstream media to his will”.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Thor the Hero Cat— living in a house without electricity (due to a summer storm) whose family used a generator to run their appliances .. yet accidentally closed their garage door: leading to a build-up of carbon monoxide … when Thor managed to awaken the family before it was too late.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at an Amtrak conductor I’ve pleasantly dealt with for 30+ years: retiring on his 60th birthday and just one week after his getting married.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
Reader suggested SON-FATHER coming from hbk— former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach and Ted Nugent — whaddya think?
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… two recent deaths in the music world to make a slight mention of.
I am not a country music aficionado, yet do like some performers whose music reaches me. Much has been noted about the passing of Loretta Lynn at age ninety — with songs representing the breadth of what it took to be a modern woman of her generation (at a time when Nashville was hesitant).
Yet, what made me take notice was an album she recorded in 2004 at age seventy-two — a duet album with Jack White (of The White Stripes) that as the BBC noted, “combined his abrasive rock sound with Lynn's penchant for pedal steel and banjo”. It won a Grammy for Best Country Album — and I love this song.
Denise did such a terrific job (as always) in recounting the death of the tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders at age eighty-one. I saw him three times (the last in 2019). He had been my favorite (living) jazz musician …. and, to me, was the keeper-of-the-flame of the John Coltrane legacy (in whose band he performed in the 1960’s). He, in fact, died the day after Coltrane’s 96th birthday anniversary.
Of all of his work: my favorite is Light at the Edge of the World - a 1971 film (adapted from a 1901 Jules Verne novel) with music by the Italian composer Piero Piccioni - one of Italy's first jazz composers. We all depart this Earth at some point … and this eloquent performance by Pharoah Sanders is one ….. that I hope is played at my service.