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 and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
From the BiPM FLATULENCE FILE — first was the formation of the Freedom Caucus FART team — now, reports from the courtroom are that 45 passes gas.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Vermeer, Monet, Rembrandt: Forging the Frick Collections in Pittsburgh & New York— with 100 works including those by Titian, Degas, Whistler, El Greco and Vermeer — is at the Frick Pittsburgh Museum in Pennsylvania to July 14th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1(and Quote of the Day) is this segment from a New York Times essay on a second term for you know who. Charlie Savage was hired from the Boston Globe where he won a Pulitzer for digging into the signing statements by George W (at odds with his public statements).
It is common to hear the term “populist” used as shorthand for Trumpism. But that isn’t the right label if the question is which candidate’s policies are more likely to allow corporations and the wealthy to amass more money in the near term. Biden would let Trump’s 2017 income tax cuts expire for affluent people, while Trump is promising a new corporate tax cut. And Trump disparages regulatory agencies — the means by which society imposes rules on powerful business interests, which can cut into their profits — as part of the “deep state” he has vowed to dismantle. Many radical aspects of Trump’s agenda are not incompatible with the wealthy getting wealthier.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named is named Donut the Cat - who has now been adopted by the police department of Kentwood, Michigan.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay by NBC reporter Brandy Zadrozny on attending a Las Vegas conference for a far-right sheriffs group — which drew a parade of felons, disgraced politicians, election deniers, conspiracy theorists and, in the end ... a few sheriffs.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #3 is this essay by Brian Beutler (paywall) listing a taxonomy of groups complaining that good economic news is all a mirage. And while most of those he cites are right-wingers, there are a few on the left. Digby re-prints major segments of his essay, with this quote from a lefty academic (and Brian’s response):
“An economy where many gainfully employed middle-class people can’t buy a house is not a good economy, no matter what the pie charts say.”
It’s true: many middle-class people who want homes can’t afford them. Also true: This has been the case for a long time now, including through periods when economic sentiment was sky high.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Car Alarm the Cat— a Wisconsin kitteh who is among 30 finalists in the Wackiest Pet Name contest sponsored by Nationwide Pet Insurance. Some of the other finalists names: Boots With the Fur, ChugChug Pickles, Lulu the Conqueror, Mr. Pizza Puff and Midsize Sedan.
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 a springtime Grab Bag— baseball’s potential radical realignment, Charles Manson, Ruth Buzzi, Paul Manafort, Rob Schneider and even ... Kato Kaelin.
FATHER-SON?— two singers: the late rock star Marvin (Meat Loaf) Aday and Welsh baritone opera star Bryn Terfel.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… two songs tonight. As I posted on this past Thursday’s Top Comments, here is the first song (in 1970) that the late Dickey Betts wrote for the Allman Brothers Band, Revival— which has part of the ABB’s signature sound, along with an uncommon pop theme — as Dickey was known to incorporate multiple styles together. It was the band’s first song to break into the Top 100 (at #92).
And second, a song that was intended to be on The Who’s guitarist Pete Townshend solo album of 1993, Psychoderelict— which the AllMusic Guide’s Greg Preto described as another theme album from Pete, “which appeared to be the tale of an aging rock star”.
Uneasy Street, however, did not make it onto the album (although it has appeared on compilations) and deserves a listen, more than thirty years later.