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 .... week ahead …. and a better future.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Gordon Parks: Camera Portraits— a career retrospective of portrait works from 1941-1970 — is on display (for no admission charge) at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. to January 12th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ is this essay by Jeff Jarvis in the Columbia Journalism Review, with the quite self-explanatory title, Why Are Liberals Infuriated with the Media?
MUSIC NOTES#1— a chance discovery in a NYC library has discovered the manuscript of a short waltz by Frédéric Chopin— nearly 190 years after it was believed to have been composed.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named named Disco the Cat - an English klepto kitteh, who sneaks in through a cat flap to steal food pouches ... which (oddly) never seem to be enough food for him.
PROGRAMMING NOTE— I will be travelling next weekend, and so there will neither be a Friday post to Cheers & Jeers, nor a Sunday wrap-up diary. I may have a Who Lost the Month in MAGA World?! poll … if events turn out well.
LAST NIGHT on Saturday Night Live— in addition to Kamala (and, the bonus Sen. Tim Kaine appearance) — just before the closing, they showed this panel:
JUSTICE NOTES— the president of Ireland formally pardoned two men who were executed for murder in 1882 — after multiple judicial reviews found their convictions did not meet evidentiary standards of its day (let alone now).
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Luna the Cat— one of three house pets feared to have perished in a Virginia gas explosion and fire (after contractors hit an underground gas line) … but first Brandy the Dog and now Luna have been found in the rubble (with the family now hoping that Jaxson the Cat will also be found).
MUSIC NOTES#2— a documentary just released on Disney+ entitled Music by John Williams notes he originally wanted to work on a war film (rather than “Star Wars”) and initially turned down “Schindler’s List” (winning Oscars for both scores).
CATURDAY's CHILDREN reside at the house in Jamaica Estates, Queens (where Trump lived to age 4) before his father built a much larger house nearby in 1950 (as the family size grew). The original was left to rot by an absentee investor and is overrun by 20-30 feral cats— infuriating neighbors who say the place is a massive eyesore, and has been plastered with “vacate” and “water shut off” notices.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
IF YOU HAVE NOT READ the essay by Tim Alberta in The Atlantic about the internecine warfare within you-know-who’s campaign — here is a gift link to it.
SEPARATED at BIRTH— Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes (If I Can’t Have You) and TV star Nolan Gould (Modern Family).
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… again a hectic week … so just time for a song written written by John J. Hawkins for the presidential inauguration of 2009 … 1961 ... actually, 1801 (sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle) for Thomas Jefferson. Performed here by the noted folksinger Oscar Brand— host of the Folksong Festival program on NYC radio station WNYC for over 70 years.
Fair and Free Elections is something we can all hope for (and cherish) this week. And as one blogger notes, “Any inferences you might make (as to its pertinence to current events) … are your own”.
While some on rights and some on wrongs Prefer their own reflections The people's right demand our song The right of free elections
For government and order's sake And law's important sections Let all stand by the ballot box For freedom of elections
"Law and order" be the stake With freedom and protection Let all stand by the ballot box For fair and free elections
Each town and county's wealth and peace Its trade and all connections With science, arts must all increase By fair and free elections Then thwart the schemes of fighting lands And traitor disaffections Stand up with willing hearts and hands For fair and free elections
Should enemies beset us round Of foreign, fierce complexions Undaunted we can stand our ground Upheld by free elections
Elections are to make us laws For trade, peace and protection Who fails to vote forsakes the cause Of fair and free elections