The Autumn of These Mugs

 

 I hope they arrested the hair dresser too.

 Is that you, Mr. Trump?

Wow, that's a lot of ink.

 ZZZZzzzzz.

 Smile, you're on Prison Camera.

 Why do some people look so happy after being arrested???

Ah, your mother must be so proud.

 Ah, our ex-Presidents must be so proud.

 Oh, my God!  They've arrested Ellen Degeneres.

 This is not the Sears Portrait Studio.

 Er, yeah, you.

Good thing they don't serve ribs at this jail.

Dinner last night:  Salisbury steak. 

Morons of the Month - November 2025

 

Tuesday was Election Day and this sentiment usually lands with me each and every year.   

Don't you want to take some members of the voting populace and stick them into a corner for a while?   And take their right to vote away.

The latest atrocity came this week when the loony bin known as New York City elected some socialist punk to be mayor.   Indeed, he seduced a lot of the younger demos by promising them free food at government-run super markets.   People who are so stupid that they believed everything this Mamdani clown told them.

Sadly, I know friends who voted for him.  Another reason why, in Len's world, you would have to pass a history test before you could pull an Election Day lever.

The morons around us continue to also pull down the flush lever on the toilet bowls of our lives.   In reality, the only ones who will ultimately benefit from their latest voting faux pas are moving companies.   All ready to pack up lives and send them to another city that is not New York.  

Here's how stupid the young voter is.  I heard one interviewed on TV.  When asked if she knew what socialism was, she replied...

"A socialist is somebody who's good at Instagram and Tik Tok."

Mike drop.

Dinner last night:  Leftover meat loaf from my freezer.

This Date in History - November 5

 

Happy birthday to Peter Noone.  Mrs. Noone, you've got a lovely baby.

1138:  LY ANH TONG IS ENTHRONED AS EMPEROR OF VIETNAM AT THE AGE OF TWO.

No declaration of war today.  The emperor's got colic.

1530:  THE ST. FELIX'S FLOOD DESTROYS THE CITY OF REIMERSWAAL IN THE NETHERLANDS.

Ironic that something so messy is called Felix.

1605:  THE GUNPOWDER PLOT - GUY FAWKES IS ARRESTED.

He's fawked now.

1688:  WILLIAM III OF ENGLAND LANDS WITH A DUTCH FLEET AT SOUTHWEST ENGLAND.

Hey, ladies, fleet's in.

1757:  THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR - FREDERICK THE GREAT DEFEATS THE ALLIED ARMIES OF FRANCE AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.

I would assume that was a big upset.

1780:  FRENCH-AMERICAN FORCES UNDER COLONEL LABALME ARE DEFEATED BY MIAMI CHIEF LITTLE TURTLE.

Heap big shell.

1831:  AMERICAN SLAVE LEADER NAT TURNER IS TRIED, CONVICTED, AND SENTENCED TO DEATH IN VIRGINIA.

He's fawked, too.

1862:  PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN REMOVES GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN AS COMMANDER OF THE UNION ARMY FOR THE SECOND AND FINAL TIME.

So the first time didn't take?

1872:  WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE IN THE US - IN DEFIANCE OF THE LAW, SUFFRAGIST SUSAN B. ANTHONY VOTES FOR THE FIRST TIME AND IS LATER FINED $100. 

That's one way to get your head on some currency.

1895:  GEORGE B. SELDEN IS GRANTED THE US PATENT FOR AN AUTOMOBILE.

Be the first to drive a '97 Selden.

1905:  ACTOR JOEL MCCREA IS BORN.

This guy worked in a whole lot of great movies during the 30s and 40s.

1911:  SINGER ROY ROGERS IS BORN.

Question: did he get stuffed like Trigger?

1912:  WOODROW WILSON IS ELECTED TO THE PRESIDENCY OF THE US.

One of the first ones to set us on a downward spiral.

1913:  ACTRESS VIVIEN LEIGH IS BORN.

Frankly, I don't give a damn.

1914:  WORLD WAR I - FRANCE AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE DECLARE WAR ON THE OTTOMAN TERRACE.

Why do these countries have against footrests?

1914:  ALPHA PHI DELTA FRATERNITY IS FOUNDED AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY.

The first all-night kegger.

1916:  THE EVERETT MASSACRE TAKES PLACE IN WASHINGTON AS POLITICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD ORGANIZERS AND LOCAL PEOPLE.

Seeing the word "massacre" in a sentence is never good.

1919:  ACCORDION PLAYER MYRON FLOREN IS BORN.

Thank you, Myron and the boys.

1937:  ADOLF HITLER HOLDS A SECRET MEETING AND STATES HIS PLANS FOR ACQUIRING LIVING SPACE FOR THE GERMAN PEOPLE.

Living Space?   You mean, like the furniture store??

1940:  ACTRESS ELKE SOMMER IS BORN.

She shops in the same German delicatessen I do.

1941:  SINGER ART GARFUNKEL IS BORN.

And here's to you, Mrs. Garfunkel.

1942:  SONGWRITER GEORGE M. COHAN DIES.

Dead of the fifth of November.

1943:  WORLD WAR II - THE BOMBING OF THE VATICAN.

Now, was that nice???

1947:  SINGER PETER NOONE IS BORN.

So where did the name Herman come from?

1955:  AFTER BEING DESTROYED IN WORLD WAR II, THE REBUILT VIENNA STATE OPERA OPENS WITH A PERFORMANCE OF BEETHOVEN'S FIDELIO.

As opposed to Mrs. Beethoven's Fellatio.

1960:  ACTOR WARD BOND DIES.

Wagon train derailed.

1960:  PRODUCER MACK SENNETT DIES.

That must have been some crazy funeral procession.

1963:  ACTRESS TATEM O'NEAL IS BORN.

It's only a paper moon.

1967:  THE HITHER GREEN RAIL CRASH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM KILLS 49 PEOPLE.  SURVIVORS INCLUDE ROBIN GIBB OF THE BEE GEES.

How do you mend a broken train?

1970:  THE VIETNAM WAR - THE US REPORTS THE LOWEST WEEKLY AMERICAN SOLDIER DEATH TOLL IN 5 YEARS - 24.

Still 24 too many.

1977:  BANDLEADER GUY LOMBARDO DIES.

Auld Lang Major Syne.

1979:  CARTOONIST AL CAPP DIES.

Black drapes hanging all over Dogpatch.

1990:  RABBI MEIR KAHANE, FOUNDER OF THE FAR-RIGHT KACH MOVEMENT, IS SHOT DEAD AFTER A SPEECH AT A NEW YORK CITY HOTEL.

Kahane was a Big Kahuna.

1991:  ACTOR FRED MACMURRAY DIES.

Chip and Ernie weep.

2007:  ANDROID MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEM IS UNVEILED BY GOOGLE.

Hey, that's my cell phone!

2008:  AUTHOR MICHAEL CRICHTON DIES.

And some man-made dinosaurs weep.

2010:  ACTRESS JILL CLAYBURGH DIES.

She's more than just unmarried now.

2024:  DONALD TRUMP BECOMES PRESIDENT AGAIN.

Get over it, people.

Dinner last night:   Leftover rosemary chicken.

Anne and Jerry

 

Shortly before she died, Joan Rivers was asked by an interviewer to give a one-word description of some noted personalities.   When asked for a word to describe Ben Stiller, Joan answered quickly.

"Lucky."

That's kind of the way I feel about Ben Stiller.   I don't think he's as talented as he thinks he is.   That said, even the most mediocre of talents can have shining moments.   And this documentary on Apple is just that.  Ben Stiller's shining moment.

Of course, his subject matter was one that you couldn't louse up.   His own parents who had wonderful comedy careers both together and separately.   Who doesn't relish those great routines they did on the Ed Sullivan Show.   And, later on, who didn't roar whenever Jerry made an appearance as George Costanza's father on "Seinfeld?"

The impetus for this film is one that lots of us can identify with.   Cleaning out the apartment of a deceased parent.  Ben and his sister Amy are doing just that with their folks' Manhattan apartment.   The place is loaded with photos and home movies and they are all shared miraculously with the audience.   The person who served as archivist on this production deserves an Oscar.

As the Stiller kids revisit their parents' lives, the historical piece here also serves as a therapy session.  Indeed, Mom and Dad did have their issues and a lot of that was passed onto their children.   Certainly, it's nothing that the rest of us haven't experienced as you do a posthumous analysis or two.  The end result is a fascinating movie about show business...and more importantly...life.

Thanks to this film, you get the best of Stiller and Meara.   And, ironically, the best of their son as well.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Hamburger.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - November 3, 2025

 When television was spontaneous and fun...

Dinner last night:  Rosemary Chicken with Garlic and Tomatoes.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - The First RFK

 

Hard to believe but I did.   In my adult years, I couldn't be bothered as I believe that all our elections now are ridiculous displays of non-civility and pandering.  Yet, when I was much younger, I had an opportunity to see somebody looking for the big job in the White House and I grabbed it.

This all comes to mind as Netflix is running a four-hour documentary about Robert F. Kennedy's campaign for President in 1968.  Naturally, I gobble up any information on those years when you still had respect for politicians in this nation.   These days, they show up on late night comedy shows.   Back in the day, there was an aura about them.  Regardless of the party affiliation, they all presented a serious demeanor that is not seen with today's current conga line of civic leaders.

So, the Netflix documentary brought me back to Kennedy's campaign and the day it arrived in my hometown of Mount Vernon, New York.  This was a big deal for us.   I remember the news of his stop on the City Hall steps was published in the town newspaper, The Daily Argus, about a week in advance. He'd be there at around 330PM.   As a result, our school teachers told us that, if any of us wanted to attend, we could leave school early.

Okay, that was good enough for me.   I'd go see Donald Duck's Presidential campaign if I could get out of class before 3PM.

Of course, I had to clear my participation with the homestead.   In those days, both my father and mother were working at night.   So, the one I needed to apprise of my afternoon's activities?

Grandma.

Now this would not be a slam dunk as my grandmother had disdain for all things political since the last President she liked was in office.   That would be Dwight Eisenhower.   Everybody else since earned major thumbs down.  And that especially included the Kennedy family.

"Those crazy Catholics."

I reasoned that this might be the only time I would ever see a Presidential candidate reasonably up close and personal.

"Be careful in case somebody shoots him."

At that point, I had no clue how prophetic my grandmother's words would be.

On the day of the campaign stop, I made my way downtown instead of coming home from school.   Those times were much safer.   Little kids were never in danger and could fearlessly walk around their hometown cocoon with abandon.

Of course, I didn't count on the throngs of people down there.  Apparently, people in this town did read the Daily Argus.  I remember being surprised that none of my school chums were there.   Or my pals from the neighborhood.  Indeed, everybody there was much taller than me.  I couldn't see a thing.   

Somewhere in front of me, I heard the unmistakable New England accent of a Kennedy.   The crowd was wildly ecstatic.   But, with my lack of proximity, Robert Kennedy could have been in Ohio for all I knew.   

What I could see did take my breath away.   I could easily stare up at the roofs of City Hall and some of the adjacent buildings.   Up there were things I had never seen before.   

Men with rifles.   Guarding the candidate.   

I don't think I had ever seen somebody with a rifle before.  At least, somebody who wasn't doing battle with the Cartwrights on "Bonanza."   

It was that image that lasted with me.   Not the words of Kennedy or the warm reception he got from the crowd.   Nope, as I walked home, I was consumed by the men with the rifles.

Is this the country we live in?

About six months later, we would get our answer.

Dinner last night:  At a World Series watch party so nothing really.

Classic TV Ad of the Month - November 2025

 Wouldn't it be funny if this car wasn't a convertible?

Dinner last night:  Bejing Beef.