Monday Morning Video Laugh - March 16, 2020

Saying happy anniversary to this blog by bringing back classic Video Laughs.   And this one also helps us celebrate St. Patrick's Day as well.

Dinner last night:  Lasagna.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Happy Blogday

And perhaps the last.   Oh, I'm not planning on ending this virtual collection of shenanigans any time soon.   But, given pandemics and the like, who knows from day to day?

When I first posted on March 15, 2007, who could expect that, on the same date 13 years later, we would be living in a country that is essentially closed?  

How far we've come from that March 15 which was the date that former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn died.

George Bush the second was President of the United States.

Nobody knew what a selfie was.

Tik Tok didn't exist.   

I had yet to write a single Sunday Memory Drawer entry.

Indeed, I had no idea that this blog would essentially be still intact and new on every single day of the calendar.

This all started because I wanted to have a daily exercise regimen of the mind.  A creative outlet to keep the juices flowing.   A baby aspirin for the imagination.  I have written gags.   I have written rants and raves.   I have essentially posted what could amount to be my own memoirs.

A good writer friend, who has since passed away during the past 13 years, used to marvel at what I do here on a daily basis.

"That's an awful lot of writing without getting paid."

True that.   But it has been my heart and my soul and my way in raising my voice.   One of the subtext reasons to start this blog is due to my inability to communicate socially.   I tend to fade into the background when dealing with three or more people at a time.   Not professionally.   Heck, I used to be able to present to large groups.  But personally, I can frequently be the invisible man.

No one can overtake my words here.   I don't have to say "um, excuse me, I have something I want to talk about."   I am here.   I am speaking.   And, unless you click through, I am heard.

At last.

So, now that this blog is a teenager, I guess it will start to grow hair in some uncommon spots.   The good news is that you won't hear a voice cracking.  It will be loud.  It will be clear.

I will continue.   See you tomorrow.

And, if you will excuse me, it's time to wash my hands.

Dinner last night:  Had a big lunch so just some ice cream.

Classic Newsreel of the Month - March 2020

A slow news month in March 60 years ago.

Dinner last night:  Sausage pizza from Maria's.

Friday, March 13, 2020. America is...

Dinner last night:  Chopped salad.

War Is Hell and Dirty and Muddy

Here's the movie I thought was going to given the Oscar for Best Picture.   It clearly deserved it and so did "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood."  Not to say that "Parasite" was not a great film, but it already had gotten the "Best International Film."   How much is too much?   That is something that will be debated by the Academy moving forever.

But I am here to discuss and review "1917."  It's a nifty film that is a pretty basic story set against the backdrop of World War I.   Two young soldiers are entrusted to undertake a suicide mission and get a vital message to troops at the front.   That's it.   Along the way, the obstacles are many from land mines to crashing planes to bullets to raging rapids and waterfalls.   Amidst all the dirt and the mud, this is essentially a deadly theme park.

Further adding to the magic of the film, director Sam Mendes has taken a page from Alfred Hitchcock and constructed this movie to appear that it was filmed in one continuous shot.  Of course, it's not and you can pick up some of the transitions....AKA seams...that stitch it all together.  Nevertheless, it makes for a compelling and rather simple tale.   Of course, World War I was much more devastating than just crawling around in some muck and mire.   But, "1917" does deliver a lot of the pain of battle.

Oddly, I have read a lot of background on WW II, but know very little of the first World War.  Indeed, "Downton Abbey's" Season 2 concentrated on the impact of that war on the home front and that's pretty much where I learned the most about that conflict.   So, in a way, "1917" broadened that knowledge and for that, I am grateful.

Now whether it was the Best Picture of the Year, that is a question to be argued both short term and long term.   For me, it was a terrific story and a well made film.   You see and judge for yourself.

LEN'S RATING:  Three-and-a-half stars.

Dinner last night:  Leftover beef stew.

This Date in History - March 11

We remember Lawrence Welk on his birthday.  How could I forget him?   The man was on all available TV sets in my house every Saturday night.   And, oh, that's the Champagne Lady Norma Zimmer who my grandmother hated.

222:  EMPEROR ELAGABALUS IS ASSASSINATED ALONG WITH HIS MOTHER, JULIA SOAEMIAS, BY THE PRAETORIAN GUARD DURING A REVOLT.  THEIR MUTILATED BODIES ARE DRAGGED THROUGH THE STREETS OF ROME.

As if there aren't enough traffic problems there.

1387:  ENGLISH CONDOTTIERO SIR JOHN HAWKWOOD LEADS PADOVA TO VICTORY IN A FACTIONAL CLASH WITH VERONA.

Here's something you don't hear often.  "Mommy, I want to be a condottiero when I grow up."

1641:  GUARANI FORCES LIVING IN THE JESUIT REDUCTIONS DEFEAT BANDEIRANTES LOYAL TO THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE IN ARGENTINA.

"Daddy, I'd like to be a bandeirante when I grow up."

1702:  THE DAILY COURANT, ENGLAND'S FIRST NATIONAL DAILY NEWSPAPER, IS PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Now the King can do his Sudoku in the morning.

1824:  THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF WAR CREATES THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

For all those Indians who want to cheat on their wives.

1845:  UNHAPPY WITH TRANSLATIONAL DIFFERENCES REGARDING THE TREATY OF WAITANGI, CHIEFS HONE HEKE, KAWITI AND MAORI TRIBE MEMBERS CHOP DOWN THE BRITISH FLAGPOLE FOR A FOURTH TIME IN NEW ZEALAND.

Now that's a run-on sentence.

1851: THE FIRST PERFORMANCE OF RIGOLETTO BY GUISEPPE VERDI TAKES PLACE IN VENICE.

Rigoletto...with meatballs.

1861:  THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA IS ADOPTED.

This means war, y'all.

1867:  THE FIRST PERFORMANCE OF DON CARLOS BY GUISEPPE VERDI TAKES PLACE IN PARIS.

This proves Guiseppe Verdi is not a one-hit wonder.

1888:  THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 1888 BEGINS ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD OF THE US.

Even in 1888, that's overtime for sanitation workers.

1895:  ACTOR SHEMP HOWARD IS BORN.

Why I oughta!

1903:  BANDLEADER LAWRENCE WELK IS BORN.

Did he ever count up to three?

1918:  THE FIRST CASE OF SPANISH FLU OCCURS IN WHAT WILL BE A WORLDWIDE EPIDEMIC. 

That's what happens when there's no Theraflu.

1927:  IN NYC, SAMUEL ROXY ROTHAFEL OPENS THE ROXY THEATRE.

Because it's easier to say than "I'm going to the Rothafel Theatre."

1931:  BUSINESSMAN RUPERT MURDOCH IS BORN.

Headline for all of us on the front page of the NY Post:  "WE DON'T CARE."

1941:  PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT SIGNS THE LEND-LEASE ACT INTO LAW, ALLOWING AMERICAN-BUILT WAR SUPPLIES TO BE SHIPPED TO ALLIES ON LOAN.

Winston Churchill:  "It's about freakin' time."

1942:  GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR FLEES CORREGIDOR.

Not returning there, that's for sure.

1955:  BUSINESSMAN OSCAR MAYER DIES.

Today, I don't wish I was him.

1956:  BUSINESSMAN JOEY BUTTAFUOCO IS BORN.

Businessman and wife beater.

1958:  ACTRESS ANISSA JONES IS BORN.

Buffy!

1970:  AUTHOR ERLE STANLEY GARDNER DIES.

The Case of the Dead Author.

1975: NORTH VIETNAMESE AND VIET CONG GUERRILLA FORCES ESTABLISH CONTROL OVER BAN ME THUOT.

Fuk Me Now.

1983:  PAKISTAN SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCTS A TEST OF A NUCLEAR WEAPON.  

I mean, don't you have to blow something up to see if this works?

1993:  JANET RENO IS CONFIRMED BY THE US SENATE AS THE FIRST FEMALE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE US.

They confirmed her for the job or they confirmed that she was indeed a woman?

1996:  ACTOR VINCE EDWARDS DIES.

Man, woman, birth, death, me.

2007:  ACTRESS BETTY HUTTON DIES.

Annie Get Your Casket.

Dinner last night:  Leftover sausage gumbo.

Moron of the Month - March 2020

She's been here before.   As a heralded Moron of the Month.   Frankly, I hope this is the last time I honor her.   I simply want this shithead to go away for good.

Kamala Harris, to me, represents everything that is phony and disingenuous with politicians today.  Forget the established fact that she is an utter failure at her job as California Senator.   That goes without saying.   Look at the homelessness.   Look at the hoodlums being let out of prison.  Look at your tax bill (if you live there).

But it's her recent actions that prove to me what a contemptible human being she is without a single redeeming quality.

You will remember that she had a stillborn attempt to run for President.   In that process during one of the Democratic debates, she went after Joe Biden with the venom milks of a thousand rattle snakes.   Until the equally inept Cory Booker who attacked Biden's apparent onset of dementia, Kamala went after Joe on his allegedly "racist" past.   She never called him a racist but certainly implied it.  And then brought up her own past as a sad Black child who was unfortunately made to ride a bus to another school.  In the process, Harris attached everything but a Jim Crow sign to Biden's past history.

Flash forward.   Kamala's campaign comes up with three lemons and Biden becomes the unofficial front runner.   Out comes a Twitter video where Harris heartily endorses Biden as her choice for President.

So, Miss Bitch, was he a racist or wasn't he?   

Indeed, this is all about politics and currying favor with perhaps the next President.   It's already been rumored that Biden will choose a woman to be his running mate.   And the touts in Vegas have already made Kamala Harris the favorite.

So, essentially, Kamala is trying to move that process along as the shameless, self-centered opportunist that she is.  She's putting her lips on Joe's ass.  Hmmm.  Also not the first time she has applied that mouth to somebody, except in the case of Willie Brown, those lips were attached to the front of his body and not the back.

Yeah, you can look up her past on Wikipedia.   Kamala Harris has never met a moment that she couldn't turn into an opportunity for her own advancement.

I have said before that, with Biden's dementia and Trump's obesity, it would not be surprising to me that the next President passes away while in office.  That's why the next set of Vice Presidential picks are so key.   And if that pick turns out to be this C U Next Tuesday from San Francisco, I will do something I did not do in the last Presidential election.

I will pull the lever for Trump.

Dinner last night: Leftover beef stew.