Moron of the Month - August 2021

 

We've met a lot of assholes since March 2020.  Absolute fools who have taken a grave situation and politicized it to their own advantage.  But nobody has been a bigger moron than one Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is apparently the official doctor of America.   No one has done more damage to this country, save for maybe Adolf Hitler.   And with the rise of COVID variants, he's not going away any time soon.

Nor does he want to.  Because of all his attributes, the one that keeps rising time after time is Fauci's love for the camera.  When it comes to the media, he's the biggest whore since Irma La Douce.

So first we hear that COVID won;t be such a big deal.  Then we hear that masks are useless.  Then we hear masks are necessary.  Then it's two masks are needed.

Wear a bag over your head.

Mask while showering.

Don't mask children.

Mask children.

Mask while having sex.

Don't mask while having sex.

Meanwhile, it appears that Fauci knew exactly what was going on with that Wuhan lab.  But, of course, he says he didn't.

Would you buy a used virus from this man?

Of course, the CDC follows his lead.  The Center of Doubt and Confusion.

It's frightening in a country like America that we can get so many mixed messages from one allegedly respected doctor.  Meanwhile, because he took a stand against Trump, the liberals think he is Marcus Welby MD.  But these are the same idiots who think Nancy Pelosi is an altruistic politician.

As for me, if I walk into an Urgent Care for a sinus infection and I see that Dr. Anthony Fauci is the doctor on call, I walk out.

Hopefully, this will all be over soon enough and Dr. Fauci can take the medical assignment he is most equipped to do.

As personal physician in Hooterville for Arnold the Pig.

Dinner last night:  Leftover sausage, peppers, and onions.

This Date in History - August 4

 

A 1969 New York Met always gets his birthday recognized on this blog.  Happy Day, Cleon Jones.

598:  EMPEROR WENDI OF SUI ORDERS HIS YOUNG SON YANG LIANG TO CONQUER GOGURYEO (KOREA) DURING THE MANCHURIAN RAINY SEASON.

I included this only as a typing test.

1693:  DATA TRADITIONALLY ASCRIBED TO DOM PERIGNON'S INVENTION OF CHAMPAGNE.  IT IS NOT CLEAR WHETHER HE ACTUALLY INVENTED CHAMPAGNE.  HOWEVER, HE HAS BEEN CREDITED AS AN INNOVATOR WHO DEVELOPED THE TECHNIQUES TO MAKE A SPARKLING WINE.

Isn't time that we cleared up this mystery?

1790:  A NEWLY PASSED TARIFF ACT CREATES THE REVENUE CUTTER SERVICE, THE FORERUNNER OF THE US COAST GUARD.

"Semper Paratus" is the official Coast Guard song.  It means "Always Ready."  Who says you can't learn anything on this blog?

1821:  THE SATURDAY EVENING POST IS PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER.

It's a magazine so likely nobody reads it in 2021.

1875:  WRITER HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN DIES.

Once upon a time, he died.

1892:  THE FATHER AND STEPMOTHER OF LIZZIE BORDEN ARE FOUND MURDERED IN THEIR MASSACHUSETTS HOME.

Back when the word "whack" wasn't a Mafia term.

1901:  MUSICIAN LOUIS ARMSTRONG IS BORN.

Hello, Louis.

1920:  JOURNALIST HELEN THOMAS IS BORN.

That troll that worked the White House for years.

1924:  DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN MEXICO AND THE SOVIET UNION ARE ESTABLISHED.

Nyet.  Si.

1934:  BASEBALL MANAGER DALLAS GREEN IS BORN.

An underrated Met manager.

1942:  NEW YORK MET CLEON JONES IS BORN.

Great hitter.   Just stay out of vans with teenage girls.

1944:  A TIP FROM A DUTCH INFORMER LEADS THE GESTAPO TO AN AMSTERDAM WAREHOUSE WHERE THE ANNE FRANK FAMILY IS HIDING.

Which is why her book ends so abruptly.

1947:   THE SUPREME COURT OF JAPAN IS ESTABLISHED.

I wonder if they are as useless as ours.

1955:  ACTOR BILLY BOB THORNTON IS BORN.

Uh-uh.

1961:  PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA IS BORN.

When historians in future generations look as his Presidency, they will conclude that he damaged America in so many different ways.

1962:  PITCHER ROGER CLEMENS IS BORN.

Shithead.

1964:  SECOND GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT - US DESTROYERS USS MADDOX AND USS TURNER JOY MISTAKENLY REPORT COMING UNDER ATTACK.

There was an American ship named after Met outfielder Elliott Maddox.

1969:  AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE HENRY KISSINGER AND NORTH VIETNAMESE REPRESENTATIVES BEGIN SECRET PEACE TALKS IN PARIS TO END THE VIETNAM WAR.  THE NEGOTIATIONS WILL ULTIMATELY FAIL.

But Kissinger gets to sleep with Jill St. John so not a complete lost cause.

1977:  US PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER SIGNS LEGISLATION CREATING THE US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.

Prior to this, America apparently had no energy.

1981:  ACTRESS MEGHAN MARKLE IS BORN.

Complete fraud and opportunist who married up...proving Harry is the dumbest member of the royal family.

1987:  THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RESCINDS THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE WHICH HAD REQUIRED RADIO AND TV STATIONS TO PRESENT CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES FAIRLY.

And that's how you are stuck with CNN, MSNBC, and Fox in 2021.

1999:  ACTOR VICTOR MATURE DIES.

Actor?  Hahahaha.

2014:  PRESS SECURITY JAMES BRADY DIES.

He lasted over thirty years after getting shot in the head, so good for him.

Dinner last night:  CPK Pizza at the Dodger game.

That 1969 Rock Concert....No, I Meant The Other One

Thanks to this very interesting new documentary, we now know that Woodstock was not the only musical gathering during the summer of 1969.  I have vivid memories of that mud fest in upstate NY.   I had no clue that, down in a small Harlem park, there was another concert that actually lasted six weeks.  The differences were night and day.

I hope you didn't think I was going to say black and white.

"Summer of Soul" captures not only the musical performances of that Harlem concert from the likes of the Fifth Dimension, then little Stevie Wonder, and Sly and the Family Stone, but also a time capsule of what was going on in the country at the time.   Recent assassinations, an unwanted war in Southeast Asia, civil unrest.  Indeed, while one of these concerts was happening, man was walking on the moon and many in attendance are on camera talking about how that money could have been better spent in the inner city.

What struck me here was just how marvelously civil and peaceful the Harlem event was when compared to the slobs gathered in an upstate field.   They were simply there in the middle of their local neighborhood to listen to some music and make a point.  And they certainly did get their viewpoint across.

Contrast what you see in this film to the histrionics of last summer where violence was used not as a last option but the main way to get some new sneakers or a brand new 60 inch TV.  If only that discord had been modeled by the standards set in that Harlem park some 51 years earlier.

"Summer of Soul" is the quintessential documentary because it taught me something I never knew about.  Beyond the super cool music, this film serves as a reminder of a day where such displays were simpler and ten times more effective.

Check it out.

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

Dinner last night:  Salad.

 

Monday Morning Video Laugh - August 2, 2021

Summer fun in the sun.   Maybe.

Dinner last night:  Sausage, peppers, and onions.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - It's Summer....Book It!

 

Forget the fact that the kids in this picture are all wearing winter coats.  This is all about summer reading.   And, of course, you are reading this Sunday Memory Drawer in August, so this, too, is considered summer reading.

I frequently hear the children of friends talking about what their teachers are requiring them to read over the summer months.  For some bizarre reason, I never had that assignment growing up in Mount Vernon, New York.  Or maybe the teachers I had trusted us to read stuff on our own. 

So, with fewer restrictions, I read voraciously during the hot-and-humid months.  I've read before about my nightly summertime ritual.  I was a weird kid.   Late at night, I would go into the kitchen and curl up next to our powerful window fan.  I'd wedge myself into this little crawlspace between the fan and the china closet.  There was just enough light to read.  Or maybe there wasn't and that's why I wear glasses today.  Nevertheless, I hunkered down into my personal comfort zone.

And read.   Usually with a book from the famed Mount Vernon Public Library Bookmobile.

It would stop on the corner of First Street and South Fifteenth Avenue every two weeks.   The fact that this relatively compact van was loaded with so many books always astounded me.   Equipped with my trusty library card, I'd peruse my favorite categories.  And they certainly were not books a school teacher would recommend.

I was a fan of Hollywood biographies and autobiographies.  The indoctrination into the world of show business had begun early with me.  Perhaps it was all the movie and TV magazines my mother sucked in over the years.  If there was a new and hot Hollywood memoir on the Bookmobile, I took it out.

For instance, I had seen all those Doris Day movies on television with my mother.  To me as a kid, she was larger than life.  It was natural for me to read up all about her.  I told you I could be a little weird as a youngster.

My mom used to talk about Montgomery Clift all the time and in retrospect.  He was long since dead.  As for me, I knew nothing about him.   This thorough biography was very educational for a 12-year-old.   There were active descriptions of drug use and homosexuality.   This was not exactly "Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine."   I remember reading it right through and then wondering if I should have.  

Another hot genre for my summer reading were novels that were being made into a movie.  I'd begin a race to see if I could finish the book before the film came out.  

This book was a best seller and headed to local theaters.   Some of the plot lines including out-of-wedlock pregnancies and manic-depressive suicides were likely way over my head.   But I gobbled it all up.  Maybe my folks should have been monitoring the book that I was in my paws.   I'm thinking that they were just happy that I was reading.

When I was young, it was a big deal that this legendary movie was going to be shown on TV for the very first time.  So, the summer before, I set out to start my race again.   Even my mom was impressed that I was going to read a novel about a movie she likely saw first run.

"You know, the book is about 1,000 pages long."

Um, gasp, no, I didn't know that.

But I pressed on.  Luckily, that was an extra hot summer with many nights in front of the reading fan.  I needed the whole month of July plus half of August to finish it, but I did!

Er, this one I didn't discuss beforehand with any parent.  This hot novel was already making the rounds of my neighbor.   And all the talk was about the contents of page 27.   An education in itself.  Way too much for our innocent eyes.  Indeed, the actions on that fated page didn't seem too risque when we finally saw it on screen.  In this case, the words told the story better than the actual images.

The other Bookmobile section I would gravitate to was the sports biography and, of course, mostly baseball.  This is how I lived my summers.   Reading and watching baseball.   So, it was natural for me to spend those nights reading about the sport.

This book was a best seller.   All I knew was that it was about the exploits of Jim Bouton who used to pitch for the Yankees.  His big claim to fame was that his hat fell off every time he threw the ball.  But, this book was about a whole heck of a lot more.  I had idolized baseball stars to this date.  Now, with Bouton's tale about life on the baseball road, I realized that my heroes were indeed human. And very flawed at that.  In this book as well, there was a whole lot of "page 27" going on.

Okay, this baseball biography was a little more reverential.  And my very first exposure to the team franchise that would become a major part of my life.  I longed to know what it was like for a team to play in a neighborhood like Brooklyn, which was so far away from me in Mount Vernon, New York. Indeed, it was a borough I didn't set foot in until I was in college.  I was dying to experience hometown New York baseball in the 50s.  This book brought it to me.  And, to this day, it's one of the best books I ever read.

Okay, not everything I read during the summer came from the Bookmobile. One of my annual hot weather traditions was to devour the annual yearbook of my beloved New York Mets.  Back then, these publications actually had written content and not just pictures.  I would dig in for a week or two and chew up all the stories and the stats about my favorite players.  By the end of July, I could recite it verbatim.

Hey, it may not have been Charles Dickens, but all of the above was still reading.   Today, as you know, I don't do it as much as I should.   Maybe it's because it's just not the same.   Nestled in my little breezy nook.

Hmm, maybe I should buy a window fan.

Dinner last night:  Spicy beef lo mein from Chin Chin.

Classic Musical Comedy Number of the Month - July 2021

 Woo hoo!  A five Saturday month gives us an opportunity to sample a musical comedy number.   And summertime is the best time to watch this classic from "The Music Man" as presented wonderfully by Summit High School in New Jersey!   Shi-poopi!!!

Dinner last night:  BLT from Clementine's.                   

Len's Jukebox of the Month - July 2021

Music provokes memories.   And when I recently heard this on Sirius XM 60s, I time traveled back to my dad's Buick.  He always had WNEW 1130 on in the car.  And this song came on as we were on our way to Shea Stadium.

 

Dinner last night:  Reuben sandwich at Art's Deli.