You may have heard that Jeffrey Archer died recently. He did not live the most, uh, honourable of lives, if I may so put it. You can probably tell that just by looking at him. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1969 to 1974, but after almost going bankrupt he turned to writing, … Continue reading Jeffrey Archer
Early Birds
I know that I promised myself not to pay too much attention to the election, because as someone (Sondheim) once wrote, “If you have no expectations, You can never have a disappointment.” But this country has such a damned long election cycle, and I’m such an impatient kind of guy, I can’t seem to help … Continue reading Early Birds
Three Cases
There are a bunch of cases coming before the Supremes of which I find three in particular to be very interesting on their merits. Of course, I have opinions on them. First up is Jouppi v. Alaska: In 2012 a pilot named Kenneth Jouppi contracted to fly a passenger from Fairbanks to Beaver, Alaska, which … Continue reading Three Cases
Nancy, Reversals, and Pepper
A mixed bag today. First up is a new limited podcast about Nancy Pelosi called The Speaker: Trailblazer. Lightning rod. First woman Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi never intended to run for office — but in 1987, a twist of fate thrust her into San Francisco’s political arena. In Congress, she seized power and … Continue reading Nancy, Reversals, and Pepper
Your Song
One of our frequent visitors at our Southgate townhouse was Denny, the Vietnam vet from Lewistown that we had gotten to know in Mifflin Hall who was in his late 20s but looked 40. Denny was still rooming with Ken, the fundamentalist Christian, on the fifth floor of Mifflin Hall. I don’t know if he … Continue reading Your Song
The Friday Headline Quiz
Usually on Fridays, the folks at Electoral-Vote.com have a fun little quiz. The way it works is this. The headline of each of the stories has a word or words that form a theme. The readers have to guess what the theme is. Oh, yes. The theme words always appear after the colon. There are a … Continue reading The Friday Headline Quiz
I Still Don’t Trust the Post Office
Even though the Republican plans to have the Post Office refuse to deliver mail-in ballots seem to have been thwarted, at least for this election, I still don’t trust the Post Office. (Note: I think I’m going to blame the Republicans for everything Trump does or tries to do, because they could have put a … Continue reading I Still Don’t Trust the Post Office
Forget Me Not
Here’s a second Graham Norton post right after yesterday’s, but if you haven't listened to or watched this episode of Wanging On, I wanted to bring it to your attention. Now that his chat show has resumed, Maria asks him about it and he reveals that without the teleprompter he’s apt to forget the names … Continue reading Forget Me Not
John and Elia and Florence and Zoe
In 1952 John Steinbeck published his novel East of Eden, which became a huge bestseller, although critics were rather lukewarm on it. Then again, who cares what critics think? It’s a massive novel describing two families over multi-generations beginning during the Civil War, going through the end of the first World War, and with echos of … Continue reading John and Elia and Florence and Zoe
Those Were the Good Old Days
In the spring Broadway will see a new production of Damn Yankees, the first one in over 30 years, and not only that but the book will be revised to move the 1950s musical into the beginning of the 21st century. I guess that’s to make it more relevant? Whatever. As long as they don’t … Continue reading Those Were the Good Old Days