Neil wrote Tony Tribe's fantastic "Red Red Wine." And Cat wrote "Here Comes My Baby" which The Tremeloes also did with (to my ear) an island feel.

I’m not sure we will ever know exactly what COVID was or is or how it happened, but there is no denying it changed the landscape and mindset of the world. It is the perfect main character in a scary novel that erases its effects with the sweeping branch of affected minds. And it is the perfect political tool for everyone. I’ve had it twice. The first time it eliminated taste and smell for 9 months, 2/5 of my senses, 1/3 if you include cosmic awareness as a sense. Those 9 months were mind blowing, like remnants of an intense altered experience. So whatever it was or is, it rewrote life on Earth as we knew it. Not on the scale of mass extinction. But a big one in my 71 years.

A surprisingly good movie. Like Sinners, or the current shows "Watson," or "The Residence," it's all teed up just to be DEI cardboard, but it escapes that and becomes something real.

So after the final battle one capstone is an attack on the Klan members. And then there is the coda after the credits, which I assume you saw too since you say there were too many "capstones" plural. That last scene, with 3 of the characters meeting probably 50 or 60 years later, for me took it out of "From Dusk to Dawn" territory and into Anne Rice land (though maybe more interesting and grittier).

I saw all the first week's episodes, and watched off and on over that summer, probably only when there wasn't a Yankees or Mets day game on TV. Glacial is the right word: it took a week of episodes to advance the plot a smidgen. In the fall of 1966 my school day was too late to watch. A few years later, when it had become popular, I tried to start up again. Then the show was a convolution of plot lines across multiple (maybe?) flashbacks, and I couldn't follow it. Only other soap I ever watched was "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman", which was not fast-paced either. Good luck with your viewing project. I fantasize about doing the same with "The Simpsons".

Even back in 1979 I thought it was bad taste, and never wanted to see it. Never saw much written about it, and I don't recall anyone discussing it - odd since my circle talked a lot about Harvard and National Lampoon, and SNL back then. I'm suprized to learn it earned more than its budget - I always thought it flopped.

Order of Nine Angles making some news: "A high school student from Wisconsin killed his parents as part of a larger plot to assassinate US President Donald Trump, the FBI has said." "A newly unsealed search warrant also alleges that the suspect's phone contained material relating to a neo-Nazi group called the Order of Nine Angles and praise for Adolf Hitler." https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62g8d47z86o

Please provide a similar list of those balancing out the partisanship of the above names.

The claim that NED is bipartisan is false. Trump ended that. The list of very partisan individuals associated with the organization includes board member Anne Applebaum, former NED president Carl Gershman, Robert Kagan, Larry Diamond, and board member Rachel Kleinfeld.

"Andrew for now the fifth time and almost word for word you repeat the same mealy-mouthed statement “NED did not fund GDI’s activities in the U.S.” This is a devious obfuscation of reality." Sorry the truth is so painful. Somebody who hides his name clearly cannot even accept the truth about himself.

The cast alone would get me into the theater. Greer was also great as a jealous werewolf in "Cursed," and as a drunken and horny straight woman who thought she was taking a walk on the wild side and being picked up by a lesbian couple when the mom and daughter team of Allison Janney and Anna Farris tried to keep her from driving and get her into AA on "Mom."

Beautiful essay. I was also a youngest child and had a prolonged bedridden illness while very young, so the movie always brings back memories. When I scanned the weekly printed TV listings (that came with the Sunday paper in the 70s and 80s), this is one of the movies I would always circle.

Conway Twitty sure did present himself as the ultimate heterosexual seducer.

While being transported into James McAvoy's 46 year old body obviously has its appeal, Theo James' 40 year old body or Patrick Schwarzenegger's 31 year old body will stay fresh longer.

Now I have to check and see if I saw Secret Invasion." Is that the one where Nick Fury's gorgeous black wife is really a Skrull shapeshifter? Was there only 1 season?

Try this: https://youtu.be/avF04Z-qOCQ?si=s1TnO1FqgBKA6_OP

What do you hold against the widow Parton? Hasn't she carried enough weight for all of us?

Almost completely unrelated, today I was subbing for a high school art teacher and saw a book on a shelf on the history of art. By Simon Schama, the historian beloved a few decades ago by the neocons and some libertarians. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19797.The_Power_of_Art

I thought Playgirl had closed down?

No, I don't agree with you that this is not an anti-war film. It shows the kind of moral horror can result from giving a gun and a position of power to a sociopathic racist. That's a strong anti-war message, because that's what happens in wars. You want it told from the girl's perspective, a valid POV to discuss, but it doesn't mean this isn't an anti-war movie. So you're saying that this film is neutral on the topic of the Vietnam war?

Sure; I gave an example of a film that's not antiwar that i think is good! (another would be the Guns of Navarone. another would be Inglorious Basterds. There are a lot of them!) You said the film was antiwar; it isn't. you now seem to agree with me that it isn't. So, great! I mean, any number of people could speak against the war, and/or against the American invasion. Especially if you were willing to give vietnamese people a voice. By, for example, making the woman who is kidnapped the protagonist of the film. It's really her story, right? Like, she's the one who's life is most dramatically impacted; she's the one who is clearly the protagonist, iin that she's done nothing wrong and we should really be on her side throughout. A movie from her perspective would be very different, obviously. But part of the point here is that the way that american vietnam war movies are structured is aesthetically and morally really questionable.

My apologies for the error. Thank you for clarifying. And thank you for the awesome early demos of Jeff's music.

I did not produce the 4 song demo referred to in this article. I produced the studio demos of “Grace” and “Mojo Pin” in NYC with Jeff and my band Gods and Monsters, and duo demos of me and Jeff of 11 more co-written songs.

Schwarburratas? Fancy jawn over there, hope they don’t forget to sell pretzels. Go Phils!

A loving/moving biography of Les Baxter: https://lesbaxter.com/pages/biography

This is great. please add a blusky link one of these days.

Just saw it yesterday. She was terrific.

Kamala Harris makes a surprise SNL cameo appearance on the weekend before the election and gets rewarded with a slobbery kiss from SNL and their informal endorsement. Unlike the SNL portrayal of Kamala from early in October where she was humorously mocked this appearance was a cringe inducing fawning over her by SNL which came across as contrived and particularly unfunny ..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff-rqlU4ZWw...I'm sure this Kamala SNL appearance and portrayal by Maya Rudolph got Howard Sterns full approval though.. .For a minute there I thought SNL was getting back to it's roots of prioritizing comedy and being funny but I guess I jumped the gun on that. For SNL it is back to their primary objective of being left wing propagandists..

There was a time when the politically incorrect Howard Stern tested the social boundaries with his unique and edgy form of humor. In recent years Howard Stern has become a tyrannical establishment weasel. During the Covid-19 epidemic he said "When are we gonna stop putting up with the idiots in this country and just say it's mandatory to get vaccinated? F--- 'em. F--- their freedom. I want my freedom to live," He said this months after the data proved that the Covid vaccine did not prevent people from getting infected or from becoming infectious... In this recent butt kissing interview with Kamala Harris he criticized SNL comedian Maya Rudolph"s mocking portrayal of Kamala saying " I hate it. I don't want you being made fun of." How dare comedy get in the way of his political agenda. What a sad pathetic stooge Howard Stern has become.

Their best album. I will never stop listening to it.

Decades ago, I was at a party in my uncle's Manhattan high-rise apartment when the building suddenly filled with smoke and we had to evacuate down the stairs. My uncle grabbed a Picasso lithograph, and I grabbed a big tray of roast beef.

Great pic of Riverrun. Really miss that place!

In college I had a bartending job at Steak and Ale. Tips were good so I always had a couple hundred bucks in my wallet. It felt good to be a student and be able to walk into any restaurant that I felt like dining at. I rarely did that, but it was still a good feeling to know that I could.

As former Friendly's waitress of the year, Friendly's is always a yes. Wattamelon roll FTW

Loved Friendly's growing up in NJ. Fribble, hot-dog on toasted buttered roll, and fries was a great way to go. I also miss the diners with jukeboxes. After a night of drinking, your party could get anything from breakfast to a hot open-faced turkey sandwich at one place at 2 AM. Diners are considered a theme restaurant here in Texas and a poor facsimile at that. I like Five guys fries but they obviously don't compare to Nathan's fries. I always thought Roy Rodgers was best quality of those chains but haven't seen one in decades and good riddance to Arthur Treachers! If you're going with fried food, why choose fish? Last time I had Ritz crackers was when my girls were young, and they would suck/drool them soggy while in their car seats. Good cracker though, when dry

Oh I see it's Booker. Is that another child? How big is your tribe?