Quips and Quotations (Follicle Frolics Edition)

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, "It is just as I feared!—

Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard.

--Edward Lear

 (Look carefully and you might see them.)

 

A Runaway Production

 

Now it's movies?

All I know is Jon Voight's name has been bandied about. Has to do with the company he keeps.

 

 

"Hey! I'm walkin' here!"

 

Vital Viewing (The Hannibal Run Edition)

Today's not Conan O'Brien's birthday, but there's reason to celebrate anyway as just the other day The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C. presented the man with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Now, you may have heard that thanks to an "Executive Order", TJFKCFPA has come under the thumb of the current occupant of the White House, something that may have been on O'Brien's mind as he gave his acceptance speech:

I've watched many of these Mark Twain Prize telecasts over the years, and the recipients very rarely mention the man the prize was named after, so as a Twain fan it pleases me to no end that O'Brien did and did so at such great length.

It also makes me think I should include an accompanying video of Twain, but that's not really possible. Late in life he did appear on film, but it was silent film, so we're denied the Great Man's acerbic witticisms. The best I can do is this:

And that's what Conan was talking about!

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1936-2025

The Mark Twain Prize seems to have passed Ruth Buzzi by, but that's the Kennedy Center's loss and not the loss for those of us who lived through a time when she was a regular, and a regularly hilarious, presence on television. Buzzi was best known for Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In and on that once-well-known rapid-fire sketch comedy show she was best known for her portrayal of homely, purse-battering Gladys Ormphby, but she played other characters as well. Perusing through what YouTube has to offer, the following comedy of manners is what gave me the biggest laugh:

Twain, that old foe of propriety, would have loved it.

Blue Lies Lying in the Rain

 

Since today is Willie Nelson's birthday, I thought I'd check up on him to see how he's doing. Except how do I go about doing that? I don't know his phone number. Then I thought, hey, it's the 21st century. Who needs a phone number when there's social media? I decided I'd start with Facebook. I had recently glimpsed a headline with the names "Mark Zuckerberg" and "Monopoly" in it and figured, a guy who likes board games can't be all bad. And that's on top of a radio report that said he trusts his auntie. Or maybe it was his auntie (strangely named Sherman) trusts him. Either way, the guy's all about family. Heartwarming. So I go on FB, type in Willie Nelson, and lo and behold his page pops up! And you can tell he's on it a lot. Every single post there's a picture of Willie along with a message that reads "𝗦𝗔𝗬 𝗬𝗘𝗦 TO ME 𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗘𝗘 𝗠𝗘 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬 & 𝙎𝙄𝙉𝙂" Who'da thunk that an artist with a net worth of $25 million could be so needy? His humility astounds me. Now you may at this point be asking yourself: how do I know this Facebook page is for real? That it's authorized by the actual Willie Nelson, and not some spammer or phisherman pretending to be Willie Nelson? Because I found the above picture on it, that's how! Sure looks like Willie to me! Doesn't it look like Willie to you? I thought so! And there's that letter he's holding up. Just look how BLUE those letters are! VERIFIELBLY BLUE in fact! And just look at how fun and cartoony those letters! I'm convinced Willie painstakingly by hand with a marker or crayon printed that whole message on that piece of paper he's holding up. It's much too playful to have been created by some serious ol' computer.

As for Willie's appearance on this blog, I'm afraid that itself lacks verification, as I snagged it from elsewhere. But I can get verification! Mr. Nelson, if you come across this post and want to verify it, feel free to text me. Or better yet (since every time I turn on a cell phone lately I get nothing but Executive Orders), please leave a comment below.

 

Matthew 7:1 Pride

1936-2025

 

Who am I to judge?

--Pope Francis, 2013

 In a televised interview, where we spoke with natural and conversational language, it is understandable that there would not be such precise definitions...It is not the first time that I speak of homosexuality and of homosexual persons. And I wanted to clarify that it is not a crime, in order to stress that criminalization is neither good nor just...When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin. Of course, one must also consider the circumstances, which may decrease or eliminate fault...As you can see, I was repeating something in general. I should have said, "It is a sin, as is any sexual act outside of marriage,"...This is to speak of  "the matter" of sin, but we know well that Catholic morality not only takes into consideration the matter, but also evaluates freedom and intention; and this, for every kind of sin...And I would tell whoever wants to criminalize homosexuality that they are wrong.

--Pope Francis, 2023

In the past I've thought about making Francis the subject of one of these "Pride" posts that I periodically do whenever a public figure says something positive about the LGBTQ community, especially if that public figure is themself not known to be LGBTQ (after all, they have less incentive to say something positive.) Instead, I held back. For one thing, this blog is not particularly tailored to the sensibilities of Roman Catholics. Don't like your church's (pre-Francis) stand on homosexuality? Then go find some other church! Also, I thought there was quite a bit of equivocating in that 2023 quote. I wanted something more forthright. And he says nothing about gay marriage, the lack of which dooms a gay sin-averse devout Catholic to a lifetime of...celibacy (hmm, let's not go there.)

As you can see, I've changed my mind. What changed that mind? Well, I thought, there are a lot of Roman Catholics in the world. Having lived all my life so far in the Cleveland area, I've certainly met my fair share of them (starting with my parents, who practiced a lapsed version of the faith.) Then there's this:

That picture was taken just yesterday outside the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where the late pope will be laid to rest. As I understand it, that flag is not being waved in protest but in support of Francis and his stand on LGBTQ matters. It's a reminder to me that some people can't change their belief systems as easily as I can change what toppings I put on my burger. One small step for a gay secularist or gay humanist is one giant leap for any gay person who would just as soon accept their church's teaching, especially when their church's teaching accepts them. Who am I to judge?

A Case of Do or Dye

 

 

1939? Whatever wise advice those great women gave, the less-than-great men of the day apparently ignored it, but what's past is past. Looking ahead, maybe we can find twenty more such women--AOC qualifies, MTG doesn't--to tell us how best to prevent an impending trade war with every former, or soon-to-be former, U.S. ally in the Free World, or even an out-and-out shooting war with Greenland, Canada, Panama, Mexico, Harvard, etc. In the meantime--and I know it's no easy feat in the year of our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Four Two Thousand and Twenty-Five--I hope you enjoy your Easter as much as those two tykes on the cover of that magazine seem to be enjoying theirs. And if you find the eggs are a bit too costly this year:

Same basic shape. And they're already colored!

Quips and Quotations (All's Well That West Ends Well Edition)

 

Gielgud and Richardson

John Gielgud is the biggest gossip I know, and I know several. He's a fabulous talent, has a magnificent voice, and he's the first to admit he's selfish and egotistic. How refreshing!

--Ralph Richardson