1928-2024 |
Of course, we'll never know for sure, but she might have made one groovy First Lady.
For those of you who live in Ohio, the deadline to register to vote in the 2024 elections is October 7, this coming Monday. Above are all the things you need to know and do and be in order to register. However, it may not be all that easy to read as at some point the words shrink quite a bit (just what you need in an election where there's bound to be accusations of fraud and voter suppression: small print.) So as a further service I've included the following video provided by the good people at the Cuyahoga County Board of Election themselves in the hope of making things a bit more clear:
Actually, this cautionary tale takes place in the Queens, New York of the 1970s but I think it applies equally well to Cuyahoga County, Ohio of the 2020s as a man of many, many opinions suddenly finds himself unable to act upon a single one of those opinions. Watch:
Don't end up like Archibald. Register!
Maggie Smith (1934-2024) in 1952, a member of the Oxford University Dramatic Society.
Rhodes Scholar Kris Kristofferson (1936-2024), circa 1958.
Keep this institution in your thoughts and prayers. It's been a rough week.
In 1937 anyway. By now it's all been digitalized.
Bugs Bunny is who we want to be. Daffy Duck is who we are.
--Chuck Jones
Humiliation and indifference, these are conditions every one of us finds unbearable–this is why the Coyote when falling is more concerned with the audience's opinion of him than he is with the inevitable result of too much gravity.
--Chuck Jones
Real sex wouldn't have been nearly as funny (though arguably still attention-getting.)
Ritter talks about the sitcom that made him a star and other things in this 1997 interview with Conan O'Brien:
Conan mentioned that John Ritter fell down quite a bit on Three's Company. Though I didn't want the man to hurt himself, I would say that was a good thing, as Ritter was one of the great physical comedy actors of his generation. See for yourself:
No slapstick, though Ritter's character may have put his foot in his mouth.
1931-2024 |
Speech is a very important aspect of being human. A whisper doesn't cut it.
--James Earl Jones
The Great White Hope (1970, based on a 1968 Broadway play, also starring Jones, for which he won a Tony--Kirk)
Claudine (1974. No great shakes as a movie, but I've always liked Jones in it--Kirk)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980. Yes, I know he voiced the same character in a movie before and a movie after, but you only get one clip out of me as I refuse to hand this blog over to the Force, no matter how tempting--Kirk)
Fences (1987 Broadway play for which Jones won his second Tony--Kirk)
CNN promo (1994. Made me want to watch the news--Kirk)
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August is almost over but there's still time for one more heat wave (which could very well spill over into September.) The "cooling centers" mentioned above are actually recreation centers, community centers, libraries, etc., places that weren't especially conceived of to cool people off but nevertheless are able to do so because of this technological marvel:
Air conditioning has been around since shortly before World War I but didn't become truly commonplace until after World War II. So how did people keep cool during the summers between the wars?
Well, you had to be innovative, I guess. Take these four women, all employees of the St. Paul Daily News. The year is 1936, Minnasota is the grip of a major heat wave, and it's vital that those who work for the paper don't pass out from the heat and stay cooled off enough to report on that day's big story--namely that Minnesota is in the grip of a major heat wave and people have to look for ways to cool off or else they'll pass out. As you might have guessed, this picture came from the Daily News. Sometimes in journalism you are the story. Anyway, as you can see an electric fan is sitting on top of a four-hundred pound block of ice. That struck me as dangerous when I first came across this photo. Ice is actually water, and I was taught at an early age that water and electricity don't mix, one reason why it's wise to turn off the faucet when using an electric toothbrush, or else you might end up zapping the enamel off your teeth. I did some research and found out that water is only conducive to electricity when in liquid form. So what the women in this photo are doing is perfectly safe. As long as the ice doesn't melt. Which it won't because it's got an electric fan sitting on top of it keeping it in a frozen state. It's all perfectly timed. Nothing can go wrong. If by chance something did go wrong, the four women would have again ended up in the paper--on the obituary page.
--John Casey, The Advocate
Phil Donahue was one of GLAAD and the LGBTQ community’s earliest and loudest champions. In the 1980s, he revolutionized coverage of LGBTQ people and our stories on his popular daytime talk show, prioritizing fairness and accuracy when misinformation and homophobia were rampant in the media. Using his platform to elevate the personal, human story at the heart of so many issues including HIV, coming out, trans equality, women’s equality and even facilitating the first ever marriage for a same-sex couple to be broadcast on television, Donahue will forever be remembered as a trailblazer for equality and LGBTQ representation on TV. At a time when other notables were hesitant to even speak on LGBTQ issues, Donahue hosted the first ever GLAAD Media Awards in 1990, where he was honored as GLAAD’s Media Person of the Year. GLAAD also recognized his long-time allyship and legacy by giving him a Special Recognition Award at the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2009. Our condolences and gratitude go out to his wife and tireless LGBTQ ally Marlo Thomas, as well as his family, friends, and everyone inspired by his hugely successful career as a storyteller and television changemaker.
--GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis
--Andy Cohen
1935-2024 |
Summer is drawing to a close, and soon thousands, even millions, of children will find themselves back in the classroom, just as generations of children did before them. For this particular generation, however, a new concern has arisen.
...an older form of social media could make a comeback.
That was my one big Hollywood hit, but, in a way, it hurt my picture career. After that, I was typecast as a lion, and there just weren't many parts for lions.
--Bert Lahr
I think the Labradore mix is just an ally. After all, he's been fixed.
August just so happens to be National Sandwich Month. Now, as I'm sure you know there are many different kinds of sandwiches, but I'm going to pare it down to just two kinds: a sandwich you make yourself, and a sandwich that's already made for you, like what you would get in, say, a delicatessen. Already made saves you work, but in these inflationary times it may be cheaper to roll up your sleeves and construct one yourself. However, DIY involves not just physical labor but also mental labor, as when it comes to deciding what goes in-between those two pieces of bread, the possibilities are endless. If it's all too much for you to decide, these classic Blondie strips offer some suggestions:
"I say put mental health first. Because if you don't, then you're not going to enjoy your sport and you're not going to succeed as much as you want to. So it's OK sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself, because it shows how strong of a competitor and person that you really are — rather than just battle through it."
Biles was slammed in some corners for being a "quitter", as well as "letting her country down", but multiple other gymnasts came forth and told of their own experiences with the twisties, and in the end it created a greater awareness of the role mental health plays in sports.
Since then, Biles has made a Olympic comeback, winning two gold medals in Paris (for Team and All-Around), and may win a few more in the next few days. Even if she doesn't she's already made Olympics history, having won four won earlier golds at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, six altogether, more than any other U.S. gymnast.
None of this means that the mental health issues have been forgotten, as Biles will tell you in this talk with the media not long after she won her sixth gold:
Now let's see Simone Biles in action. Unfortunately, NBC Sports has put the kibosh on showing any part of their Olympics coverage on a mere blog like this. However, a YouTube site that goes by the name "Zennie62 You Live Oakland News Now NFL Draft Vegas" did have this video, which look to have been taped from a distance by somebody sitting in the stands. \
OK, I give up. Now Zennie62whateverthehellyoucallit took its video away. Man, this Olympic coverage must be worth its weight in, well, gold medals.
I'm sending you right to YouTube post itself:
No mental health issues there. Not even a Freudian slip.
UPDATE
She just won a third gold in the Vault. That's seven Olympic golds altogether. Lest we forget, she's also won a silver in Tokyo and bronze each in Rio and Tokyo, so that's ten Olympic medals of any cast.