Last Man Standing

So, what happens to the last dude left after all the others have been accused or proved to have behaved badly.

Just today, the guy from NBC - who I had generally regarded as a dullard - got canned, as well as the folksy Minnesota storyteller. WTH - did he expose himself to a moose?

Now I am to understand that there is an allegation that the creator of the Muppets reportedly groped Miss Piggy and Kermit Frog underneath their garments.

Where does it all end?

Ardere et Lucere

I think I have in the past posted excerpts of these lyrics, some of my favorites, and apropos to the season:

Now the trouble with you and me, my friend
Is the trouble with this nation
Too many blessings, too little appreciation
And I know that kind of notion—well, it just ain't cool
So send me back to Sunday school
Because I'm tired of waiting for reason to arrive
It's too long we've been living
These unexamined lives

I've got great expectations
I've got family and friends
I've got satisfying work
I've got a back that bends
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

And have you noticed that an angry man
Can only get so far
Until he reconciles the way he thinks things ought to be
With the way things are?

Here in this fragmented world, I still believe
In learning how to give love, and how to receive it
And I would not be among those who abuse this privilege

Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge¹

Know when to walk away, and know when to run.

OK, I maybe kinda included one of the composer's early benefactor's lines there...

This Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful for the blessings in my life, and enlightenment that comes from burning the right bridges.

¹ Henley/Winding/Lynch

Wazzap!

• It seems a Temple University professor is having a seminar at Dartmouth entitled: "What's Up With White People?"  From what I gather, the sociologist will explain the various groups and motivations of the Caucasians, and for those confused in their whiteness, help them understand into which modality they fit. I wonder if the circus blogger has bought his ticket.

•  Here they are:

 

Martin know what up.

 

Yeah, don't forget Bobby.

• When I was in college, Mr. Mull - or Doc Martin, as we called him - published a series of research papers entitled: The History of White People in America, and A Paler Shade of White. Both treatises were considered groundbreaking, inasmuch as prior to that time, we white folks had led pretty much humdrum existences, driving our Buicks, wearing Sans-a-Belt slacks, eating Wonder Bread sammiches with Miracle Whip (prepared by our wimmin, of course), and singing from the Presbyterian Hymnal.

 Martin Mull gave us cultural identity.

• No longer did the melanin challenged among us have to mope and hang our heads in shame as new, exotic cultures were treated as cause célèbres simply because of the presumptive hegemony of the Caucasian race. Thanks to Martin, we once again had purpose - and history - filled lives.
• Now that Charlie Manson has died, you know there's gotta be a ton of lawyers in Hades petitioning ol' Lucifer that the neighborhood is going down the drain. I'm guessing their briefs argue something along the lines of: "Yeah, we know it's supposed to be bad here, but having Manson for a neighbor is cruel and unusual." Heck, having Charlie as a house-guest, el Diablo himself might convert.
• Of course, Hell's hoi polloi probably feel the same about all the lawyers down there. I think I read somewhere that the incidence of barristers in Beelzebub's domain was beyond insane. But I could be wrong.
• Sometimes at work, the TV in the break room is airing The Rifleman, one of my all-time favorite shows. During the last week or so, I noticed a couple of episodes, featuring Sammy Davis Jr., and a very young Dennis Hopper.

 New Sheriff in town?

•  Before he turns the lights out at night, Chuck Norris checks for Chuck Connors under the bed.
• While I am generally pleased to see some introspection regarding our cultural mores, as manifested in the Weinstein case, et al, I can see some of this getting silly. The same entertainment outlets breathlessly reporting each new allegation against some Hollyweird pervert were just weeks ago celebrating the legacy of Hugh Hefner. Inconsistency much?
• I thought the situation with the comedian Louis C.K. was a bit odd. I'm neither a fan nor detractor. I have seen some of his routines and found them amusing. I thought it refreshing that he didn't waste any time in owning up to his misbehavior/mzbehaviour. Alleged to have, uh, given private solo performances with as many as a half-dozen [individual] women, it did kinda make me wonder, how exactly would you make that segue? Say, did I ever show you my vacation slides, or my...? I know this might sound awkward, but would you like to see me...?  Weird.
• Weird, as in Weird Al? Some, even in his own party, are demanding that Sen. Stuart Smalley Al Franken  resign, after evidence surfaced that he had groped a actress/model/Playboy chick while on a USO tour a few years prior to his election. I'm no fan of the senator - can't stand him. Every time I see him on the dais in a Senate hearing, I see Stuart Smalley. But, if that's who Minnesotans want representing them, well, whatever. Franken's boorish and highly inappropriate behavior occurred (as far as we know) before his Senate election. He is not accused of rape, just groping and unwanted French kissing. I subscribe to 'no means no', and I don't believe that the woman in question should've be subjected to his actions (even if she was willing to strip for the magazine) without her consent. She had/has every right to slap the snot out of him or kick him in the 'nads for his transgressions. But, I don't think it's something he is required to resign over (I would take glee in seeing him defeated in the polls, however).
• This is way premature. I haven't even formed an exploratory committee, nor given thought to running for public office (I don't think the next dog catcher term expires for another three years).  Nonetheless, I want to fully disclose that, in 1977, with a home-recorded cassette of Hotel California playing on the stereo of my large American sedan, at the Century 4 Drive-In Theater, I accidentally-on-purpose elbow grazed the pink-sweatered bewb¹ of a young lady before the main feature. I fully realize that my actions were wrong, and submit for your consideration that I did not, in baseball terms, score so much as a base hit.
• I feel so liberated now.
• Saturday morning before leaving the house, I had a couple slices of toast. After downing the second, I realized a molar crown was missing, much to my dismay.  30 hours later, said porcelain enameled platinum crown was, alas, recovered.  #Worst. Scavenger Hunt. Ever.

 ¹ Term coined circa 11/16/17, courtesy of Combat Kevin

But this is a pretty song

I just couldn't let Tommy post some WZ over on his blog without posting a Zevon song myself:



I'm aware of a couple of Warren's versions, one of which is pretty good - the other not so much, and then I came across this one by Mr. Browne. Still, with  respect to the late Mr. Zevon and to Jackson, the definitive version is, of course, Lovely Linda's with Henley singing harmony. Disclaimer: Linda's HDtW album has been a favorite of mine for 40 years.

Requiescat in Pace¹

Sometimes you figuratively have to bury things.



This is a very good recording, the band is excellent, and Reginald's voice is not too bad.  From the era of high-energy rock and roll, not the sappy Disney ballad crap that marked his later career.  I was fortunate to see EJ a couple of times at Reunion, and once at Texas Stadium.  As neither of those venues remains today, I'm starting to think I'm getting old...


¹ I think I've used that Latin previously - I guess I'm using it again.