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Saturday Odds & Sods: Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

I survived jury duty. I even got a diploma of sorts. I’m uncertain if it’s for good behavior; more like bored behavior. I was called upstairs for voir dire on the last day. I tweeted about it after graduation:

Canny is Leon Cannizzaro, Orleans Parish District Attorney. Here’s what I said about him in the Bayou Brief in 2017:

He’s a notoriously hardline, tough on crime District Attorney with the demeanor of an irritable undertaker and the strange uncharm of a grim Dickensian authority figure such as Mr. Murdstone. I had dealings with Canny when he was a criminal court judge and I was lawyering. He was arrogant, biased, rude, and dismissive. His success in electoral politics has always been a mystery to me but some people confuse assholery with strength. The Current Occupant of the White House is the best example I can think of. At least Canny has better hair.

Well, they asked for full disclosure…

People have been asking me if I planned to write at length about the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock. The answer is no. Why? Too many people focus on things other than the music and mud. Too many get bogged down in generational politics; one of the dullest subjects on the planet. It’s dull because it’s cliche laden: not all Baby Boomers sold out, not all Gen-Xers are slackers, and not all Millennials are twitter obsessed airheads. More importantly, not all members of the greatest generation were all that great. I often thought that my late father’s motto could have been, “We won the war so we don’t have to listen.” That concludes my rant about generational stereotypes.

This week’s theme song was written in 1933 by Al Dubin and Harry Warren. It was featured in the 1934 movie Moulin Rouge and sung by blond bombshell Constance Bennett. Ooh la la.

We have three versions of this torchy torch song for your listening pleasure: Constance Bennett,Tony Bennett, and Diana Krall. Ooh la la.

Constance and Tony are not related. His real name is, of course, Anthony Benedetto.

It’s time for a trip to Disambiguation City with a song written for the 2004 American Idiot album by the boys in Green Day. Same title, different song. Ooh la la.

Now that I’ve shattered your dreams, let’s jump to the break. Ooh la la.

Since I’ve said ooh la la repeatedly, here’s the Faces classic, written by Ronnies Wood and Laine.

We begin our second act with a sequel of sorts.

Son Of What Do You Say, Dean Baquet? The original post was one of my most read recent outings thanks to the good people at Crooks & Liars. Slate got ahold of a transcript of the “town hall meeting” held by the aforementioned Dean Baquet with his frustrated staff.

The New Orleans native remains in denial about the nature of the Trump presidency* and the man himself. As the late Anne Landers would surely say at this point “Wake up and smell the coffee, Dean.” It’s not normal, Mr. Baquet. Believe me.

Speaking of abnormal, let’s segue to a piece about the epic grudge match between celebrity lawyers.

Super Lawyer Smackdown: Alan Dershowitz and David Boies have been feuding since 2015. It’s developed into a rivalry almost equal in intensity to the Falcons-Saints, Giants-Dodgers, or Red Sox-Yankees. The reason for the explosion is, of course, the Jeffrey Epstein case.

The argument has degenerated into a grade school level slagging match:

Boies: “You’re a perv.”

Dersh: “Am not.”

Boies: “What about the pervy massage with a happy ending?”

Dersh: “I’m not a massage guy.”

You know what they say, the massage is the medium.

I halfway expect these rather elderly laywers to argue the merits of the actors who have played them onscreen. In Boies’ case it was Ed Begley Jr. in Recount. Dersh has been portayed by Ron Silver in Reversal of Fortune and by Evan Handler and Richard Cox in two OJ Simpson trial joints. Note: Silver played Robert Shapiro in the 2000 OJ trial show. Ironies abound.

You’re probably wondering if all of this is leading to a link. Wonder no more: Tom Jackman, Deana Paul, and Manuel Roig-Franzia have the juicy details in the WaPo.

I wonder what childish behavior is next for the two venerable celebrity  lawyers? Locker stuffing? Pantsing? Swirlies? Stay tuned.

Tarantino’s Fractured Fairytale: As I said on Thursday, Dr. A and I saw and loved the new Tarantino movie. I failed to grade it: 4 stars and an Adrastos grade of A-.  It was a return to form after the dreadful Hateful Eight, which was a sauceless spaghetti Western.

It’s funny (strange, not ha-ha) I didn’t care for Brad Pitt as a young movie star but he’s aged well. I really dug him and Leo doing the whole Newman and Redford buddy thing in this movie. Hell, I even liked the controversial “fairytale” ending. No spoilers from me, y’all. The internet people get very huffy about spoilers.

Anyway, if you’ve seen the movie, there’s a swell piece in Vulture by Brian Tallerico: All The Movies and Shows Referenced in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. It’s a real showstopper, y’all. Also well-worth checking out is Ken Levine’s review. As a former LA DJ, he’s especially good on the radio aspects of the film.

I loved the use of music in the movie and how it was framed by radio DJ patter. Let’s conclude this segment with two tunes that were used in the movie:

We remain in the 1970’s with the first segment of our third act.

The Weekly DC: I grew up on Carol Burnett’s comedy. As you can see from this Dick Cavett Show clip, she’s also a helluva story teller.

An admission: I posted this clip because of the image of the great comedienne with her tongue stuck out. As a matter of fact, Gene Simmons’ tongue was displayed in last week’s edition of our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth: This week we feature two human beings and no livestock whatsover. It’s one of our worst presidents, Andrew Johnson, and one of our finest actors, Tommy Lee Jones.

I wrote about the time I met Tommy Lee Jones three years ago in this space. I’ll skip the self-quotation, he said to rousing applause.

Saturday GIF Horse: I still have Tarantino movies on my mind. This week’s GIF horse features Pam Grier in Jackie Brown.

I don’t know about you but I would never mess with Foxy Brown:

Is that a gun in your fro or are you just glad to see me?

FYI: Brown Sugar is a streaming service that Pam Grier is involved with. Rumor has it that it’s also a Stones song:

Let’s mellow out with some hippie music.

Weekly Vintage Music Video: I recently watched a swell British music documentary on Amazon, CSNY Fifty by Four. Hence this 1988 video:

Let’s close the door on this week’s outing with more music.

Saturday Classic:  I swore I wouldn’t write about Woodstock but I never said I wouldn’t post any music from it. Here’s CSNY’s legendary debut set. It’s video only so you can’t see Stephen Stills shake his poncho. Pity really.

That’s it for this week. Dr. A and I recently watched the classic 1943 George Stevens comedy, The More The Merrier. The last word goes to Jean Arthur, Joel McRae, and Charles Coburn.