I’ve already bitched about the heat this week, so I’ll skip it. I don’t want to be a chronic complainer. I’ll stick to being irked.
I’m keeping it light because I’m enervated from America’s trip down Dipshit Insurrection memory lane this week. The hearings have been fascinating but tough to watch. Why anyone thinks storming the Capitol is okay is beyond me. I’m tired of wingnuts and their Tea Party bullshit. Enough already.
This week’s theme song was written by Jon Anderson and Chris Squire in 1970 for The Yes Album. It was my gateway album into Yesworld. I’ve never looked back.
We have three versions of Perpetual Change for your listening pleasure: the studio original, live in 1999, and Anderson Rabin & Wakeman live in 2016. Most early Yes tunes are better live, especially when Rick Wakeman is in the house.
One thing I miss about having a shop in the Quarter is the guys who perpetually ask for change. I just lied. I don’t miss that at all, but that pun needed a proper setup, and that’s all I’ve got. Pity the punster.
Breaking news: The only thing I miss about our former format was the running joke I made about jumping to the break. I don’t really love the sound of breaking glass, but I love me some Nick Lowe. FYI, he’ll be the subject of this week’s Sunday Dozen.
I almost forgot another song by a British band with perpetual in the title:
We begin our second act with a story that could be called Swedes do the darndest things.
Feudin’ Over Feedin’ In Sweden: I missed the internet controversy over a strange Swedish custom but I read the piece in Slate about it:
“So it was recently following an incident that has come to be known as “Swedengate.” Someone posted a response to an innocent question on Reddit: “What is the weirdest thing you had to do at someone else’s house because of their culture/religion?” A user reported that they remember going to a Swedish friend’s house as a child and being asked to stay in another room while the family he was visiting ate dinner together. Many Swedish people replied saying: Well, yeah, that’s the way we do it here.”
I can hear my Norwegian mother, who adopted Greek hospitality customs, rolling in her grave. Feeding people is how people in many cultures show love. It certainly was in my family.
Unlike Dr. A’s maternal grandmother, my mom didn’t hate Swedes, but she thought they were strange, and she didn’t even live long enough to see Midsommar. I convinced her to watch The Seventh Seal with me, but she didn’t like it. She did get off a good line about the movie: “I prefer Ingrid Bergman to Ingmar Bergman.”
Speaking of Greeks, I learned that MSNBC’s Katy Tur’s grandfather wanted to be the Greek Frank Sinatra. Where did I learn that? In an excerpt from her memoir at New York Magazine.
Notice I didn’t call her Cousin Katy. That was Lou’s thing, not mine. But she *is* Greek and doing very well, you know.
Where’s the subject header for this segment? I decided to dispense with it and let the Italian Frank Sinatra have the last word of the un-headlined segment:
Happy Birthday, Macca: Paul McCartney turns 80 today. If I hadn’t already committed to Yes-Paul Klee month, the theme song would belong to Macca.
In honor of Sir Paul’s birthday, here are three songs from his rooftop set at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in 2009:
I’ll give the birthday Beatle and David Letterman the last word of our second act with this interview from the same Late Show appearance:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth Casting Edition: I suppose I should have used this last week when I wrote about Bob Einstein. His brother Albert adopted the stage name Brooks because he didn’t want to have Einstein hair…
My favorite movie of the bunch is IQ, which is a romcom in which Meg Ryan plays Einstein’s niece. Say what? I thought she was a Shiksa goddess. It’s what Billy Wilder always called movie magic.
Let’s stop counting IQs and start Counting Crows:
The Classic Movie List: Joel McCrae was one of the most underrated stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age. He was a likable and versatile actor who was as comfortable in a drawing room as he was in the saddle.
My Top Ten Favorite Joel McCrae Movies
- Sullivan’s Travels
- Foreign Correspondent
- The More The Merrier
- The Palm Beach Story
- Ride The High Country
- Dead End
- The Great Moment
- Colorado Territory
- Gambling Lady
- The Most Dangerous Game
That’s a helluva group of directors for the first 8 flicks: Preston Sturges, Alfred Hitchcock, George Stevens, Sam Peckinpah. William Wyler, and Raoul Walsh.
The Best Of Johnny: There was one place Rodney Dangerfield always got respect, The Tonight Show.
This song isn’t about Rodney, but it could be:
Saturday GIF Horse: I mentioned Joel McCrae’s versatility as an actor. Here’s some zaniness from the #4 and #3 movies on his top ten list.
I feel sore and wet after those two GIFs. I almost feel like Gene Wilder in The Producers:
Tweet Of The Week: The Hollywood Reporter got cute in its obituary for Philip Baker Hall this week. I was not amused:
I'd somehow missed this until today. Why did they think it was appropriate to be cute in an obit? PBH was a distinguished character actor. Oy just oy. https://t.co/hHL3iXzl1L via @thr
— Shecky (@Adrastosno) June 16, 2022
He played that character in two episodes. I prefer his work with Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Weekly Vintage Video: Speaking of PBH, he also appeared in Aimee Mann’s Save Me video along with other members of the cast of Magnolia:
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Walter Matthau and Meg Ryan in IQ:
