A brief note about the attack on Paul Pelosi. I’m surprised that something like this hasn’t happened to someone close to the Speaker before. She’s been demonized and dehumanized by right wing extremists. Mr. Pelosi is 82 years old, but he defended himself and his home from a Q creep with a hammer. It appears that he’ll be okay.
I try not to react emotionally to the news but I’m angry and fed up with Republicans and their enablers in the media. This is not who we should be as a people but it’s who we are in 2022. I’ll have more on Monday morning.
We return to our regularly scheduled Odds & Sods programming.
The lunar theme continues with this week’s theme song. How thematic as well as moony of me. Ray Davies wrote Full Moon for The Kinks 1977 album Sleepwalker. It was #3 on my Kinks album list. Full Moon features some of the best vocals ever recorded by the band.
In addition to the Kinks classic, we have two songs with the same title written and performed by Sandy Denny and John Hiatt for your listening pleasure.
It’s all a vast conspiracy to get y’all to take another look at some of the Sunday dozens. I can be a crafty bastard at times.
One more lunar tune before we begin our second act in earnest:
We begin our second act with an article about the life and times of a former LSU hoops great.
From Chris To Mahmoud: Before there was Colin Kaepernick, there was Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Instead of taking a knee during the Star Bangled Banner, he declined to stand. He was vilified by the sporting press and suspended by the NBA. It cast a pall over what should have been a promising career. His playing days were over by the age of 30.
Abdul-Rauf played basketball at LSU as Chris Jackson. He was one of the best college basketball players I’ve ever seen. He converted to Islam while playing in the NBA and took a stand for what he believed in. I respect that but I’m sorry it damaged his playing career. He was one of the most exciting basketball players ever.
Jacob Uitti has the details at The Guardian.
I gave myself a benign earworm while pondering Abdul-Rauf’s plight.
The US&A isn’t the only country in which crime is used for political advantage by the right. It’s happening in France as well.
The Politically Charged Murder That’s Shaking Paris is the title of an outstanding piece in the Atlantic by Thomas Chatterton Williams. Far right leader Marine Le Pen lost the last election, but her party made substantial gains. They’re out to win the next time around and they’ve weaponized the brutal murder of a 12-year-old girl named Lola. The only suspect is an Algerian immigrant.
I hate hate mongers and am intolerant of intolerance. The French right knows how to whip up hatred and fear of The Other. They’ve been doing it for a long time. The specter of the Dreyfus Affair and Vichy France hangs heavy over France.
Let’s conclude our gloomy second act with one of the best-loved French songs by one of their finest singers:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth Twitter Edition: Here’s an odd one from an odd source. Connie Mack was the legendary owner-manager of the Philadelphia Athletics for nearly 50 years. He’s paired with the king of England: Charles III.
#SeparatedatBirth – not yet, but as King Charles ages–dead ringers
Connie Mack pic.twitter.com/Nt745LPVPd
— ᑭᖇO ᖴOOTᗷᗩᒪᒪ ᒍOᑌᖇᑎᗩᒪ 🏈 (@NFL_Journal) October 19, 2022
It works visually but it’s odd to see a prominent Irish American paired with British Royalty. Oh well, what the hell.
The Movie List: We’re staying in Great Britain with this week’s movie list. John Mills was one of the finest actors of his generation. He kept working into his late 80s. His body of work is exceptional.
The John Mills Dozen
- Great Expectations
- Tunes Of Glory
- In Which We Serve
- So Well Remembered
- This Happy Breed
- The Colditz Affair
- The Wrong Box
- The October Man
- Hobson’s Choice
- Tiger Bay
- Scott of the Antarctic
- The Chalk Garden
Best Of Letterman: It’s time to deliver some viewer mail. What’s not to love about a clip featuring Larry Bud Mellman?
Saturday GIF Horse: Here’s John Mills and his family visiting Disneyland and Uncle Walt. Hayley Mills, of course, starred in the Disney film, The Parent Trap.
I’ll let Hayley Mills and Maureen O’Hara wave goodbye to this segment.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: Ready for a shameless plug for this week’s Sunday Dozen? This is it. It’s a video from the Rolling Stones most underrated album, Voodoo Lounge. They’ll be featured tomorrow but there will be more rocking than lounging.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to John Mills and Gordon Jackson from the #2 movie on the John Mills list, Tunes Of Glory.
