It’s been foggy this week in New Orleans. It’s damp, dank, and muggy in the morning. If we’re lucky it burns off in the afternoon. 2022 has been a weird year weather-wise for us: no hurricane alerts but we’ve had to run the AC later than usual and the heater earlier. The cats like the last bit. They love worshipping the space heater.
The holidays are approaching. I’m not ready for them but I rarely am. Last Saturday, we attended the Krewe du Vieux Brew Doo, which is a top secret fundraiser for the mother krewe. The baker of magic brownies has retired. I told her I loved her anyway. She was skeptical.
The Krewe of Spank had our annual gross Brew Doo party game: the dirty wiener drop. I’ll have more about that later, but I want to assure you that we use cheap hot dogs, not Oscar Meyer wieners or Anthony Weiners for that matter. Does anyone else remember that creep?
This week’s theme song was written by Willie Dixon in 1960. Dixon had Howlin’ Wolf in mind when he wrote the song and Wolf was the first to record it.
We have three versions of Spoonful for your listening pleasure: the Howlin’ Wolf original, Cream, and Etta James.
I feel as if I need another spoonful of something or other:
Lest you think I’m stuck in the past, a song from this century:
We begin our second act with an epistolary piece from Slate.
Letter From A Kapo: Not everyone who survived the Holocaust was courageous and refused to work with their Nazi keepers. Those who worked with them were called Kapos. There were many levels of collaboration: many Kapos did what they had to do to survive; others committed war crimes.
There’s a deeply moving and downright disturbing article by Flora Cassen at Slate. It’s about a letter that has belatedly circulated in her family. It was written by her great-uncle Charles who was a Kapo and felt the need to explain his actions. It was a shocking discovery, but it’s something they have to live with. We all like to think we’d be valiant in such circumstances but nobody knows for certain unless they’re tested.
The last word of the segment goes to Paul Robeson:
Michael Peterson Speaks: I must confess to being a fan of the true crime documentary series The Staircase. I’m inclined to think Cathleen Peterson’s death was a bizarre accident but Michael Peterson was convicted of murder at his first trial then copped an Alford plea before his second turn in the legal barrel.
Michael Peterson has seen neither the original docuseries nor the fictionalized mini-series produced for HBO with Colin Firth playing him. I wouldn’t mind Colin playing me, but Peterson was not amused.
He’s so pissed that he sat for a rare interview with David Graham of The Atlantic.
The last word of our second act goes to Ashford & Simpson:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth Casting Edition: Sometimes the obvious choice is the best choice. I give you Michael Peterson and Colin Firth:
Firth looks nothing like Bertie Windsor or Mr. Darcy in that shot but nowhere near as creepy as the real Michael Peterson.
Speaking of Firths:
I could use a fifth of something or other right about now.
Celebrity Booze Ad Corner: What’s not to love about Bourbon? This Jim Beam ad is part of a series featuring famous people and their kids. In this case, Orson Welles and his daughter Rebecca.
Party on, Orson. You’re in none of the movies below. Sorry about that, dude.
The Classic Movie List: I’ve been meaning to do a John Garfield list for years. He had a short but glorious career that was ended by the blacklist and his tragic death at the age of 39.
The John Garfield Dozen
- Body and Soul
- The Breaking Point
- Force of Evil
- The Postman Always Rings Twice
- Nobody Lives Forever
- Humoresque
- Pride Of The MarinesÂ
- Gentleman’s Agreement
- We Were Strangers
- The Fallen Sparrow
- Air Force
- Destination Tokyo
It’s time to get in the holiday spirit, David Letterman-style.
Best Of Letterman: Dave wasn’t one of Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters, but he loves pranking people. This is one of his more benign pranks.
Saturday GIF Horse: I’m doing something different with this week’s Sunday Dozen and featuring black and white Christmas movies. This GIF is from one of the best: Christmas In Connecticut.
It was hard to be SZ Sakall. Who the hell wants their nickname to be Cuddles? It was the studio’s idea, not the actor’s. Oy just oy.
Tweet Of The Week: Another day, another shot at John Neely Kennedy.
This year’s Dirty Weiner Drop target: John Neely Kennedy. pic.twitter.com/B52lGZsq44
— Shecky (@Adrastosno) December 4, 2022
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: ZZ Top became unlikely MTV stars because of their creative videos. Here’s a leggy video that won an MTV award in 1984.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to the late, great Chester Burnett DBA Howlin’ Wolf:
