Climate change continues to dog the weather in New Orleans. It’s either too cold for March or too hot. The only thing that’s constant is The Pollening. Achoo.

I used to follow sports fairly closely. I stopped watching sports on teevee during the pandemic. I’ve never gotten the taste for it back, so no March Madness for me. It’s okay. It gives me more time for writing, reading, and watching films noir. I’ve also gone from a weekly movie attendee to a rare one. If someone is going to talk over a movie, I want it to be me or garrulous kitty Perry Mason.

I kept the goatee I grew when I was The Spank Dude in this year’s Krewe du Vieux parade. Initially, I thought it would be hard to care for but it’s easier. You don’t have to shave all the hardest bits. Besides, a friend told me that all writers should sport a goatee. What about Annes Tyler and Cleeves? Oops the former is Anne; the latter is an E dropper. Oh well, what the hell.

This week’s theme song was written in 1974 for the Jackson Browne album of the same name. Fine title for an excellent album.

The song Late For The Sky features a brilliant solo by David Lindley who Jackson recently called a genius instrumentalist. I concur. RIP, Mr. Dave.

We have two versions of Late For The Sky for your listening pleasure: the studio original and a live version from 2022 on which Mr. Dave doesn’t play.

Since the featured image is called Blue Sky, how about some Allman Brothers?

How about some Irving Berlin?

How about beginning our second act?

Succession‘s Final Season: They say nothing succeeds like success. I don’t know who THEY are, but they have a point. Former NYT theatre critic turned teevee executive producer Frank Rich was recently debriefed by Vulture’s Joe Pompeo.

Ending the show after four seasons makes sense to me. It’s always best to end on a high note. This instant nostalgia brings to mind another Jackson Browne song:

Tony Banks Speaks: People assume the singer is the leader of any given band: Call it Mick Jagger Syndrome. That’s not true in the case of Genesis. Keyboard maestro Tony Banks has always been at least the band’s co-leader. Peter Gabriel reportedly left Genesis because he and his old school chum Tony butted heads too often. That’s one story I’ve heard. Rock stories get progressively harder to nail down with the passage of time. Holy prog rock pun, Batman.

Banks is also underrated because he’s stiff in concert. He’s Genesis’ equivalent of John Entwistle only the Ox moved about a bit more onstage.

Tony Banks gave an interview to Vulture’s Devon Ivie about The Weirdest and Most Divisive of Genesis. It’s great fun since Banks has a mordant sense of humor. I dig mordant humor, sardonic too.

The last word of the segment goes to a song unmentioned in the article. It’s from the only album on which neither Gabriel nor Collins sang lead vocals. I give you Genesis with Ray Wilson:

Hart-Atwater Revisited: My recent bit of media criticism Peter Baker, Ben Barnes & The October Surprise Story evoked memories of a piece I wrote for Bayou Brief in 2018 about the fallible memory of another elderly gentleman, Hart-Atwater: The Louisiana Connection.

That was an earlier attempt at historiography. A quite successful one at that if I do say so myself and I do. Holy self-linking, Batman.

The last word of our second act goes to Tom Paxton:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Casting Edition: I mentioned the Clifford Odets-John Turturro-Barton Fink combination in the Burt Lancaster Dozen. Here they are side-by-side.

I couldn’t find a picture of Odets with bigger hair but the sullen expressions match.

The Movie List: Tom Paxton name checked Warren Beatty in The Ballad Of Gary Hart, so he’s this week’s movie listee.

The Warren Beatty Dozen

1. Bonnie and Clyde
2. Shampoo
3. Reds  also directed
4. Bugsy
5. McCabe and Mrs. Miller
6. Bulworth  also directed
7. The Parallax View
8. Splendor In The Grass
9. $ aka Dollars
10. Heaven Can Wait also co-directed
11. All Fall Down
12. Dick Tracy also directed

Madonna co-starred in Dick Tracy. This Stephen Sondheim song was on the soundtrack:

Marxist Clips: If you’re still breathless from contemplating Warren Beatty in a yellow trench coat, here’s one of my favorite Marx Brothers bits. Groucho let Chico steal the scene. A rare event indeed.

It’s time for a new feature.

Your Weekly Oscar: Any time I post an Oscar Peterson song I pose this question: Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson?

I cannot get enough of the brilliant Canadian jazz pianist, so I’ll show my love for him every week. This time a faster than fast rendition of Sweet Georgia Brown.

Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson?

Saturday GIF Horse: Here’s Warren Beatty with his yellow trench coat and a Tommy gun. Rat-a-tat-tat.

We move from Dick Tracy to The Puppetmaster.

Tweet Of The Week:  As you should know by now, I’m obsessed with both The Puppetmaster DBA Andrew Weissman and his adorable dog, Innis. As you can see, Innis has upped his photo bombing game:

But what could top this pic.twitter.com/yP36UahxdJ

— Carol Fenwick (@FenwickCarol) March 21, 2023