We had some rain in New Orleans this week but not enough to spare us from the saltwater wedgie looming downriver. People have many questions about the possible impacts of the saltwater intrusion. The key word is intrusion, even if it reaches the city, the water will NOT be 100% saltwater. It should be safe to wash clothes, dishes, and yourself. It is, however, best not to wash your car because rust never sleeps according to Neil Young.

That was shockingly practical, wasn’t it? I usually shoot for something else. Oh well, nobody’s perfect.

I’m getting jabbed this afternoon. Next month, I’m flying for the first time since before the pandemic, so I’m getting my Covid booster and flu shot. I still plan to mask up on the flight to protect myself from rabid anti-vaxxers. I cannot, however, protect myself from getting my ass kicked by the booster. I might need a booster seat to sit up…

This week’s theme song was written by Sly Stone in 1973 for the Fresh album. The song made Sly jump for joy when they did the album cover shoot or some such shit.

We have four versions of If You Want Me To Stay for your listening pleasure: the studio original, Sly & The Family Stone live, Etta James, and Peter Frampton.

Frampton Forgets The Words is such a cool album title that I’m posting another tune from it: Frampton’s version of Avalon followed by the Roxy Music original.

Now that we’ve gone to Avalon and back, we begin our second act with a piece about Sly & The Family Stone.

Too Sly For His Own Good? Sly Stone was on top of the world after Woodstock. Sly & The Family Stone’s set was among the most memorable of the festival; equaled only by The Who and Jimi Hendrix. Then, everything went wrong.

Music writer Ben Greenman was able to get the elusive Sly to collaborate on a book telling his side of the story. I hope the proceeds will enable the former superstar to stop sleeping in a trailer outside a friend’s house. I am not making this up.

James Parker reviewed the book in the October issue of the Atlantic. Click here or be square instead of funky.

Sly and Greenman named the book after this classic song:

Survivor Survives: Survivor started its 45th season this week. I’ve watched it from the beginning. The show has evolved from featuring major assholes such as Richard Hatch and Russell Hantz to casting more likeable people who see it as a game, not a substitute for real life.

Entertainment Weekly’s Dalton Ross has written a fascinating piece about casting the current season. He even got access to host/showrunner Jeff Probst’s notes. I dig Probst as a host, but the man needs to kick his exclamation point habit. Make a note of that Jeff.

The first episode of the new season featured a challenge in which the contestants crawled through mud to win immunity. That’s why I’m a viewer, not a participant. I don’t like mud and it doesn’t care for me. Yuck, just yuck.

The last word of our second act goes to Asia:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Twitter (Never X) Edition: SAB tweets come in two categories. There are those that shoot for accuracy as well as those that dunk on someone the Tweeter dislikes. This week’s entry fits both categories. Who the hell wants to be compared to Charlie Manson?

Separated at birth?#RusselBrand pic.twitter.com/sfXUxoTFNO

— Isabella (@CushieBetter) September 24, 2023

As you can see, creepy British comic Russell Brand resembles the late mass murderer. If it were anyone else, I’d feel sorry for them, but Brand is a pervy pig. He deserves whatever abuse he gets.

We need a palate cleanser after that. Here’s Jerry Butler with some sweet soul music:

Thanks, Iceman.

The Movie List: I dig character actors. When the studio system reigned supreme, the studios had their own stock companies. My personal favorite was the Warner Brothers stock company. John Qualen specialized in playing Scandinavian characters first at Warners then later as a freelancer. Qualen was also a member of the John Ford stock company, which will be made obvious by the list.

The two word phrase of the day is: stock company.

Before we do the list thing, here’s a picture of John Qualen with Paul Henreid in Casablanca:

My Top Ten Favorite John Qualen Movies

1. Casablanca
2. The Searchers
3. Anatomy Of A Murder
4. The Grapes Of Wrath
5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
6. Out Of The Fog
7. Hollow Triumph
8. Dark Waters
9. The Big Steal
10. The High and the Mighty

The movies are rated in order of preference, not part size. The juiciest part for Qualen was in Out Of The Fog where he played star character actor Thomas Mitchell’s bestie.

Your Weekly Oscar: OP loved collaborating with other jazz superstars. Here’s Duke Ellington’s Caravan as performed by Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie.

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

Saturday GIF Horse: Ready for more R Crumb content?

Is that the fickle finger of fate? Beats the hell outta me. Let’s consult with Eddie Kendricks:

Let’s set the dial on the Wayback Machine to 1992.

The Best Of SNL: This sketch is like butter.

Can you imagine Barbra Streisand and Roseanne Barr appearing together in 2023? Me neither. Streisand remains a staunch liberal and Barr has become a Trump humping freak.

Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.

Saturday Closer: Larry Graham was Sly Stone’s bass player. He went on to bigger and funkier things after starting Graham Central Station.

This clip comes from 2011:

That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Sly & The Family Stone.