Adrastos, Diary, Music, Odds & Sods, Religion, Sports, Television

Saturday Odds & Sods: Bold As Brass

The featured image is of Buster Keaton as the projectionist in Sherlock Jr. I’m considering using it as the featured image for my campaign notes posts since the GOP is the party of projection. I’ve been using Harold Lloyd in Safety Last since 2018, so it may be time for a change. Stay tuned.

The heat has returned to New Orleans. The highs are in the mid and upper Eighties, which is mild by summer standards but too fucking hot for October. I thought Fall had fallen. Someone needs to take the fall for no fall. We need a fall guy. Ya feel me?

This week’s theme song is a golden oldie from Down Under. Tim Finn and Robert Gillies wrote Bold As Brass for Split Enz’s 1977 album Dizrythmia. It’s an impossible title to spell but spell it I must because it’s their finest album.

We have two versions of Bold As Brass for your listening pleasure: the original promo video and a 2006 live version.

I hope that was neither too brassy nor too bold for you. Let’s polish some more brassy songs together:

Our second act is a short. I had shit to do including tidying up our washroom so a tech could fix our dryer. We don’t tidy that room up that often, so it was quite a chore. Enough excuses, on with the show this is it.

Documentary Of The Week: Rene Bach is a pious young woman who wanted to help African children. She opened a clinic that seemed to be helping but then she took it too far by practicing medicine without a license.

I’m feeling lazy so I’ll leave the exposition to Brian Tallerico of Rogert Ebert.com:

Well-made and infuriating, HBO’s three-part documentary “Savior Complex” tells the story of Renee Bach, No White Saviors, and Serving His Children. It’s a fascinating melting pot of colonialism, charity, outrage, class, race, privilege, and naivete, but what really elevates it into a conversation starter is how much it refuses to provide easy answers. People who go in convinced that Bach is a hideous monster on the level of Hitler will likely find enough to justify maintaining that opinion; people who believe she has been a victim of activist hypocrisy masquerading as justice will probably continue to take that stance. “Savior Complex” is a remarkably detailed examination of this shocking case that answers most viewer questions as they arise by segueing back and forth from Bach’s story to the other people involved in this tale, intercut with sharp, revealing footage. And it never lets Bach off the hook, countering her claims with heartbreaking eyewitness testimony, showing how no one has the full picture here.”

The late Greg Peters called that lazy quoting of better writers. I’m down with that rubric. I don’t  have a savior complex.

Here’s the trailer:

Grading Time: I give Savior Complex 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos Grade of B+.

Brian Tallerico gave it 3 1/2 thumbs up. I miss Roger Ebert. I’m glad his wife Chaz is keeping his site and memory alive.

The last word of our second act goes to Phoebe Bridgers:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Twitter Edition: I still refuse to call it X. It makes no sense as the name of a social media site. Elon can go fuck himself.

This week, two baseball players who played in the Seventies and Eighties. Bill Buckner is best known as the goat (not GOAT) of the 1986 World Series. Phil Garner is best known for his mustache and being a member of the much-loved 1979 champion Pittsburgh Pirates.

I think Phil and Billy Bucks would dig this Warren Smith song: players of their era often paired their mustaches with Cadillacs.

Your Weekly Oscar: Night Train is my favorite OP album. Here’s another track from it:

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

Best Of SNL: It’s a 2000 cold opening with Dana Carvey and Will Farrell doing what they do best: Bush mocking.

Saturday GIF Horse: This Buster Keaton GIF is short, sweet, and definitive. We’re just close to the end, not at it if you catch my drifting drift.

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

Saturday Closer: I’m still walking the Tiny Desk Concert beat. This time, a 2010 performance by Mavis the Great.

That’s all for this week. I mentioned my Safety Last meme at the top of the post. Here’s the same old image of Harold Lloyd with new words, the last word.