I’ve been cranky all week. I get like this every November. The approaching holidays make me blue. Mercifully, Dr. A understands why I’m in a funk and rides it out. That makes it easier for me to get past it. Thanks, babe.

The weather has been weird; more like Seattle weather than New Orleans. We’re having scattered showers but not enough to remedy the drought or end the damn wildfire. It’s been in the mid-60s and low 70s, but the humidity is high so the feels like temperature is much lower. That’s the high and low of it.

The featured image comes from NASA. It’s a comet or what some mistakenly called a shooting star.

That brings me to this week’s theme song. Paul Rodgers wrote Shooting Star in 1975 for Bad Company’s Straight Shooter album. It’s a story song about a rock and roll star named Johnny who comes to a bad end. Don’t you know…

We have four versions of Shooting Star for your listening pleasure: the Bad Co original, Rodgers live with Queen, an acoustic version by the songwriter, and Golden Smog.

Shooting Star is the ultimate rock and roll singalong song. Don’t you know…

Here’s one more star song for the road. The road to where? Beats the hell outta me.

We begin our second act with an article about my favorite game.

Scrabble Blues: I love Scrabble. I love app Scrabble even more. It does the math for you and allows you to experiment with words without penalty. If you want to play Scrabble Go with me, look for Peter A with Vincent Price and the Raven as the avatar.

Slate’s Stefan Fatsis has written a swell piece about a wordy controversy in Scrabble World. I say let all the bad words in. My life won’t be complete until I can use shit or fuck as Scrabble words. I’m on a potty mouth roll this week with two posts with fuck in the title. Fuckin’ A.

For the details get thee to Slate.

I wonder if Buddy Holly played Scrabble. As far as I know, there aren’t any clues in this tune:

Albert The Great: That’s actor-comedian-writer-director Albert Brooks not some common garden variety monarch. I’ve long thought Albert Brooks is the funniest man on this or any other planet.

There’s a flurry of activity surrounding the 76 year old comedic genius. There a swell HBO documentary directed by Albert’s old pal Rob Reiner, which  led to a must read interview in the Atlantic.

The documentary has an obvious title: Albert Brooks: Defending My Life. It’s obviously great because it’s All About Albert.

Here’s the trailer:

Grading Time: I give ABDML 4 stars and an Adrastos Grade of A-. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll hire Sharon Stone as your Muse.

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Casting Edition: There’s a new mini-series about the mishandling of the COVID crisis by a leader with bad hair. In This England, the great Anglo-Irish actor Kenneth Branagh plays Boris Johnson. The resemblance is eerie.

If you’re expecting Boris The Spider, you’re SOL. Instead, Mike Campbell with a song about the lockdown called, uh, Lockdown:

Bummed by contemplating the lockdown? The next segment should put a smile on your face.

Your Weekly Oscar: Here’s OP with a song from the Bye Bye Birdie soundtrack.

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

Best Of Johnny: Albert Brooks was one of Johnny Carson’s favorite guests. He always did something unique:

See Johnny laugh. Laugh, Johnny laugh.

Saturday GIF Horse:  I thought soccer wasn’t a contact sport, but it is when Boris Johnson is on the pitch.

I’m worried that he stepped on his Johnson…

The Junk Drawer: Last Monday, I crowned sacked Tory Home Secretary Suella Braverman malaka of the week. I’d forgotten Bye Bye Braverman existed.

Any movie with George Segal has that going for it. It’s also directed by the great Sidney Lumet who will be featured in this week’s Sunday Dozen.

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

Saturday Closer: It’s another song with star in the tile. The video is swell as well.

That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Albert Brooks and Rip Torn in Defending Your Life: