I’m not much of a sports fan anymore. Greed, avarice, and hype have eroded my interest in baseball, basketball, and college football. That does not apply to my local NFL team. Rooting for the Saints has long been akin to a civic duty; even more so after Katrina and the Federal Flood.

The Saints have fallen on hard times, losing three games in a row. The fans are booing QB Derek Carr and calling for the head of coach Dennis Allen whose response is to talk about cutting wood or some such shit. I’ve finally sided with Team Fire The Coach but not during the season. It’s what bad organizations do. Hell, it’s what the Saints would have done in the past when they were the worst of the worst. Stay tuned.

Our weather pattern continues to spin round and round, either we have too much rain or too little. Last Saturday, we had too much and there was some street flooding. The city has a warning system called NOLA Ready. It’s supposed to text warnings if there’s menacing weather. This time, the system failed and some friends of mine lost their cars to flood water because they couldn’t move them to higher ground.

Repeat after me: Climate change is real.

This week’s theme song was written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe for REM’s 1986 album Life’s Rich Pageant. It was the first REM album I ever bought and remains a favorite.

We have two versions of Begin The Begin for your listening pleasure: the studio original and REM live in 2003.

I was confused the first time heard the song title. I assumed it was Cole Porter’s Begin The Beguine. It is not but Cole would have respected the word play involved in Begin The Begin. Here are two versions of Cole’s tune:

Don’t be shocked that Pete Townshend recorded the Porter classic. His father Cliff was a big band musician, so Pete is familiar with the songwriters who preceded him.

This is a more typical Townshend tune:

We begin our second act with a visit to Athens, Georgia.

Michael Stipe’s Slow Motion Return: Stipe has kept a low profile since REM disbanded in 2011. Since then, his focus has been on other artistic endeavors, but he’s begun writing and recording songs that sound nothing like his old band according to the man himself.

There’s a swell profile in the NYT Magazine by Jon Mooallem. He’s been covering Stipe for years and was able to loosen the REM frontman’s lips. No ships were sunk in the process.

For the details, click here.

I learned something cool from the profile: Patti Smith became an REM fan and asked to meet Michael Stipe after hearing this song:

We move on to another segment with slow in the title. It’s part of my slow motion master plan or some such shit.

Slow Horses: I wasn’t all that interested in subscribing to Apple+ TV but I got 3 months free after buying a new iPhone, so I went for it. I’m glad I did because I found and fell for Slow Horses.

Slow Horses is a spy series that combines the sensibilities of David Cornwall DBA John le Carre’s spy novels and HBO’s Veep. They come by it honestly: Veep writer Will Smith is one of the twisted minds behind this swell show, which is based on the novels by Mick Herron.

Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb who is the chief spook at Slough House aka Slow House. It’s a unit for misfits, fuck ups, and agents who have pissed off their bosses. Lamb is unwashed, unkempt, and brilliant.

Oldman gets all the best lines, but the supporting cast is terrific too; most notably Jackson Lamb’s frenemy played with haughty brio by Kristin Scott Thomas.

Slow Horses is midway through season 3. We just learned that Jackson Lamb deploys his flatulence as an intimidation device. I am not making this up, the show’s brilliant writers did.

Here’s the trailer:

Grading Time: I give Slow Horses 4 stars and an Adrastos Grade of A-. It’s one of the best shows on television, streaming or otherwise.

The last word of our second act goes to Rickie Lee Jones with a song she wrote with Walter Becker:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Casting Edition: Veep creator Armando Iannucci made a film set in the Soviet Union right after the death of the country’s drunk Uncle Joe. If you haven’t seen The Death Of Stalin, it’s worth a look-see. Who knew drunken commies could be so funny?

One of the best performances in the movie comes from Jason Isaacs as World War II hero, Marshall Zhukov.

Isaacs is playing the elusive Archie Leach DBA Cary Grant for Britbox; should be interesting.

I still have spies on my mind, so I’ll let the Count Basie Orchestra play us out of this segment with a Bond movie theme song.

Your Weekly Oscar: OP loved the music of Cole Porter; this is his version of our kinda sorta second theme song.

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

The Best Of Albert & Dave: Brooks makes Letterman cackle in Albert’s first appearance on Late Night.

Have I told you lately that Albert Brooks is the funniest person on this or any other planet?

Saturday GIF Horse: More Gary Oldman. Hit it, Drac baby.

Things You Don’t Know About Me: I talk to myself. It’s a habit I picked up from my late mother. She told me it was okay to talk to myself as long as I didn’t answer. I consider it thinking out loud:

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

Saturday Closer: Ready for more REM and David Letterman? Here’s the band 1983’s national teevee debut.

Yes, Virginia, Michael Stipe once had a full head of hair.

That’s all for this week. The last word goes to the season 1 cast of Slow Horses.