We kick things off with a brief health update. My progress briefly stalled because the iron pills I need to fully recover were upsetting my stomach. I’m getting used to the iron pills; drinking more water was part of the solution. I’m glad it didn’t involve standing on my head: I’m too weak for that kind of shit.

My illness has resulted in an odd writing pattern. I write everything before 11 AM or after 10 PM. I guess watching The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell gets me pumped up or some such shit. It’s where I usually get my instructions from The Puppetmaster DBA Andrew Weissmann, after all.

I’m still not ready to resume normal activities, alas. It’s hard to be active when you *require* a nap every day. My new mantra: Wait until next month.

This week’s theme song poses the eternal question: Is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho?

Camarillo Brillo was written by Frank Zappa for The Mothers’ 1973 album Overnite Sensation. It  has a typically brilliant Zappa arrangement and some amazing piano playing by George Duke.

We have two versions of Camarillo Brillo for your listening pleasure: the studio original and a 1974 live version.

Camarillo is a town in Southern California; so is Cucamonga:

I feel a Deadhead centric meme coming on:

FYI, WC Fields loved saying Cucamonga. Who among us doesn’t?

We begin our second act with a segment about Dick Goodwin and his wife of 42 years, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Dick & Doris-Historians In Love: Yeah, I know Dick Goodwin was more of a historical figure  and memoirist than a historian, but Doris Kearns Goodwin is one of our most accomplished popular historians. She’s not one of those academic historians that Gore Vidal derided as scholar-squirrels. Instead, she’s a storyteller.

There’s an excerpt in The Atlantic from Doris’ latest book An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History Of The Sixties. Dick Goodwin, of course, was an aide to both JFK and LBJ. He wrote some of Johnson’s best speeches before breaking with him over the Vietnam War. It always came back to Vietnam with Lyndon Johnson.

Near the end of Dick’s life, the Goodwins finally waded into a cache of boxes that Dick had carried around with him for over fifty years. The eventual result was Doris’ new book.

FYI, Dick Goodwin was played by Rob Morrow in one of my favorite movies, 1994’s Quiz Show.

The last word of the segment goes to Jethro Tull:

The Anti-Abortion Baron Of Arizona: Everybody’s talking about the crazy 1864 abortion ban that recently went into effect in Arizona. Its author was William Claude Jones who was the speaker of the territorial house of representatives back then.

I call Jones the Baron Of Arizona because of the swell Samuel Fuller film with Vincent Price in the title role.

Back to the 1864 Arizona abortion ban. There’s a terrific piece about William Claude Jones by Monica Hesse in the WaPo in which we learn Jones was a cad of Menendezian proportions.

The last word of our second act goes to Los Lobos:

In 2024, the Arizona Skies are cloudy. Hey, at least Scary Kari isn’t Governor. Hopefully, Ruben Gallego will keep her out of the Senate.

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Casting Edition: I’ve only watched one episode of the Apple Plus series Benjamin Franklin. I’m not sure what I think of it yet, but Michael Douglas is quite good as Ben.

Douglas as Franklin is a far cry from his Oscar winning role as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. They really should have used this song in the movie:

Your Weekly Oscar: This time, an OP doubleheader with a song from Oklahoma:

Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson? That goes for Ella too.

The Best Of SNL: The McLaughlin Group was a PBS panel show that aired for 34 years. It featured inside the beltway pundits bloviating. It was ripe for this SNL parody with Phil Hartman as the Chairman Of The Board.

Saturday GIF Horse: We continue our Hartmanic theme with a GIF from the underrated sitcom, News Radio:

That was Phil with Dave Foley. Joe Rogan also attended:

We need a palate cleanser after seeing that. How about some jazz?

Tweet Of The Week: The Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian gave a bizarre speech last week. Historian Randall Stephens had some fun with it.

The only sensible thing to do with Trump's "Gettysburg, Wow" speech in Pennsylvania was to make a one-minute documentary film of it. These are all his real words. I added some "bing bongs" at the start. "Never fight uphill, me boys! Never fight uphill." #FunWithPhotoshop pic.twitter.com/xFQffyCa37

— Randall Stephens (@Randall_Stps) April 16, 2024

Word salad, wow.

The Junk Drawer: I don’t usually use other people’s nicknames, especially those that pop up on the platform formerly known as Twitter. BUT Don Snoreleone is not half bad. I suspect Trump’s lawyers prefer that he snooze because he’ll get in less trouble that way.

What? No red tie?

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

Saturday Closer: Sinatra didn’t care for Phil Hartman’s impression; preferring that of his paisan, Joe Piscopo. After showing The Sinatra Group, I decided to post this 1955 set. I don’t want Frank’s ghost haunting me.

That’s all for this week. The last word goes to one of my favorite editions of The Mothers: