We had our first cold front in New Orleans this week. It was cold enough that I broke down and ran the central heater. I try not to do that before Halloween but it was too chilly to shower in an unheated house. Mind you, I’m not complaining. It’s been a long hot summer.

Speaking of cold, the New Orleans Saints kicked ass in the first two weeks but have collapsed since then losing 5 straight games. It’s down to injuries and poor coaching. Head Coach Dennis Allen better not make any long range plans, the fan base is out for blood, especially after losing to Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos.

The featured image is a painting by the 19th Century French realist painter Gustave Courbet. The gent with the pointy beard is the artist himself. They all look ready to Share The Land.

This week’s theme song was written by Burton Cummings for the 1970 album of the same name. I considered using it for the Friday Cocktail Hour but went with These Eyes instead because of the quality of the covers. I have standards, albeit low ones, but standards nonetheless.

Are you ready to Share The Land?

I’m in a sharing mood, Richard Manuel’s lead vocal on this tune gets me every time:

Similar title, different song:

We begin our second act with a movie listicle from the folks at Vulture.

The 20 Best Movies About American Presidents: Tim Grierson and Will Leitch are Vulture’s go-to movie listicle guys. This one was first published in 2018 but updated recently. See, I’m not the only one who does repeats.

The list is solid. The writing is good. My favorite drama about the presidency remains TV’s West Wing. You can’t top Martin Sheen when it comes to fictional presidents.

For the details, click here.

The Nuzzi-Lizza Shitshow: The juiciest media scandal in eons features Olivia Nuzzi cyber cheating on Ryan Lizza with Bobby Junior. They’ve split up over her rotten taste in sexting partners. I have a confession: I’ve always liked her writing, but this whole thing reeks of poor judgment and even worse taste.

There’s a swell piece about this mishigas in The Daily Beast by Henry Lambert. I had no idea before this that Ryan Lizza’s family is, shall we say, connected.

The last word of our second act goes to Odetta with a song that first appeared in the Val Lewton horror film, I Walked With A Zombie:

Is Bobby Junior a zombie? Discuss amongst yourselves. He certainly has more than a touch of madness:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Casting Edition? I’ve been watching Manhunt on Apple TV+. It’s about the search for John Wilkes Booth after he murdered President Lincoln. The producers make bold claims of historical accuracy but allowed Tobias Menzies to play Secretary of War Edwin Stanton clean-shaven:

I call bullshit. Stanton was inordinately proud of his beard. Additionally, there are far too many clean-shaven dudes in the series. It was the age of the beardo. Who does Menzies think he is, Prince Philip? He only played him in The Crown. I say bring on the beardos and The Bandettes:

Your Weekly Oscar: Along with the cold front, we’ve had nothing but Blue Skies thereby making Irving Berlin a prophet. Does that make OP his disciple? Beats the hell outta me. The second version features the classical fiddler Itzhak Perlman and Herb Ellis on guitar.

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

The Best Of SNL: Family Feud is one of my guilty pleasures. How could I resist this recent cold open?

I really like Maya Rudolph as Kamala. Hopefully, it’s a four to eight year gig for her.

Saturday GIF Horse: You’ve seen Harold Lloyd looking cool, calm, and collected in the Safety Last image I use for my Campaign Notes posts. Harold looks agitated and downright terrified in this GIF:

Where’s your hat, Harold? On the street, I guess.

Celebrity Ad Corner: This time, it’s Maybe Cousin Telly Savalas plugging Gillette Razors:

 

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

Saturday Closer: I’m still working my way through Peter Gunn. I find myself humming the theme song, so here’s The Tubes with their TV crime show medley, which includes snippets of the theme songs of Dragnet, Peter Gunn, Perry Mason, and The Untouchables.

That’s all for this week. The last word comes from my favorite episode of Peter Gunn with Herschel Bernardi as Lt Jacoby, Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn, and Timothy the seal: