The weird weather continues in New Orleans. We’ve had rain in a usually dry month, record temperatures, and a 30 degree drop-off one morning. And some people still don’t believe in climate change. The malakatude, it burns.

Speaking of malakatude, I’ve been asked why the malaka of the week posts have been scarce. It’s because of the gravity of the political situation. Malakatude is schmuckery, damaging but not super-dangerous. The same thing happened during Trump Regime Mach-One, which looks like a parade party compared to Mach-Two. There’s still malakatude aplenty and the feature will inevitably return.

We’re sticking to togetherness this week with one of John Lennon’s finest tunes as our theme song. It was written in 1969 for the Abbey Road album. The band was falling apart but recorded one of their best albums on the way out.

There are a gazillion good versions of Come Together. Here are 3 of them for your listening pleasure: The Beatles original, Ike & Tina Turner, and Count Basie:

We set the stage for our second act with a long hair music version of the Philadelphia Eagles theme song:

What’s not to love about the conductor in an Eagles jersey? Not a damn thing.

We begin our second act with a hilarious piece about the Super Bowl and Eagles fans by Will Leitch.

Deranged Eagle Fan Syndrome: The Philadelphia Eagles have one of the most rabid fan bases in the NFL. They’ll do or say anything in support of their team. Check out the first 2 paragraphs in Will Leitch’s post-Super Bowl column:

“The fundamental dichotomy between the NFL as a monocultural juggernaut and the NFL as it is actually experienced by its most dedicated customers can perhaps be best summed up by the lunatics that are Philadelphia Eagles fans. You might have enjoyed a casual night out eating nachos at your Super Bowl party. Meanwhile, these guys were painting their faces green, screaming into a mirror, clawing out their eyeballs and gnawing off their own hands. You merely adopted the dark. They are born in it.

What are Eagles fans like? Well. The last time they won the Super Bowl, during the championship parade, an Eagles fan, egged on by his fellow green-clad crazies, literally picked up a piece of horse manure, put it in his mouth, and started chewing. The crowd exploded in joy. I doubt the man regrets it one bit. I wonder what he’ll chow down on this time.”

I guess that’s what they mean by a shit eating grin.

I’ve often wondered if Deadspin founder Will Leitch is related to Sixties folk-rocker Donovan Leitch. I couldn’t find any references online. It’s a mystery. Much like the mythic place in this Donovan song:

Bob Mann On How To Call & Write Your Congresscritter: I’ve written about Robert Mann both here and at Bayou Brief. He’s a former aide to such Gret Stet Dems as Russell Long, John Breaux, and Kathleen Blanco.

Bob’s career is proof positive that a liberal can work for conservative Democrats without selling out. More recently, Bob took on The Clownfish DBA Jeff Landry, which led to his exit from the LSU School Of Journalism.

In his days on Capitol Hill, Mann dealt with his share of constituent mail and calls. He offers some sage advice on the best way to approach contacting your Congresscritter.

As a former Congressional aide myself, all I have to add is this: don’t write something like my Open Letter To Dr. Bill Cassidy. Why? Tone matters and I told him he was politically doomed, which I wouldn’t have done if it were an email to his office. Of course, the chickenshit SOB didn’t listen to his constituents and voted for Bobby Junior. Oh well, what the hell.

The last word of our second act goes to Joe Cocker:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Casting Edition:  I’m feeling arty today hence this side-by-side image of the artist Frida Kahlo and Salma Hayek who played her in the terrific 2002 biopic, Frida.

Frida is one of the best movies about an artist ever released. Salma was born to play the lead.

I hope that monkey didn’t get antsy during the photo shoot. Can a mammal get antsy? Discuss amongst yourselves.

I can’t answer that question. Let’s consult with Warren Zevon and George Clinton:

Your Weekly Oscar: We have an OP-Count Basie doubleheader this week with a song composed by Basie.

Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson? That goes for Bill Basie as well.

Best Of Monty Python: We all need a chuckle and a chortle right now. Word play is my jam. That’s why I dig this sketch starring Eric Idle and Michael Palin:

Saturday GIF Horse: See The Beatles wave. Wave, Beatles wave. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And now for a together song from the movie:

Classic Movie Trailer: We have more Beatles content. I first saw A Hard Day’s Night in a theatre after it came out. I was too young to understand the orgasmic fan girl screaming but I liked the movie although I couldn’t discern the dialogue, which would make a cool band name. Repeat after me: Discern the Dialogue. Maybe not.

Here’s the trailer:

Run, Beatles, run.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Your Weekly Skeet Shot: Back to the Super Bowl. The dudes flipping Trump the bird appear to be Chiefs fans.

More of this, America.

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social) 2025-02-09T20:34:42.710Z

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

Saturday Closer: Cheap Trick have perfected the art of covering The Beatles. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That’s all for this week. The last word goes to the running Beatles: