Pants are everywhere this week including the titles of the featured image by the surrealist painter Leonora Carrington and the theme song by Lyle Lovett. Here’s why: I’ve lost 45 pounds and find myself between waist sizes, so my pants keep slipping and need hitching-up to stay on and I dislike belts. I hope to drop another 20 pounds, so I’m not buying new trousers. I mentioned this to one of my docs and she said, “That’s a good problem to have.”
Repeat after me: Pants Is Overrated.
Just in time for Carnival, it’s cold again in New Orleans. Since I was schlepped to hospital last Mardi Gras day, I’m not filled with the Carnival spirit this year. But I live inside the parade box, so I can’t be a Carnival Grinch either. It’s thrust upon us whether we like it or not. The good news is that if the crowds get too stupid or it’s too cold, I can just walk home.
This week’s theme song was written by Lyle Lovett for his 2022 album 12th of June. That’s the birth date of his twins. Their antics inspired this song.
Songs with pants in the title are on the uncommon side. Most involve puns:
The Mael brothers always make me laugh.
The Brits, Scots, and Irish call pants, trousers. Here are two trouser tunes:
The Donald in question is neither Duck nor Trump. It’s some Scotsman in a kilt. Could it be Alan Cumming on The Traitors?
Are kilts overrated? Discuss amongst yourselves.
We begin our second act with a brief essay about Carnival and its discontents.
Carnival Notes: I’ve written in the past about problems on the parade route caused by the Krewe of Chad. They’re the jerks who confuse parade watching with tailgating and bring all their worldly possessions to the streets of New Orleans. #sarcasm
Last year, an ordinance was passed to limit their excesses. Because of security concerns in the post-Bourbon Street terrorist attack era, the city has announced that enforcing the anti-Chad ordinance will not be a priority in 2025.
I understand but I know how TFC (This Fucking City) works. If the ordinance is not enforced this year, it may never be. If you’re a New Orleans resident and care about this issue be sure and ask the mayoral candidates if they plan to enforce this anti-pest ordinance in 2026. Thanks in advance.
There’s one problem that no ordinance can solve:
The Irrational: I don’t usually watch network procedurals, but I dig The Irrational with Jesse L. Martin. He plays a behavioral scientist who consults with the cops and FBI on tough cases.
The show takes us to unexpected places and makes us think in unexpected ways. The most recent episode involved a deep fake video.
Holy ripped from the headlines, Batman.
One of my favorite parts of the show is when Martin and his grad students construct and conduct experiments to move the plotline along. Keeping things moving is always important for any crime fiction procedural.
The Irrational has a fine ensemble cast anchored by a charismatic star performance by Jesse L. Martin best known to me as Jerry Orbach’s partner on Law & Order for nine seasons.
Here’s a clip of Martin on the witness stand:
Grading Time: I give The Irrational 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos Grade of B+.
In addition to playing a TV cop and professor, Jesse L. Martin was a member of the original Broadway cast of Rent and co-starred in the 2005 movie of that swell musical. He gets the last word of our second act:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth Casting Edition: I wrote about the Gold Panic of 1869 in my Trump’s Improbable History, 19th Century Edition post. There was a 1937 movie about Jim Fisk and his cohort, The Toast Of New York. It turned that greedy robber baron into a misunderstood nice guy. It’s pure hokum even if Cary Grant was in it.
Edward Arnold played Fisk. Here he is side-by-side with the real robber baron:
What? No mustache? Just greed:
Yeah, you right, Tom T.
Your Weekly Oscar: What’s not to love about OP performing a Duke Ellington song with Ella Fitzgerald? Not a damn thing.
Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson? That goes for Ella as well.
The Best Of Letterman: We continue the pants theme with a segment from a man who called his production company Worldwide Pants.
Classic Movie Trailer: As a silent movie at the dawn of talking pictures, City Lights was both a conservative and brave move by star-writer-director Charlie Chaplin. It’s a flat out great film that’s alternately hilarious and moving: 4 stars all the way, baby.
City Lights also introduced the song Smile to the world. Here’s Lyle Lovett’s version of the Chaplin classic:
Saturday GIF Horse: Longtime readers know how much I like Looney Toons. I go nuts for them. Sylvester the cat is one of my favorite characters, his nemesis Tweety Bird not so much. I keep hoping that the cool cat will eat the annoying bird, but it never happens.
Suffering succotash.
Today’s Toon has a Carnival krewe theme. It comes from the Picayune’s Walt Handelsman and features The Clownfish and our feckless senior senator Dr. Bill Cassidy. Oy, just oy.
Saturday Skeet Shot: It comes from TPM’s Josh Marshall:
This is in fact a real picture and it will work nicely in the ads next year about the military families devastated by Elon's illegal firings.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) 2025-02-21T14:06:45.477Z
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some comedy.
Saturday Closer: Silent comedy week at First Draft continues. Laurel and Hardy were among those who not only survived the transition to talkies, but they also thrived. Here’s a short film that’s on theme.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Jesse L. Martin and his TV grad students, Molly Kunz and Arash DeMaxi.
