It’s been an eventful week in New Orleans. The Cantrell indictment continues to be the talk of the town. A friend pointed out that Mayor Teedy’s enemies always go after her for the wrong reasons. First, her handling of the pandemic led to the failed recall attempt. Second, the whole bodyguard mishigas. It’s a good example of why no one should ever lie to the FBI, tell the truth or take the Fifth. I’m not sure the case would have been filed without the perjury charge.
In other news, I’m gearing up to have my eyes done but need clearance from my doctor first. That will come next week. I cannot wait to see like a normie again. They do one eye at a time, and my left eye has always been much worse than the right. It’s why I’ve been wearing glasses since the third grade. Oh well, what the hell.
This week’s theme song was written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter for Jerry’s eponymous 1972 solo album. It’s about poker. I’m not sure what game the guys in the Cezanne painting are playing but a deal is a deal is a deal. Don’t you let that deal go down.
We have three versions of Deal for your listening pleasure: The studio OG, The Dead live in 1989, and Dr. John from the Deadicated tribute album:
Here’s the deal: Two more songs with deal in the title.
The cards have been dealt. Let’s play them in our second act. We begin with a history of gambling in New York City.
NYC Rolls The Dice: A new casino is coming to the Big Apple. That inspired the New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik to write, The Engines and Empires of New York City Gambling
Gopnik said it all. Let’s roll on with this dicey cover by Linda Ronstadt:
I’m going to let the Longreads link doo-hickey lead off the next segment:
I’m fascinated by cold cases. This piece by David Howard scratches that itch with a tale of Gret Stet political skullduggery. I believe that’s the first time I’ve used that word at First Draft. It shouldn’t be the last.
The last word of our second act goes to Steppenwolf:
We begin our third act by giving our favorite stolen feature the week off. Separated At Birth will return next Saturday. I hope this doesn’t give anyone separation anxiety.
The Movie List: I was horrified to learn that irksome DOJ MAGA maggot Ed Martin is related to the fine character actor Thomas Mitchell. All the media references to the actor only mentioned the Capra angel flick. Let’s rectify that with a list I posted in 2023. I tweaked it by promoting Alias Nick Beal to the 8th slot.
The Thomas Mitchell Dozen
- Only Angels Have Wings
- Stagecoach
- Gone With The Wind
- Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
- The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
- High Noon
- It’s A Wonderful Life
- Alias Nick Beal
- Dark Waters
- While The City Sleeps
- Out Of The Fog
- The Dark Mirror
In Alias Nick Beale, Mitchell plays a politician who sells his soul to a suave devil played by Ray Milland. Sounds like just another day in the Trump regime where selling your soul to the devil is no big deal.
Let’s do a demonic version of the Ira Gershwin dance: You say devil, I say Satan. Let’s call the whole thing off.
Your Weekly Oscar: We have another OP doubleheader with the Cahn, Stordahl, and Weston classic, I Should Care. Oscar doesn’t play on the NKC version, but Nat was his hero.
Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson? That goes for Nat as well.
Best Of Penn & Teller: We return to our playing card theme with this clip.
Repeat after me: Jimmy Fallon is an amiable douche.
Classic Movie Trailer: I give you one of the best movies ever made about poker.
What’s not to love about a movie set in New Orleans starring Steve McQueen and Edward G. Robinson?
Grading Time: In my New Orleans movie dozen, I gave The Cincinnati Kid 4 stars and an Adrastos Grade of A-
Saturday GIF Horse: Go all in with John Malkovich in the outstanding poker movie, Rounders.
Next up, a one-off feature or is that featurette?
Deleted Featured Image Corner: This was to be the featured image for The Cantrell Indictment but it didn’t match the tone of the post. I’m big on tone matching.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with a Fifties sci-fi movie mentioned last week.
Saturday Closer: I belatedly found a black and white version of Earth vs. The Flying Saucers. It’s better than expected. I dig it because a scientist is the hero. It’s a solid 2 1/2 star movie.
That’s all for this week. The last deal goes to Chico and Harpo Marx in Animal Crackers:
