Between eye surgery and the firehose of Trump 2.0 news, it’s been a long week. We have no idea what to expect when National Guard troops are deployed in New Orleans. There won’t be enough soldiers to impact my everyday life: They’re likely to be in the touristy areas, especially the Quarter. I’m hoping for the sort of minimal impact they’ve had in LA as opposed to maximum ICE-holery in Chicago. This is not the sort of question an American citizen should be obliged to ponder but it’s where we are in 2025.
The Kaiser of Chaos hoped to humiliate Jim Comey at his arraignment, but the shoe was on the other foot as it were. The inexperienced and incompetent federal prosecutors were the ones humiliated. The judge gave the callow acting US Attorney and her sidekicks what the Brits would call a proper barracking. The case against Comey is so weak that nobody in the Eastern District of Virginia was willing to handle the case. They had to import two lawyers from North Carolina who really put the heel in Tar Heel.
The case against New York Attorney General Tish James is equally weak. Lindsey Halligan was appointed to indict Comey and James after the real US Attorney refused to do so. The James case confirms that Team Trump are NOT conservatives. She’s accused of mortgage fraud, which DOJ alleges took place when she later rented out a property originally listed as a secondary home. That’s not fraud, it’s her right as a property owner. Property rights are prized by true conservatives. Call Team MAGA radicals, call them fascists, call them anything but conservatives.
Back to my eyes. My vision is still evolving. I got the cheapest cheaters available: 3 for $8. I can read close up with them but they’re not much help on the computer. It’s early days, I know my eyesight will keep changing. For now, my left eye is dominant, which still feels odd. It’s okay: This is Odds & Sods, after all.
Dr. A and I are seeing Peter Frampton next week. I saw him many times in my misspent youth, but I haven’t seen him this century. I’m excited to bring things full circle and see him when we’re both geezers. I wrote about the Other Peter and me in a 2021 edition of this feature.
Peter Frampton wrote this week’s theme song in 1975. We have three versions of Show Me The Way for your listening pleasure: the studio OG and live versions from 1977 and 2022.
Live Frampton is always the best Frampton.
We have two more songs with show me in the title:
We begin our second act by skipping it altogether. My eyes doth protest when I spend too much time at the computer right now.
We do, however, have a last word. It goes to Harry Bosch’s favorite jazzman, Art Pepper:
The eyes still have it.
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth: One of the bakers on the current season of The Great British Baking Show resembles a Redgrave. He is not but here’s Tom the baker side-by-side with the founder of the Redgrave acting dynasty, Michael:
The dummy is neither a Redgrave nor related to Paul Fucking Hollywood. Heckling Paul Hollywood is my jam, a fitting image since he’s a bread guy.
Your Weekly Oscar/ Your Basic Basie: The transition continues with this number from the last album the two great jazzmen recorded together.
Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson and Count Basie?
Best Of Letterman: Uncle Walter has been on my mind as the dread Bari Weiss joins CBS News. So much for the network’s tradition of promoting from within.
That clip comes from a 1994 episode of The Late Show. It makes me miss Cronkite Eight Days A Week:
Saturday GIF Horse: Let’s say Hello Dali to Salvador and his surrealistic eye:
Toon Time: It’s also quiz time with this toon by Jen Sorensen.
Skeet Of The Week: If I had to choose a 2028 presidential candidate right now, it would be Illinois Gov JB Pritzker. The dude is a mensch.
Pritzker: “This is a convicted felon…who is threatening to jail me. This guy is unhinged. He's insecure. He's a wannabe dictator. And there's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump: If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me.”
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: The Fab Three sing the Fab Four. The result is fabulous.
That’s all for this week. I’m going to repeat myself and give the last word to Ray Milland and his X-Ray eyes.
