The Border Patrol is roaming the streets of the New Orleans metro area as I write this. I’m hoping that it will resemble what happened in Charlotte, not Chicago. Who the hell knows? Eager to confirm his MAGA bona fides, the Clownfish is thrilled that they’re here. I thought Southern right-wingers cared about federalism and states rights. All they care about in 2025 is owning the libs. That’s what government by tweet has wrought. Le sigh.
This week’s edition of Saturday Odds & Sods will be more political than usual. I prefer to keep it relatively light at the weekend, but these are heavy times, man. Man, O, man. Boy, O, boy.
This week’s theme song was written by Carlene Carter as the title track of her 2008 album, Stronger. The refrain is an important one for our troubled times: “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”
Two songs with strong in the title before we open the curtain on the second act.
Neil Finn is my peer. He looks like a baby in this 1986 video. Aging is a bitch; the alternative is worse.
We begin our second act with a piece about the sloppiest MAGA maggot of all.
Steve Bannon Was Epstein’s Comeback Consultant. Where’s the Uproar? is a question posed by the Bulwark’s Mona Charen. Embedded in the Epstein estate emails were exchanges between Bannon and Epstein that make the former look nearly as bad as the latter. There should indeed be an uproar as well as outrage.
That number was co-written by Steve Cropper who I honored yesterday. It’s connected to our next segment because Memphis was his home for many years. It was also where Martin Luther King was murdered.
The Man Who Was Supposed To Kill Martin Luther King Jr is the title of a Slate article about a career criminal named Russell Byers. He was allegedly approached to do the dastardly deed by a St. Louis based lawyer and Lost Causer. The details are too, well, detailed to go into here, so follow this link to this terrific piece by Nina Gilden Silvey.
The last word of our second act goes to Nina Simone:
We begin our third act by skipping our favorite stolen feature. Our separation from Separated At Birth will be fleeting, I’m just not feeling it this week.
Your Basic Basie: Count Basie and his Orchestra backed many great singers. This time, Tony Bennett:
Have I told you lately how much I love Count Basie?
The Best Of Noir Alley: I’m often asked to define film noir. I usually channel Justice Potter Stewart’s classic line about obscenity: I know it when I see it. When in doubt, ask Eddie Muller:
Classic Movie Trailer: A selection that the Noir Czar would approve of. It’s one of the first big budget films noir complete with movie stars and some train time.
The real love story in this movie is between Fred MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson. But who can resist Barbra Stanwyck and her ankle bracelet? She’s both femme fatale and proto-mean girl. She does the latter with style unlike Pam Bondi who’s just petulant and snarly.
Grading Time: I give Double Indemnity 4 stars and an Adrastos grade of A. It’s a stone cold classic.
Saturday GIF Horse: See Fred MacMurray stride past Raymond Chandler. Stride, Fred, stride.
Next up is an old segment tarted up with a new title. It’s mean on meme street.
Meme Street: I wrote about the criminal in charge of the Defense Department. This is the mean meme Hegseth posted after the uproar over the September 2nd attack:
This is what happens when you put a bro in charge of something important.
Toon Time: It’s time for Dirty Hands Hegseth to be voted off the island.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: David Byrne. Say no more.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Billy Wilder, and some cops on the set of Double Indemnity.
