It’s been another weird week in New Orleans. Is there any other kind? A busted water main led to a boil water advisory. For 24 hours, I found myself with a full dishwasher I couldn’t run. It was what Dr. A and I call Katina full.
Katina was my favorite cousin, my other sister really. We stayed with her for a chunk of our Katrina exile. I once started the dishwasher when there were a few open spaces. I was admonished not to do that again. That’s why we wait for our dishwasher to be Katina full.
Burst water mains aren’t exclusive to New Orleans as many locals think. Other older cities have similar infrastructure issues as well as the odd boil water advisory but it’s a pain in the ass. So it goes.
In more weird local news, the Cajun Navy plans to help with the search for Nancy Guthrie. Say what? Tucson is in the desert. It feels like a fund raising stunt to me, but the local media went for it. Suckers.
All this aquatic talk brings us to this week’s theme song. I saw Hot Tuna many times during my misspent Bay Area youth. Water Song was always a highlight of their sets.
Jorma Kaukonen composed Water Song for Hot Tuna’s 1972 album, Burgers. Mmm, burgers.
We have 3 versions of this week’s theme song: the studio OG, the full band live, and an acoustic version with Jorma and Jack Casady. As a lapsed bassist, I love me some Jack.
Let’s follow up Water Song with some more, uh, water songs:
We begin our second act with a brief review of a slamming docuseries about the ABA. The b is for basketball, not bar.
Soul Power: Watching this fine 4-part docuseries made me feel old. I attended some ABA games when the Oakland Oaks were a thing. Rick Barry was the first NBA star to jump to the new league. My dad and I were big Barry fans, so we saw some games before the team decamped to Virginia. Little did I know how prominently the commonwealth would feature in my future.
Barry features prominently in the first episode, which eventually morphs, as it should, into the Julius Erving show. Dr. J was one of the producers and the main talking head. We hear from other stars: my favorite is George The Ice Man Gervin. Great shooter and incredibly funny man.
Soul Power hits all the highlights of the ABA’s journey. I loved seeing clips of men with huge Afros dunking the ABA’s red, white, and blue ball. I’m not sure if it was inspiring or hair-raising.
They ended the series on an uplifting note, which feels out of place for a story about mavericks and outlaws. The ending, however, did not diminish my pleasure in watching this swell series. In the immortal words of Marv Albert: YES.
Here’s the trailer:
Grading Time: I give Soul Power 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos Grade of B+.
Let’s move on to a new recurring feature. I’m slotting it in the second act because our third act is almost as long as this year’s SOTU. Fidel Castro called and wants his speech back.
Things You Don’t Know About Me: I wake up cranky and place a cone of silence around me as I drink my first two cups of coffee.
My father drove me crazy because he woke up ready to face the world. It was like living with a morning show host. He drank coffee because he liked the taste not out of necessity. Oy just oy.
The last word of our second act goes to The Kinks:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth Skeet Edition: I’m not sure why this pairing is obscure but it works.
Obscure separated at birth. John Meacham and Pope Leo.
— Donald Clarke (@donaldclarke.bsky.social) 2026-02-21T23:44:02.692Z
We could call this segment The Creole Pope meets the Historian. It has a nice ring to it as does this:
Your Basic Basie: Yumpin’ yiminy it’s the Count live in Sweden with Irene Reid on lead vox.
Have I told you lately how much I love Count Basie?
The Best Of TCM: Get weady for some wascally wabbits and other toons.
Classic Movie Trailer: This week, a more recent classic than usual, but one that works with the previous segment.
Grading Time: I give Who Framed Roger Rabbit 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos grade of B+.
If you were expecting a Roger or even a rabbit song, I’m throwing a curve ball with a framed song:
Saturday GIF Horse: The ABA pioneered the slam dunk contest. The first winner was, of course, Dr. J.
Toon Time: The FBI’s punishment for investigating the Insult Comedian was to have a bro appointed director. Kash Patel was a nerdy bro before becoming a cool MAGA kid. He’ll revert to his former status upon leaving office. The sooner the better.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: This feature could be called Tiny Desk Concert Theatre because that program is such a good source of music. We’ll stick to our guns and keep the longtime title as we listen to David Byrne.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Papa John Creach, Jack Casady, Jorma Kauknonen, and Sammy Piazza collectively known as Hot Tuna circa 1972:
