It’s been unseasonably warm in New Orleans. It feels more like late April than early March. One thing has remained the same from previous Marches, the prevalence of pollen. In a word: Achoo.
Dr. A and I attended the funeral of the father of friend this week. Bob was an exceptionally nice man who lived in the shadow of Alzheimer’s for the last few years. His decline was sad, but his life was well-spent. He was a charmer with a gorgeous Cajun accented speaking voice. I liked him enough to sit through a Catholic funeral mass for the second time in a year. I did not, however, set off any atheist alarms. #insidejoke.
A quick story: Bob and his sons were avid hunters. We spent Thanksgiving with his family one year: Duck was the main course. I dig duck. I cut into a piece and discovered some buckshot. Bob noticed my discomfort and said in his Cajun lilt, “It’s always the non-hunters who find the buckshot.”
I don’t recall if I had a snappy retort. His delivery was so perfect that I was laughing too hard to harness my wit.
The featured image is by the German Expressionist artist George Grosz. It’s about the horrors of war, in this instance, The Great War. 109 years after Grosz painted this, we find ourselves in a not-so great war. Oh well, what the hell.
The anti-war theme continues with this week’s theme song. Colin Hay wrote It’s A Mistake for Men At Work’s 1983 album, Cargo. It condemns the war-mongers of that day who were mostly on the political right. Nothing has changed.
We have two versions of It’s A Mistake for your listening pleasure: the promo video and Colin Hay 20 years after the OG:
If I’m not mistaken, we have some more songs with mistake in the title on tap:
We begin our second with a look back at a New Orleans childhood in the 1950’s and ’60’s.
A Childhood In Jewish New Orleans: Nicholas Lemann is a long-time New Yorker writer who I had the pleasure of meeting during a long ago Carnival at a mutual friend’s Bacchus party. I recall discussing how Jews were excluded by the old-line krewes then dominant. That’s changed with the explosion of newer and more open-minded krewes. Come on down, Orpheus and Muses.
Nick describes his life in an assimilationist German Jewish family in a deeply Catholic city. It’s a helluva read.
Speaking of Jews in New Orleans, a song from the Train Tunes Too Dozen by Randy Newman:
What’s not to love about these sardonic lyrics?
“Her own mother came to meet us at the stationHer dress as black as a crow in a coal mineShe cried when her little girl got off the train
Her brothers and her sisters came down from Jackson, MississippiIn a great green Hudson driven by a Gentile they knewDrinkin’ rye whiskey from a flask in the back seatTryin’ to do like the Gentiles doChrist, they wanted to be Gentiles, tooWho wouldn’t down there, wouldn’t youAn American Christian, God damn.”
Oy, just oy.
Things You Don’t Know About Me: I envy tall men. I’ve always wanted to be taller than 5’11”. My dad was 6’4″ before old age took a few inches off of him. Our family doctor claimed that my thin ankles and short calves indicated that I should be 6’5″ ish. I have no idea if this is true, but it was comforting at the time.
FYI, I do not have Shia LaBoeuf’s small man complex. I’m not short, I’m just average. I hate being average.
The last word of our second act goes to Burton Cummings:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth Casting Edition: I finally saw Blue Moon, Richard Linklater’s movie about Rodgers & Hart. It’s a bit too talky for my taste but I loved Ethan Hawke’s performance as the garrulous Lorenz (Larry) Hart:
My favorite thing about the movie was learning of Hart’s loathing for exclamation points. I knew I was on Team Larry when he referred to the smash Rodgers & Hammerstein hit as Oklahoma with an exclamation point.
Quick Grade: 3 stars and an Adrastos grade of B. I may rewatch it because the subject is of great interest to the author of the Friday Cocktail Hour.
Your Basic Basie: This time, the Count and Joe Williams with a Rodgers & Hart tune.
Have I told you lately how much I love Count Basie?
Classic Movie Trailer: I have thus far resisted Wag The Dog comments about Trump’s war on Iran. It’s time to break my wagging fast or some such shit.
Grading Time: I give Wag The Dog 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos Grade of B+.
Saturday GIF Horse: Here’s the funniest line from Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.
Toon Time: Dave Granlund on how Trump’s war has backfired.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: All I know about the Iranian diaspora comes from watching Bravo’s Shahs Of Sunset and its spin-off, The Valley: Persian Style. My favorite on the Shahs was Asa Soltan, a remarkable woman who reminds me of my OG NOLA blogger friend, Lisa Pal. I learned about Tehrangeles from Asa:
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to George C Scott in Dr. Strangelove:
“I envy tall men. I’ve always wanted to be taller than 5’11”.”
[stares in 5’8″]
Sorry, I don’t envy taller people, but when you ended up average height for your age and someone taller for that age wants to be taller still…it just sounds funny.
It’s a funny old world.