I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled J.M.W. Turner: Romance and Reality— the Romantic “Painter of light” for the ways he depicted sunlight in his landscapes and seascapes — is at the Yale Center for British Art (free of charge) in New Haven, Connecticut through July 27th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is this Substack essay by Jessica Valenti… on how anti-abortion leaders — who are upset that three years after Dobbs that abortions have increased (not decreased) — are ready to make pregnant women criminally responsible (as soon as they can ensure the public is ready for it).
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Susie the Cat - an English kitteh who visits more than 30 shops in her hometown of Dorchester, yet her owner has requested via Facebook not to keep her overnight (so that they know she returned home safely).
SPORTING NOTES — while Canadian sports fans may be more closely following the NHL Stanley Cup finals (with Edmonton vying to become the first Canadian team to win since 1993) … there are four Canadian-born players in the NBA Finals: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort (for Oklahoma City) plus Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard (for Indiana). With 52 Canadian-born players in the NBA ... nearly 8% of the players born in Canada are playing in the Finals.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this lengthy (yet enjoyable!) Thread Reader picture essay by veteran event planner Doug Blandry — on yesterday’s birthday parade in Washington — and how mismanaged it was all down-the line (from crowd control to safety and more) and at a premium price, to boot.
FRIDAY's CHILD is a kitteh found unconscious in a burning building in Lancashire, northern England ... yet has made a full recovery after being rescued, then revived by firefighters (using a pet oxygen mask).
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at four Inflection points in film, radio and TV (talking pictures, FM rock stations, color TV and HDTV).
FATHER-SON? — film star Keir Dullea (“Dave” in 2001: A Space Odyssey) and UK film star Nicholas Hoult (Nosferatu and starring in next month’s release of Superman: Legacy in the role of Lex Luthor).
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… a quick salute to two musical giants who departed this Earth earlier this week.
As a twelve year-old in 1969: I mistook the song Hot Fun in the Summertime for a Beach Boys tune. It was only later when I learned that it was (in fact) a Sly & the Family Stone song that I realized … the presence of a horn section … might have been a clue otherwise.
In 2007, the Righteous Brother singer Bill Medley released a solo album Damn Near Righteous — including a warm ode to his singing partner Bobby Hatfield, who had died four years earlier.
Yet the highlight to me was a vocal harmony treatment of Brian Wilson’s In My Room— with Bill’s (now somewhat gruff) baritone voice accompanied by the song’s composer Brian Wilson — plus Phil Everly of The Everly Brothers. There are two other male voices on the song, yet it’s those three that carry … Brian’s song.