The Daily Dose/October 9, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.

ENTER YOUR OWN CATCHY LEAD LINE HERE: Earlier this week, we did one of our patented Capsule Reviews on The Sopranos, the show from earlier this century about a mob family in northern New Jersey. We thought it was as good a show as TV has produced. 

Up Next On Most Of These NBC Stations: We have some idle hours in our life right now so, feeling warm and fuzzy toward the mob, we started in on Tulsa King. Sylvester Stallone plays a New York mobster released from a 25-year stint in the joint and, immediately upon his return, is dispatched to Tulsa, apparently to oversee his family’s expansion project. 

Capsule Capsule Review: Everything about this show is good. Sly has become a friend over the years and it’s good to make his acquaintance again. But nothing about Tulsa King is great. This is apparent, sometimes painfully, immediately after seeing every episode of The Sopranos. 

Live, You Are There Coverage: As we noted in our review, in The Sopranos, it’s as if the Goomba Network deployed cameras and followed real mobsters on their rounds. In Tulsa King, you are obviously watching actors play roles. This is not an indictment: this is what actors do, they play roles. 

Oh Hell, Here We Go: But it got us thinking about why some things are good and some things are great, because the difference between good and great isn’t very much. 

Dry, Technical Matter: Former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne thought the difference was only three percent and our experience sports officiating showed something similar. The difference between champion and runner-up was seldom more than that, and the difference between the best high school officials and the merely good high school officials wasn’t all that great, either. The difference usually involved hard work. 

The Bottom Line: We’re not entirely sure why some achieve greatness and some merely do good. As one of our pen names is fond of saying, though, you do not summit Everest by wandering around the Gobi Desert. No one every achieved greatness by accident. You have to want it. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has an alarm go off at the hotel, though he doesn’t hear it. 

…the guy reported even more gibberish: it was a system peripherals alarm, zone 647, which seems like a lot zones for a 117-room hotel…This alarm was “not restored”, tho the simultaneous kitchen hood alarm had been restored.

The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 7 – It’s the tightest race for The Dan Henning Trophy ever. 

Owner Genghis Khan resumes threats to kidnap coaching staff families as first win of 2024 knocks Jaguars not only off B-10 top spot, but off medal stand, too…

Rams out-rush and out-pass Packers, but establish strong B-10 credentials by giving up 14 points off of consecutive 2nd-half turnovers…

With team dangerously close to challenging for AFC East lead, owner fires head coach in desperate attempt to get Jets back on solid B-10 footing…

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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1995 – The Amtrak Sunset Limited, service from New Orleans to Los Angeles, is derailed on a bridge over a dry riverbed in western Arizona. Notes were found at the scene linking the derailment to a group displeased with the government’s handling of the 1993 siege in Waco, Texas. One person was killed and 78 were injured and the saboteurs were never identified, much less found. 

In 1934 – The St Louis Cardinals win the World Series, defeating the Detroit Tigers 11-0 in the seventh game at Navin Field in Detroit. It was third of eleven World Series titles for the Cardinals and the fourth of seven losses for the Tigers to go with four championships. The score remains the highest shutout win in a World Series seventh game, a mark tied in 1985 by the Kansas City Royals. History refers to the 1934 Cardinals as the Gas House Gang.

In 2010 – Bruno Mars is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the second of four consecutive weeks with Just the Way You Are. It was the first chart single for Mars and his first of 22 Top 40 hits, 17 Top 10 hits, and seven #1s. The song also went to #1 in ten other countries, including Venezuela, Israel, and Great Britain, was Billboard’s 18th-biggest song of 2010 and 15th-biggest song of 2011, and their 22nd-biggest song of the decade. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

The glue of rapport and trust that holds men together during difficult times was being poured and starting to set.
David J Peck
Or Perish in the Attempt: Wilderness Medicine in the Lewis and Clark Expedition 

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Aaron Rogers of the New York Jets holds the NFL record for most completions by an active player with 5,112. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

When was Amtrak founded? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/October 8, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.

Leading Off will return.

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow almost hits a dear. Today’s Dairy. 

We had just turned onto Main Street and BOOM, there it was…It was lying in the road and whomever had hit had not seen fit to move it to the side, an egregious violation of state law…

The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 7 – The race for the ESPNCup rolls on. 

Team recently announced move to Mountain West Conference in a couple of years, which will not only enhance conference’s B-10 standing, but also add .0003¢ to MWCs overall media value.

B-10 pollsters still heroically refusing to steal B-10 creator Steve Harvey’s line referring to Air Force as Error Force. 

Bruins doing Big Ten civic duty in 2024, giving Indiana and Minnesota fans reason to actually go to Rose Bowl for first time since Johnson, Kennedy administrations.

———

Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1918 – US Army Corporal Alvin C York kills 28 German soldiers and captures 132 more in an attack on a machine gun nest in the World War I Meuse-Argonne offensive in northern France. York was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross – the nation’s second-highest award – though it was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor. York served the Army as a major in World War II, visting training centers and participating in bond drives. 

In 1995 – Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins establishes a new NFL record for most career completions in a 27-24 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Miami. Marino’s first-quarter completion to Keith Byers was the 3,687th of his career, breaking the record established by Fran Tarkenton from 1961-78. Marino would retire in 1998 with 4,967 completions – a mark now good for ninth on the all-time list – and the record is now held by Tom Brady with 7,753. 

In 1983 – The Police are at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for the eleventh of 17 consecutive weeks with Synchronicity. It was the fourth of five Top 10 albums for the group, remains their only #1, and produced four chart singles, including the #1 Every Breath You Take. The album also went to #1 in Great Britain, was Billboard’s 3rd-biggest album of 1983 and its 8th-biggest of 1984, and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Billboard’s #1 song for 1978 was Shadow Dancing by Andy Gibb, which spent seven weeks at #1. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

What active NFL player holds the record for career completions? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/October 7, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.

CAPSULE BINGE TV REVIEW: The Sopranos: You know, for someone who hasn’t owned a TV since last century, we sure have been watching a lot of it recently. We dismissed the medium ages ago as mostly witless, but we do have some idle hours we’ve been filling with assorted shows.

Dry, Technical Matter: To show our high moral ground in the matter, we never watch at home. We had seen some clips of the show and thought it was brilliantly written and when the last episode of Entourage – a show we probably liked a little too much – ended, we decided to see what the fuss was about.  

Yeah, This Is News: The Sopranos is about a northern New Jersey mob family. A lot of people get killed and boss Tony Soprano couldn’t care less about his marriage vow of fidelity. The show ran on HBO from 1999-2007 and is so good you got the impression the Goomba Channel had sent cameras to Newark to film a real Mafia family. 

Dry, Technical Matter: Our favorite character was Johnny Sack – always calm, cool, and collected, not to mention faithful to his wife – and our favorite woman was Charmaine Bucco played by, hubba-hubba, Katherine Narducci, one hell of a broad. Towards the end, the series became a horse race to see which gangsters made it to the final episode and which didn’t. The final scene was rather curious, but it did a good job of leaving you wondering if Tony Soprano got whacked or not. 

Introducing Your Official Daily Dose Rating Scale: 1 – The very best; 2 – Very good; 3- Good; 4 – OK; 5 – A steaming pile. 

Final Ranking: 1: It was easy to see why some ranked The Sopranos as one of the medium’s very best efforts. Everything was brilliant: the writing, the acting, the production, especially the killings, where you had to wonder if actors signed up for bonuses for actually getting killed. It’s TV – which, frankly, has an awful lot to answer for – at its very best. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow makes history. Today’s Diary. 

The big news – and it is huge – is that ‘ol Sparrow actually broke in a brand new pot for Morning Coffee Service!!!…

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Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 3761 BCE – The Hebrew calendar – the starting point for Hebrew chronology and fixed as the date of Creation in the Old Testament – begins. Unchanged since 900 AD, the calendar is aligned with phases of the moon and its year has 354 days, with a 13th month added every three years. It remains the official calendar of Israel – along with the western Gregorian calendar – and the religious calendar for Jews worldwide. The current Hebrew year is HM 5785. It began on October 2 and ends on September 25. 

In 1891 – Hugh Kirkaldy of Scotland wins the British Open, defeating his brother Andrew and Willie Fernie by two strokes at the Old Course at St Andrews. It was the only British Open title for Kirkaldy, who never played in the US Open, which began in 1895 and was the seventh of 30 Opens hosted by St Andrews. It was the final British Open that was played on one day; the following year, the Open consisted of 72-holes played over two days. 

In 1978 – Exile is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second of four consecutive weeks with Kiss You All Over. It was the second of four chart singles for the group, their first of two top 40 hit and remains their only Top 10 song. The song also went to #1 in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and was Billboard’s 5th-biggest song of the year. The band later had ten #1 songs on Billboard’s country chart. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

…motion was life. All men must climb, particularly those born at the top who must make the fascinating but perilous journey down.
Gore Vidal
Washington, D.C.

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The New York Yankees (19) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (15) have appeared in the most National and American League Championship Series.

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

What was Billboard’s #1 song for 1978? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/October 6, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 The Sunday Bottom 5
A ranking of some things. 

1. Alabama Crimson Tide – Ha!…First loss to Vanderbilt – Vanderbilt !!!- in 40 years heralds end of Nick Saban era and start of exciting, brave new world of Mike DuBose-esque mediocrity…Roll Tide.  

2. Donald Trump – Still a lying sexual predator who believes the moon is part Mars…Still a convicted felon of no moral or intellectual substance…Still the GOP nominee for president…America can do better than this but is choosing not to. 

 3. USA! USA! – Retains SB5 3-hole staple status even after hiatus…Continues to give Donald Trump the time of day, which means – like him – it is now a country devoid of moral and intellectual substance…America’s whackjobs so incompetent now they can’t even conduct a decent assassination. 

4. War! War! War! – Over 50 going on now worldwide right now, including World War III nicely forming in the Middle East…America currently involved in four (4), – none declared by Congress – a total that does include aid to Ukraine and Israel…No nation has survived perpetual war and the US will not be the first. 

5. Vice Presidential Debate Fact Check – Click here for a list of inaccuracies for this week’s vice presidential debate…Courtesy of the AP. 

 Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

Q: Is Read Free Sunday (RFS) a thing today?
A: You bet it is.

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow takes some taser training at the hospital. 

The taser is a weapon that gives the recipient a jolt of electricity sufficient to paralyze muscles tho not enuff to cause your heart to give out…Unless your heart is very weak to begin with, then you’re probably dead…

———

Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1995 – A pair of Swiss astronomers discover the first planet orbiting another sun. The planet, 51 Pegasi b, was found orbiting the star 51 Pegasi in the constellation Pegasus. The planet is closer to its sun than Mercury is to our sun and takes about four days to complete a rotation. The planet is tidal-locked with its sun, meaning it orbits its star at the same speed it rotates on its axis and the same side faces its sun all time, a phenomenon shared with the moon regarding the Earth. 

In 1969 – The Baltimore Orioles and the New York Mets win the first major league League Championship Series, with the Orioles defeating the Minnesota Twins in the American League and the Mets beating the Atlanta Braves in the National League, both in three games. It was the first of five LCS wins for both teams, with the Mets defeating the Orioles in the World Series in five games. 

In 1962 – The Four Seasons are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the fourth of five consecutive weeks with Sherry. It was the second of 30 Top 40 and 15 Top 10 hits for the group and was their second of five #1s. The song also went to #1 in Canada, New Zealand, and on Billboard’s soul chart, peaked at #8 in Great Britain, and – due to it charting late in the 1962 survey period – was Billboard’s 55th-biggest song of the year. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

Now, I’ve been laughed at for my notions, sir…but I’ve stuck to ‘em…and they have paid their passage.
Haley
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Sebastian Coe won two Olympic gold medals, both in the 1,500 meters, at Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

What teams have appeared in the most National and American League Championship Series? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!