The Daily Dose/Thursday, October 24, 2024
The other elements of The Daily Dose will return.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody
The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 9
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1648 – The Holy Roman Empire signs peace treaties with France and Sweden, ending the Thirty Years War and the Eighty Years war. Negotiations were long and convulted, beginning in 1836 and involving as many as 109 delegations represented by kings, dukes, counts, and other diplomats. History refers to the treaties collectively as the Peace of Westphalia and both wars resulted in the deaths of an estimated 8 million people. The treaties would be rejected by Pope Innocent X, who declared them to be, among other things, “null, void..empty of meaning and effect for all time.
In 1968 – Debbie Myer of the US becomes the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals at the Mexico City Olympics. Myer won the gold in the inaugural 800-meter race defeating Pam Krause (US) by eleven seconds and Maria Teresa Ramirez (Mexico). Previously, Myer had won the 200- and 400-meter races and later in the year won the Sullivan Award, given to the nation’s top amateur athlete and remains her only Olympic appearance.
In 1992 – Boyz II Men is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for a record-breaking eleventh of the 13 consecutive weeks with End of the Road. The broke the Hot 100 record of ten weeks at the top established by Debby Boone with You Light Up y Life in 1977 and Physical by Olivia Newton-John in 1982. The record is now 19 weeks by Old Town Road by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus in 2019. It was the first of five #1 songs for the group, and the first of two times they would hold the record most weeks at #1 (One Sweet Day, with Mariah Carey, 15 weeks, 1995
The Daily Dose/Wednesday, October 23, 2024
The Daily Dose/October 23, 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 has some shocking Coke order news. Today’s Diary.
As a practical matter, of course, the FDS is still working the three nites we’re not and he’s not here to do the CO, so it’s appropriate to have someone else do it…Still, tho, we had some zero clue Keenan was on the fast track here…My goodness, he’s only been here a few months and already he’s the Relief Coke Order Guy (RCOG)…
Editor’s Note: the Week 9 NFL Bottom Ten will move on Thursday.
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Of course you would.
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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 4004 BC – This is the date of creation according to a chronology published by Irish archbishop James Ussher in 1650. Ussher used a variety of sources to come up with this date, and his chronology is, more or less, in line with dates offered by others who attempted to fix the date of creation. According to Ussher, time had actually begun at 6 pm the night before with “…the entrance of night”. Influential at the time, Ussher’s chronology began to fall into disrepute in the 19th century.
In 1964 – Joe Frazier of the US wins the heavyweight boxing gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, defeating Hans Huber of the United German Team on points. It was the only Olympic appearance for Frazier, who would later turn pro and was the undisputed heavyweight champion from 1970-73. This would be the last time a united German team would participate in the Olympics until the 1992 Albertville Winter Games.
In 1982 – Tainted Love by Soft Cell establishes a new Billboard Hot 100 record for most weeks on the chart. The song is at #97, its 41st week on the chart, breaking the record established by I Go Crazy by Paul Davis the year before. The song would spend 43 weeks on the chart before dropping off, and the record is now 91 weeks by Heat Waves by Glass Animals, from January 2021 and October 2022.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
She had a way of leading you, of showing you how to be a male.
Saul Bellow
Ravelstein
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
The first song to spend at least ten weeks at #1 on a Billboard pop chart was I’ll Never Smile Again by Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers, which spent twelve weeks at #1 on the National Best Selling Retail Records chart in 1940. It was the first #1 song on a Billboard chart.
The most recent song to do it is A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey, currently in its 14th non-consecutive week at #1 on the Hot 100.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
How many Americans have won the heavyweight boxing gold medal at the Olympics? – Answer next time!
The Daily Dose/Tuesday, October 22, 2024
The Daily Dose/October 22, 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 fields two reports of bears in the parking lot. Today’s Diary.
Regular readers of this crap know most guests seem to think Bear Removal is a standard nite auditor duty (NAD)…It’s not…It’s a forest ranger duty (FRD)…
The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 9 – It’s one of the closest Bottom Ten races ever. Well, no, it’s not; Kent State has lost 16 straight.
With donations for stadium improvements falling off, plans have gone from luxury concourse, to White Castle stand to a couple of hibachis put near Gate B for pre-game tailgating, post-game asphyxiation…
Falcons hampered by preseason Air Force Secretary ruling requiring squad to send in plays via skywriting, resulting in NCAA-record 73 delay of game penalties, plus EPA fines for polluting air…
Vanderbilt still reeling from turn-of-century decision to merge Athletic, Student Affairs departments, as emerging Jewish cantors taking turns on offensive, defensive lines are all on steroids now and can now hold own against other teams…
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Of course you would.
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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 1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis continues when President John F Kennedy announces to the American people the existence of Soveit nuclear missiles on Cuba. Kennedy later announced the establishment of a naval blockade of offensive military equipment heading to Cuba from any nation. The Crisis began on October 16 with the discovery of the missiles and ended on the 28th when, among other things, the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw them.
In 1972 – The Oakland A’s win the World Series, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 in Game 7 in Cincinnati. It was the sixth of nine World Series titles for the A’s, their first of three consecutive, and their first since 1930 when the team was in Philadelphia. It was the fourth of five losses in the World Series for the Reds, to go along with five titles. Oakland’s Gene Tenace was named the Series MVP and it was the last time the American League won a seventh game on the road until 2017, when the Houston Astros won in Los Angeles.
In 1977 – Debby Boone is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second of ten record-setting weeks with You Light Up My Life. The song also went to #1 in Canada, peaked at #48 in Great Britain, and at #4 on Billboard’s country chart. The song remains one of the most accomplished in American charted music: it was Billboard’s 51st-biggest song of the year, its 3rd-biggest of 1978, its #1 song of the decade, and ranked eleventh on their 60th-anniversary Hot 100 in 2018. It was the first of three chart singles for Boone and remains her only Top 40 hit. It was the first song to spend ten weeks at #1 on the Hot 100, a mark that has been eclipsed many times since and no longer has any statistical significance.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
The last and most important freedom left to a man is the freedom to be his own master.
Ernst Weiss
Georg Letham, Physician and Murderer
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Besides the Constitution, the other original frigates of the US Navy were the United States, Constellation, Chesapeake, Congress, and President. President George Washington chose the names from a list provided by the War Department.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What are the first and the most recent songs to spend at least ten weeks at #1 on a Billboard pop chart? – Answer next time!
The Daily Dose/Monday, October 21, 2024
The Daily Dose/October 21, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
CAPSULE BOOK REVIEW: Kalki: A Novel, by Gore Vidal: Years ago, Vidal (1925-2012) said in an interview that he was working on a story that took the character into northern Mexico and seeing that he’d never been to northern Mexico, the story had to stop there.
Fly In The Ointment: This did not stop Vidal from later writing a book about a time when there were only five people remaining on the planet.
Up, Up, And Away: The story is narrated by an aviatrix named Teddy (real name Theodora), who is recruited to fly planes for Kalki, a former US soldier in Vietnam, now running a religion in Nepal. He discovers that the US and Russians plan to destroy humanity with new bombs, and he connives an elaborate religious hoax so he can do it first, to save humanity from itself, so he can start in producing the next round of humans.
Dry, Technical Matter: His plan succeeds, and Kalki, his wife Lakshmi, Teddy, plus two others, a man and a woman who, like Teddy, are incapable of reproducing, are the only humans remaining. Vidal does a pretty good job of noting how the world changes without humans to screw it up, with our only complaint being Teddy is still flying airplanes. Now, it is not unreasonable to presume a pilot can fuel a plane, but it is not reasonable to expect them to maintain it.
Get Your Official Daily Dose Rating Scale Right Here: 1 – The very best; 2 – Very good; 3- Good; 4 – Average; 5 – A steaming pile.
Final Rating: 3 – We’ve read a lot of Vidal over the years, and this is nowhere near Creation and Lincoln, which are books we’ve always thought are as good as our species has produced. Nor is it as good as those just a notch below them, books like Julian and The Golden Age. But it is a good read, a novelist taking us on a journey he has plainly thought a lot about, which is what you pay us novelists to do. Kalki contains insights into our human experience few do as well as Vidal, though, honestly, there aren’t as many of them.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow conducts an inspection at the hotel. Today’s Diary.
So we stuck our nose up haughtily and pretended we were the Commandant of the Marine Corps conducting an inspection…We gave a lot of horizontal edges the white glove treatment, or it would’ve been that had we been wearing white gloves, and in an Upset of the Year candidate, it appears some regular dusting was done…
———
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 1797 – The USS Constitution is launched in Boston Harbor. It would see its first service the following year, defending US merchant ships during the Quasi-War with France, left active service in 1881, and was designated a museum ship in 1907. Still a commissioned vessel in the US Navy, it is the oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat and is homeported in Boston Harbor.
1973 – Fred Dryer of the Los Angeles Rams establishes a new NFL record for most safeties in a game in a 24-7 win over the Green Bay Packers. Dryer had two quarterback sacks in the end zone in the third quarter, breaking the record of one, which had been done every time there had been a safety in the past. The mark also tied the team record for safeties in a game, a mark broken by the Rams in 1984 when they had three safeties in a game against the New York Giants.
In 1967 – Sam and Dave are at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart – for the second of seven consecutive weeks with Soul Man. It was the sixth of seven Top 10 soul singles for Sam Moore and Dave Prater, their second and final #1, and the song also peaked at #2 on the Hot 100. Prater and Isaac Hayes co-wrote the song, and in 1979, a version by the Blues Brothers peaked at #14 on the Hot 100.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
The world is supported by four things: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol VI: The Reformation
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
The St Louis Cardinals won their first World Series in 1926, beating the New York Yankees in seven games.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
The Constitution was one of the six original frigates commissioned by the US Navy. What were the others? – Answer next time!