The Daily Dose/August 28, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
WELL, THAT WAS QUICK: Almost as quickly as it started, the protest of NBA players over the shooting in the back of Jacob Blake and other injustices by not playing games is over. Mostly, they are being universally hailed for their decision not to play games Wednesday and few are taking them to task for resuming playing.
Fly In The Ointment: They should be taken to task. They copped out. Yes, they will still have their messages on their uniforms and on the court. But they are still playing basketball and they are still making money, for themselves and the mostly white people that run the NBA and the companies that sponsor them. The only consequence is that the playoffs are being delayed a few days.
Oh Yeah: Yes, some more baseball games weren’t played and the NHL is taking a couple of days off, but Blacks no longer care about baseball and nobody south of the Yukon is paying attention to the NHL playoffs anyway so big wow. NBA players are the heart of the protest movement and the heart isn’t beating.
The Bottom Line: People can say this and people can say that, but the bottom line is the NBA’s player’s protest is now in the past tense. Sure, they are still trumpeting their message but they’re not sacrificing anything to get it out. Their chance to hit The Man where it hurt – in his wallet and on his TV – has been traded in to play some basketball games.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody: There’s some interesting stuff in Sparrow’s mail.
There was a ballot for the board of directors election for the local electric cooperative and I voted in accordance with standard Sparrow Priority Factors (SPF):
– Vote for yourself
– Vote for someone you know
– Vote for the babe
– Vote for the challengerAs it was, neither myself nor anyone I knew was running, so moderately attractive Kris and challenger Norm got my votes, as did an incumbent running unopposed.
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: X-Ray, Lee and Gaylon – the International Henry Units – respond to a noise complaint of a couple getting it on in their room.
So Lee and I turn down the hall and we see X-Ray, the consummate hotel professional, listening attentively. Lee and I get there, listen for a while, and come to the same conclusion X-Ray came to: that a woman is being pleasured.
But not all that well, though. It was our highly professional opinion that we’ve heard better.
Free Stuff
The same trick the drug dealers use.
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo
Clock in with the graveyard crew of the Monte Carlo Security Department on the glamorous Las Vegas Strip.
Click here for the first two months of the funniest Vegas memoir ever.
Criminals, Courtesans and Constables
Gaylon’s latest novel takes place everywhere from throne rooms to death row.
Click here to read the first four chapters with our compliments.
The Regular Guys
Coming soon! Meet Lenny and Larry, two comedians going nowhere on their own who team up and become the biggest act in show business.
Click on the button to get started to read The Diary of a Nobody, Backstairs at the Monte Carlo and Criminals, Courtesans and Constables for only $4.99, a steal.
On This Date
History’s long march to today.
In 1898 – Pepsi-Cola comes into existence, when it’s inventor, Caleb Bradham, changes its name from Brad’s Drink. Brad’s Drink had been invented in 1893 in North Carolina and despite some success, Bradham declared bankruptcy in 1923, mainly because of rises in the price of sugar. Pepsi-Cola derived its name in part from pepsin, an enzyme that aids in digestion, which is not an actual Pepsi-Cola ingredient. Bradham also served in the North Carolina Naval Militia, retiring as a rear admiral.
In 1888 – Mickey Welch of the New York Gothams, later the Giants, establishes new major league records for most consecutive strikeouts in a game and at the start of a game in a 10-2 victory over the Cleveland Blues. Welch retired the first nine batters he faced, though for many years this feat was not recognized because one strikeout victim reached first when the pitch wasn’t caught. Research into whose records Welch broke was inconclusive and his record for consecutive strikeouts at the start of a game still stands. Tom Seaver holds the record for most consecutive strikeouts with ten, done on April 22, 1970.
In 1961 – Joe Dowell is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the only week with Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn). It was the first of three chart singles for Dowell, his first of two Top 40 hits and remains his only #1 song. Dowell learned he was singing the song the day it was recorded, did not speak German, and learned the German parts phonetically. The song did not chart in any other country, though earlier in the year a version by Elvis spent six weeks at #1 in Great Britain, a version that was not released as a single in the US.
Quotebook
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
When a priest explained to Antisthenes how many good things the virtuous will enjoy after death, he asked, “Why, then, do you not die?”. – Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, Vol II: The Life of Greece
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
The major league record for most stolen bases in a season without getting caught is 23, by Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009. The National League record is actually higher. In 2004 Carlos Beltran of the Houston Astros stole 28 consecutive bases, however, Beltran had three caught stealings with Kansas City before being traded.
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
In what seasons were the Cleveland Blues in the National League? – Answer next time!
