The Daily Dose/September 25, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT: The headline caught our eye: NBA players whining about a grand jury in Louisville declining to charge the officers involved in killing Breonna Taylor during a failed drug raid last March. Taylor was killed when officers entered her home and her boyfriend, thinking they were intruders, fired and the cops fired back.
Dry, Technical Matter: One officer was charged with, in essence, being a bad shot for discharging his weapon and endangering others without hitting anyone.
Back On Message: Dear NBA Players: thanks for playing, but you no longer have any street cred in this matter. You did when you bravely refused to take the court after the Kenosha shooting of a black man who was shot in the back by police for having the nerve to reach inside his vehicle, but you lost it when you chose to resume playing and make money and chase titles a couple of days later.
Get Your Official Daily Dose Policy Right Here: If drugs were legal, this never happens because drugs become a mere article to be sold, like coffee or video games. Drug dealers go from being criminals to vendors looking to move some product there is a strong demand for.
The Bottom Line: LeBron and company, you can’t protest when it’s convenient for you. You can say this and you can say that, you can put slogans on the back of every jersey in the league, but until you let your protests actually start hitting you in the wallet or the history books, you will be nothing more than voices in the wilderness taking The Man’s money.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow has the latest MPG figure for the new ride.
Speaking of the new ride: 41.095 MPG!!!
I am not making that up: our third 40+ figure and the highest ever…41’s my lucky number, too, the number I wore (mostly) while playing sports, tho how that can possibly apply to this is not immediately clear.
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: Eric from day shift and Gaylon exchange some funny line.
The first funny came when we were clocking in and Eric happened to be whining about how short-handed they are on dayshift, which they’re not. At least not as shorthanded as we are.
“What,” I said, mockingly. “Are you down to eleven Charlie units?”
Eleven Charlie units were what they had had the day before; it’s not fully staffed, but it is a pretty good number.
“Eleven Charlie units,” he said dismissively. “We haven’t had eleven Charlie units since…since…”
“Since when, Tuesday?”
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.
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
The long march to today.
In 1690 – The first newspaper – as opposed to a single-sheet broadside – is published in the Americas. Called Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, it was published in Boston and was intended to be a monthly newspaper, unless “…any Glut of Occurrences happen, oftener.” It was shut down four days later by the colonial government which noted its “…high Resentment and Disallowance of said Pamphlet…”. It consisted of four pages and the lead story concerned local Indians giving thanks for a good harvest,
In 1964 – The collapse of the Philadelphia Phillies – once 6.5 games up with twelve to play – continues in a 7-5, 12-inning defeat to the Milwaukee Braves, their fifth straight defeat. The Phillies tied it 3-3 with two runs in the eighth and both teams got two runs in the 10th inning before the Braves scored two in the top of the 12th. The Phillies ended the day 1.5 games up on the Cincinnati Reds and 2.5 games up on the eventual pennant winner, the St Louis Cardinals. The Phillies would fall out of first place two days later and would end up losing ten straight games.
In 1964 – Roy Orbison is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of three consecutive weeks with Oh, Pretty Woman. It was the 17th of 23 Top 40 solo hits for Orbison and his second and final #1 song (Running Scared, one week, 1961). The song went to #1 in ten other countries, including New Zealand, Norway and Great Britain and was Billboard’s fourth biggest song of the year. The song returned to the Hot 100 in 1982 when a version by Van Halen peaked at #12 and a live version of the song won Orbison the Grammy Award, posthumously, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1991.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
His images are unforgettable because he was conceiving new forms and discovering new meanings, not just dutifully illustrating a predetermined text. He works by instinct…his independence of mind opening up new possibilities. – Miles Unger, Michelangelo: A Life In Six Masterpieces.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
John Jay served as chief justice of the United States from October 1789 until June 1795, when he resigned to become governor of New York.
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
How many #1 songs did Roy Orbison have in Great Britain? – Answer next time!
