The Daily Dose/August 29, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
Leading Off is back in hiding. It will return.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow washes his car.
Yours truly has no cleaning skills, of course, so care was taken to pay really close attention and as a result of this extra attention there were only two or three unwashed swaths visible.
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: OMP and Gaylon handle an unusual call in the hotel.
Junior sent OMP and me to the 19 maid’s room for unknown trouble. It is certainly not unusual to get sent somewhere for unknown trouble, but a maid’s room? I spend a lot of time in maid’s rooms and there has never been trouble – known or unknown – in any of them, probably because of my near-constant patrols.
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 1786 – Farmers in western Massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays, rebel against debt collection and tax burdens, an event History refers to as Shays’ Rebellion. The federal government was unable to quell the rebellion, and it was ultimately put down by state and private militias the following June. Most of the 4,000 involved were granted amnesty, though Shays and 17 others were sentenced to death. Two were hanged, and Shays was pardoned in 1788. Historians have very dull arguments about the influence of Shays’ rebellion on the US Constitution.
In 1972 – Jim Barr of the San Francisco Giants establishes a new major league record for most consecutive batters retired in a 3-0 won over the St Louis Cardinals. Barr retired the first 20 batters he faced, giving him 41 total consecutive batters retired after retiring the final 21 consecutive Pittsburgh Pirates he faced on Aug 23. Research into whose record Barr broke was maddeningly inconclusive and the record was tied in 2007 by Bobby Jenks of the Chicago White Sox, broken in 2009 by Mark Buehrle (45 straight) and is now held by Yusmeiro Petit of the San Francisco Giants, who retired 46 consecutive batters in 2014.
In 1970 – Edwin Starr is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of three consecutive weeks with War. The song had originally been recorded by the Temptations, though Motown Records declined to release the song as a single. War also went to #1 in Canada and peaked at #3 both in Great Britain and on Billboard’s soul chart. It was the third of four Top 40 hits for Starr and remains his only #1 song. War was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance.
Quotebook
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
…the essential cause of the Roman conquest of Greece was the disintegration of Greek civilization from within. No great nation is ever conquered until it has destroyed itself. – 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 Cleveland Blues were in the National League from 1879-84.
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
What artist won the 1971 Grammy Award for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance? – Answer next time!
