Sparrow really ratchets up the whining – even for him – on today’s edition of The Diary of a Nobody, complaining today that his reduced workload at the hotel no longer coincides with the length of the podcast he listens to while plying his night’s work. Also, the latest on which flowers are flourishing in the gardens, plus a video chat with Sparrow For Congress’ social media director.
John Kennedy Toole, from his funny book A Confederacy of Dunces, has The Thought for the Day. The quote talks about how Fortuna has been unkind to the protagonist and, in our usual witless commentary, we talk about how Fortuna’s low jokes can sometimes, usually, be turned to advantage. We recall this book being really funny and really good and why we haven’t reread it over the years is not immediately clear.
Rewrites on our upcoming novel Criminals, Courtesans and Constables have been, frankly, sporadic. We are plugging away on them.
On This Date:
In 1955 – Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California for the media, invited guests and a live TV audience. It would open to the public the following day, tho Disneyland celebrates its birthday on July 17. Not everything went well. Workers were still working on the finishing touches and the TV broadcast was rife with miscues. Disneyland recovered though and remains the most visited amusement park in history, having entertained over 708 million guests over the years.
In 1914 – The New York Giants defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 in 21 innings. Both starting pitchers, Rube Marquard of the Giants and Babe Adams of the Pirates pitched complete games with neither issuing a walk and the game remains the longest in major league history without a walk.
In 1965 – The Rolling Stones top the Billboard Hot 100 for the second week with (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. The song would remain at #1 for a third week and would be Billboard’s third biggest song of 1965. It was their first of eight #1 songs in America and their fourth in Great Britain.
Many thanks for reading,
Gaylon
