Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Remains of the Day (09/30)

Joe Biden says Donny is like the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels 

Caroline and the witty 

Facebook removes Donny's ads on refugees and Covid-19 

Trump unleashed a torrent of disinformation about voter fraud at the debate

 It's a sunshine day

Timothy Ray Brown, first person cured of HIV, dies of cancer at his Palm Springs home 

But he doesn't know who the Proud Boys are ... 

Donny’s unwillingness to say he would abide by the result, and his disinformation campaign about election fraud went beyond anything President Vladimir V. Putin could have imagined. 

If you're a Republican you need to ask yourself something: You got your tax cuts, you got your Supreme Court. Now do you care at all about democracy?  

Jennifer Rubin: In the aftermath of Donny’s unhinged, embarrassing and frightful performance Tuesday night, we are told “the debate” was a dumpster fire, “the debate” was a low point in American politics, “the debate” was incoherent. The worst appearance by a U.S. president in history is magically transformed into a non-personified event -- the debate itself. Why do so many headline writers, anchors and pundits fall into this trap?



Remember: The election is 34 days away

Keep the Fires Burning

 

My boss asked me to work late Election Night -- but this time from home. Does anyone know where I can buy one of these? 

Wrestle Wednesday

 


Song of the Day: 'You Make My Dreams Come True' by Hall & Oates


Hard to believe it's been a dozen years since I polled you guys about your favorite Hall and Oates song. Somehow "You Make My Dreams Come True" didn't make THE LIST. But that hasn't stopped it from just passing one billion streams, which John Oates recently discussed with NME, as well as going from legends to punchlines and back again, who would play him in a biopic and how he would be the film's mustache consultant.

“It’s amazing, right? What really gets me about this is when the song ‘You Make My Dreams’ was released as a single in 1981, it wasn’t a massive Number One hit -- it reached Number Five in the U.S.. We couldn’t have predicted the impact it would have. Over the years, it’s taken on a life of its own. It’s become this anthemic feel-good thing. A lot of it started with its use in the movie '500 Days of Summer' and the dance sequence they created around that song. From there on, it took on this life of its own. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. It’s an amazing feel-good groove and it has a great timeless appeal.”

Page 1 Roundup (09/30)




Ass Wednesday: Dan Rockwell edition







The Washington Post: Now Robert Mueller is speaking up?

Kentucky attorney general says he did not present homicide charges to grand jury in Breonna Taylor case

Man who drove into BLM protesters was amassing guns for civil unrest, prosecutors say


The New York TimesError leaves thousands in NYC with flawed absentee ballots

Disney lays off 28,000, mostly at its 2 U.S. theme parks


The Wall Street JournalHow ‘The Talk’ is evolving inside black families amid protests

Women founders of AI startups take aim at gender bias

Hot Cat of the Day: Wait. I didn't say anything about seaweed

Morning Wood

 

Helen Reddy, 'I Am Woman' Singer and Feminist Icon, Dies at 78


When I chose Helen Reddy for yesterday's song of the day I had no idea she was even ill. So you can imagine my surprise when I read that she died that same day.

Her children, Traci Donat and Jordan Sommers, confirmed her death in a statement on Reddy's official Facebook page on Wednesday morning Down Under. "It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Helen Reddy, on the afternoon of September 29th 2020 in Los Angeles," they wrote.


"She was a wonderful Mother, Grandmother and a truly formidable woman. Our hearts are broken. But we take comfort in the knowledge that her voice will live on forever." Earlier, Sommers posted a picture with his mother captioned with three purple hearts.

The Sydney Morning Herald writes that the Melbourne-born Reddy, whose trailblazing life was dramatised in the recent bio-pic "I Am Woman," was regarded as the queen of 1970s pop with her hits including "Delta Dawn," "Angie Baby," "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)" and "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady." After arriving in New York as a 24-year-old single mother of a 3-year-old with just over $200 to her name, she overcame years of struggle to become the world's top-selling female singer in 1973 and 1974. She won a Grammy for "I Am Woman," had her own weekly prime-time television variety show and branched into an acting career on screen and stage that included a Golden Globe nomination for "Airport 1975." 



The stirring anthem that became her best-known hit turned her into a feminist icon. Accepting her Grammy -- the first Australian woman after opera singer Joan Sutherland to win one -- she famously thanked "God, because She makes everything possible."

RIP.

"Angie Baby" was my favorite -- and here are a few of her other classics:



Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Remains of the Day (09/29)

My friend and former boss on RBG's "dissent collar" 

They misspelled KKKristian 

I did watch and was kind of underwhelmed. Seemed to focus on the wrong things. Anyone feel differently? 

Blond lady right again 

When the privileged don’t pay their fair share in taxes, it can spark revolution 

Many USPS employees see recent cost-cutting changes that have slowed mail delivery as violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. 

As a member I hate to hear people complain about "the media." But covering someone who is completely unwedded to the truth is a challenge -- so kudos to the reporter who did this 

There isn't a conspiracy theory the right won't believe 

I wouldn't want to be a member of a club that would allow Eric Munster to be a member


Remember: The election is 35 days away ... the longest 35 of your life

Marcos Giron Apologizes for Hand Gesture, Says He Was Unaware of Alternate Meaning

 

What should have been cause for celebration left some tennis fans unsettled when Marcos Giron flashed a questionable hand signal to his box after his epic five-set win over Frenchman Quentin Halys earlier today at Roland Garros. (An American winning on red clay doesn't just happen every day.) User MadAnthonyWayne tweeted this photo -- asking "Did Marcos Giron just go full 'White Power' after his match?" -- and copied the accounts of the USTA, Tennis Channel, Roland Garros, ESPN as well as some sports journalists. 

I wasn't sure what to make of it. But as I said when J.J. Wolf was photographed doing the same, if he's not flashing the ADL-recognized "white power" symbol then what was he trying to communicate?

Giron quickly got in touch with me to address the issue, writing: 
I just saw your message on Twitter and would like to apologize for what I did. I had no idea what that symbol represents. I really hope this is not taken the wrong way at all. Im really really sorry. It’s been a game with the coach to try and get one another to look at the hand. Whoever looks at the hand loses. It’s an inside joke. Once again I’m not at all a Alt right supporter. Im a big support of BLM. Please I really hope that it is not taken the wrong way. There was zero intention of anything Malice. 


Fearing that I was being gaslighted -- my 17-year-old nephew confirmed that kids play the “circle game” but even he knew the signal had a darker connotation -- I pushed back, asking Marcos if he'd really not heard about J.J.'s incident and his subsequent apology. 

Marcos replied: 
I’m sorry but I really didn’t see the post. If I did and saw the hand gesture he made I would never do such a thing. The last thing I ever intended was to make any sort of racial gesture. The systemic issues going on in the states with inequality, the divide and the police corruption going on makes me sick to my stomach. The George Floyd killing, Breonna Taylor and the countless others are horrible and there needs to be a change. This was a learning moment and the last thing I ever wanted to do was the offend anyone. Once again I’m sorry for what I did. 
Unlike J.J., this young man seems to acknowledge that at the very least it was tone deaf to celebrate in such a fashion given what he (now) knows. I still don't really understand why grown men would be playing any kind of game on court after an exhausting tennis match, but I'm willing to take him at his word until I have reason not to. 

Here's hoping we won't be seeing any additional players making gestures that can be misconstrued in this hateful way. The USTA still really needs to do some work here -- starting with racial sensitivity training for all U.S. players.


The Quad Squad: J.J. Wolf and Marcos Giron

Tennis Tuesday

 

Song of the Day: 'Imagination' by Helen Reddy


 

Looks like it's time to update my list of "when new wave happened" to artists in the 1980s.

My friend Christopher writes:

Did you know that in a last ditch effort to revive Helen Reddy’s career in 1983, they tried to make her sound like Debbie?

The reason Helen came up was that we watched the "I Am Woman" biopic, which was lame but the unknown star was good. She didn't lip sync to Helen's tracks and it sounded like her, so we were impressed. Then I learned she was lip syncing to someone else doing a Helen imitation. Less impressive. But Helen's real life granddaughter performs this in the movie.
To me it sounded more like Kathy Valentine's solo material -- then I realized Kathy reminds me of, you guessed it, solo Debbie ... so by the transitive property, yes. definitely Debbie!

I somehow thought the Helen Reddy film was a documentary -- which I prefer -- and even at that I'd say she warrants a Lifetime "Intimate Portrait," at most.

 

In her 2006 memoir, "The Woman I Am,  Reddy wrote, "I was not surprised when I received a form letter from [MCA]'s legal department telling me that I'd been dropped from the label."


The album might have been a flop, but the Queen of Housewife Rock's messy personal life sure could sure sell magazines! Read HERE.

Page 1 Roundup (09/29)



M.E.L.T.: Boy Howdy! It's another CREEM documentary review

GCN: The 'Boys in the Band' are back

BaselineRenata Zarazua -- who beat a comically double-fault prone Katie Volynets earlier this year in Acapulco -- made history by becoming the first Mexican woman in 20 years to reach the second round at Roland Garros

Dlisted: Everyone's eyes are glued on Ben Weirda's moose knuckle -- you may recall Kathie Lee Gifford's son-in-law is a former Saturday 'Stache man




The Hill: New poll shows Biden up 9 points in Pennsylvania

Back2Stonewall: The first lesbian marriage took place in Nevada 143 years ago

Boy Culture: Tyler Posey joins OnlyFans, sings naked

HuffPostKentucky attorney general will share Breonna Taylor grand jury recording after juror calls for release



Trial begins for man accused of killing, dismembering, 'boiling' parents who'd cut him off financially

New Orleans cop accused of molesting girl whose sex assault he was investigating

Greg in Hollywood: Nico Tortorella still desperately craves attention

The Washington PostCourts view GOP fraud claims skeptically as Democrats score key legal victories over mail voting

Economic relief talks between White House, Pelosi suddenly resume as House Democrats make new offer


I guess I can feel a little bit better about receiving a box of dog shit from an eBay seller from whom I bought a Maria McKee CD-R

With no last-set tiebreaker, it took Lorenzo Giustino more than six hours to defeat Corentin Moutet at the French Open

43 student journalists quit NYU paper after dispute with adviser


Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond-inspired Malibu home asks $100 million


Hot Cat of the Day: To honor Starrfucker's new mascot -- Whiskey -- the mag is selling some frisky kitty-inspired T-shirts 

Morning Wood


Looks good at the office, too.

 

Monday, September 28, 2020

Remains of the Day (09/28)

Would Nonbinaryville have worked? 

Simply the best 

Nancy Pelosi: Trump’s tax debt ‘is a national security question’

Amateur or open era? 

I like this idea a lot better than his hare-brained Senate run 

Did Damian and I miss our window of opportunity for 'real' marriage? 

Revealed: Donny campaign strategy to deter millions of black Americans from voting in 2016 

The latest Times story neatly complements a previous Times scoop in 2018 which showed that, far from being a self-made man, young Donny  received $413 million from his father -- and squandered it in a series of failed deals. 


Remember: 36 days until the election, aka not a minute too soon

Mug Shot Monday

 

Did anyone catch the recent episode of CBS's "48 Hours" about the brutal murder of Cayley Mandadi? How it could end in a hung jury boggles the mind -- I don't care what her ex lied about or exaggerated to get the cops to pay attention, look at the body. (God help anyone who ever has to be judged by their moronic "peers.") Here's hoping Mark Howerton gets what he has coming to him in the retrial planned for early 2021. 




How noticeable was it that he'd stopped using steroids by the time he went on trial?

By the way ...


I wanted to acknowledge that I am aware that some of you are uncomfortable with my Mug Shot Monday feature. I can't tell others how to feel -- by all means skip over it if you don't like it -- but I can tell you this. My site is a collection of things I find interesting -- tennis, music, hot men -- and true crime is one of them. And I am particularly fascinated by women who kill (I can talk Betty Broderick till the sun comes up) as well as people who seemingly have it all -- including those who have won the genetic lottery -- committing crimes. (My DVR is 80% shows of this nature.) My blog was never intended to be a hardcore news site -- that's what the NY Times and Washington Post are for -- but rather a place to share things that I might confess at a dinner party. And in this case, I didn't even come up with the idea -- you may recall when Jeremy Meeks's mugshot went viral years ago. (And there have been others since.) P.S. I'm also not one of the people sending convicted felons love letters and offering them modeling jobs!

Weekend Tennis Diary


Andrey Rublev added a fifth trophy to his collection (and third in 2020) on Sunday, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 at the Hamburg European Open. The World No. 14 rallied from 3-5 down in the deciding set to earn his first ATP 500 trophy. Rublev was appearing in his second straight Hamburg final, after falling in three sets to defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili in last year’s championship match. Another disappointing loss for the young Greek, who double faulted on match point and also blew a(n even bigger) lead against Borna Coric at the U.S. Open.


Meanwhile, World No.5 Elina Svitolina won her 15th WTA title by defeating Elena Rybakina 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in the rain-hit final of the WTA Strasbourg Open. The Ukrainian will again go into the French Open as a favorite, but will this time be different? 


John Peers and Michael Venus became the second team to win multiple ATP Tour titles this year ...


beating Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the Hamburg European Open trophy on Sunday.

Around the Net ...


That Lloyd Glasspool sure knows how to sniff out the hot players

Seems his REGULAR SQUEEZE was too busy qualifying for the French Open to hang out. Liam Broady takes on Jiri Vesely today.




Is Tsetse fly too distracted by his hot physio to win anymore?




J.J. Wolf is still straight


Yugo Boys: Filip takes on Nikola Milojevic this morning in Paris. Here's hoping he fares better than Borna, who lost to Norbert Gombos ...


who definitely appears to be the worse for the wear!


Michael Venus gets seductive ...




A Hungarian in Paris: Marton Fucsovic 


Dom Thiem and "buddy" Dennis Novak, who I finally got to see play (losing to Zverev in the first round in Paris). 


With those shorts and legs I can see why the U.S. Open champ loves him.


A week after defeating Stan Wawrinka, Lorenzo Musetti captures his first ATP Challenger title


Bummer that Noah Rubin lost (to Ivo Karlovic) in the Paris qualies, but how do you say sexpot in Yiddish?


Christian Harrison never gives it a rest ...