I am not sure what constitutes a “supergroup” anymore, but Dreamcar is a new group that is super, with a new super song called “Kill For Candy.” It is what happens when you mix No Doubt musicians with the AFI vocalist.
Logan Runs
The new definitely-go-see Wolverine movie is Logan, and it has a 94% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Which makes me ask: What has gone so pathetically wrong with the lives of the other 6% of the critics who did not like the movie (Ed Note: Maybe they know the difference between sh*t and shinola?).
A Whole Lotta Rosie
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion was published back in 2013, so it is technically an old book but I only recently listened to the audio version and therefore it is new to me. (Ed Note: This is what happens when you don’t make MH a part of your daily diet; we covered it 15 months ago). The book is is funny, thought-provoking, with a tight story, and excellent dialogue. Here is the review from The New York Times, so you do not have to just take my word for it:
Will Sessions be joining Flynn in the Ex-Trump group, and how long until Wilbur Ross joins them?
1.Repeal and Replace?
Redact and Rccuse
Resign and Retire
Try to remember/That time in September….
No, Jeff. Really. Try. Attorney general Jeff Sessions is able to vividly remember a trip he took to Russia in 1991, but apparently simply cannot recall what he and Russian ambassador Sergey Kilysak spoke about on Capitol Hill jus six months ago. Whatevs.
Even the Donald said of Sessions awful session during his confirmation hearing when he lied/misled Senator Al Franken/Stuart Smalley, “He could have stated his response more accurately (but it was clearly not intentional).” Does the second half of that statement even matter when you are under oath?
Sessions yesterday said that he would recuse himself from any inquiry into whether Russia and Team Trump conspired before the 2016 election (good, because he is potentially one of the perpetrators), but that may not be enough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUZZuhaztyk
“I did NOT have international relations with that country…”
Another thing: The FBI had been investigating Sessions for a month or two before that confirmation hearing. The Bureau had no idea he had twice spoken to the Russian ambassador, or did they just not feel obligated to inform anyone, such as the confirmation committee? Hadn’t it been only three months earlier when James Comey went out of his way to inform Congress of even less than that in terms of only investigating HRC? Here, they would have had solid proof, as opposed to hearsay. Interesting..
2. The Bank of Cyprus?
Every good James Bond or Lisbeth Salander spy tale requires a shady offshore/island bank and it sure seems as a bank sitting in the Mediterranean is ours.
I mentioned this Rachel Maddow clip the other day and even included it, but I’m posting here again because even though it’s a tad complex, it is potentially the “Follow the money” clue to much of what is happening regarding Trump and Russia. A Russian oligarch in need of laundering money bought a south Florida home from Donald Trump for two-and-a-half times what Donald paid for it only a few years earlier. Trump made $60 million on the sale, gross. And now that oligarch, who still has money-laundering needs, is connected to a bank in which Wilbur Ross, the recently confirmed Secretary of Commerce, is a Vice Chair.
Follow the money. It’s all right here.
3. Dub Missteps
Durant could miss four weeks, and without him Golden State should drop to 2nd place. They may miss Barnes and Bogut more than people realize.
For the first time in 146 games, or 23 months, the Golden State Warriors lose two in a row. The Dubs, minus Kevin Durant, were outscored 10-2 in the last three minutes in Chicago last night to fall 94-87. They were 6 for 30 (20%) last night from beyond the arc and were 8 for 28 in Tuesday’s loss at Washington. That’s a combined 24% shooting from 3-point land, which is indicative of a tired team (or an untalented one, which they are not).
The Dubs play Atlanta, Boston and San Antonio in the next 10 days or so and are only two games up on the Spurs in the loss column (50-11 to 46-13). The winner of the West will get a virtual bye (Denver, most likely), while whoever finishes second is looking at a real foe in the Clips, Memphis, Utah or OKC.
The Bulls, meanwhile, as our friends at The Big Leadtell us, have now won 18 home games in a row playing on Thursday nights on TNT.
4. Vermont? Yes, Vermont
Lamb is the shepherd of Becker’s flock
No team in Division I hoops has a longer winning streak than the Vermont Catamounts, who have won 19 in a row and have a 16-0 record in the America East Conference (only one other school is unbeaten in conference play this season: Princeton, at 12-0). The 27-5 UVM boys last lost on the first day of winter, December 21.
This time of year folks in Burlington are usually more fired up about the NCAA skiing championships or hockey, but the men’s hoops team is also drawing attention (Burlington, by the way, is a GREAT town…SSSHHHH!). You may recall that 12 years ago the Kitties upset Syracuse in the first round of the tourney.
UVM is a balanced squad. 6’6″ frosh Anthony Lamb is the leading scorer at just 12.2 points per game and no one even plays 30 minutes. Of course, they haven’t needed to yet.
Kitty coach John Becker? Six seasons at Vermont, six 20-plus win seasons. He’s doing something right.
5. Mush’in Impossible
The annual Great Iditarod Sled Dog Race commences next week. You may be vaguely aware of that (you may be unaware that a few years ago, when Brooklyn was at Peak Hipster, there used to be [maybe there still is?] and Idiotarod Race in which teams pushed one another around in shopping carts). I digress….
What you may be unfamiliar with is the Iditarod Trail Invitational, in which human-powered races traverse either a 350-mile or 1,000-mile course tracing the famed Iditarod route going either by ski, bicycle or foot (you don’t alternate between the three; you choose one discipline and stick to it). That race is taking place right now. Current news says it’s 20-below as the racers are proceeding westward.
The doggies don’t have a choice. The people, they are choosing to do this of their own free will….
Music 101
Brand New Key
As a female folk singer-songrwriter in early Seventies, Melanie was buried beneath the flood of superstar talents such as Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. But I’d put her quirky voice on the same tier as any of theirs and she had two certifiable hits (this and “Look What They’ve Done To My Song”) that received massive airplay. This song hit No. 1 in December of 1971 and January of ’72. The Astoria, Queens, native, who is still around (age 70) is one of only three female solo artists who performed at Woodstock in 1969 (along with Joan Baez and Janis Joplin; pretty good company).
Remote Patrol
Saturday
Duke (23-7) at North Carolina (25-6)
8:15 p.m. ESPN
The Heels were held to a 38-year low with 43 points at Virginia earlier this week and they lost in Durham two weeks ago. Look for a might effort from Carolina blue.
You’re Duplicitous Enough, Deceitful Enough, And Gosh Darnit, People Like You
In today’s episode of Russian You-lette, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in trouble for having lied under oath to Senator Al Franken during his confirmation hearings on January 10.
This morning the Washington Post is reporting that Jeff Sessions, back when he was a senator, spoke with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September. The guess here is that Sessions will not resign but will recuse himself from the investigation into Trump and Russia.
It’s this simple, though: If “under oath” has no meaning for the top-ranking law enforcement in the United States, why should it mean anything to the rest of us?
As the noose tightens….
2. Baseball, We Need Relief!
Less of these, please
The average baseball game lasted 3 hours and 2 minutes last season—the AVERAGE—and that is too long. Consider that five of the past six Indy 500 races took less time to be run. So I provided five suggestions to speed up the game in Newsweek. Nearly making the cut but not: an espresso machine directly behind 2nd base, or maybe in the coaching boxes.
And here’s another idea that has nothing to do with speeding up the game but that I’d love to see MLB try just once, during an exhibition: The CCW/CW Game. The idea: during even -numbered innings runners would take the base paths in a clockwise direction, so that you’d run to third base after hitting the ball, etc. Defenses would be allowed to alternate fielders between positions as they pleased, but how cool would this be to see just once? Personally, if I were Sports Czar, this would become a fixture of baseball.
Before you condemn it, do the test I always do: If it were the other way around, would it seem any less insane to go from alternating running directions every inning to deciding that base runners would always run in the same direction?
3. The Good News? It Did Go Viral*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHWAMyKQXcs
*The judges will also accept, “Ciao, Chow”
That’s Jonathan Chow, 17, at a shopping mall in Singapore. Chow wanted to be filmed for a Snapchat video stunt. The idea was that he’d jump over the railing so that he’d look as if he were leaping to his death but he’d really jump to a concrete ledge one floor below. The problem? The ledge was made of plywood or some soft material and he fell right through it and then three floors down past that to his death. The last thing Chow reportedly said to the girl with the camera was, “Help me take a Snapchat video and I’ll jump.”
4. Rust The Process
Wait Til Next Year (Again)
Seriously, Philadelphia? Joel Embiid is done for the season? And Ben Simmons has yet to make his NBA debut (and why play him now?). The Sixers are actually decent not awful this season (22-38), but now they’ve traded Nerlens Noel (6th overall pick in 2013) to Dallas and the 3rd overall pick from 2014 (Embiid) and number one overall last June (Simmons) have yet to take the court together. Every Sixers’ top pick is really just Godot, isn’t it?
Other NBA news: Keep an eye on the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have won five in a row. The Fighting Westbrooks are in 7th place in the West but only 1 1/2 games out of fourth place. It’s very fluid is what I’m saying. Right now OKC would be facing the Spurs in Round 1, but expect that to change.
5. Mother Of Dragons
There’s a race I only learned about yesterday that takes place in late May in Wales. It’s known as The Dragon’s Back. Per The Guardian:
Five days, 200 miles, 8½ miles of ascent – the gruelling Dragon’s Back Race, which started on Monday 3 September, crosses the length of Wales, from Conwy Castle in the north to Carreg Cennen Castle in the south. One of the world’s most challenging races, it fills even the hardest runners with awe.
The Route:
Bucket List? You bet.
And…
Reserves
Spirit of ’72
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH3DwMZYxtU
September of 1972, Team USA suffers its first basketball loss in Olympic history on the controversial final play against the U.S.S.R. Doug Collins may have been the best player on that USA team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEjisiNHovw
March of 2017: Northwestern, which has never played in the NCAA tournament (despite hosting the very first one in 1939), beats Michigan on a similar play. Doug’s son Chris Collins is Northwestern’s coach. The Wildcats (21-9) will dance in a couple weeks.
Music 101
Me and Mrs. Jones
I had no idea what “thing going on” was when this Billy Paul song hit No. 1 for three weeks in December of 1972, but all I can imagine is that Joe Cocker is pissed that this song didn’t land in his lap. This tune replaced “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” atop the Billboard charts, which may have been the 3rd-person companion tune to this. A lost gem from the early Seventies here.
Remote Patrol
Thunder at Blazers
10:30 p.m. TNT
Russell Westbrook, more than even Steph Curry, is the one player I’d pay to see this season. I mean, I wouldn’t pay much since you can watch him on TV for free and my momma didn’t raise no dummy. But something. I’d pay something to see the dude who’s averaging 31.2 ppg, 10.3 apg and 10.6 rpg.
Up on the stage for Hollywood’s biggest night, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty were supposed to announce the award for Best Picture. They were handed an envelope that should have contained the name of the winner. But, on the envelope itself was plainly imprinted these words: “Actress in a Leading Role.” If either Dunaway or Beatty had bothered to read the envelope they would have known something was wrong.
When they opened the envelope, the card inside was supposed to contain the name of the Best Picture. Yet, after they opened the envelope, they saw the card was imprinted with these words: “Emma Stone, La La Land.” The name “Emma Stone” on the card inside the envelope should have alerted Dunaway and Beatty that something was wrong.
Instead of paying attention to the actual words that were plain to see, Dunaway and Beatty ignored all of the letters on the envelope and they ignored more than half the letters on the card, and they just announced that La La Land was the winner.
We all make mistakes. We all misread things. Nobody is perfect. It is simply human nature to ignore the details, to overlook incongruities. We see what we want to see, regardless of the facts. That is who we are, as human beings. To be educated is to fight human nature.
This explains why there are still millions of people who support Donald Trump. They overlook the reality of Trump being a pathological liar. They ignore all the evidence that Trump does not know what he is doing. They skip over the lack of an economic plan, the lack of a foreign policy, the lack of a health insurance plan, the lack of a tax plan. The Trump supporters ignore the words, they ignore the reality, they just proclaim whatever they want to be real.
Trump’s campaign strategy boiled down to making empty and hollow promises, again and again, without regard for the truth. He knew that his people would ignore the details. His people would not read the envelope. His people would not understand what was really written on the card inside the envelope.
And, Trump knew he would manipulate the news media in the same fashion. And, it worked. It is still working.
NEW YORK TIMES SHUT OUT
The fact that the Trump White House excluded The New York Times from a press briefing should not be a surprise. That is who Trump is, and that is who Trump was during the campaign. By now, it has become embarrassingly and painfully obvious that our POTUS is a pathological liar who will continue to lie as long as anyone is willing to listen.
From my perspective as an anti-political lawyer/poet who hates political parties but loves the Constitution, my response to The New York Times is this: Blame yourself for Trump! (Ed. Note: I’m confused. Is it PriceWaterhousCooper’s fault of The New York Times? And have we not consider SterlingCooperDraperPryce as the perpetrator?)
Let us go back a few months. The New York Times online edition for Sunday, October 30, 2016 (just nine days before the election) had published on the front page several articles that obscured the reality of the upcoming election. One of the articles was titled “How Hillary Clinton Met Satan.” (Ed. Note: Click bait!!!!) Seriously? Would the NYT have printed that article if Hillary had been a man? Sure, the article has a twist to it. But, clever wordplay has no place when the Constitution is at stake. The title of the article reinforced the negative image of Hillary being with the Devil.
On the left side of the screen that same day the NYT published four different articles about the alleged controversy involving Hillary Clinton and the email issue. All of these articles reinforced the negative image of Hillary, despite the fact that the FBI had previously determined that there was no crime involved with the email issue. The New York Times was still keeping the issue alive and up front. The only article that should have been written on the front page that day should have been “Still No Evidence That Hillary Clinton Committed Any Crime On Email Issue.” Because, that was and still is the truth. Instead, The New York Times tried to create controversy by promoting the email issue with multiple articles.
Where were all the articles about all the numerous times that Donald Trump had actually committed fraud? Where were the articles about all the times Donald Trump had refused to pay his contractors? Trump was lying about having a plan to replace Obamacare. Trump was lying about having a plan to defeat ISIS. Trump was lying about his ability to create twenty-five million jobs and pay off the entire Federal Debt. On October 30, 2016, where were the articles about Trump?
Instead of printing the truth about Trump being a pathological liar (his own Republican Party opponents confirmed this), this is what the NYT published about Trump that day: An article that jokingly explained that Trump was saying “big league” and not “bigly.” Because, apparently the diction and pronunciation of Trump was so much more important than actually reporting all of his lies, all of his flip-flopping on issues, his Russian ties, his alleged molestation of women from numerous accusers, his economic plan that was completely bogus, his stated attempt to commit Constitutional violations by targeting Muslims, his racist proposal to build a wall along the Mexican border, and his refusal to accept the results of the vote (unless he might win).
Admittedly, the NYT endorsed Hillary Clinton. But, such endorsement rings hollow when the NYT failed to report on the real Donald Trump prior to the election.
And now, five days after being shut out of a press briefing, how does the NYT report on Trump’s speech last night to Congress? Did they get tough? Did they scold Trump and strenuously object to the fact that Trump failed to give any concrete details about his healthcare plan, or his ISIS plan, or his economic plan, or his tax plan? Of course not! The NYT online edition front page states today (March 1, 2017) the following proclamation: “Trump Offers Up A More Hopeful Vision.” (Ed. Note: Very slight overlap of NYT readers and undecided and/or Trump voters, no?)
Like you, I wondered, Is this the first time he wore a striped tie since taking office?
The Moscovian Candidate*
*The judges had to watch a certain Angela Lansbury film in high school English class and thought, Well that could never happen. Ha!
Sticking to the teleprompter almost exclusively, President Trump gave his most statesmanlike Steve Bannon speech yet. Of course, it contradicted most of what he has said or signed into executive order the first 40 days he’s been in office, but who cares, right? (Or, who cares, alt-right?).
This is the best, most cogent speech Donald Trump has ever given. He needs to keep this up, chill out and stop Tweeting.
(In other words, if Trump could just quit being himself every day and live his presidency off a teleprompter, this just might work. Chauncey Gardner, you’re up next)
Example: Only yesterday Trump suggested the bomb threats against Jewish centers and schools, the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, are a false flag operation, that “sometimes it’s the reverse.” Then last night he opened with some lip service against anti-Semitic acts and advocated for unity. Is it possible both thoughts can be correct? Yeah, but when your initial reaction to racism and acts of intimidation is to suggest that the victims themselves perpetrated it, it kind of sends a signal (to your loyalists) where your heart is, no?
2. Saving Chief Petty Officer Ryan
A) His name was William Ryan Owens. Did Donald Trump start referring to his as “Ryan” because he saw a certain Spielberg film on TNT late one night? B) The widow would not have had to be there if the very man who led the salute last night had perhaps conferred with someone besides his son-in-law and racist-in-chief about a raid, and maybe after or before dinner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCuoKLqKo5s
C) At least a dozen or so innocent women or children were also killed. No mention of them. D) No mention of the 32 year-old Indian man, at least not by name, who was murdered by a white supremacist in Kansas last week (Srinivas Kuchibhotla). Trump has never named this man (perhaps he can’t be bothered to learn how to pronounce the name) and Sean Spicey actually admonished the media for calling it a hate crime, saying, ““To right now intimate what the motives are, it’s too early to jump to a conclusion,” even though the shooter said, “Get out of my country!” before firing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lTU8gSVbfM
(Rachel Maddow was brilliant here. She refused to let conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt mansplain away Trump’s remarks in which he blamed the failed raid, or excuse me, the raid that “was not a 100% success,” on the generals. Give it a view)
E) Any excuse to put a pretty blonde (who does CrossFit?) on TV, especially if she’s going to be crying, was just too good for Trump to pass up, and you know how much this means to him because he sat her next to the only human being he’s ever come close to caring about besides himself, Ivanka. F) He actually said that “Ryan is smiling” down from heaven now because of the length of the ovation he received.
Soldiers die, we get it. This raid, from all accounts from beyond the White House, was given less thought than when I wake up on a Saturday morning in July and decide Hey, maybe it’s a beach day. And came off about as well. To not only be unabashedly not contrite about it but then to double down by exploiting the widow’s grief…..Damn.
3. Snapchat IPO
The app for the world’s most reliable way to post dick pics without being later haunted by their viral proliferation, Snapchat, will have its IPO tomorrow. It’s the most anticipated IPO since Ali Baba two and a half years ago, whose stock is about the same price now as it was then. If SNAP follows the form of Facebook, its first day price will half in a month or so, then climb with gusto. If it follows the form of TWTR, its first day price will half or even become one-third of tis initial price, then simply remain in those doldrums no matter how often the gang at CNBC makes it a topic of conversation.
4. Kempton Comes Alive
(Full Disclosure: This item was suggested by a guy who’s been a close friend for 35 years. He and I both graduated from the same high school that the player above did. He’s a good friend of the player’s dad, Tim Kempton, who was two years ahead of me at Notre Dame and played for 13 seasons in the NBA.)
That’s 6’10” Tim Kempton, Jr., a senior at Lehigh, above. Kempton is averaging 20.0 points per game, which leads the Patriot League. Kempton is averaging 10.1 rebounds per game, which leads the Patriot League. The Engineers are in 2nd-place in the league and Kempton has been named conference Player of the Week SEVEN times this season.
Kempton is the league’s top scorer AND rebounder and plays for the 2nd-place team in the conference. He was the Patriot League Player of the Year as a sophomore and junior and in each of his four seasons he has increased his scoring AND rebounding average, meaning this season his totals are better than in the previous two when he was named Player of the Year.
Foulland one….
So Kempton was named Patriot League Player of the Year for a third consecutive season, correct? Incorrect. Nana Foulland of first-place Bucknell, who leads the league in blocks, is second in rebounding (behind only Kempton) and is 7th in scoring (14.8 ppg), was so honored. Foulland is a 6’9″ junior. He’s having a terrific season. Is he having a better season than Kempton? Or did the Patriot League just want to spread the love around?
5. Ball Boy
In case you missed this from the Fresno State-Boise State game last night….
Does a band belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame simply because it wrote three of best mainstream rock songs of the Seventies, which is to say all time? Damn straight! (put ’em in already, Jann!). To the eternal delight of and gratitude from garage bands and FM program directors coast to coast, Bachman-Turner Overdrive gave North America “Let It Ride,” “Taking Care of Business” all in the same year: 1974. This tune from the Winnipeg-based band went to No. 1 both here and north of the border. Damn, but I do miss the Seventies.
Remote Patrol
Vertigo
10 p.m. TCM
Hello, hello! I’m at a film called Vertigo! Alfred Hitchcock channeled voyeurism in Rear Window, sociopathy in Psycho, and stalker-ism in this 1958 film starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. With the city of San Francisco in a supporting role. This should always run as a double feature to be followed by Mel Brooks’ High Anxiety, an underrated spoof of it and other Hitchcock films.
