by John Walters

Starting Five

Thanks, Obama

Cool.

Intelligent.

Decent.

Funny.

Scrupulous.

Unwavering.

Transparent.

Parent.

No, that’s not his

Insightful.

‘baller.

Charming.

Ethical.

Wise.

“It’s twuuue! It’s twuuue!”

Barack Obama rode into town like Sheriff Bart (Cleavon Little) rode into Rock Ridge, set up to fail in front of a citizenry of white folk who couldn’t wait to see him fall on his face or be killed. Rock Ridge was in dire trouble: massive unemployment, a plummeting stock market, financial meltdown, and Slim Pickens was threatening to pull the Old No. 6.  Instead of an apocalypse Obama, using charm, wit, intelligence and superior skills,  saved the town.  And now we’re all the Waco Kid, just wanting to say thank you.

There goes the best president of your life time. If you don’t already realize it, you will soon. Stephen Colbert had a few words to say about that.

2. Net Gain For New York City

On the day that Donald Trump flies out of New York City toward his new home (but not the “Winter White House”) of Washington, D.C.,, El Chapo flies in to face federal charges and is held in Lower Manhattan. So, yeah, occasionally Mexico is not sending us its best citizens. Someone in the Justice Department and Mexico has a sense of humor.

3. A Brief History of the American Worker

This is literally how slaves were transported, with often as little as 18 inches of vertical space between decks.

As we prepare to inaugurate this man president let’s remember that he declared his candidacy in June of 2015, making the first targets of his animus illegal aliens from Mexico:
When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

The first illegal aliens (at least from their perspective) arrived on the shores of what would become the United States in 1619. They were 20 slaves from Africa. By 1800, 10 to 15 million blacks had been transferred to the Americas. Unlike modern-day Mexicans, they did not come of their own accord. Much like modern-day Mexicans, their entrance into the work force helped make wealthy men wealthier. James Madison, a future president of the United States, told a visitor that for the $13 of upkeep he spent per Negro annually, he made $257.  Meanwhile Donald Trump tells people that he’d like to employ full-time American workers at Mar-A-Lago, but they won’t take the jobs (left unsaid: at the salary and lack of benefits he is offering).

You don’t want them here, but you probably don’t want to pay three times as much for produce, either, do you?

Donald Trump was elected in part by telling white America that people with a brown complexion were coming to take their jobs (and rape their daughters or kill them), while ignoring the fact that this same country kidnapped people by the millions and transported them across the ocean to do jobs these Mexicans are now doing, and did so for centuries. I guess it’s all about your lowest-class workers having the same liberty as you do and whether or not you control their every move.

4. NBA All-Star Game

For those with extremely short memories, a reminder that Russ is also the two-time reigning All-Star Game MVP, besides being the NBA’s leading scorer

Yes, Russell Westbrook. the NBA’s leading scorer and No. 2 man in assists, was left off the starting five for the West. Yes, the West should start three guards (or bring Curry off the bench), especially considering that the game will be nothing but threes and dunks. Note: In the new system, the voting goes 50% for the fans, 25% for media, 25% for players. Russ was voted top guard by both media and players.

Actual Starters…

East: Kyrie Irving, Demar DeRozan, LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

West: Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis.

Medium Happy Starters….

Hassan has gone from head case to All-Star

East:

Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Hassan Whiteside

Whiteside is the league’s leading rebounder and is tied for sixth in double doubles. 

The league’s surliest player is also a legitimate star

West: Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins

Cousins is one of three players in the top ten in scoring and rebounding. The other two are Davis and Westbrook.

5. Tower Tumbles In Tehran

A 53 year-old, 17-story high-rise in Tehran catches fire, collapses, and kills nearly three dozen firefighters battling the blaze. There’s got to be a better way to fight high-rise infernos.

Music 101

Pride/City of Blinding Lights

From a time when we were concerned about concepts such as liberty, equality and decency as opposed to strength, wealth and greatness. Kinda needed this today.

The Rising

And this.

Remote Patrol

He’s not everyone’s cup of tee hee, but there’s some solid, no B.S. debate on issues here

Real Time with Bill Maher

HBO 10 p.m.

As Maher ruminates on his 61st birthday, the show premieres for its 15th season hours after the inauguration of Donald Trump as 45th president. Guests include Eric Holder, David Axelrod, Ana Marie Cox and John Legend.

by John Walters

Starting Five

Up to 30 people are still missing…okay, not exactly missing…just somewhere under that roof and unaccounted for.

Valanga!

Four earthquakes struck central Italy on Wednesday, which likely led to an avalanche that buried the Hotel Rigopiano, in Farindola, about 100 miles northeast of Rome. Rescuers had to travel at least five miles by ski or snowshoe just to reach the four-star hotel, as snow continues to fall, and it is believed up to 30 people are trapped inside. Stay tuned to Medium Happy’s 24-hour cable news service for updates (Not yet, but won’t that be cool?).

And here we just watched Force Majeure earlier this week.

2. Basketball Becomes—Shorter

Taylor is actually Allen Iverson’s god son, and plays very similarly; he put up 62 points in one game in November.

This is 5’10” Phil Taylor of Division II Shorter University. He’s averaging 35.3 points per game, more than any player at any level, male or female.

Marcus Keene, 5’9″, plays for Central Michigan and is the top scorer in Division I.

Amely Del Rosario, 5’5″, is a senior at Lehman College in the Bronx and her 25.3 points per game is tops in Division III.

Julian Marx, 5’11”, is the top three-point shooter in Division III. He plays for Grinnell.

At Division III Greenville, which literally borrowed Grinnell’s playbook two years ago, they’re averaging a nation’s best 133 points per game. The Panthers put up 178 points earlier this season. Their coach, George Barber, eschews recruiting low post players.

What’s happening? Two things: 1) Schools and players are embracing the three-point shot at levels unlike any we’ve ever seen and 2) embracing the three has opened up the lane, so that players who have a terrific handle (cough, can palm the ball, cough) and can drive to the hoop are finding a more traffic-free lane or finding contact and foul calls (because refs are afraid to call charging unless you’re an oaf).

My story in Newsweek….

3. A Speech In Sharpie?

Writing my inaugural address at the Winter White House, Mar-a-Lago, three weeks ago. Looking forward to Friday. #Inauguration pic.twitter.com/S701FdTCQu

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2017

The president-elect himself tweeted out this photo of himself yesterday, taken either from the lair of an Arab sheik or his “winter White House,” Mar-A-Lago. What he may not have anticipated is assiduous and antagonistic news producers and reporters blowing up the photo and noticing that in his right hand he holds a Sharpie pen. Which is not conducive to writing long speeches (you know what is, in the 21st century? A computer). Donald, isn’t it a little early to be filling out your NCAA bracket? They haven’t even picked the field yet.

Every day Trump recalibrates the crazy line in American life. Yesterday, no lie, he announced what he wanted his slogan for his 2020 campaign (which he’ll begin going out on the road and staging rallies for, presumably, on Saturday) to be: “Keep America Great.” As more than a few horror genre fans noted, that was the tagline for last summer’s film, The Purge: Election Year, the plot of which has to do with draining the swamp and murdering undesirables. It’s described as a “dystopian” movie, but I think there are a few people in the new administration who think of it as a training film.

To be fair, whoever put together the marketing for this film probably borrowed that tagline from Trump’s “MAGA” phrase. They knew what demo they were targeting.

4. Logan’s Run for Novak?

In five sets Denis Istomin, a wildcard from Uzbekistan, defeats Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. It was the Serbian superman’s first loss against an unseeded opponent at a Grand Slam in 34 matches. Djokovic, who will turn 30 between now and the French Open, owns 12 career Grand Slam singles titles. Is this significant?

Istomin: “Another win for Milos!”

Roger Federer, who owns the most with 17, won one Grand Slam title after turning 30. He’s now 35.

Pete Sampras, who has 14, also won one after turning 30.

Rafael Nadal, who also has 14, is 30 and last won a Grand Slam at age 28.

Speaking of futuristic dystopian films….in this one, turning 30 meant you needed to be exterminated. If you’re old enough to remember this movie, you should definitely be gone.

Djokovic, who won literally half of the 22 Grand Slam titles between the beginning of 2011 and last year’s French Open, has now failed to win the last three Grand Slams.

5. “I Think We’re Going To Be Okay“

So long, suckers

Oh, you think? You think??? And with that, Mr. Keating left the White House briefing room as most of the assembled fourth estate (and a few of us watching) stood on our chairs and desks and proclaimed, “O captain! My captain!”

President Obama departs 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue 1) alive (most importantly; admit it, you all had him in the dead pool, ahead of even Wade Wilson) 2) untouched by scandal and 3) with his integrity and senses of humor and decency intact.

No, not THIS Wade Wilson

Even Obama’s most ardent enemies (many of whom cannot wait to Make America Great Again) must admit that at his core he is a good man. And what they believe is weakness, well, they’re about to discover, was simply good old fashioned “discretion is the better part of valor.”

A lot of American are upset about ISIS (Did any of them care about Syria before James Foley was decapitated?), or Obamacare (what’s their better plan?), or about job loss (which is more a product of how major corporations are slaves to their earnings reports than about anything a president can do), and I get that people want to work. Will it be better under Trump?

As the Zen Master said, “We’ll see.”

Music 101

 Kiss You All Over

Kinda disco, kinda power-pop, this song from Exile was all over FM radio in autumn of 1978. I can’t believe Paul Thomas Anderson hasn’t used it in a film yet. The song was No. 1 for four weeks in late ’78. Lead singer Jimmy Stokley died seven years later at the tender age of 41.

Remote Patrol

Skyfall

3:30 p.m. SyFy

When you’re looking for a movie whose title matches your mood. This James Bond film from 2012 stars Daniel Craig and made up for the disaster that was A Quantum of Solace (worst title for a 007 film ever).

by John Walters

Thought du Jour: With all that’s going on, does anyone else think The Newsroom ended way too soon?

Starting Five

Harden probably does this at least once per half, if not more often. Refs ignore it.

1. “Crowd Wanted A Travel”*

*The judges suggest this should be the new NBA slogan

Russell Westbrook has 20 triple doubles this season. James Harden put together his 13th last night, a 40-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist night (ESPN’s anchors were so busy splooging over the feat that they barely remembered to tell me who won).

Westbrook and Harden are two of my favorite NBA players to watch. But I’ll submit this: If NBA referees actually called traveling, they’d each have half as many triple doubles at most (and, to be fair, Harden travels far more often than Westbrook does).

They’re not the only two NBA players who travel. LeBron travels a lot, too. It’s mind-numbing to me why the NBA does not police traveling (or hugging players around the waist who are standing away from the ball). I’ve hit this note before but no one at the NBA continues to listen (Phil, if you’re reading this, can you please ask your son-in-law, and I mean this with all due respect, “What The F&$k?”).

Kids emulate their favorite NBA players (I had the Earl the Pearl spin move down at age eight).  All the NBA is teaching kids is to take an extra step on their way to the bucket, which is not basketball. As I wrote in this piece three years ago, the reason I know it’s traveling is because when I watch a pre-game lay-up line, no one is taking two steps after picking up their dribble. They only do that in games.

2. “Woke Up, It Was A Chelsea Manning”*

Brilliant, dis guy’s

*The judges are considering “Chelsea Lately” but are unlikely to approve

I’m just going to make a word salad of this news and you kids pick out what you’re allergic to: Transgender Leavenworth Commuted Sentence WikiLeaks Edward Snowden Wut WUT!? Obama The Fifth Estate Bradley Manning Attempted Suicide Julian Assange Joey Heatherton (I’m not sure what Joey Heatherton has to do with any of this, but I mean, c’mon, Joey Heatherton!).

3. Nigerian Nightmare

From FoxNews.com: “A Nigerian air force fighter jet on a mission against Boko Haram extremists mistakenly bombed a refugee camp on Tuesday, killing more than 100 refugees and aid workers.”

Nigerian military commander Major General Lucky Irabor confirmed the strike. No, you can’t make this stuff up.

It’s a tragedy, and yet the first thing I thought of was the closing scene from Das Boot. The next thing I thought of was the opening scene from The Gods Must Be Crazy. Either way, that blows.

4. This Is What Happens When Your Humanities Teacher Shows The Revenant During Fourth Period

You’ll never believe this, but a Trump cabinet nominee is a complete joke. This is Betsy DeVos, who is up for Secretary of Education. You can watch all of Senator Chris Murphy’s interrogation here. It’s…what’s the word….deplorable.

And here’s Senator Bernie Sanders, who notes that Devos’ family has given roughly $200 million to the Republican party over the years (she said, “That’s entirely possible”), asking, “My question, and I don’t mean to be rude, but do you think if you were not a multi-billionaire, if your family had not made hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions, that you’d be sitting here today?”

Listen, we’ve gone over the game plan before, but one more time: Rich people wanna stay rich (and get richer). To do that they need to stay in power. To do that they need to fool poor people into voting for them. To do that they must 1) keep them ignorant and/or poorly educated and 2) tickle that spot that poor people have about darkies  or non-Christians, you know, people who aren’t “real Americans,” being responsible for all societal blights. Right now the game plan is working wonderfully.

5. Democratic, Republican and Birthday Parties

Chief presidential agitator Bill Maher tursn 61 on Friday, inauguration day. His friend and erstwhile guest on both shows that he has had, chief presidential manure peddler Kellyanne Conway, turns 50 on Friday. Maher will be hosting the premiere of the 15th (and last?) season of Real Time on HBO that night. Kellyanne will be doing the boogie up to 3 Doors Down.

Music 101

Cathy’s Clown

Don and Phil Everly, the Everly Brothers, were the biggest American recording artists not named Elvis Presley during the Kennedy years. The Kentucky-born duo were the first band signed to a fledgling label named Warner Brothers, in 1960, and this was their first single. It sold eight million copies and spent five weeks at No. 1. If they sound similar to Buddy Holly, he was a good friend. Don Everly, the older of the two, was so broken up by his death that he stayed in bed during the funeral.

Side note: Don had a daughter named Erin who would later become the inspiration for the Guns ‘n Roses hit, “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” She would marry Axl Rose in April of 1990, but the marriage ended ten months later.

Remote Patrol

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

TCM 10 p.m.

I already know you’re going to tune into Thunder at Warriors (Can we have 73 ESPN segments analyzing whether or not this is a rivalry, pretty please?) on TNT, but I may check this out. Never heard of this melancholy Sixties French musical (your’e saying, “After those last four words, I’m SOLD!”) a month ago, but it is referenced in nearly every review of La La Land. Even critics who’ve never seen it reference it just to let the other critics know they’re legit. Is it any good? It’s French and it has umbrellas. Sure, why not?

Tip of the cap to the programmers at TCM for noticing the trend and airing this.

by Michael DePaoli

1. Conservative Movement Is Over

Larry Kudlow advised Reagan and now he’s advising Trump

As reported last week in Huffington Post and Salon, the current 2017 GOP House Budget proposal includes an additional NINE TRILLION DOLLARS in Federal debt over the next decade. Nine Trillion More! Because of this GOP proposal, I am going to declare the so-called “conservative movement” to be over, because those people never did try to conserve anything. Instead, the conservative ideology is and always has been an excuse to be mean to people.

You see, the conservative fascination with austerity and cutting spending on social programs is only used to hurt people when times are bad, or when a Democrat is in the White House. For example, back in 2009, when President Obama was trying to create a massive stimulus package to help get the USA out of a bad recession that was caused by the GOP, the GOP reacted vehemently and squeezed tight and they objected to the economic stimulus. Indeed, according to The New York Times published on January 28, 2009, the House of Representatives passed the stimulus plan without a single GOP vote. The GOP fell back on their fake ideology of wanting to balance the budget, which ideology we now know is completely bogus. As soon as the GOP captures control (i.e. today) they want to ramp up our spending and increase our total debt.

Whatever the GOP might be, it is not conservative. This conclusion is consistent with history. According to White House budget archives, these are the facts: Debt under Republican President Reagan went from 900 million to 2.6 trillion; Debt under Republican President Bush went from 2.6 trillion to 4 trillion; Debt under Republican President Baby Bush went from 5.6 trillion to 9.9 trillion. The GOP is all about debt. The GOP is not conservative.

2. MOVIE REVIEW: MOONLIGHT 

Why did Moonlight win Best Picture Drama at the Golden Globes? The movie is extraordinarily intelligent and exquisitely beautiful. The story presents the main character Chiron in three different stages of his life: grammar school, high school, and adulthood. The genius of the movie is in the way it uses Chiron to weave together the various aspects of our culture that act as roadblocks to living a happy life. Moonlight is not simply a movie about the violence, the ghetto, the poverty, the sexual identity, the bullying, nor the drugs. Instead, Moonlight is an intensely intimate story about delicate lives wherein the promise of something better can transcend through the grossly unfair circumstances of human existence.

Screenwriter and director Barry Jenkins has taken the source material from Tarell Alvin McCraney to create a masterpiece of dialogue, hope, and beauty. This is the type of movie that sinks into your brain because the fictional characters leap into your consciousness.

The actors in Moonlight are amazing. Naomie Harris is stunningly real. Janelle Monae electrifies the screen. Mahershala Ali’s internal conflict is palpable. Trevante Rhodes brilliantly straddles his role of being brutally tough and emotionally damaged. Andre Holland’s few short minutes on the screen are like an epiphany.

3. Answer to Susie B., Re: American Shame and Blame 

I do not know Susie B but as a general rule I like her comments (Ed. Note: His first submission and he’s already sucking up). So, I am going to take the time to respond to what Susie B wrote as a comment to Medium Happy last week under the article entitled “Enigmatic.” To paraphrase, Susie B identifies the shame and “blame” that we shall all feel (assuming we might be alive fifty years from now) about the Trump inauguration and the “following reign of terror.”

My response: Why do we need Trump to feel shame for what our country has already done? Why do we not own up to our own bad acts that have already been committed? Indeed, perhaps it is our abject refusal to acknowledge our current shame that has allowed someone like Trump to come onto the scene and up the ante by doing more bad things.

Here is an abbreviated list of shameful acts committed by the USA: Slavery, The Wars Against Native Americans, The Civil War, Jim Crow Laws, Lynching, the Tuskegee Experiment, Shooting Unarmed People In The Streets, Largest Prison Population, Allowing Our Own Citizens To Die From Preventable Diseases (Ed. Note: Nobody’s perfect).

Our infrastructure is falling apart, our roads have potholes, our politicians are corrupt, there is no justice in our justice system, our reality television shows are scripted fiction, and the first thing we do to our kids is lie to them about Santa Claus.

All told, we have targeted and killed millions of innocent civilians, including the following places: Dresden, Hamburg, Berlin, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, North Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq. How many bombs have we sold around the world, and how many guns have we sold around the world, and how could it be possible to count all the innocent dead people killed by American weaponry that we have sold to just about anyone who wanted to kill someone else?

There are probably only a handful of American citizens who feel even an inkling of shame for the crimes we committed against the people of North Korea. The people of that small nation were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, they were nothing more than pawns in the global war of superpowers. But, despite their innocence, we bombed everything in sight in North Korea. We dropped firebombs on the people, and we blew up every road, dam, bridge, and power plant. It is difficult to know how many civilians we killed during the Korean War, but a fair estimate would be somewhere between one million and two million people. For those innocent human beings who survived, they faced economic sanctions, blockades, and starvation.

So, yes, Trump is a sociopathic menace and a pathological liar who brags about and laughs about molesting women. Oh, and he is our next President. But, fifty years from now, I am not certain very many people will feel any shame. We will treat the memory of Trump in the same way we treat the memory of the Korean War: “Meh, whatever.”

(Michael DePaoli is a licensed lawyer in Arizona and California. He is the author of the eBook: Movie Theatre Therapy; and he is the creator of videos on YouTube: Tachistoscope, and Tachistoscope Sunsets.)

by John Walters

Starting Five

Love the classic duds and the classic dreds. Dr. J. and George McGinnis would be proud.

1. Joel To The Hole

Of course, of course the NBA is going to want TNT to air a game between the Cavs and Warriors, who this spring could become the first two teams in NBA history to meet in three consecutive NBA Finals. And, sure, they wanted to hire Thunder-Clippers because the Clips will become the team with the most endorsement deals to never make the Finals.

What they should’ve done, though, is move Cavs-Warriors to 10:30 p.m.—still only 7:30 p.m. out west—and air Sixers-Bucks, because these are the two most entertaining young teams in the the league. Joel Embiid. Giannis Antetokounmpo (the steal of the 2013 NBA draft, taken 15th; Anthony Bennett was selected first). Dunks galore.

Did Giannis just win the next three dunk contests?

Do you realize that the Sixers are 6-4 in their past 10 games and that’s while observing their tradition of not having their No. 1 overall drat pick even playing for them? Ben Simmons still has yet to suit up.

Embiid was the 3rd overall pick in the 2014 draft, but due to injuries is making his debut this season. He’s averaging 19.7 ppg and 7.7 rpg and is having as much fun as anyone in the NBA. Jahlil Okafor, the 3rd overall pick last season, has been All-Meh team for Philly. But wait until Simmons joins this cast. The Sixers, who won last night to improve to 13-26, have already won three more games than last season. They haven’t won 20 games in a season since 2013 and haven’t finished above .500 (that’ll be tough, but possible) since 2005

Giannis is averaging 23.4 and 8.6 and oughta be selected to the East All-Star team if there’s a (Greek) god. The Bucks are 20-20 and in eighth place in the East. But like Philly, better days are on the way.

2. Locker Room Talk

As you know by now, in the wake of Pittsburgh’s 18-16 win Sunday evening in Kansas City, Antonio Brown posted 17 minutes of the Steelers’ locker room scene to Facebook Live. Every sports blog oughta send Brown a bouquet of chocolate roses (Deadspin‘s write-up actually began, “Bless Antonio Brown…”

Inadvertently, Brown caught coach Mike Tomlin saying the following, which really isn’t even that bad, about their upcoming opponents, the Patriots:

“Let’s start our preparations. We just spotted these assholes a day and a half. They played yesterday. Our game got moved to tonight. We’re going to touch down at 4:00 in the f***ing morning. So be it. We’ll be ready for their ass. But you ain’t got to tell them we’re coming.”

Bill Belichick will get over it. I’m not sure that Phyllis will, but Belichick will.

3. To Stay Home Or Go?

On Friday Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as this nation’s 45th president (you may have heard), providing parents coast-to-coast with the opportunity to explain the meaning of the word “nadir” to their kids.

Beyond that, more than 40 Democratic Congressmen have pledged not to attend the ceremony. I’m a little torn on this and I’d like your help. I’m no fan of Trump (NO! C’MON!) nor am I a Dem or GOP’er, but he did win the election and even if you think Russia played some dirty games along the way, Putin didn’t actually pull the lever from anyone. Trump won. Fair (by the Electoral College) and square. You respect the outcome, even if Russia may have meddled.

Why are they covering up “Don’s Johns?” I don’t get it. Pee Pee Party?

By not attending, you can argue, lawmakers are being petty and not offering Trump the same fresh start, clean state as he takes office that they were so bent out-of-shape about the 44th president not receiving.

On the other hand, when you get past Trump’ s Insult-Per-Day Twitter style (and that doesn’t bother me so much), here’s a man who spent five years brazenly trying to humiliate his predecessor with the birther movement. A ploy, by the way, which is a major reason for why he got elected. No one who will move into the White House has ever publicly shown more contempt for a sitting president, so what has he done to earn the respect usually associated with that office?

Rep. Lewis. You are a great person. But Dr. King didn’t give in to his anger or his hurt. That is how he accomplished & won Civil Rights.

— Rob Schneider (@RobSchneider) January 16, 2017

Oh, Rob!

I’d never tell a John Lewis or any other legislator what he or she should do (especially if they’re a minority), I’m no Rob Schneider (“Making copies!”). It’s just that this one has me flummoxed.

Trump is going to give everyone enough opportunities to defy him from moves he makes starting Friday. I think my feeling is I’d wait until next week to demonstrate against him. Let him soil his own bed. Don’t give him an excuse to say that everyone was against him and never gave him a fair chance (though his predecessor rarely whined about being openly defied simply because of the color of his skin).

Your thoughts?

4. Cadaverliers

Golden State 126, Cleveland 91.

Kevin Love goes for three points and three rebounds in 16 minutes and might I remind you that he was considered the star of that UCLA team that also had Russell Westbrook.

No one called a Flagrant 1 on the Vietcong. Sad!

The Cavs were on the final game of a six-game road trip that began in Brooklyn of all places and then did Mountain Time (Phoenix and Salt Lake City) before three games on the coast. Man, I can’t wait for the NBA to put a franchise in Las Vegas. Either can most NBA players.

The Mandible Sweater is questionable.

Anyway, other than the Dubs ending a four-game losing streak to the LeBronskis, it was pretty meaningless. Although LeBron may have suffered a bruised beard (no relation to Butch Beard) on that foul from Draymond Green in the first half.

5. Dinosaur, Jr.

This is the “Humpback of Circle B,” a massive alligator spotted in Lakeland, Florida, the other day. God bless. Now, please, nobody go all Duck Dynasty on this beautiful creature. If he got that large without eating any humans, he probably isn’t about to start now (maybe the odd Golden retriever or two, but hey…). Besides, given the way Floridians make news, would a reduction in them be all that awful?

Word Up

Desultory (adj.) lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm

After years of providing passionate insight, Jon Gruden put in another desultory effort alongside Sean McDonough in the Monday Night Football booth.

Music 101

Sunday Morning Comin’ Down*

Kris Kristofferson must wonder what he has to do. He has written some of the best songs in country music, including this one and “Me and Bobby McGee”, and he was a handsome feller’ in his day, but the artists who performed his tunes already had better luck with them. This version by Johnny Cash rose to No. 1 on the country charts and was named Country Song of the Year in 1970.

*This one’s dedicated to you, A.J.

Remote Patrol

Charlie Wilson’s War

HBO Now

The beauty of this above scene is that it’s Gust’s (Hoffman’s) first line in the entire film. This is how we meet him.

This wasn’t even nominate for Best Picture from the field of 2007 films, which in retrospect seems a heinous crime. The winner was No Country For Old Men (no argument there), but this film starring Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts, with Amy Adams, Ned Beatty, John Slattery (still blond) and a va-va-voom Emily Blunt in supporting roles, written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Mike Nichols, is outstanding. Over-hyped films such as Atonement, There Will Be Blood and Juno go much more love that year, and my guess is because in part America wasn’t ready to watch a movie telling us that we made a fatal mistake by taking our eyes off the ball in Afghanistan.

But the script is as good as Sorkin has ever written—he only goes about 75% Sorkin. It’s hilarious and a treat, while telling a story that is every bit as fascinating as Argo would later be. These actors, Hanks included, have never been better. It’s a shame that it was so unappreciated when it was released.