by John Walters

Apologies for not posting earlier. After the exoduses (exodi?) of Don and Dave (we are in Year 1 A.D., “After Dave”), I required a day of mourning. Or at least a morning of mourning, since I was in a daze all morning. And when did Steve Rushin hijack the blog? Anyway, I’m back, a little bit sadder and a little bit older…but aren’t we all?

Starting Five

1. A Long Dave’s Journey Into Night

Dave bids us “thank you, and good night” and with that, after 33 years of never intruding upon our time before 11:30 p.m., he is gone. Here’s my write-up on the finale and here’s an outstanding and information-packed piece by former Late Night/Late Show staffer Daniel Kellison (“Ringo doesn’t count”) for Grantland.

If you missed the final Top 10 list, here it is. Jim Carrey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus got the best lines.

By the way, Dave’s retirement was the ONE thing that inspired Bill Simmons to break his social media silence, as he posted a “Thank You” photo of Dave and Paul on Instagram yesterday.

2. When You Say Bud

Spent last Saturday at the Bloomington, Minn., home of Bud Grant, a day I will never forget. What a legend. Bud’s 88 and still eagle-eye sharp and lucid and I bet he could still take the Vikings to the playoffs this season if he accepted the gig tomorrow. As you may or may not know, he’s also the only man ever to play in both the NBA and the NFL.

3. James Addiction

Steph Curry, 33 points. James Harden, 38 points. The Warriors win by one when Houston fails to get off a shot on its final possession. Maybe it’s just me, but it felt like the first time all quarter (the only quarter I watched was the fourth) when Harden didn’t drive to the hoop.

He pulled up at the arc, got double-teamed by the Freres du Splash, dished to an open Dwight Howard, only he was himself above the arc (“like a fish needs a bicycle…”), passed back to Harden, who was then guarded by the Smother Brothers. No shot.

Golden State up, 2-0. But Houston can hang with ’em. Hoping this goes 7.

4. Portraits by Katie

So, I was able to invade the home of spend some time with Mike and Katie McCollow last weekend in Minneapolis. If they gave out Kennedy Center honors for personality, those two would be honorees. Anyway, Katie is the epitome of the idiom (“epidiome?”) “more talent in her one little finger…”

This is a portrait she did of her youngest child, Molly. She does them for anyone (for a price, of course). Visit katiemccollow.com to learn more. And if you tell Katie that you learned about her site by reading this blog, she’ll knock a dollar off the price (won’t you, Katie?)

5. Will These Ruins Soon Be In Ruins?

Apparently, ISIS has taken control of the Syrian city of Palmyra, and while you probably were not headed to Syria on holiday this year (good thinking, you), it is possible that these dudes who put the “-hate” in caliphate could destroy the ancient ruins. It feels as if ISIS will not be satisfied until the entire planet looks like a vacant lot in Odessa, Texas, which, if you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about….

Music 101

Hate To Say I Told You

Do you remember the turn of the century? Garage rock made a brief and stunning comeback thanks to White Stripes, The Vines, The Strokes and this band from Sweden, The Hives. The lead singer was “Howlin'” Pelle Almvqvist and the album was titled Veni, Vidi, Vicious. Yes, they were Julius Caesar’s favorite band. Too bad we never heard from them again on this side of the North Sea….

 

Remote Patrol

(We’re just going to leave this space empty for a few days)