by John Walters
A Medium Happy 47th to Kim Raver, who could play Tea Leoni’s younger sister on Madame Secretary if the show runners wanted to pursue this.
Starting Five
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo18gtbr41k
1. Federalist Impostor Meets Community Organizer
“….It’s the Oval Office/Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m there/It’s so much more intimidating/Than if it was square…” Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of Hamilton visited the White House yesterday because, let’s face it, they’re probably not going to be invited back when President Trump is residing there.
Pretty impressive freestyle here. I think Miranda did more work in two minutes than Congress has done all year.
2. Has Ben
Ben (left, I think) and Not JoJo
The Beatles had JoJo and Lauretta (“Get Back.”). Ben Higgins had JoJo and Lauren. And chose the latter. That’s really all I know. I didn’t watch.
3. Mad Men Across The Water*
Somewhere—and some time—between Donald Draper and Tony Soprano, you have Richie Finestra
“I just bought a bumper pool table—I can’t afford to lose this job.”
Is there anything more 1973 to say than that? I didn’t want to hastily anoint Vinyl as a great show, but each week it keeps growing on me more. What I love the best is that it drops in so many nuggets about both the era and New York City without being clunky about it. Examples:
–In the opening episode, the receptionist notes that the bad hard rock playing in the lobby is the band Slade. A few moments later I hear “Cum On Feel the Noize” and am wondering, Isn’t that a 1983 Quiet Riot tune? Well, it turns out that Quiet Riot covered Slade’s 1973 version.
–In the third episode, an A&R guy asks Alice Cooper (the best real-life character portrayal yet on the show) about his manager, “Shemp.” “It’s Shep,” corrects Alice, a nod to legendary manager Shep Gordon (“Supermensch”).
–Also in the third episode, an A&R guy suggests keeping Terry Jacks. Richie Finestra, our Tony Soprano-meets-Don Draper boss, asks, “WHO!?! Exactly!” Jacks famously wrote and recorded one of the most love-hated pop songs of the decade, “Seasons In The Sun.”
Formerly Doogie Howser’s best friend, Max Casella is virtually unrecognizable as A&R man Jules Silver.
Each week the show grows more confident. And there are references to the Mets (who went to the World Series in ’73 with an ancient Willie Mays) and the Mike Douglas Show; the record company is located in the Brill Building. The producers here care about authenticity, and as a kid who grew up in the tri-state area at that time, I love it.
And in the way that Mad Men told the story of the Sixties from a home base of New York City, Vinyl has an opportunity to do the same thing with the early to mid-Seventies. Some of the similarities are too convenient—the bored Metro North housewife who is a former model who smokes—but others are welcome: Bobby Cannavale, who has been working his way up the ladder to this gig for nearly two decades, is a worthy leading man. He’s more Tony Soprano than he is Don Draper, but has elements of both.
*The judges hope you appreciate that
4. Win at Home or Go Home
Please vote for me and my giant flipper appendages….
Florida, Ohio. Rubio, Kasich.
And why is it “Super Tuesday 3?” When did they stop using Roman numerals?
5. New Haven is No Haven
A message from last Wednesday’s chalk-in
Yale bits, as the Bulldogs prepare for a first round game on Thursday a few miles up I-95 in Providence as its student body is on the first week of a two-week spring break:
–Our old friend Moose wrote a bright and insightful comment yesterday that in case you missed, I’ll reprint here. I think that she explains what should be taking place at Yale and other campuses succinctly and correctly:
1. The Yale disciniplary board should only be dealing with complaints that are not covered under the criminal code, i.e. cheating, plagerism, etc. They are not a criminal investigative force or a legal procedure body.
2. As soon as Yale, or any other educational body, is made aware of a CRIMINAL complaint, their first call should be to the legal/police authorities in their jurisdiction. Yale then is out of it and it trusts and stands behind the innocent until proven guilty mandate that is at the cornerstone of our justice system.
3. Once the proper authorities have investigated the case, brought or not brought official charges, or a conviction is achieved, then Yale can write into its code of conduct that if a student is convicted of a felony, they will be expelled.
It’s not that complicated. If this kind of thing happened in a corporation or in the “real” world, would any of us support the board of governors or the neighbourhood watch committee deciding our fate? Anyone’s fate?
–My story on Yale on Newsweek.com yesterday.
–Today’s The Big Lead piece was promoted by saying that nobody knows anything about Yale except for its expelled basketball captain. Not true. Let me help you, guys:
—Brandon Sherrod, whose muscular 6’6″ physique will leap out at you (it’s Kansas or Michigan State-level), set an NCAA record earlier this winter by making 30 shots in a row. In his final weekend of the Ivy League season, Sherrod slacked off by making only 13 of 14 shots in his final two games. Sherrod missed all of last season….while on a world-wide tour with the Whiffenpoofs.
Sherrod is a stud
–Makai Mason. Don’t let the exotic first name fool you. He’s a tough-as-nails, six-foot-nothing Massachusetts kid who never misses an open shot. Never. He isn’t a three-point threat, but he’s a far, far better point guard than you think he is from looking at him. Tied for the team lead in scoring.
—Justin Sears. Senior forward who led the team in rebounds and blocked shots, and tied as the leading scorer. Probably Jack Montague’s biggest supporter. When I saw him, he had a desultory performance. His numbers are legit, but I fear he”ll be eaten up by Baylor’s bigs.
—Anthony Dallier. Kirk Hinrich type. Does NOT miss from beyond the arc. Glue guy.
—Khaliq Ghani. The team’s aloof J.R. Smith type. Could disappear for a half, could light you up for 10 points in three minutes. Team leader in tats/foot.
Music 101
The Wild Rover
“And it’s ‘No, Nay, Never!’ (clap clap clap clap) No, nay, never no more/Well, I’ve played the wild rover/No never, no more.” The Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem paired up for oodles of Irish folk songs and more than two dozen albums in the 1950s and ’60s. All except the lead singer here, Tom Clancy, have passed away. And no, Tom has not moved into writing international espionage thrillers.
Remote Patrol
First Four: Vanderbilt vs Wichita State
9:10 p.m. truTV
Baker and VanVleet, coming and going in the NCAAs…
Could this really be the final ride for Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet? And is Cleanthony Early still in the NBA? The 2013 Final Four Cinderellas are back for another shot with their two acclaimed seniors and they must attend this dance-in in Dayton in order to be advance to the first round.
What Moose wrote is what SHOULD be happening on our college/universities but it is NOT because Title IX is being corrupted & misused. In fact, it’s being used to FORCE colleges to get involved in these cases or lose federal funding even when the alleged incidents do not even take place on their campuses.
I was thinking about this some more last night & trying to figure out how Title IX got involved & why. Perhaps the thinking went like this – for years/decades/centuries, women were given nightmarish “help” from police & other legal authorities in cases of rape. Even more so if the alleged assailant was someone of power/fame/wealth. Let’s say a female college student was raped by a fellow student & she immediately goes to the police but because the alleged assailant is a star athlete on the hugely money-making football team & the town is largely financially reliant on said college that the police barely investigate & decide no charges will be filed (i.e. protect the golden goose). Thus, the victim not only does not get legal justice but she has to share a college campus & perhaps even a dorm &/or classes with her assailant or drop out of her ‘dream’ school & damage or at least delay her once bright future. Hardly ‘equal protection’. I guess I can see why some thought the insertion of Title IX would help level the legal ground for female students. Unfortunately, those pesky “unintended consequences” are making a mess of things.
And maybe some dimwit even thought secret hearings would be the way to go to “protect” both the accuser & the accused. And the colleges themselves. (“See, if no one really knows WHY you got booted or even if, you’ll be FINE… you can say whatever you want for why you left school & we won’t deny! You can just move on…”) . The psychological damage alone must linger for decades.
I know this might sound crazy but the way the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other, I wouldn’t be surprised one day in the future (20-30 years from now), if colleges don’t just flat-out insist on abstinence (make all students sign contracts) & if anyone is caught engaging in any sexual activity, they are immediately booted.