by John Walters

Starting Five

The Wrath of Khan*

*The judges agree that this is too easy, but did you want to see “Khizr Rolls?”

You say you want a revolution, well, you know, we all want to change the world.

You say you’ve read the Constitution, well, you know, we all want to change your head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG0K_9RDeFE

This is  the most powerful moment of the 2016 election, and how great that it came directly, and with no outside help, from a Muslim-American immigrant. How ironic and poetic would it be if Khzir Khan, a peaceful Muslim immigrant, the father of a slain Iraqi war hero, was the one who took down Donald Trump’s campaign?

Too much to say here, and you already know most of what transpired last Thursday evening (and since), but let’s go here. After his interview with George Snuffleupagus, Trump released a statement that read in part, quote, “[Khan] has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution.”

That’s something directly out of Dr. Strangelove (or P.G. Wodehouse): it’s a bad idea to use the term ‘right’ as slang when you’re arguing with someone over your mutual understanding of the U.S. Constitution. After all, the very first amendment of the document expressly gives Khan that right. But, you know, this is just another day in the world of Donald.

2. And This Is How You Interview Someone On TV…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QhU0zx7RdI

Kudos to CNN’s Brian Stelter, who refused to allow Donald Trump senior communications advisor Jason Miller (John’s nephew?) off the hook here. Great job.

3. J. Walker*

*The judges refuse to go with “Kid Dy-No-Mite!”

Jimmy Walker, a 37 year-old PGA Tour veteran from Oklahoma City, wins his first major by shooting 14-under at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol. Walker had 19 birdies and just five bogeys all weekend in New Jersey and edged out Jason Day by one stroke. And that’s all I have to say about golf this weekend…except that golf needs a sexier name for its fourth, and year-ending, major.

4. Tragedy in Texas

Out for a Saturday morning balloon ride, 16 people perish when their hot-air balloon catches fire and plummets to earth in a pasture about 30 miles south of Austin, Texas. That’s a death-toll record for a U.S. hot air balloon tragedy.

The balloon most likely struck a power line, but officials have yet to confirm that. They have recovered a number of cell phones from the crash site, so this won’t be a mystery for long (I guess I can ask how they’ll get the passwords to those phones).

5. Cubs Win! Cubs Win!

A memorable game at Wrigley Field, one that began in July and ended—at least by EDT—in August. The Cubs fell behind 6-0 to the Seattle Mariners, who scored 2 runs in each of the first three innings. Trailing 6-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Chicago sent it to extra innings on a single, a fielder’s choice and a wild pitch.

Then, in the bottom of the 12th, pinch-hitter Jon Lester (you may know him as an All-Star pitcher) had the bunt walk-off game-winning hit. If the Cubs, the only team in baseball whose record is north of .600, go on to win their first World Series in 108 years, this will be one of the regular season’s highlight moments.

All this and Lollapalooza with Radiohead, Jane’s Addiction and RHCP. Not a bad weekend to be in Chicago…

Music 101

Round Here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2_slb0zqv8

On this first day of August, we thought we’d start with the first song off August and Everything After, the first album from Counting Crows. Here they are making their network television debut on The Late Show. Man, did Rolling Stone hate this band. I can listen to this album over and over again: guilty (note: “Mr. Jones” may be my least favorite song on the album). We all know Adam Duritz can be annoying as hell (ask Courteney Cox), but this was a damn good debut album.

Remote Patrol

The Endless Summer

Netflix Doc

In the early 1960s filmmaker Bruce Brown followed two young California surfers, Mike Hynson (a David Bowie doppelgänger; but read this and this) and Robert August, on a round-the-world surfing expedition in quest of both the perfect wave and, well, the film’s title. This seminal surf documentary takes viewers from California to Senegal to Nigeria to South Africa to Australia to New Zealand to Tahiti and then, finally, to Hawaii. It’s a wonderful travelogue with lots of sly narrative humor from Brown and an incredible look at our planet and its people 50 years ago. Highly recommended.