by John Walters
Good Read: “The Age of Coddling Is Over” by David Brooks
Starting Five
King Of The Jungle Road*
*The judges will also accept “Lyin’ Lions” and “Pride Goeth Before A Fall”
Go on NapQuest this morning and you’ll see a photo of a pride of lions napping fitfully in a road in South Africa. Amidst all the deaths of the pandemic, the upside is FEWER HUMANS out and about, which means less traffic. Even where I am, I’ve noticed the uptick in animals out and about. They must be wondering about this wonderful new world they’re living in, but they sure seem to be adjusting well. And quickly.
TCM Classic Weekend (At Home)
TCM’s 11th annual “Classic Movie Weekend” was to be held in Hollywood over the next few days, but circumstances have prevented that. Still, Ted Turner’s cable channel is hosting a home version of the event and the best part of that for you and I is a spate of classic films.
You don’t have the NBA playoffs to watch. No parties or bars to go to. You can only watch “Tiger King” or “The Crown” so many times. Here’s your chance to go to film school. You may even enjoy it. And Ben Mankiewicz, well, he’s the host with the most. Here’s the highlights of the Friday through Sunday schedule, with an asterisk next to films we’ve seen (so you’ll know when we’re b.s.’in’ you.
FRIDAY (all times Eastern)
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3 p.m. North By Northwest* (1959): If not the best Hitchcock film (it’s in the top two), certainly the sexiest, with Cary Grant and Eva Marie-Saint.
5 p.m. Some Like It Hot* (1959): Men in drag has never been done more deftly, and Tony Curtis shines basically playing three different characters (he did not win the Oscar, only a Tony award). Jack Lemmon’s two top films this decade end with a one-liner aboard a boat.
10 p.m. Deliverance* (1972): Seriously, where did they find those locals? That kid on the bridge? Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight are about to own the Seventies.
SATURDAY
12 a.m. The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954): B-movie horror classic.
1:15 p.m. Safety Last (1923): Harold Lloyd hangs from a giant clock 10 storie above traffic. Stunt man? I don’t need no stunt man.
5:45 p.m. Network * (1976): Somebody felt bad for Ned Beatty after Deliverance and handed him a leviathan scene to show off all-encompassing power.
8 p.m. Casablanca* (1942): There are three films that everyone must see and then quote from: The Godfather (I and II) and this. Trust us, you’ll enjoy it.
11:45 p.m. Night And The City (1950) Stumble down Noir Alley and find Eddie Mueller hosting this gem, shot on location in London, starring Richard Widmark and the lustrous Gene Tierney.
SUNDAY
10 a.m. Lawrence of Arabia* (1962) The quintessential desert epic with Peter O’Toole in the role of a lifetime. He’s even more beautiful than the Arabic landscape.
6 p.m. Singin’ In The Rain* (1952) Probably the funniest, snappiest and many would also add best of the Hollywood musicals.
9:45 p.m. The Hustler (1961): Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason and an eight ball.
J.T. : Just Transferring
Not a surprise, but J.T. Daniels the then freshman quarterback at USC about whom all the ESPN announcers raved in 2018, has entered the transfer portal. Daniels suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first half of the Trojans’ first game, versus Fresno State, last September. Three-star freshman Kedon Slovis stepped in and promptly earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. And deserved them.
No word on where Daniels, an Orange County kid, is headed. But this is the right move for him.
George Versus Germs
The late George Carlin had some very pointed words about germs, deadly viruses and preparing your immune system.
Sports Year 1876
An Opening Day to open all opening days. In what is a leap year, sports take a quantum leap forward with the formation, on February 2nd, of the National League in Chicago. All present agree to mark the sport’s history from this time forward.
It is an eventful year, this centennial year, in American history: Alexander Graham Bell places the first phone call, Anheuser Busch begins manufacturing suds, and George Custer leads his men into an ambush in the hills of South Dakota.
But as for baseball, the opening Opening Day takes place on April 22 in Philadelphia. The Boston Red Stockings defeat the Athletics 6-5 on a Saturday at the Jefferson Street Grounds (bounded, for you Philadelphians and/or fans of sports lore, by 25th and 27th Streets on the east and west, and Jefferson and Master Streets on the north and south. It was not supposed to be MLB’s stand-alone game that day, but all other games were rained out, so it now has the distinction of being the first Major League Baseball game.
In August, or September, Walter Camp enrolls at Yale. He will become the central figure in the history of college football.
The Chicago White Stockings, managed by our old pal Al Spalding (who will also pitch) will win the inaugural National League pennant with a 52-14 record. The league’s seven other squads, in order of finish: the Hartford Dark Blues, St. Louis Brown Stockings, Boston Red Stockings, Louisville Grays, New York Mutuals and Cincinnati Reds (who finish 9-56). The Mutuals and A’s skip their final few games of the season, as they are both competitively and financially in over their heads.
I agree with what appears to be (reading charitably) the central point of the Brooks column, which is that medical training in the U.S. remains rigorous, to the benefit of all now that an unprecedented pandemic has struck. I am not sure why that point needed to be couched in a discussion of how Americans have supposedly coddled their children, leaving them unprepared to deal with hardship.
But I assume that the coddled children Brooks refers to are the baby boomers, who were raised in one of the most prosperous eras in American history. Those are the people we see on TV this week, complaining about their inability to buy lawn fertilizer and get their hair done. The millenials/Gen Z’ers seem more willing to accept the directives of the scientists and put the common good ahead of their own interests.
I suppose that would mean, then, that the generation of coddling parents was the “Greatest Generation.”
Wally, you are not playing by the rules. Haven’t you heard? Millenials are selfish, low IQ’d imbeciles.
LOL! Yessiree, there were Baby Boomers all over those Florida beaches at last month’s SPRING BREAK!
By FAR, the biggest whiners & bellyachers & those blatantly NOT STAYING HOME are MILLENIALS!
As for the “Greatest Generation” – the fact that this country doesn’t seem to give a shit that THOUSANDS are dying in longterm care facilities means all the lip service of “how much we owe that group of humans” means NOTHING! My god, in that NJ facility, 17 bodies were PILED UP! Two weeks ago, I read of a nursing home where the ENTIRE STAFF JUST WALKED OFF THE JOB & LEFT THEM TOTALLY ALONE FOR TWO DAYS before it was discovered. There are probably thousands more sick or dead in these facilities around the country that have yet to be discovered because these places have no national supervision let alone accountability. Not only is this a national disgrace but it should be criminal!
But at least we have the law-abiding Millennials & Gen Z out there “putting the common good ahead of their own interests”. LOL! That’s funnier than that ‘My Corona’ video!
The fact is that Americans of all ages are spoiled rotten. And there are myopic, selfish a-holes mixed in with the caring, brave & selfless. Instead of finger pointing at each other, we should be pointing ALL our fingers at the Nazi Republicans who are responsible for this nightmare in our country!
Susie B., notorious for beating down a generation and then burying the lead by stating “all ages are spoiled rotten.” Should of just added the *except mine
(Just giving you a hard time, Susie B. I hope market is in your favor)
Hey Jacob, no, the Boomers are as spoiled rotten as everyone else. If we compare our standard of living to 2/3 of the rest of the world, it is no surprise that many in those other countries are not shedding any tears over our devastating COVID numbers.
If Wally had stated that a large part of Trump’s heinous “base” are the Greatest Generation & at least a hefty chunk of Boomers, I’d sadly have to agree. However, the SELFISH a-hles in this country seem to be among ALL age groups. Even the “always overlooked Generation X”. 😉
How does it feel, jdubs, to belong to the “generation” that always gets overlooked? On one hand, YOU rarely get blamed for much. On the other, you don’t get to throw your weight around either. 😉
I’ve always thought it ludicrous that people are sectioned into 18-20 year “generations” when 7-9 year “age brackets” make MUCH more sense to me. For most of my life, I’ve resented being looped into the same “group” as the older Baby Boomers & have rarely felt anything in common. I think this is also probably true for the Millennials as their “generation”is also defined as a 18-23 (!) year age bracket. Does today’s 23 year old have that much in common with a 42 year old? Have their life experiences been that similar? Do they feel any sort of “bond”?
Anyhoo, hope you & yours are doing well.