by John Walters
Farewell, Omar
If you’ve never watched The Wire (HBO), that’s something in your life you need to change immediately. If you have, then you know what an unforgettable character Omar is. Last Sunday Michael K. Williams, the man who played Omar (as well as other memorable characters on Boardwalk Empire and The Night Of), was found dead in his Williamsburg, Brooklyn, apartment. Apparently of a heroin overdose.
It was Omar who famously said, “You come at the king, you better not miss.” Omar was an inspired character, a fearless, trenchcoat-wearing, bad mamajamma who stole from drug dealers. You don’t do that. He was like a phantom; they feared him because he seemed to just disappear into the shadows. The character was also gay, which just added to the uniqueness of Omar.
Williams was also phenomenal in The Night Of. He sorta reminds me of the black Phillip Seymour Hoffman. A gifted actor who owned every scene in which he appeared and then died, alone, of a drug overdose, in New York City. Williams was 54.
Teenage Dream
The “women’s” singles final at the U.S. Open will feature two fetching, charming teenagers from friendly nations: Laylah Fernandez of Canada, who turned 19 earlier this week, and Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, who is 19.
Fernandez is ranked 73rd in the world; Raducanu, 150th. Needless to say, it’s the first Grand Slam final for either young lady. It’s also the first U.S. Open final between two teenagers since Serena Williams defeated Martina Hingis in 1999.
Munnlaney?
On one side of the coin, you’ve gotta give John Mulaney credit for appearing on his close friend Seth Meyers’ show and being so forthcoming. This was cracklin’ good television.
On the other, the veneer of our Catholic school nerdy boy man is now off. Some of Mulaney’s best bits (“You buy the cow”) now come off as, if not phony, then at least not standing the test of time. Nobody’s perfect, of course, but comedians are supposed to use their lives as material for their sets. In so many ways, Mulaney was hiding his. All those hours he spent serving as the responsible big brother to Pete Davidson to keep him off the wayward path? Who was shepherding whom?
And I know I sound a little like a jilted lover—or Mulaney’s ex-wife, who has kept her dignity throughout this awful stretch—but it sure sounded weird to hear Meyers congratulate his good friend for becoming a dad to-be. In the past year Mulaney has left his wife, gone into rehab twice, gone totally Hollywood by hooking up with a B-list celeb (Olivia Munn) who’s dated a Hall of Fame quarterback (Aaron Rodgers), and now impregnated her.
You have to wonder if Mulaney got the Rodgers Rate there…
Life is messy. And you hope better days are ahead for this man whose ceiling is higher than anyone of his generation. But remember that character he played in the classic SNL game show skit, “What’s That Name?” He doesn’t come off too much better in person right now.
Just The Vax, Ma’am
President Biden steals a page from Texas Gov. Abbott’s playbook. You wanna hand out a $10,000 punishment for aiding and abetting an abortion? Here’s a $12,000 punishment for working for a company of more than 1,000 employees and not getting vaccinated. I pity the unvaccinated Uber driver in Plano who drives an expectant mother to the clinic. That’s a $22,000 bill right there.
Biden noted in his speech that “even Fox News” has a vaccination policy for its employees. I wonder if that snippet made it onto Fox News… or OAN… or NewsMax.
Go, go, Joseph/You know what they say…
The Bucs Start Here
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, last seen winning the Super Bowl in their own stadium, kicked off the NFL season last night by hosting America’s Team. And Tom Brady’s charmed life just continues as they eked out a 31-29 win with the help of an uncalled offensive pass interference that would have negated the final, field-goal winning drive.
Odd. Tom Brady being helped out by the zebras in a game-winning drive. Has that ever happened?
That John Mulaney interview was awkward. I can’t exactly point my finger to any one part, but the whole thing felt weird. Maybe it was the jokes/laughing at the intervention story? I don’t know.
On another note, I was talking to someone who casually shared his thought that the Dallas Cowboys were the NFL equivalent of Notre Dame. I let it slide, but I completely disagree. Am I wrong? If I’m not, what NFL team would you think best fits the Irish?
From Medium Happy to the Bubble Screen to Twitter to The Shamrock podcasts, I love you John Walters!
“It’s All Happening” has become “It happens sometimes,” and, “Medium Happy” has become “Medium Sad,” as of late. I guess I have to jump on Twitter to get JW’s thoughts on current events.
Ok jdubs, exactly how long is is going to take for you to recover from your BIRTHDAY BACCHANAL? Hmmmmmm? Think we didn’t notice that the last time you posted was 9/10? 🙂 How does it feel to no longer be in the “39-54” age bracket? (Which means advertisers & big corporations no longer give a crap about your “consumer opinions”).
Sure, sure, technically I’m OLDER than you BUT my hair is less gray & just last week someone told me they thought I was “45”. That I laughed hysterically in response kinda gave away that I’m er, not, but it made my freakin year anyway. 🙂
Anyhoo, hope you had a great day.
“Where have you gone, jdubs-io?
YOUR blogsite turns its lonely eyes to you, wo wo wo
What’s that you say, susie b?
‘Joltin jdubs’ has left and gone away, hey hey hey
Hey hey hey”
Don’t make me belt out some Temptations…. “AIN’T TOO PROUD TO BEG”
Per a MH recommendation, I watched Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. I was tickled to see that the actors who played Ma Bailey, Uncle Billy Bailey, and Mr. Gower (as well as Jimmy Stewart) are also in It’s A Wonderful Life. Both movies directed by Frank Capra. I love those kind of Easter eggs.
Please come back John!
Miss you and Medium Happy!!!
Sunday night on that sorta Tonys award show, I once again unexpectedly got to see & HEAR Brian Stokes Mitchell belt out The Impossible Dream. As always, gave me goosebumps. I consider it an early b-day present & was a much-welcomed bright spot in this shit year.
“To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
And to run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
And to love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
…..
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star
And I always dream the impossible dream
Yes, I’ll reach the unreachable star”
BEST DAMN BROADWAY SONG EVER!
🙂
Perhaps we need a January 6 style digital coup attempt at MH. The people want free content! I vote Micah to serve as editor-in-chief.
I think I might start my own free blog (is that an oxymoron?) called “Sorta Happy” that features a daily post called “A Lot is Happening!”
Or, if I really want JW’s insight, I ought to enroll in his ASU class at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Is there an online version (the commute from Chi-town is a bit far)?
JW – you might be able to set up your blog to automatically import in your tweets – call the feature Small Happy (or Short Happy?). At least we’d get some of your musings on current events without going on Twitter (I’ve sworn off Twitter a couple years ago, after I got super addicted to my feed.)