by John Walters

Quiz Answers: 1) Cabaret 2) True 3) Six innings AND fewer than three earned runs 4) Four (all but Staten Island) 5) Ireland and Iceland

I see the face of God doing a nose dive

Find Your Way Back

When we heard that Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket was named Starship, and then we saw its launch this morning (“rapid unscheduled disassembly,” they’re calling it), the musical possibilities overwhelmed our own memory storage. Knee Deep In The Hoopla? “And I carry a heavy load?” No Way Out?

Anyway, it’s been quite a 4/20 already for Elon Musk, who may already have lit up a major spliff. Twitter is scheduled to take away verified blue checks to those unwilling to pony up $8 a month for them; TSLA shares are down 7% after yesterday’s after hours quarterly earnings report, and now this.

Is this any way to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday?

There Really Is No ‘There’ There

The novelist Gertrude Stein is known mostly for two quotes: 1) “A rose is a rose is a rose” and 2) “There is no ‘there’ there,” the latter a reference to her hometown of Oakland.

Gertrude really had a way with words, no?

Some quick Spark Notes on Gerty: she attended Radcliffe (then an annex of all-male Harvard) and later, though she had no interest in medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical School (all of this in the late 1800s). She flunked out in her fourth year, opting to take long walks and attend the opera instead of studying. She then moved to Paris and hosted the Paris salon (she had family money) where young artists such as Picasso, Hemingway and Fitzgerald hung out. She lived out the rest of her days in Paris. During World War II, as a German Jew, she got by by being at least a Nazi sympathizer, if not collaborator.

Anyway, it’s that latter quote that intrigues us this morning as the city of Oakland prepares to lose the last of its three pro sports teams: the A’s have announced they’re moving to Las Vegas.

Ten years ago Oakland had three pro sports teams and Las Vegas had zero. Soon Oakland will have zero (and it’ll be better for it, trust me) while Vegas will have four–the Knights, the Aces, the Raiders and now the A’s—and before long, five, when an NBA franchise either relocates there or there’s an expansion franchise.

Fifty years ago the A’s were in the midst of winning three straight World Series (a feat that has only been emulated once, by the 1998-2000 Yankees, since). Also, the A’s were the only franchise to have an Oscar-nominated film made about them, Moneyball. They’ll be gone, but not forgotten.

Dollar Quiz

1. What Titan (Greek, not Tennessee) was punished by having an eagle peck at his liver daily while he was chained to a rock?
2. Put in order, from oldest to youngest, these three nations as independent nations: Germany, Mexico, USA.
3. Name a president who is also a cartoon character.
4. Who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft?
5. Who is the current NBA leader in career games played?