In Torun, Poland, Armand “Mondo” Duplantis sets a world record in the pole vault: 6.17 meters, or in feet, 20′ 2 3/4″ . Duplantis, the son of All-American pole-vaulter Greg Duplantis (19′ 3″ feet) and Swedish heptathlete Helena Hedlund, was born and raised in Lafayette, La. Both of his parents are LSU grads
Mondo stands only 5’11” but was the first high school athlete to ever pole-vault 19 feet. He will represent Sweden, and not the United States, in the Olympics. Duplantis has spent his summers in Sweden since his youth, but he also knows that Sweden does not have a single-meet Olympic Trials selection process the way his native USA does. One bad day would not ruin his chances for Tokyo.
An outstanding job of reporting by The New York Times on the last day in the life of NBA legend and planetary icon Kobe Bryant. Note that Bryant visited his local Catholic church early that Sunday morning, for what it’s worth.
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HBO’s Bill Maher is at his best when the USA is at its worst. Last Friday night’s Real Time was particularly trenchant and disturbing. If you missed it, here are the two takeaway clips worth watching:
If you didn’t sit through this, here’s the biggest takeaway for me comes at around the 2:35 mark: “That’s the old America— a nation of laws. We’re living in the new America: Make me. Make me!”
As in a GOP Senator or DOJ chief or, yes, president of the United States, staring down at the opposition and saying, “Go ahead and make me follow the laws. Guess what? You can’t.”
And it’s true. For a few years now I’ve been asking, and I’m not alone, when push comes to shove, who will actually ENFORCE the law? Come November, let’s just assume for the sake of comedy that the Democratic candidate wins the election. What if Donald Trump just flies off and does a 24-city rally between election night and inauguration day and decides that too much of the country wishes him to serve another term? Who exactly is going to roust him from the residence on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? The Supreme Court? The Senate?
In the final minute of the above clip, which is truly worth your while (love the MTV reference; he’s right), Maher references the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar near the end. The film version of Julius Caesar, from 1953, airs at 1:30 a.m. Monday morning on TCM. Here is the Spectrum guide’s synopsis of the film:
“Brutus is convinced by a scheming band of Roman senators, let by Caius Cassius, that his dear friend Julius Caesar intends to dissolve the republic and install himself as monarch, and he joins a conspiracy to assassinate him. Brutus stirringly defends his actions but when Mark Antony responds with a speech that plays upon the crowd’s love to their fallen leader, a battle between the two factions is assured.“
We’re not quite there yet. But it’s a lot more plausible than it has ever been here.
And here’s Maher’s opening monologue on Friday night:
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If you thought you wouldn’t see a more blatantly incompetent coverup than the White House’s impeachment defense this year, well, here you go. Never doubt or question Donald Trump’s capacity for taking the bizarre to another level.
There are those who’d point out that it isn’t kind to make fun of someone’s physical appearance, even if this is actually someone’s fake appearance. But the object of derision here is someone who delights in insulting any and all who dare step across his path (“Sleepy Joe,” “Lyin’ Ted,” “Little Marco,” “Pocahontas,” etc.). So we’ll allow it.
Take Note:
–both need to do a better job of applying makeup along the hairline
–both from an outer borough of Gotham
–both the object of Robert DeNiro’s scorn
–both inciting anarchy while stoking white male rage
–both clowns
*****
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Happy 108th Birthday to my nana Roberta. You are our matriarch. Completely ageless, classic, lovely, strong, smart, sarcastic, irreverent and all things I love in this world. We are so grateful for you. pic.twitter.com/qvLAAIvsf8
Oh, NOW he has time to talk. Donald Trump stood up before scores of sycophants in the White House yesterday and denounced the impeachment hearings as “all bullshit.” Earlier in the day he stood up at a prayer breakfast, something he’d never heard of before 2015, and spoke ill of those who’d “use their faith as an excuse to do something wrong.”
This is Chinese doctor Li Wenliang. The Wuhan-based medic died earlier this week, a victim of both the coronavirus and his country’s totalitarian rule.
Wenliang attempted to warn the public weeks ago about the contagion that was overtaking his city, but he was silenced by state police. No need to create hysteria. Then he contacted the virus.
To this point more than 600 people have died, mostly Chinese, and among them Li. More than 30,000 cases have been diagnosed. Expect the number of deaths to reach into the four figures by this time next week.
Zags & Aztecs
Gonzaga won last night. The Bulldogs are 24-1 and ranked second in the nation.
San Diego State was idle, but they play at Air Force Academy on Saturday. The Aztecs are 23-0 and ranked No. 4.
Both schools are located in the Pacific Time Zone. Neither play in the Pac-12, neither play one another and neither play a ranked opponent here on out. I wouldn’t exactly call this a problem, but ESPN, which nearly monopolizes college hoops until mid-March, prefers its powerhouse teams to be from the Midwest or deep South. Or at least from Los Angeles.
College GameDay sites so far this season: Durham, Lawrence, Auburn and now Chapel Hill. Granted, neither Gonzaga nor SDSU is home this weekend. Nor next weekend. Look for GameDay to possibly visit SDSU (whose student section is the rowdiest west of Cameron, seriously) on Feb. 22 for UNLV and possibly Spokane for Saint Mary’s-Gonzaga the following Saturday, Leap Day.
Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!*
*The judges will also accept “Edge Of ’17”
We’ll be watching the Oscars while seated on Joker steps in the Bronx (someone should totally put up a giant screen at the foot of them, no?).
Here are our picks (will win, not should win):
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (no-brainer)
Best Supporting Actress: ? (Frankly, we’ve only seen of the five films here and that was the one with Laura Dern, who was very good as a divorce lawyer who never misses a Peloton session)
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Adam Driver might just steal this, but if ever a scenery-chewing role was made for an actor with oversized incisors, this is it.
Best Actress: Renee Zellweger, Judy
She wasn’t nominated because I don’t think she appeared in a feature film, but Hollywood is so in love with Phoebe Waller-Bridge that it wouldn’t surprise me to hear her name called here. Charlize already has an Oscar, so, sorry; Saoirse Ronan has been nominated four times for the Oscar and she’s still only 25. Hasn’t won yet and won’t win this year. She’ll eventually wind up winning for some film nobody saw when Hollywood feels guilty enough about snubbing her. She is THAT talented.
Best Picture: 1917
Parasite will have to sate itself with Best Foreign Film. Of the nominees we’ve seen, this and Ford V. Ferrari entertained the most. That matters, right? FVF has no chance because the cars are not carbon-negative. Auto racing films during climate change have no chance at the Oscars.
Five Films: 2011
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: This is a film where you’ve GOT to pay attention. Particularly early on. A brilliant and brutal Cold War-era thriller. Every time I see it I pick up a little bit more, which is necessary, because the first time half the movie sailed over my head.
Margin Call: The scene in which the CEO, played by Jeremy Irons, is called in late at night from his Hamptons estate to oversee the financial crisis pow wow is about as authentic as it gets. Never got the hype that The Big Short did, but this film feels as if it was made by people with intimate knowledge of Wall Street culture and how the meltdown went down.
Midnight In Paris: Owen Wilson playing the role that Woody Allen is now just too old to play. I think of this as “Bullets Over Champs-Elysees.” The actor portraying Ernest Hemingway is the best part of the movie.
Moneyball: You’ve got an Aaron Sorkin script based on a Michael Lewis book with Brad Pitt in the lead. Gift horse, mouth.
The Artist: Never saw it a second time but remember liking it. This was THE hyped Oscar film of the year, winning Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Hollywood loves when someone puts a gauzy, loving mirror up to it.
Never saw: “War Horse,” “The Tree Of Life,” “Hugo.”
Loved Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine,” but how depressing.
Never quite got all the hullaballoo over “The Descendants” (He’s wealthy and white, looks exactly like George Clooney, and lives in Hawaii but she cheated on him — boo hoo! — and now he faces the existential crisis of whether or not to sell the family homestead and become even wealthier! I think we can all relate).
