We are taking the day off. Everything will return. -gk

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The Daily Dose/June 28, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

TWO OLD MEN: THE REMATCH: Our favorite question coming out of last night’s bickering session between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is this: 

Has America ever had two worse choices for president? 

That Would Be A No: We don’t think so. In one corner, it’s President Joe Biden, stammering and ineffectual. In the other, it’s former President Donald Trump peddling his usual idiocy and lies. 

Dry, Technical Matter: Thursday night President Biden came off as old, too old to do anything but sit on the porch. Donald Trump remains a lying sexual predator who is stupid enough to believe – among other things – that the moon is part of Mars, Colorado borders Mexico, and that trials and elections are rigged against him. 

USA! USA!: We deserve better than this. We deserve vital, relatively young candidates with long-term plans for our country. Lord knows we deserve some intelligence and civility. 

Fly In The Ointment: America, however, cannot be bothered to demand better right now. Seven decades into television being the focal point of American life, we are too well-entertained and too well-fed to put substantive work into who is governing us. You and me – we the people – are tolerating it. We are so accepting of things now there wasn’t even a primary election season in America this year. In fact, neither Biden nor Trump has been officially nominated by their party.  

The Bottom Line: It would be best if both parties came to their senses and decided to nominate someone else. But coming to our senses is not something America does a lot of right now. We are content to circle the wagons and accept what we want to hear from whoever dispenses it to us.  

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow works the land. Today’s Diary. 

The big news is we got the lawn cleaned up, removing the branches and twigs that assembled after the recent wind storm…

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Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1914 – Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb. Princip was arrested at the scene and would die in prison in 1918. The Archduke was the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and their deaths are often credited with starting World War I, which began a month later when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. 

In 2023 – Domingo German of the New York Yankees pitches a perfect game in an 11-0 win over the Oakland Athletics. It was the 24th major league perfect game and the first since 2012, when there were three. In August, German was removed from the Yankees roster, was waived in the offseason, and is currently the Pittsburgh organization, where he started the year in Triple-A and is now in Single-A. 

In 1980 – The Oak Ridge Boys are at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the only week with Trying To Love Two Women. It was the ninth of 33 Top 10 country hits for the group and their third of 17 #1s in a country singles career spanning from 1976 through 1999. The song also went #1 country in Canada and was Billboard’s 11th-biggest country song of the year. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

The priest did not create religion, he merely used it, as a statesman uses the impulses and customs of mankind; religion arises not out of sacerdotal invention or chicanery, but out of the persistent wonder, fear, insecurity, hopefulness and loneliness of men.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol I: Our Oriental Heritage

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Bob Newhart, Marilyn Manson, Vampire Weekend, and Slipknot are the acts who have had multiple #1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart who have never hit the Hot 100. Slipknot and Vampire Weekend have each had three #1 albums. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

Which other New York Yankees have pitched perfect games? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/June 27, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

Leading Off will return.

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow ups weight in the gym. Barely. Today’s Diary. 

…the only possible way to add less weight would be to add a couple of helium molecules to each side, but remember we’re dealing with a relatively new exeercise for a small body part.

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Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1950 – The US decides to enter the Korean War, two days after North Korea invaded South Korea. US Army General Douglas McArthur was appointed supreme commander of UN forces and US troops first saw combat in the Battle of Osan on July 5 with the final battle in July 1953. Over 1.7 million Americans served in Korea, with 36,574 of them dying. Though an armistice was signed, the two sides technically remain at war. 

In 2003 – The Boston Red Sox establish a new major league for most runs at the start of a game with nobody out in a 25-8 victory over the Florida Marlins. The Red Sox scored ten runs before Nomar Garciaparra popped out to the catcher and socred a total of 14 runs in the inning. The Red Sox broke the record of nine established by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1948 and the record still stands. 

In 2015 – Muse is at #1 on the Billboard 100 album chart for the only week with Drones. It was the eighth of ten chart albums for the group and remains their only #1. The album went to #1 in 13 other countries including Mexico, Norway and Great Britain, and also went to #1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart. It remains one of the few albums to hit #1 that did not produce a song that hit the Hot 100. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

We cherish the illusion that vice commands a cunning which virtue cannot rival.
Robert Lacey
Meyer Lansky: The Thinking Man’s Gangster

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Billboard’s first unified soul chart – the Hot R&B Sides chart – debuted on October 28, 1958. Bobby Day had the first #1 song with Rockin’ Robin. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

Who are the acts that have had multiple #1 albums and have never had a hit on the Hot 100? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/June 26, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

Leading Off will return.

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow makes some coffee. Today’s Diary. 

So D4 got coffee that Juan Valdez himself would’ve had a tuff time topping for freshness…

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Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1974 – The Universal Product Code (UPC) – that bar-and-number code on things bought in stores – is used for the first time, at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The first product bought, shortly after their 8 am opening, was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Gum for 67¢, about $4.45 in today’s money. The year before, grocery representatives had solicited ideas for a standard UPC and eventually approved a proposal by IBM.

In 1911 – John McDermott establishes a new US Open record for the youngest winner, defeating Mike Brady and George Simpson of Scotland by two strokes in an 18-hole playoff at the Chicago Golf Club. McDermott was 19 years old, besting the mark set by 21-year-old Horace Rawlins in 1895, and the record still stands. The Chicago Golf Club, founded in 1892,  is the oldest 18-hole golf course in the US, and this was the third and final US Open it hosted. 

In 1954 – Big Joe Turner is at #1 on Billboard’s Most Played in Juke Boxes soul chart – a predecessor to today’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart – for the third and final consecutive week with Shake, Rattle and Roll. Later in the year, a version by Bill Haley & His Comets peaked at #7 on Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores pop chart. It remains the only #1 single for Turner in a career that began as a singing bartender in Kansas City in the 1920s and continued until the 1980s. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

He was content to wait for history, and the rest of the Continental Congress, to catch up with him.
Walter Isaacson
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The last major league pitcher to win two complete games in a doubleheader was Dutch Levsen of the Cleveland Indians against the Boston Red Sox on August 28, 1926. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

When did Billboard’s first unified soul chart appear? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/June 25, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT: Australian writer and editor Julian Assange will be free on Wednesday after reaching a plea deal with US attorneys. In exchange for being sentenced to time served, he will plead guilty to one charge of espionage. 

A Long Time Coming: Assange had been in custody in England since 2019, fighting extradition to the US for disclosing assorted confidential elements concerning US conduct in the Iraq and Afghani wars in 2010. Before that, he had been holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012.

Get Your Official Daily Dose Policy Right Here: Assange was a journalist doing his work. He should never have been imprisoned in the first place. 

Gaylon For Congress…Vote Early, Vote Often: Recall that in February we attended a rally in Denver in support of Assange. We strongly suspect, though, that this had nothing, or at least very little, to do with this week’s announcement.

Dry, Technical Matter: On Wednesday, Assange will appear in US district court in the Northern Marianas Islands, a location picked because it is the closest US court to Australia, where Assange will end up. It is reported Assange wasn’t entirely thrilled with the prospect of being transported to the continental US. 

Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter: The Northern Marianas Islands are in the South Pacific Ocean, about 1,300 miles south of Japan and about 1,600 miles east of the Philippines. They became a US commonwealth, at their request, in the 1970s and were a UN protectorate before that.  

The Bottom Line: Assange did nothing wrong and has nothing to plead guilty for, but any husband – or, as likely as not, ex-husband – knows that sometimes you plead guilty in the interest of domestic tranquility. Do you want to be happy or right? Assange decided to be happy instead of imprisoned. Perhaps a sympathetic Biden Administration will pardon him. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow deals with a dumb question. Today’s Diary. 

Well, word had obviously reached wherever the hell she’s from that ol’ Sparrow has expanded his already broad range of front desk services to include Virus Identification (VI)…

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Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1960 – Two cryptographers with the National Security Agency – William Martin and Bernon Mitchell – leave on vacation to Mexico, where in September they would defect to the Soviet Union. The pair had grown disillusioned with assorted US activities, including NSA-sponsored flights that intruded on foreign airspace. Both married Russian women and later tried and failed to return to the US, with Martin later dying in Mexico and Mitchell in Russia. 

In 1903 – Wiley Piatt of the Boston Beaneaters establishes the modern major league record for most complete game losses in one day in 1-0 and 5-3 defeats to the St Louis Cardinals. Piatt struck out twelve and walked three over his 18 innings and his record fell to 6-13 on the season. Research into the number of times this feat had been accomplished in the 19th century was maddeningly inconclusive. The record stills stands. 

In 1983 – Flashdance: Original Soundtrack From the Motion Picture by various artists is at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for the first of two consecutive weeks. The album went to #1 in eight other countries including Norway and Japan, peaked at #9 in Great Britain, and was Billboard’s 20th-biggest album of 1983 and its 32nd biggest of 1984. The album produced three chart singles, including the number ones Flashdance…What A Feeling by Irene Cara – then in its fifth of six weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 – and Maniac by Michael Sembello. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

I can’t bite my tongue because my soul will bleed.
Cyril Neville

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The Los Angeles Kings are the lowest seed to win the Stanley Cup. They were a #8 seed in 2012. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

Who was the last major leaguer to win two complete games in a doubleheader? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/June 24, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

Leading Off will return

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has the latest on the cat. Today’s Diary. 

There was the classic Yay/Boo situation when we got back home this morning: solid poops – from the cat – but they were outside the box!!!

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Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1948 – The Soviet Union, in charge of East Berlin, blockades Allied access to West Berlin. The Soviets blocaded Allied rail, road, and water access to West Berlin, with the Allies beginning the Berlin Air Lift two days later. The Soviets, though surprised at the airlift’s success, did not disrupt the airlift and would end the blockade the following May, though the airlift continued until September 1949, out of fears it would be reinstated. 

In 1995 – The New Jersey Devils win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 to win the series in four games. It was the first of three Stanley Cup titles for the Devils and the 12th of 13 runner-up finishes for the Red Wings, to go along with 13 titles. The win was an upset, with the Devils holding the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference, while the Red Wings, at 33-11-4, and had the best record in the NHL in the lockout-shortened season. To date, the Devils were the lowest seed to win the Stanley Cup. 

In 2017 – Bruno Mars is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then and now known as the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart – for the tenth and final consecutive week with That’s What I Like. The song also went #12 pop in Great Britain, had earlier spent a week at #1 on the Hot 100, was Billboard’s #1 soul song of the year and its 2nd-biggest of the decade…It was the first of four #1 soul songs for Mars and was his seventh and most recent Hot 100 #1. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

Almost nothing great has ever been done in the world except by the genius and firmness of a single man combating the prejudices of the multitudes.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol. X: Rousseau and Revolution

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

George Jones had seven hits on the Billboard Hot 100. None made the Top 40. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

What team is now the lowest seed to win the Stanley Cup? – Answer next time!

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