The Daily Dose/July 7, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

The Sunday Bottom 5
A ranking of some things.

1. Bonfiglio – Family cat put to sleep Friday, ending lengthy illness after memorable, loving 13-year run…RIP, Spoo…She was executive editor of The Bottom Ten for past ten years, with exclusive responsibility for handing out Jim Hanifan Memorial Medallion, symbolic of NFL preseason ineptitude.

2. British Elections – A palace coup in the UK this week, as Labour summarily dismisses the Tories from power…Sunday Bottom 5 pollsters “not entirely certain” how Labour could win 63% of the seats with 34% of the vote, which is rich coming from voters in a country with the Electoral College. 

3. USA! USA! – The 3-hole staple…With Joe Biden still in the race, America still has the two (2) worst choices ever for president: some too old and the other too ignorant…SB 5 pollsters “pretty sure” chaos will result no matter who wins…If Donald Trump wins, chaos will begin on January 20, 2025…If Joe Biden wins, chaos will begin on Wednesday, November 6 because anyone who thinks Trump will accept a loss is high, legally in more and more states. 

4. Bronny James – LeBron’s son is in an impossible position…After one summer league game, he appears to have his dad’s work ethic and is a team player who knows his way around a basketball court…SB5 pollsters have become instant fans, more for being in an impossible situation than anything else.  

5. Donald Trump Fact Check – Click here for the latest misinformation, inaccuracies, and lies…Courtesy of the AP. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

Read Free Sunday (RFS) is not happening today. It will run intermittently from now on. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has a tough morning and a great evening. Today’s Diary. 

It was the first time in the ten years we’ve owned The Shire that she wasn’t there when we walked in the door…

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

In 1865 – Four conspirators in the April 15 assassination of Abraham Lincoln are executed at the Old Arsenal Penitentiary in Washington, DC. Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt and others had been convicted on June 30, with the others receiving prison sentences. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, had been killed on April 25. The Old Arsenal Penitentiary is now known as Fort McNair. 

In 1939 – Bobby Riggs wins the Wimbledon championship, defeating Elwood Cooke 2-6, 8-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. It was the first of three Grand Slam titles for Riggs and remains the only Grand Slam singles final for Cooke. The day before he had won the doubles title with Cooke, and the mixed doubles title with women’s singles and doubles champion Alice Marble and though rare, the winning of all three titles in one Wimbledon tournament is far from unprecedented. This was Riggs’ only appearance at Wimbledon, and he remains the only player in Wimbledon history to have never lost a match. 

In 1979 – Anita Ward is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second and final consecutive week with Ring My Bell. The song went to #1 in five other countries, including Norway and Great Britain, was in its fourth of five consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart, and was their 2nd-biggest soul song and 9th-biggest pop song of the year. It was the first chart single for Ward and only a #87 hit later in the year prevented her from being an ultimate one-hot wonder: an act whose only chart single goes to #1. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

To succeed, they had to be awed by the magnitude of the task and be humbled, not assertive.
Walter Isaacson
An American Life

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The Chicago White Stockings, now the Cubs, hold the record for most runs in an inning, scoring 18 in the seventh inning of a 26-6 win over the Detroit Wolverines on September 6, 1883. 

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

What was Billboard’s #1 soul song of 1979? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/July 5, 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 to put the cat down. Today’s Diary. 

I told her – and I was really bawling here – that we made the last walk together, kitty, just like we wanted…

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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 1919 – The British dirigible R34 completes the first trans-Atlantic crossing by an airship when it lands in New York. The ship had left East Fortune, Scotland on July 2 and arrived in Long Island after a flight of 108 hours and with only a few gallons of fuel remaining. The R34 was scrapped after crashing into a hillside in January 1921. It was designed for use by the Royal Naval Air Service in World War I, but the war had ended by its first flight. 

In 1920 – The New York Yankees establish a new major league record for most runs in the 5th inning in a 17-0 victory over the Washington Senators. The Yankees scored 14 runs, breaking of the record of 13 established by the Chicago Colts – now the Cubs – in 1890 and the record still stands. The Senators committed five errors in the inning and only one of the runs was earned. 

In 1974 – The Hues Corporation is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the only week with Rock the Boat. The song also went to #1 in Canada, peaked at #6 in Great Britain, at #2 on Billboard’s soul chart, and was their 43rd-biggest song of the year. It was the second chart single for the group, their first of two Top 40 hits, and remains their only Top 10 hit. The song was only in its fourth week in the Top 40 and moved into the top spot from the #6 position. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

At last I had the authority to give direction over the whole scene. I felt as if I were walking with Destiny, and that all my past life had been but preparation for this hour and this trial.
Winston Churchill

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston were the other members of the committee appointed to write the Declaration of Independence, in addition to John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson.

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

Which team holds the record for most runs in an inning? – Answer next time!

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Your Daily Dose is enjoying a day off. It will return.

Click here for today’s entry in The Diary of a Nobody. 

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The Daily Dose/July 4, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.

WHEN IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS…: Today is Independence Day here in America, the national holiday commemorating the Second Continental Congress approving the Declaration of Independence.

FunFact: Almost interesting is the fact we came pretty close to having July 3 as our national holiday because the Continental Congress spent no small amount of time that day considering it, though they ended up tabling the matter until the 4th.   

Fly In The Ointment: There are a couple of misconceptions associated with the Declaration: 1) it does not commemorate the US declaring independence from Great Britain. That had happened two days earlier. 2) It did not start the American Revolution, which had started the year before with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Dry, Technical Matter: History credits Thomas Jefferson with writing it. He was a member of a 5-person committee the Congress had formed to write a declaration of why the Colonies wanted to separate from Great Britain. The committee wisely assigned him the task of writing the first draft, after which John Adams and Benjamin Franklin got their mitts on it before it went before the entire Congress. It is estimated they deleted a quarter of it and rewrote other parts while Jefferson silently fumed in the back of what is now Independence Hall.

Quote That Sucker: The Declaration includes one of the most famous sentences ever written:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. 

LOL: Jefferson was just kidding, of course. He was a slave owner who used slavery to live the comfortable life he preferred and he disciplined his slaves as needed. Heck, Jefferson was even a slavery innovator, the first to use slaves as collateral, for a 1796 loan from a Dutch banking house.  

It Is Written: Jefferson knew what he was doing, however. He had a strong sense of history – as the Lewis & Clark Expedition confirmed – and no doubt realized he was not only living history but was writing for it as much as he was writing for his fellow wealthy, white landowners.   

Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter: Almost interesting is the fact the Declaration – as Jefferson himself was fond of admitting – contained no original concepts. This is not an indictment because every word a writer puts to paper is a combination of both influences that have wormed their way into his mind and what pours out from his heart.

Good Gravy, No Wonder You Don’t Get Any Dates: The Declaration had a variety of influences, including John Locke, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, Jefferson’s own preamble to Virginia’s constitution, and the Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason.

The Bottom Line: Despite its utter unoriginality and its being written by a slave owner, the Declaration of Independence, as it should, remains a landmark in human letters. If you have some time today, go and read it. Every American should be familiar with it. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has yet more news on the cat. Today’s Diary.

The big news – and it is HUGE – is the cat seems to be taking to her hot, new low-rise litter boxes…

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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 1845 – Henry David Thoreau moves into a small cabin he built near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau would spend the next 27 months living in the cabin, an experience that formed the basis for his book Walden, Or Life in the Woods. The cabin was built on land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was torn down later in the century and a replica, as well as a statue of Thoreau, now stands on the site. 

In 1982 – Jimmy Connors wins the Wimbledon championship, defeating defending champion John McEnroe 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. It was the second and final Wimbledon title for Connors and his sixth of eight major titles, and was the second and final runner-up finish for McEnroe. The day before, McEnroe lost the doubles final with Peter Fleming to Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee. It was the first match in Wimbledon’s 105-year history to be scheduled for a  Sunday. 

In 2009 – The Black Eyed Peas are at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the twelfth and final consecutive with Boom Boom Pow. It was the first of three #1s for the group,and the song went to #1 in six other countries including Israel, Portugal, and Great Britain. It peaked at #51 on Billboard’s R&B chart, was their #1 song of the year, and was their 7th-biggest song of the decade. The following week, their song I Gotta Feeling began a 14-week stay at #1, with the 26 consecutive weeks establishing a record for most consecutive weeks at #1 that still stands. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
Henry David Thoreau
Walden

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Tiger Woods has won the most British Opens in the 21st century, three (2000, 2005, 2006). 

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

Who were the other two members of the committee formed to write what became the Declaration of Independence? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/July 3, 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. 

The three low-rise litter boxes that arrived yesterday were deployed this morning and brother, we are going to need to refinance The Shire to pay for litter now…

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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 1775 – General George Washington takes command of the Continental Army in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Revolution had begun in April with the Battles of Lexington and Concord and before Washington’s appointment, the war had been directed by the Continental Congress through assorted ad hoc committees. Washington had been appointed by Congress on June 15 and served until the war’s conclusion in 1783. 

In 1959 – Gary Player of South Africa wins the British Open, shooting a final round 68 to beat Fred Bullock of England and Flory Van Donck of Belgium by two strokes at the Muirfield Golf Links near Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the first of three British Open titles and nine majors for Player and he earned £1,000 for the win, about $36,000 in today’s money. It was the ninth of 16 British Opens at Muirfield, its first coming in 1892. 

In 1971 – Carole King is at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for the third of 15 consecutive weeks with Tapestry. The album also went to #1 in Canada, Japan, and Spain, peaked at #4 in Great Britain, was Billboard’s 2nd-biggest album of 1971 and 1972, and their 22nd-biggest of 1973. All told, it spent 313 weeks on the chart, once second only to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (990 weeks), though no longer a figure with any statistical significance. It was the first of three #1 albums for King and a double-sided single from the album, It’s Too Late/I Feel The Earth Move, was in its third of five consecutive weeks at #1 on the Hot 100. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

I felt that there could be no turning back and that I was engaging in an adventure the meaning of which I thoroughly understood.
Captain Joshua Slocum
Sailing Alone Around the World

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The Knox-Porter Resolution also ended hostilities with Austria-Hungary, which had dissolved in 1918.

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

What player has won the most British Opens this century? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!