The Daily Dose/October 19, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

Leading Off is running intermittently for the time being. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow gets another Tuesday night workout in. Today’s Diary. 

The soak was wonderful…We’re going to whine about the number of people in our fave hot spring, but don’t pay attention to it: despite some others in there, we got a 45-minute soak in without being bothered, tho we were obliged to listen to Guy A have a one-way conversation about his girlfriend with Guy B, with Guy A pointing out his woman wants to get married, which he can’t understand at all because “everything’s fine” with them merely living together…

The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 8 – The field in the chase for The Dan Henning Trophy is the deepest in ages. 

Owner Genghis Khan so thrilled with team’s return to natural habitat – the B-10 medal stand – he has special high holy day planned if team can reel off a five (5)-game skid…

Someone in NFL office getting flogged this week for putting Broncos on national TV in consecutive weeks…

Here come the Browns, finally breaking loose after two (2) close losses to say “screw it” and lose by 23 at home…

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

In 1950 – China’s annexation of Tibet begins when its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) defeats Tibetan forces at the Battle of Chamdo in northwestern Tibet. China had invaded Tibet the previous year and Tibet was compelled to sign what History refers to as the 17-Point Agreement surrendering its autonomy. Tibetan government remained until the 1959 Tibet Uprising, which was suppressed by the Chinese, causing the 14th Dali Lama to flee to India, where he remains today.  

In 1981 – The Los Angeles Dodgers win the National League pennant, defeating the Montreal Expos 2-1 in game five at Montreal. Rick Monday of the Dodgers hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth breaking a 1-1 tie in a game that was postponed by one day due to weather and which saw Olympic Stadium only two-thirds full. Previously, the Dodgers had defeated the Houston Astros in a division series made necessary because of a midseason player strike, and the Dodgers would later beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. 

In 2013 – Lorde is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the second of nine consecutive weeks with Royals. It was the first chart single for Lorde, her first of four Top 40 hits, and remains her only #1 song. The also went to #1 in ten other countries, including Venezuela, her native New Zealand, and Great Britain, and was Billboard’s 15th-biggest song of 2013 and its 20th-biggest of 2014. The song won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance and Lorde, 16 at the time, remains the youngest performer to top the Hot 100 with a song written by the performer. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

The cost of partisanship for partisanship’s sake was, [Edward] Livingstone said, too high a price for a free society to pay.
Jon Meachem
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The first American to hold the world long jump record was Edward Gourdin, who jumped 25 feet, 2-and-three-quarter inches in 1921. The record stood for three years. 

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

How many National League pennants have the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers won? – Answer next time! 

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The Daily Dose/October 18, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

Leading Off is running intermittently for the time being. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow doesn’t have time to take his Legion shirt to the cleaners, so he washes it at home. Today’s Diary. 

…but regular readers of this crap either know or strongly suspect that ol’ Sparrow has so few ironing skills it isn’t even funny…But we remembered an old trick this gal we dated years ago showed us: wash it as usual then put it in the dryer and take it out before it completely dries…Evidently that is when pesky wrinkles set in. 

The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 8 – This week’s NCAA Bottom Ten is so funny we put it in the Gaylon Hall of Fame. 

UMess thinking of changing name of McGuirk Alumni Stadium because neither McGuirks nor alumni want name associated with stadium anymore.

With only win coming in Ireland, Wildcats odd-on-favorite for Lewis & Clark Cup, issued to team with win in Europe, but who manages to run table on mainland.

Still thinking expansion, Big Ten considering invading Mid-American Conference to improve long-term B-10 prospects.

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4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.

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

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

In 1867 & 1898 – The United States takes possession of Alaska and Puerto Rico. The US had purchased Alaska from Russia in March, while the US had taken Puerto Rico from Spain in the Spanish-American War. Alaska became the 49th state in 1959 while Puerto Rico remains a territory of the US; its residents are US citizens, however, they do not vote in federal elections, though they do send a non-voting delegate to Congress. 

In 1968 – Bob Beamon of the US establishes a new world record in the long jump at the Mexico City Olympics. Beamon jumped 29 feet, 2-and-a-quarter inches to break the record of 27 feet, 4-and-a-half inches established by Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of the Soviet Union in 1967. The jump was so, well, Beamon-esque that the electronic measuring devices at Olympic Stadium were unable to measure it and was so dominating – and demoralizing – he beat runner-up Klaus Beer of West Germany by more than two feet. Beamon’s leap remains the Olympic record and the world record is now held by Mike Powell of the US, who jumped 29 feet, 4-and-one-quarter inches in 1991. 

In 1980 – Queen is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the third and final consecutive week with Another One Bites the Dust. The song also went to #1 in Israel, Spain, and Canada, peaked at #7 in Great Britain, at #2 on Billboard’s soul chart, and due to when it charted was Billboard’s 65th-biggest hit of 1981. It was the eighth of eleven Top 40 hits for the group and their second and final #1 song (Crazy Little Thing Called Love, four weeks, 1980). The song was written by Queen’s bass player John Deacon. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

The large masses in politics act pretty much as they do in religion. Every doctrine…is a matter of faith…on account of their trust in the apostle.
Jon Meachem
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Billboard’s biggest album of 1981 was Hi Infidelity by REO Speedwagon, which spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at #1. 

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

Who was the first American to hold the long jump world record? – Answer next time!  

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The Daily Dose/October 17, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

Leading Off is running intermittently for the time being. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow enjoys a leisurely Sunday morning at The Shire. Today’s Diary. 

We got home, fed the cat and then ourselves before retiring to the chair for some reading, managing to finish the Andrew Jackson book we’ve been working on…We started dozing off around noon or so and then retired, tho it took us a bit longer to fall asleep than we’d’ve thought.

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Click here to get in on the laughs.
4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.

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 1977 – Lufthansa Flight 181, originally scheduled for service from Palma de Mallorca, Spain to Frankfurt, West Germany and hijacked on Oct 13, lands in Mogadishu, Somalia after flying from Aden, Yemen. The plane had been hijacked by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine over the Mediterranean Sea with 86 passengers and five crew members on board and had first landed in Rome for refueling. A West German commando team would rescue all 86 hostages the following morning.  

In 1991 – Paul Coffey of the Pittsburgh Penguins establishes a new NHL record for most career points by a defenseman in an 8-5 win over the New York Islanders. Coffey had two assists, giving him 1,053 points for his career, breaking the mark of 1,052 established by Denis Potvin of the Islanders between 1973-88. Coffey would retire in 2001 with 1,531 points, and the record is now held by Ray Borque, who had 1,579 points with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche from 1979-2001. 

In 1981 – Christopher Cross is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of three consecutive weeks with Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do). It was the fifth of eight Top 40 hits for Cross, his third of four Top 10 hits, and his second and final #1 song (Sailing, one week, 1980). The song also went to #1 in Norway, peaked at #7 in Great Britain, was Billboard’s 64th-biggest song of 1981, its 98th-biggest of 1982, and won the Oscar for Best Original Song. The song was written by Cross, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

He saw that liberty required security, that freedom required order, that the well-being of the parts of the Union required that the whole remained intact.
Jon Meachem
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Marie Antoinette was born into the Archduchy of Austria. 

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

What was Billboard’s biggest album of 1981? – Answer next time! 

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The Daily Dose/October 16, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

The Sunday Bottom 5
A ranking of some things.

1. Eric Kay – Former LA Angel executive sentenced to 22 years in prison for providing late Angel pitcher Tyler Skaggs a drug he wanted and would’ve gotten from someone else anyway…Any OD death regrettable, of course, but if drugs were legal, Kay is merely a vendor moving product there is plainly a demand for and not in prison.
2. NASA – Once-proud agency which hasn’t sent humans above low-Earth orbit for 50 years, has success altering orbit of asteroid…Asteroid wasn’t destroyed, but impact of spacecraft was sufficient to slow orbit down by 30 minutes or so, probably enough to stop asteroid zeroing on Earth from hitting us.
3. USA! USA! – The current 3-hole staple…Country still far closer to the oblivion that awaits it than the prosperity, influence it once had because no nation can survive perpeltual war, deep social divides, and an utter lack of national vision – not to mention Donald Trump and his supporters – forever…Sunday Bottom 5 pollsters “strongly suspect” America has until half-century is out to show it can govern itself before someone comes in and does it for us. 
4. Los Angeles Dodgers – despite nine (9) division titles in ten (10) years and only one (1) World Series title to show for it, Dodgers did not make it out of division series in 2022…Saying Dodgers can’t win the big one not entirely accurate, because they really aren’t playing in a whole lot of big ones.  
5. Real Fake News – Click here for a recap of what the wizards amongst us were actually believing this week…Courtesy of the AP. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

Three (3) cheers for Read Free Sunday. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow starts thinking about getting the snow tires put on. Today’s Diary. 

Key is whether we’re going to need new ones or not…We recall looking them over in the spring when we took them off and thinking they were good for another season, but then even more thinking got us thinking that we bought the new ride in November 2018, which would make this the fifth winter for them and that’s more mileage than you usually get out of snow tires…

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Click here to get in on the laughs.
4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.

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 1793 – Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France before the French Revolution, is executed in Paris, following a trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal that had begun two days earlier. Marie Antoinette and her lawyer had been given less than one day to prepare a defense on a variety of charges. The French monarchy had been abolished in August 1792 and Marie’s husband, the former Louis XVI, had been executed in January. Her last words were an apology to her executioner for stepping on his foot. 

In 1909 – The Detroit Tigers become the first team to lose three consecutive World Series, losing Game 7 to the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0. The previous two years, the Tigers had lost to the Chicago Cubs and the feat would later be matched by the 1911-13 New York Giants. It was the last time professional teams from Pittsburgh and Detroit would meet in a postseason series until the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

In 1976 – Stevie Wonder is at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for the first of 14 non-consecutive weeks with Songs in the Key of Life. The album also went to #1 in France, Holland, and Canada, peaked at #2 in Great Britain, was in its first of 20 non-consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s soul album chart, and was Billboard’s 13th-biggest album of 1979 and its second-biggest of 1977. It was the third and final #1 pop album for Wonder, his fourth of ten #1 soul albums, and produced four Top 40 pop hits, including the #1s I Wish and Sir Duke. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

His addresses…were occasions on which he knew what he wanted to say because he knew what he believed and what he wanted to accomplish.
Jon Meachem
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The two other players besides Gene Tenace who have hit home runs in their first two World Series at-bats are Andruw Jones (Atlanta, 1996) and Greg Vaughn (San Diego, 1998). 

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

Which European royal family was Marie Antoinette born into? – Answer next time!  

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