The Daily Dose/Wednesday, August 3, 2022
The Daily Dose/August 3, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
“A VERY PLEASANT GOOD EVENING TO YOU WHEREVER YOU MAY BE”: You don’t want to throw the word legendary around willy-nilly, but it’s an appropriate label for Vin Scully, the retired Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers announcer who died Tuesday at 94.
A Warm, Personal Remembrance: For a kid growing up in LA wanting to be a radio announcer, the 70s were a great time. Vin, of course, headed the list of great sports announcers, but you also had Chick Hearn with the Lakers and Bob Miller with the Kings, and you leave out ring announcer Jimmy Lennon at the Olympic Auditorium, PA announcer John Ramsey, a travel agent in real life, who showed up virtually everywhere except those car races at Ascot, and Chick Anderson, the track announcer at Santa Anita, at your peril.
Oh Yeah: Plus you had Casey Kasem doing American Top 40 every week and Dave Diamond, wrapping up his DJ career doing weekends at KFI. It was radio wonderland for LA residents.
“On The Scoreboard…”: But Vin occupied a place others didn’t. One, you got the impression there was no place he’d rather be than announcing that day’s ballgame, even though he had the same problems we do and there had to have been times he didn’t really want to be at the stadium.
Sports Announcing 101: Two, he was unbiased, key anytime you’re announcing a sporting event, but even more so in a town like LA where you always had fans of the opponents listening.
Last But No Least. Three, he knew when to keep quiet. One hell of an example of this is our personal favorite Vin memory, his call of Henry Aaron’s 715th home run, when the Dodgers happened to be in Atlanta.
The Bottom Line: We’re not getting particularly worked up about our own probably inevitable death so we tend not to fret over someone else’s but we felt this. Radio at its best is a friend and when you were listening to Vin, as well as the others mentioned, you were visiting a friend. Vin was as good as there ever was at what he did and if everyone did their work as well as he did this world would be darn near perfect.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – There is more chaos at the morning coffee service (MCS) creamer rack. Today’s Diary.
Today, tho – and, again, there are no suspects – someone turned the three horizontal rows into three vertical rows!!!…I am not making that up…
———
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 – The Tandy Corporation, owners of Radio Shack, announce the production of one of the first mass-produced personal computers, the TRS-80. The units cost $599 – about $2,800 in today’s money – and came with the games blackjack and backgammon and over 100,000 units were sold in the first year. The first TRS-80s were delivered in November, were available in many of Radio Shacks’ 7,100 stores in December, and Tandy introduced the floppy disk the following summer.
In 1914 – Les Nunamaker of the New York Yankees ties the major league record for most assists in an inning by a catcher in a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Nunamaker had three assists in the second inning to tie the mark that had been done twice previously and has been done several times since. Nunamaker threw out Sam Crawford and Bobby Veach on steal attempts and later picked off Hugh High off of second base. The Tigers still got two runs in the inning and the feat has been accomplished many times since.
In 1985 – Tears for Fears is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of three consecutive weeks with Shout. It was the first Top 40 hit for the group, their first of four Top Ten hits, and their first of two #1s, The song went to #1 in six other countries including Switzerland and New Zealand, peaked at #4 in Great Britain, at #56 on Billboard’s soul chart, at #1 on their dance chart, and was Billboard’s 21st-biggest song of the year.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Third, were we truly men of integrity–men who never ran out on either the principles in which they believed or the people who believed in them–men who believed in us–men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?
John F. Kennedy
Speech to the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1/9/61
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
The 1,000th #1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100 was Born This Way by Lady Gaga, which spent six weeks at the top starting in February 2011.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
How many Radio Shack stores are there now? – Answer next time!
The Daily Dose/Tuesday, August 2, 2022
The Daily Dose/August 2, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
OH, JESUS H: We enjoy writing everything you read here. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t waste your time – or ours – and we’d do something else.
Can We Talk? We must be honest, though, and say that we really enjoy producing the On This Date segment. The longest of longtime reader(s) out there know that there’s been some sort of today in history/on this date segment since the very first Daily Dose 15 years ago at the old Writer’s Shack because we enjoy putting the work into researching items we think you will find interesting.
Dry, Technical Matter: What’s funny is that sometimes finding out the obscure trivia you count on us for takes no work at all. Today’s item (see below) about Katy Perry’s hit I Kissed a Girl being the 1,000th #1 song of the Rock Era is a wonderful example of that: the tidbit literally fell into our laps. There is an article on the song and there it was, the choicest of trivial morsels there for the taking.
Fly In The Ointment: Now, the Rock Era can have a couple of different meanings. Some say it began in 1955 while others – including us here at your Daily Dose – get more specific, tracing the start to July 8, 1955, when Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets went to #1.
Standard Internet Disclaimer: Of course, you can’t just take one source’s word for something like this. And, in fact, we wouldn’t even take a second source saying the same thing because it’s the internet and one source merely coping another is hardly unheard of.
To The Archives With You: So we went and counted to see what the deal was. I Kissed a Girl was the 961st #1 song on the Hot 100, which debuted in 1958, so we took off our shoes and counted the #1 songs on the Best Sellers in Stores chart and that established the song was the 1,000th #1 song since Rock Around the Clock went to #1.
The Bottom Line: Today’s Katy Perry tidbit is a heck of an On This Date item, the type of primo Billboard chart drivel you have come to know and love or, at least, tolerate, from us and we stumbled onto it, proving that sometimes the Great Archivist in the Sky looks out
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – At the hotel, there are more creamer issues. Today’s Diary.
The supply chain appears to be clogged again and, hardly for the first time in this god-forsaken virus era, we’re having creamer issues for morning coffee service (MCS)…This time we are out of French vanilla, our most popular offering, and we’re really close to being out of hazelnut, while we just got in a shipment of an off-brand half & half.
———
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 1610 – Henry Hudson and the crew of Discovery enter what is now known as Hudson Bay. Hoping they had discovered the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, the crew explored a bit and then went ashore for winter but when Hudson suggested further sailing west most of the crew mutinied setting Hudson, his son, and seven crew members adrift in a boat. Despite attempts to keep with Discovery by rowing, Hudson and the others were never heard from again.
In 1996 – The US men defeat FR Yugoslavia – later Serbia and Montenegro and now separate countries – 95-69 for the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. David Robinson led all scorers with 28 points and John Stockton had seven assists. It was the second of three consecutive gold medals for the US and their eleventh of 16 overall. Lithuania defeated Australia for the bronze medal and three days later the US women defeated Brazil 111-87 for the gold medal.
In 2008 – Katy Perry is at # on the Billboard Hot 100 for the fifth of seven consecutive weeks with I Kissed a Girl. It was the first chart single for Perry and her first of nine #1 songs. The song went to #1 in 17 other countries including the Czech Republic, Norway, and Great Britain, and was Billboard’s 14th biggest song of the year. The song was the 1,000th #1 song of the Rock Era, which began on July 8, 1955, when Bill Haley and the Comets hit #1 with Rock Around the Clock. The Hot 100 debuted in 1958.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Secondly, were we truly men of judgment–with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past–of our own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others–with enough wisdom to know that we did not know, and enough candor to admit it?
John F. Kennedy
Speech to the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1/9/61
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Mike Tyson was the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Leon Spinks held the WBC and WBA titles in 1978.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was the 1,000th #1 song on the Hot 100? – Answer next time!
The Daily Dose/Monday, August 1, 2022
The Daily Dose/August 1, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
GET OUT YOUR HISTORY BOOKS: Recently here we whined about the uninspiring prospects for the 2024 presidential election. It would follow a general trend in this country because, as we’ve noted here before, this country hasn’t had decent leadership by an elected president since Kennedy said let’s go to the moon.
But We Digress: We always felt Gerald Ford did well under circumstances the Son of Man would have found trying and that History has redeemed his pardoning of Richard Nixon. But Ford wasn’t elected; he had been nominated and confirmed as vice president to replace Spiro Agnew and, of course, assumed the presidency when Richard Nixon resigned.
Here We Go: Johnson got mired in Vietnam and declared war on poverty, even though that enemy has been with us since time immemorial and is never going away. Nixon could’ve been great, but his demons overtook him and he resigned in disgrace. Carter meant well, but was ineffective and got bogged down deciding who could and could not use the White House tennis courts. Reagan, a genius at articulating his views simply, was the most managed president in history, a burden his successors have allowed themselves to fall victim to.
Pause For Breath: George H.W. Bush was another Carter, Clinton, heck, he could’ve been great, too, but it was always something with him and he ended up getting impeached. George W Bush lied to get us into war, Obama talked a good game but left our country much as he found it, Trump was the worst elected leader in human history, an ignoramus with blood on his hands, whose only real talent is drawing attention to himself. Biden has yet to finish his term, so he may well work his off of the Jimmy Carter pile.
Ladies And Gentlemen Of The Jury: Why the dearth of leadership over the past 60 years? I mean, it’s hardly as if America has not good, or even great, presidential leadership in the past. Sure, there have been some stinkers in there over the centuries, but the presidential landscape is dotted with talent like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and both Roosevelts. We even give Truman high marks for having the courage to nuke Japan, a decision that saved hundreds of thousands of American lives.
The Bottom Line: America, however, has stopped demanding greatness. We are into our fourth generation of television being the focal point of our American life and we are paying the price for it with a country that, collectively, has stopped demanding anything other than being well-fed and well-entertained, content to blindly accept whatever the party of our choice chooses to spoonfeed us. As a result, we have a country that’s a shooting gallery, constantly at war, with divides that are making the 60s seem like something out of Mother Goose. We deserve better than this, but we are not demanding it.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow deals with a wife looking for her husband. Today’s Diary.
Perhaps his wife is one of those who will either chalk this up to a dumb-dumb desk clerk or otherwise choose not to get worked up over this, but probably not and offhand we’re thinking there is no way this ends well for the guy because his wife, being a woman and all, will likely take this to DefCon 1…Or Defcon 4…Whichever level has the missiles incoming.
———
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 1950 – Guam is organized into an unincorporated American territory when President Truman signs the Guam Organic Act. Before, Guam had been administered by the US Navy, following its acquisition from Spain in 1989 after the Spanish-American War and, except for two years in World War II when it was occupied by the Japanese, it has been a US possession ever since. While Guamanians have a non-voting representative in Congress, they do not vote in presidential elections.
In 1987 – Mike Tyson becomes the first boxer to hold the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles in a 12-round unanimous decision over Tony Tucker at the Las Vegas Hilton. With the win, Tyson retained his WBA and WBC titles and won Tucker’s IBF championship. Tyson would defend his titles six more times before losing to Buster Douglas in 1990 while Tucker would go winless in three future heavyweight title fights.
In 1981 – Rick Springfield is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of two consecutive weeks with Jessie’s Girl. It was Springfield’s second of 17 Top hits, his second of five Top 10 hits, and remains his only #1 song. The song also went to #1 in Springfield’s native Australia, peaked at #43 in Great Britain in 1984, and was Billboard’s 5th-biggest song of the year. The song spent 32 weeks on the chart, including twelve weeks in the Top 10 and nine weeks in the Top 5.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
First, were we truly men of courage–with the courage to stand up to one’s enemies–and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one’s associates–the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed?
John F. Kennedy
Speech to the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1/9/61
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
The 1897 St Louis Browns are still in the National League, later changing their name to the Cardinals, while the Louisville Colonels folded after the 1899 season.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Who was the last undisputed heavyweight champion before Mike Tyson? – Answer next time!
The Daily Dose/Sunday, July 31, 2022
The Daily Dose/July 31, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
The Sunday Bottom 5
A ranking of some things.
The Sunday Bottom 5 will return.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
It’s Read Free Sunday (RFS) at The Diary.
The Diary of a Nobody – At the hotel, Sparrow strongly suspects there was a bear outside. Today’s Diary.
The bear must’ve been pretty strong, too, because it didn’t sound like a whole lot of effort was expended in knocking down the trash can…Regular readers of this crap know ol’ Sparrow didn’t immediately rush right out there to investigate, either…
———
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 1971 – Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin become the first humans to drive a vehicle on the moon, riding their lunar rover for the first of three trips. The rover’s top speed was about 6 mph and all told, the rover would be used for 3 hours and 2 minutes, traveled 17.2 miles and made it as far away as 3.1 miles from the lunar module. A lunar rover would also be used on Apollo 16 and Apollo 17.
In 1897 – John Grimes of the St Louis Browns ties the major league record for most batters hit in a game in an 11-6 loss to the Louisville Colonels in the first game of a doubleheader. Grimes hit six batters to tie the mark established Ed Knouff of the Baltimore Orioles of the American Association in 1887. Though History is not entirely clear on the matter, Grimes, 28 at the time, might well have been on leave from what would turn out to be a 30-year career in the US Army.
In 1971 – Jean Knight is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Best Selling Soul Singles chart – for the fifth and final week with Mr. Big Stuff. The song also peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and remains Knight’s biggest hit on both charts. Knight had begun singing in the mid-60s but, disappointed at her lack of success, actually quit and took a job as a baker in the cafeteria of a New Orleans university before landing a record deal.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Perhaps we shall offer a true reflection of the world about us. But you cannot blame a mirror for what it shows.
Gore Vidal
Empire
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Walt Disney won 22 competitive Oscars in four categories: Best Short Subject – Cartoon, Best Short Subject – Live Action, Best Documentary Short Subject, and Best Documentary Feature.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What became of the 1997 St Louis Browns and Louisville Colonels? – Answer next time!
The Diary of a Nobody/July 30
Indeed, it is Read Free Sunday (RFS) at The Diary.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Saturday, July 30
Good gravy, the lobby was packed when we reported for duty…There were several musicians in the front part, apparently waiting for transportation, because they had luggage, including musical instruments, with them…There were also a bunch of people occupying the tables in the back, all with brewskies and four of them were playing cards.
The Daily Dose/Saturday, July 30, 2022
The Daily Dose/July 30, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
Capsule Book Review: The Trial of Socrates by I.F. Stone: There have been, of course, a lot of famous trials throughout history and the trial of Socrates in 399 BC is one of them, right up there with the trials of Jesus and OJ Simpson, and is still examined by history buffs, though OJ is the only one of these three not executed.
Dry, Technical Matter: Socrates was tried for, basically, exercising his right of free speech, a right founded in Athens. His fellow Athenians were not thrilled with what he was teaching their youths, though he had been doing this for decades and why they waited until he was 70 before getting their shorts in a knot over this will never be entirely clear.
Back On Message: It is a very thorough book on the era, examining not only the trial, of which no you-are-there coverage or transcripts exist, but also on democracy and free speech and life in Athens and in Greece. Stone rambles a bit at times, however, if you learned Greek and read all relevant source materials like he did, you’d probably do some literary preening, too.
Uh, Can I Die?: Stone is of the opinion that Socrates was of a mind to call it a day and he presents a convincing case. Some magnanimity from Socrates and maybe he doesn’t get tried in the first place. If he doesn’t peeve the jury maybe he doesn’t get convicted and if he is convicted, maybe they accept his proposed penalty of merely paying a fine. If we were determined to live, he could’ve taken advantage of the escape his supporters arranged. Socrates did none of these things, though, perhaps because he knew his execution would ensure that he would live down the ages, which he was probably going to do anyway.
A Break In The Action: Here is The Daily Dose rating system: 1 – The Very Best; 2 – Very Good; 3 – Good; 4 – Average; 5 – A Steaming Pile
Final Ranking: 2: This was one heck of a book. General readers, like us, will enjoy it and historians – while perhaps getting their shorts in a knot over this and that – will like it, too. Not even Will Durant, in his Ancient Greece volume of The Story of Civilization, read source materials in Greek.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – At the gym, Sparrow has another Sunday Yapper sighting. Today’s Diary.
Recall last time we noted how he’d lost a lot of weight and this time we were – yay or boo, you make the call – close enuff to notice an incision scar on his upper right abdomen, so plainly something, probably the size of a medicine ball, was taken out.
———
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 1932 – Walt Disney releases Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon to use the three-strip Technicolor process, which replaced two-color Technicolor. The film concerns the conduct of flowers and trees in the spring, though a squabble results in a fire that is put out by birds. The film would win the first Academy Award for Short Subjects, Cartoons, the first of eight consecutive and twelve total in the category for Disney and was the first of his 22 total Oscars, the most of anyone in Oscar history.
In 1976 – Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner, establishes a new world record in the decathlon at the Montreal Summer Olympics. Jenner finished with 8,816 points to break the record he had established at the US Olympic trials in June. Jenner won the discus and finished second in the shot put, high jump, 400 and 1,500 meters, and pole vault to beat Guido Kratschmer of West Germany and Mykola Avilov of the Soviet Union. The current world record is 9,126 points, by Kevin Mayer of France in 2018.
In 1983 – Donna Summer is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Black Singles chart – for the first of three consecutive weeks with She Works Hard For The Money. It was the tenth of twelve Top 10 soul hits for Summer and her second and final soul #1. The song also peaked at #25 in Great Britain and at #3 on the Hot 100 and was inspired by Summer seeing a tired and overworked ladies’ room attendant at a party following the 1983 Grammy Awards. Summer co-wrote the song with Michael Omartian.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
…he had compassion on those who, in order to appear full of knowledge, talk about things of which they know nothing.
Miles Unger
Michelangelo: A Life In Six Masterpieces
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
The last American to hold the world high jump record was Dwight Stones, who set the record three times between 1973 and 1976.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
How many different categories did Walt Disny win Oscars in? – Answer next time!