The Daily Dose/June 14, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience. 

Leading Off remains in timeout. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – At the VSO, Sparrow goes for a walk. Today’s Diary. 

By the most stunning coincidence, today’s walk went right past that coffee house on 9th Street where we attended a meeting last week that was fully stocked with hot babes…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
History’s long march.  

In 1777 – The Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Act of 1777, establishing 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue field in the top inside corner as the national flag. Previously, a flag known as the Grand Union Flag – which had 13 alternating red and white stripes with the British flag in the upper left – had been used since 1775. The flag was modified to 15 stripes and 15 stars in 1794 with the admission of Vermont and Kentucky into the Union and reverted to 13 stars in 1818.  

In 1966 – The Miami Marlins and the St Petersburg Cardinals of the Florida State League establish the professional baseball record for the longest game in 4-3, 29-inning Miami win. The game broke the record of 27 innings by the Springfield Giants and the Elmira Pioneers in the Eastern League in 1965 and the mark is now 33 innings by the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox of the International League in 1981. The major league record is 26 innings, a 1-1 tie between the Brooklyn Robins and the Boston Braves in 1920.

In 2003 – 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the third of four consecutive weeks with 21 Questions. It was the third chart single for 50 Cent and his second of four #1s and was the second of two Top 10 hits for Nate Dogg and remains his only #1 pop hit. The song was also in its seventh and final consecutive week at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart and peaked at #6 in Great Britain. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high. 
Henry David Thoreau
Walden

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The last amateur to win the US Open was Johnny Goodman in 1933. 

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

What’s the longest major league game this century? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!

The Daily Dose/June 13, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience. 

Leading Off remains in timeout. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has the latest MPG figures for the new ride. Today’s Diary. 

Good gas mileage is key, now, because gas has inched above the $5/gallon mark here for the first time. 

———

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
History’s long march.  

In 1997 – Timothy McVeigh is sentenced to death for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing a federal building. McVeigh had been convicted ten days earlier and was executed on June 11, 2001. Accomplice Terry Nichols was convicted in both federal and state court and is currently serving multiple life sentences in federal prison. The bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in US history. 

In 1953 – Ben Hogan wins a record-tying fourth US Open title, shooting a final round 71 to finish five- under par and six strokes ahead of Sam Snead at the Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh. Hogan joined Willie Anderson and Bobby Jones as four-time winners, a club later joined by Jack Nicklaus and Hogan was the third golfer to produce a wire-to-wire win, a feat now accomplished eight times by seven golfers. Hogan earned $5,000 for the win, about $52,000 in today’s money. 

In 1964 – Mary Wells is at #1 on the Cashbox R&B chart – one of several chroniclers of American charted music over the years – for the seventh and final consecutive week with My Guy. The song also went to #1 on the Cashbox Top 100 and the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard did not publish a soul chart from November 1963 through January 1965. It was the third and final soul #1 for Wells and remains her only pop #1 song. My Guy was written and produced by Smokey Robinson.  

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

I was as much affected by the faint hum of the mosquito…as I could be by any trumpet that ever sang of fame.
Henry David Thoreau
Walden

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The Phoenix Suns have lost the most NBA Finals without winning the NBA title with three: 1976, 1993, and 2021.

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

Who was the last amateur to win the US Open? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!

The Daily Dose/June 12, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

The Sunday Bottom 5
A ranking of some things.

1. USA! USA! – A partisan fractured, bickering shooting gallery of a country now suffering through fringe elements on both sides taking center stage in national conversation…Sensible middle ground lost in the shuffle, of course, as clock continues to tick on Great American Experiment as no nation can expect to survive divided, debt-ridden, war-mongering shooting gallery America is now. 

2. Russian/Ukrainian War – SB5 pollsters scouring history books to find differences between Russian invasion of Ukraine and US invasion of Iraq, but aren’t seeing too many…The one thing they do have in common is Congress didn’t declare either one. 

3. Donald Trump – The 3-hole staple…Enabled, encouraged, demanded Jan. 6 insurrection, lies constantly, admits to grabbing women by the p*ssy, has blood on his hands from inept COVID response, twice impeached, believes the Revolution was won by securing British airports, but people still listen to him anyway. 

4. LIV Golf– SB5 pollsters “pretty sure” they have highest possible level of admiration for golfers who bravely disregard 9/11, Jamal Khashoggi, constant human rights abuses – if they even know about them at all – for Saudi blood money…SB5 pollsters “strongly suspect” however, that golfer who said  “I think if I start digging everywhere where we played, you could find fault in anything” might have a point. 

5. NASA – Unable to send humans into space anymore, American space agency announces plans to study UFOs because area “data poor”, probably because they don’t exist…SB5 pollsters “pretty sure” new UFO nomenclature of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) “like, dude, really stupid and stuff”. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

Yay for Read Free Sunday (RFS) at The Diary. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow waters his lawn and chats with his neighbor Zach, who’s mowing his lawn. Today’s Diary. 

You could hear other lawn mowers in the neighborhood going, too, which is good because, boy, there are some lawns that really need it, including one a couple of blocks down that we strongly suspect is vacant right now because the lawn hasn’t been touched all season and the grass, and weeds, have to be a foot high. 

———

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
History’s long march.  

In 1964 – Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa after being convicted of sabotage in a trial History refers to as the Rivonia Trial. Mandela served 27 years of the sentence before being released in February 1990 and he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 – an award shared with F.W. de Klerk – and served as president of South Africa from 1994-99. Mandela was one of 15 arrested, though four escaped and went into exile abroad. 

In 2017 – The Golden State Warriors win the NBA title, defeating the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 in game five to win the best-of-seven series 4 games to 1. It was the sixth NBA title for the franchise that began in Philadelphia, while it was the third of four losses in the Finals for the Cavaliers. It was the third of four consecutive times the Warriors and Cavaliers met in the finals, with the Warriors winning three titles. 

In 1982 – The Dazz Band is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Black Singles chart –  for the third of five non-consecutive weeks with Let It Whip. It was the fourth of 20 soul chart singles for the group, their first of four Top 10 soul songs and remains their only #1. The song also peaked at #5 on the Hot 100 and the group won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

He found he was not all certain he was doing any good, aside from providing the drug of religious hope to timorous folk frightened of hell-fire and afraid to walk alone.
Sinclair Lewis
Elmer Gantry

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

George Michael had seven #1 songs in Great Britain as a solo act. 

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

Which NBA team has lost the most NBA Finals without winning an NBA title? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!

The Daily Dose/June 11, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

Leading off remains in time-out. It will return, though we are not sure when. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow does the lawn. Today’s Diary. 

We knocked off early from the VSO and we were feeling pretty good and, in the Upset of the Year, we could see no reason to put it off…

———

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
History’s long march.  

In 1963 – Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc sets himself on fire in Saigon – now Ho Chi Ming City – to protest religious repression in South Vietnam. Quang Duc had a led procession to an intersection near the Cambodian embassy, sat down, and was doused with gasoline by another monk. He then lit a match and burned to death. Quan Duc’s heart did not burn, either during the self-immolation or a following cremation, is considered holy, and is on display in a glass chalice in Ho Chi Minh City pagoda. 

In 1938 – Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds pitches the first of two consecutive no-hitters in a 3-0 win over the Boston Bees in Cincinnati. Vander Meer walked three and struck out four in the game and on June 15th no-hit the Brooklyn Dodgers in the first night game played at Ebbets Field. Vander Meer had given up a hit in the last inning of his previous game and did not give up a hit until the fourth inning for his June 19th start against the Bees, and his streak of 22 consecutive hitless innings remains second behind Cy Young’s 25, done in 1904. The feat of consecutive no-hitters remains unmatched.   

In 1988 – George Michael is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the third and final consecutive week with One More Try. It was the seventh of 18 Top 40 and 16 Top 10 hits for Michael as a solo act and was his fifth of eight #1 songs. The song also went to #1 in Ireland and Canada, peaked at #8 in Great Britain, and would later spend a week at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart. Previously, Michael had hit #1 three times as a member of the group Wham!.  

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him.
David Halberstam
The New York Times

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The two men who served as presidents of the Second Continental Congress were Peyton Randolph and Samuel Huntington. 

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

How many #1 songs did George Michael have as a solo act in Great Britain? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!

The Daily Dose/June 10, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

Leading off remains in timeout. It will return, though we are not sure when. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has to put the cat in timeout for the first time in a while. Today’s Diary. 

She was lying on my back when I rustled at 2230 to use the can and she thought Daddy was up for good and started running the prospect of her morning canned yummy ration up the flagpole…Well, Daddy wasn’t up for good and went back to bed and while the cat knows better than to meow in the bedroom, she was standing post in the kitchen discussing matters and there was still more and good sleep to get, so Daddy shut the bedroom door. 

———

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
History’s long march.  

In 1776 – The Second Continental Congress appoints what History refers to as the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence from Great Britain, appointing John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingstone, Thomas Jefferson, and Roger Sherman. The committee had the good sense to leave most of the work to Jefferson and the Declaration was approved on July 4, two days after Congress declared independence from Great Britain, and remains one of mankind’s seminal works.

In 1956 – The Melbourne Summer Olympics begin with the equestrian competition in Stockholm, with 158 athletes from 29 nations competing. This was due to quarantine laws for horses in Australia that made holding the competition there impractical and the Melbourne Games would begin in full in November. Competition in Stockholm would conclude on the 17th and this remains the only time events at the same Olympiad have been held on different continents. 

In 1978 – The O’Jays are at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Soul Singles chart – for the third of five consecutive weeks with Used ta Be My Girl. The song also went #12 pop in Great Britain, peaked at #4 on the Hot 100, and was the seventh of eight #1 soul songs for the group. The song was written by the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

The last and most important freedom left to a man is the freedom to be his own master.
Ernst Weiss
Georg Letham Physician and Murderer

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Before Secretariat in 1973, the last horse to win the Triple Crown was Citation, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, in 1948.

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

Who were the two men who served as presidents of the Second Continental Congress? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!