The Daily Dose/October 7, 2021
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 make a change to his Thanksgiving vacation plans. Today’s Diary. 

A lady with an English accent answers, her tone filled with glee at the prospect of helping me, one hell of a customer service technique…She asks for my name and trip number and in short order she has my itinerary in front of her…She’s obviously reviewing it and then notes everything appeared to be in order “this end” and what, pray tell, did I need help with???…With typical English aplomb, she was making everything sound like a Francis Bacon quote. 

Well, with typical Sparrow grace I informed her yours truly was in possession of an email from Frontier advising the flight from the big city to Louisville had been canceled and what options did I have???…The lady tapped some keys and then apologized profusely and said that Priceline had yet to be notified of the cancelation…I could cancel the entire trip and rebook, but, oh pish, dreaded fees would be involved and how about I call Frontier directly and see what could be done, perhaps a frightful mess could be avoided. 

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On This Date
The long march to today. 

In 1959 – The Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 becomes the first spacecraft to return pictures of the far side of the moon, taking 29 pictures in about 40 minutes. The film was developed on board and converted to an electric signal and sent to Earth by a process similar to a fax. The camera was fixed on the spacecraft, meaning Luna 2 had to be maneuvered to get the camera into the desired position. Luna 3 had been launched two days earlier and had a closest point of approach to the moon of 3,900 miles. 

In 1904 – Jack Chesbro of the New York Highlanders becomes the first pitcher in modern major league history to finish a season with at least 40 wins in a 3-2 win over the Boston Americans. Chesbro pitched a complete for his 41st victory of the season and had broken Cy Young’s modern major league record of 33 wins in 1901 on Sept 14. The all-time major league record for wins in a season is 60, by Hoss Radburn of the Providence Grays (National League) in 1884. 

In 1978 – Boston is at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for the second and final non-consecutive week with Don’t Look Back. It was the first of two #1 albums for the group and the song yielded three chart singles, including the title track which peaked at #4 on the Hot 100, and Don’t Look Back was Billboard’s second-biggest album of the year. The album marked the beginning of a long legal fight between Boston and Epic Records resulting in an 8-year gap until their next album, a fight ultimately won by the group. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever. 

…how coolly, in disregard of all one’s feeling, does the hard, cold, uninteresting course of daily realities move on…the cold mechanical habit of living remaining, after all vital interest in it has fled.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Hey Jude by the Beatles last appeared on the British singles chart in 2010, peaking at #40. Its last appearance on a Billboard chart was in 2019 when it peaked at #16 on the Hot Rock and Alternative Tracks chart.  

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

Who is the only other major league pitcher to win at least 40 games in a season since 1900? – Answer next time!  

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The Daily Dose/October 6, 2021
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy™

Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience. 

Leading Off will return. Promise.

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow pretends to offer guidance to the new guy, Chris. Today’s Diary. 

Chris also needed some help in how to handle a payout from one of the drawers…It seems a guest lost $1.50 in a vending machine, so Chris refunded the money…I asked if he’d filled out a petty cash slip and he said yeah and noted the Post-It Note he’d put in the logbook…I asked to see the petty cash slip itself and he retrieved it from the drawer and it said “vending ate $” which seemed to summarize the matter nicely and I made the sign of the cross and said he did well.

The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 6 – It’s the Jaguars, Lions and everyone else in the NFL Bottom Ten this week, as the race for The Dan Henning Trophy – symbolic of NFL Bottom Ten supremacy – rolls on. 

Lions announce they are all in for yet another B-10 title run, breaking out to 21-0 deficit before coasting rest of the way in impressive loss to almost as lousy Bears…

Texans prove old NFL adage that on any given Sunday any AFC South team can get blown out on the road, earning Close But No Cigar Award as NFL’s worst victoried team…

Bengals unlikely to shed worst-team-never-to-win-B-10-title label this year, but overload of strength of schedule points for last-second win over lousy Jaguars enough to propel Bengals into survey…

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

———

On This Date
The long march to today. 

In 1981 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated at a military parade by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. The killing occurred when members of the assassination team exited a tank that was in front of a reviewing stand, which Sadat thought was part of the program, though the ensuing hand grenade tossing and gunfire were not. Ten others were killed and 28 were wounded, with the assassins later arrested, tried and convicted. They were executed in April of the following year.  

In 1882 – The Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American Association defeat the Chicago White Stockings – now the Cubs – of the National League 4-0 at the Bank Street Grounds in Cincinnati, the first postseason game played by major league pennant winners. The second and final game of the exhibition series was played the following day, a 2-0 Chicago win. The Red Stockings became the Reds in 1884 and joined the National League in 1890. 

In 1968 – The Beatles are at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second of nine consecutive weeks with Hey Jude. The song went to #1 in 14 other countries including Norway and Great Britain, was Billboard’s #1 song of the year, second-biggest of the decade and ranked twelfth on their 60th Anniversary Hot 100 in 2018. It was the 20th and final #1 song for the group, a Hot 100 record that still stands. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever. 

Lead the ideas of your time and they will accompany and support you; fall behind them and they drag you along with them; oppose them and they will overwhelm you.
Napoleon

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The World Series was scheduled for the best-of-nine games in 1903 and 1919-21. 

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

When was the last time Hey Jude appeared on the British charts and on a Billboard chart? – Answer next time!  

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The Daily Dose/October 5, 2021
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 is a slave to fashion. Today’s Diary. 

And, get this, I bought yet another one of those suh-weet quarter-zip pullovers…I am not making that up, this time rolling the green one, to complement the brick red and the blue one purchased recently…These are the perfect additions to the Sparrow Winter Collection (SWC), warm enuff to be a useful layer, but light enuff to be worn on their own when it’s only cool and these puppies will be in heavy rotation until Memorial Day.

The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 6 – The race for the ESPNCup continues.

Minutemen shut out until 4th-quarter TD against interns from Akron’s Rubber Studies Institute filling in on final few drives…

A Lutheran school, coaching staff thinking of replacing stern verbal warnings with old Catholic trick of selling indulgences to overlook turnovers, missed blocks.

This Week’s Clash of the Titans:UConn at UMess
Eastern Seaboard Thriller of the Week: UConn at UMess
Up Next On ESPN273,984: UConn at UMess
StubHub Game of the Week:UConn at UMess

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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
The long march to today. 

In 2011 – Two Chinese ships carrying large amounts of amphetamines are hijacked on the Mekong River on the Laos/Thailand border. The hijackers killed all 13 crew members, dumping the bodies in the river. 15 arrests were made by Thai and Chinese authorities. Eight suspects simply disappeared while four others were convicted and executed on March 1, 2013, and two others were convicted and reprieved from their death sentences. History refers to the incident at the Mekong River Massacre. 

In 1921 – The World Series is broadcast on radio for the first time, as the New York Yankees defeated the New York Giants 3-0 in Game 1 at the Polo Grounds. Grantland Rice, then the sports editor at the New York Tribune was the announcer for live coverage on KDKA, Pittsburgh, while WBZ in Springfield, Massachusetts and WJZ, Newark provided a recreation announced by Thomas Cowan. The entire series was played at the Polo Grounds and the Giants won the series 5 games to 3.

In 1959 – The Coasters are at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot R&B Sides chart – for the first of four non-consecutive weeks with Poison Ivy. It was the fourth and final #1 soul song for the group and their sixth and final Top 10 soul hit. The song also peaked at #15 in Great Britain and at #7 on Billboard’s Hot 100. It was the sixth soul #1 song written by the duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also wrote, among other songs, Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock and Stand by Me.

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever. 

Nature is indifferent to good and bad, virtue and vice, and lets the sun shine indiscriminately upon knaves and saints…there is no need to control instinct and passion, for these are the instructions of nature to men.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol I: Our Oriental Heritage

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

David Bowie’s biggest hit in Great Britain was Ashes to Ashes, which spent two weeks at #1 in 1980. The song peaked at #1 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under the Hot  100 chart and at #21 on their disco chart. 

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

In what years was the World Series scheduled for the best-of-nine games? – Answer next time!  

Share Gaylon! Go!

The Daily Dose/October 4, 2021
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 – At the hotel, Sparrow feeds a captive bug. Today’s Diary. 

…ol’ Sparrow started feeling guilty because it didn’t have food or water…So I got an oat from an oatmeal packet and put it in there but was less successful measuring out water and almost drowned the poor thing…I managed to drain some of it out, tho and the bug was left with an oat and a drop of water, probably a veritable feast when you’re that small…Occasional spot checks throughout the nite showed the bug was likely to remain alive until someone flushed it down the toilet.  

———

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
The long march to today. 

In 1957 – America collectively craps its pants when the Soviet Union becomes the first nation to send an artificial satellite into Earth orbit, when Sputnik I is launched from what is now southern Kazakhstan. A sphere 23 inches in diameter, it’s reflection was visible from Earth and amateur radio operators were able to pick up it’s radio pulses. Sputnik would remain active until its batteries ran out later in the month and would reenter Earth’s atmosphere on January 4, burning up after orbiting Earth 1,440 times. 

In 1873 – The Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) are formed when the Argonaut Rowing Club forms a football/rugby team to stay in shape during the offseason. They would play their first game on the 18th, a victory over Hamilton, and over the years the Argonauts have won 17 Grey Cups, most recently in 2017, and remain the oldest professional team in North America still using their original name. 

In 1975 – David Bowie is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second and final non-consecutive week with Fame. It was the third of 14 Top 40 hits for Bowie, his first of six Top 10 hits and was his first of two #1 songs (Let’s Dance, one week, 1983). The song also peaked at #17 in Great Britain, at #21 on Billboard’s soul chart and was their 7th-biggest song of the year. Bowie wrote the song with Carlos Alomar and John Lennon. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever. 

Everyone has it within his power to say, this I am today, that I shall be tomorrow.
Louis L’Amour
The Walking Drum

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The first American League pitcher to hit a home run in interleague play was Bobby Witt of the Texas Rangers, against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 30, 1997. 

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

What was David Bowie’s biggest hit in Great Britain? – Answer next time!  

Share Gaylon! Go!