The Daily Dose/August 26, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy

Leading Off
Leading Off is taking the week off. 

Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: It’s Sunday Spaghetti Nite (SSN) at The Shire. Today’s Diary. 

Wrong-o…We had exactly half a jar of parmesan cheese, sufficient, perhaps, for a normal spaghetti dinner for two, but only enuff if The Wife severely rations the amount she uses and, of course, a growing boy like yours truly has his Parmesan cheese needs, too…We barely subsisted…Fortunately, Sparrow’s Secret Blend (SSB) of Italian sausages for my famous chunks – not meatballs, chunks – for my famous sauce were extra-good and saved the day, but lesson learned for next time: always buy Parmesan cheese. 

It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.

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On This Date
In 1542 – An expedition led by Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana completes the first recorded navigation of the Amazon River, a journey that had begun on the Napo River in northeast Ecuador. Orellana then returned to Spain, eventually returning to the Amazon with a commission to found cities and rule the area. The mission was marked by intrigue and disease and Orellana would die of illness in November 1546. The 44 survivors of his mission were later rescued by a Spanish ship and settled throughout Central and South America.

In 1912 – Owen “Chief” Wilson of the Pittsburgh Pirates ties and then establishes a new major league record for triples in a season, hitting his 30th, 31st and 32nd triples as the Pirates split a doubleheader with the Boston Braves. Wilson broke the record of 31 that had been held by Dave Orr (1886, New York Metropolitans, American Association) and Heinie Reitz (1894, Baltimore Orioles, National League). Wilson would finish the season with 36 triples, a record that still stands.

In 1972 – Looking Glass is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for their only week, as Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) moves up from #2. The song also went to #1 in Canada, peaked at #7 on Billboard’s Easy Listenting chart – now known as the Adult Contemporary chart – and was Billboard’s 12th biggest song of the year. Only a #33 hit the following year, Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne, prevented Looking Glass from being a one-hit wonder.

Quotebook
I confess now in my old age that to hear and to listen are two different things.
Gore Vidal
Creation

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Trent Grimsey of Australia is current record holder for swimming the English Channel with a time of 6 hours, 55 minutes, accomplished in 2012.

Today’s Stumper
Which major league player has hit the most triples in a season since 1950? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/August 25, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy

The Sunday Bottom Ten
The very best of the very worst of the week that was: 

1. President Trump, King Of The Jews – Instigator-in-Chief tells Jews who don’t vote for him they possess “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty”…Hardly the first time Jews have been accused of being disloyal, with some pointing out this has sometimes led to their wholesale slaughter. 
2. Fake News – From the Amazon to Instagram to North Dakota, click here for recap of stuff that really didn’t happen…Sunday Bottom 5 pollsters “pretty sure” they can remember time when Americans didn’t believe stuff like this. 
3. USA Basketball – 78-game international winning streak has gone down under, as Americans lose to dreaded Australia in tune-up game for basketball World Cup tournament…Fans, though, take heart in fact roster of Americans who chose not to play in tournament could have named the score against any team in tournament. 
4. MLB Uniforms– All black visitor uniforms, all white home uniforms great for color-blind fans, difficult for fans who like seeing things like logos, names and numbers…Still though, if it helps distract us from home run derby game has become, we’ll take it. 
5. President Trump Fact Check – Click here for latest misinformation from president who will say whatever’s required to draw as much attention as possible to himself.

Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: The Wife makes trout salad. Today’s Diary. 

With plenty of trout leftover from Thursday, The Wife made trout salad tonight…It was kind of funny…She was sitting at the kitchen table when I got home from workout and had the trout mostly fileted and had some lemon, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and celery out but nonetheless declared she had no idea what she was doing. 

Good…The Wife has enormous kitchen skills and every time she says this she produces something wonderful and it was no different this time…Even she herself admitted it was “really good”, which it was and offhand I’m calling it Trout Salad of the Year. 

It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.

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On This Date
In 1944 – Paris is liberated from Nazi control, as German commander Dietrich von Choltitz surrenders to Allied personnel, despite orders from Adolf Hitler that Paris not be surrendered until it was “lying in complete debris”. Liberation followed a six-day battle that had begun with the French resistance and had seen assorted French elements enter the city the day before. Paris had been ruled by the Nazis since June 1940.

In 1875 – Matthew Webb, an English mariner, becomes the first person to swim the English Channel unaided. Smeared in porpoise oil and accompanied by three boats, Webb made the crossing in roughly 21 hours and 40 minutes. Though the distance from Dover, England to Calais, France is only a bit more that 25 miles as the crow flies, It’s estimated that Webb swam about 41 miles. Webb died in 1883 while attempting to swim rapids located near Niagara Falls.

In 2019 – Old Town Road by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus is in its record-extending 20th week at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – currently known as the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. After an equally record-breaking 19 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song dropped to #3 this week, replaced at #1 by Bad Guy by Billy Eilish, which had spent nine of the past eleven weeks at #2. Old Town Road has gone to #1 on pop charts in 13 other countries, including Great Britain, China and Hungary.

Quotebook
Whoever would make himself a distinctive individual must be keen to perceive what he is not.
Friedrich Schleiermacher

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The songs besides People Got to Be Free by the Rascals that spent at least five weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 were: Love is Blue (Paul Mauriat, five weeks), Honey by Bobby Goldsboro (five weeks), I Heard it Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye (seven weeks, Dec. 1968-Jan. 1979) and Hey Jude by the Beatles (nine weeks)

Today’s Stumper
Who currently holds the record for the fastest swim of the English Channel? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/August 22, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy

Leading Off
Leading Off will return.

Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody:  Devani’s rise to world domination begins at the hotel. Today’s Diary. 

It’s all but official that Devani is going to be the new assistant front desk manager…She relieved me this morning and we talked about it and while nobody’s said anything official she did say GM Barbara noted that they should “start getting her ready” which seems pretty official to me…I then, rather solemnly, made the sign of the cross with a grace that would have impressed the archbishop of Canterbury, followed by baptismal motions. 

It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.

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On This Date
In 1953 – One history’s most notorious prisons, Devil’s Island in French Guiana on the northeastern coast of South America, closes for good. The French had stopped sending prisoners there in 1938 and the remaining convicts were allowed to return to France, though some elected to stay behind. Over the years, over 80,000 prisoners served sentences at Devil’s Island, most of which never left. Many died due to the harsh treatment and or diseases caused by limited sanitation and by mosquitos. Devil’s Island had opened in 1852. 

In 1851 – The yacht America, representing the New York Yacht Club, wins the first America’s Cup. The competition was held in one day, a race between 15 boats around the Isle of Wight, off the coast of southern England. The race covered 53 nautical miles (a nautical mile is about 2,000 yards) and America won in 10 hours and 34 minutes, 18 minutes ahead of runner-up Aurora. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron won the last America’s Cup in 2017 in Bermuda and is scheduled to defend it in 2021. 

I964 – The Supremes are at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of two consecutive weeks with Where Did Our Love Go. It was the first #1 song for the Supremes and the first of five consecutive #1s, a record then held with Elvis Presley, eventually broken by the Beatles (6) and now held by Whitney Houston (7). The Supremes would finish with 12 #1 songs, then a total that trailed only the Beatles and Elvis. The song also went to #1 in Canada, peaked at #3 in Great Britain and was Billboard’s tenth biggest song of the year. 

Quotebook
The tragedy of life is not that man loses, but that he almost wins.
Heywood Braun

Answer To The Last Trivia Questions
The Bee Gees last #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 was Love You Inside and Out which spent one week at the top in 1979.

Today’s Stumper
What position did Where Did Our Love Go peak at on Billboard’s soul chart? – Answer next time!

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