The Daily Dose/Tuesday, May 30, 2023
The Daily Dose/May 30, 2023
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
Leading Off will return.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow attends the Memorial Day ceremony. Today’s Diary.
Yours truly carried the Space Force flag in the flag detail and, as usual, was slow and out of step, but what are you going to do???
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1958 – The remains of unknown servicemen from World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The first Unknown had been interred in the tomb in 1921 and is guarded constantly by soldiers for the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as the Old Guard. They stand watch in a uniform without insignia, so as to not outrank the Unknowns.
In 1953 – Maureen Connolly of the US defeats Doris Hart of the US 6-2, 6-4 to win the French Open. It was the first of two French Open titles for Connolly and her fifth of nine Grand Slam singles titles and was the only loss for Hart in the French Open final after two consecutive wins. Connolly had earlier won the Australian Open and would later win Wimbledon and the US Open, to become the first woman to win the Grand Slam in a calendar year.
In 2015 – Little Big Town is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then as now known as the Hot Country Single chart – for the fourth of 13 consecutive weeks with Girl Crush. It was the second of four #1 songs for the group and was their seventh of ten Top 10 hits. The song also peaked at #18 on the Hot 100 and was Billboard’s 2nd-biggest country song of the year and its 21st-biggest of the decade.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Not daring to put myself ahead of everybody/I can take the time to perfect my abilities.
Lao Tzu
Tao Che Ching, #67
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
The Rolling Stones’ first #1 song on the Hot 100 was (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, which spent four weeks at #1 in 1965.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Doris Hart was the first of three players, all women, to achieve what is known in tennis as the “boxed set”: winning every title at every major tournament over the course of a career…Who are the other two women to win singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles at all four major tennis tournaments? – Answer next time!
The Daily Dose/Monday, May 29, 2023
The Daily Dose/May 29, 2023
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
Editor’s Note: today’s item originally ran on Memorial Day 2020.
USA! USA! Today is Memorial Day. Now, between this and Veterans Day and Armed Forces Day, it can get confusing as to who to honor, so we will clarify it for you: Memorial Day honors those who have died fighting our country’s battles. So don’t bother thanking a living veteran today. Save that for Veterans Day. Armed Forces Day is the time to give those currently serving a pat on the back.
FunFact: One thing Memorial Day is not is a time to bicker about the worthiness of the wars we’ve fought. Save that for another time. Why our country called is not important today.
Dry, Technical Matter: Tracing the origins of Memorial Day is not easy, as over two dozen places claim to have held the first one and putting flowers on veteran’s graves predate the Civil War. It is almost interesting to note it did not become an official federal holiday until 1971. Memorial Day was long known as Decoration Day.
A Personal Note: We’ve gotten off pretty easy in our family. We’re veterans ourselves and we have relatives (father, brother, grandfather, 5x great-grandfather, uncles) who have served in Desert Storm, Vietnam, both world wars and even the Revolution and all came back. Not everyone is so lucky. Family members dealing with this find little comfort in knowing their loved one(s) died an honorable, heroic death. Veterans still deal with the horror of seeing comrades die in front of them and some still wonder why luck favored them and not their buddies.
The Bottom Line: So do something today in tribute to those who have died. It’s tough this year, of course, because the usual parades and cemetery ceremonies are being canceled. And you don’t have to fast or rend garments, either. If you can’t attend a ceremony, please consider putting a candle in a window or putting a flag up. Those who have died fighting our wars would appreciate that.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow gets ready for Monday. Today’s Diary.
The big thing we did was make sure our Legion uniform was ready for Monday’s ceremony at the cemetery because if we put it off until we head out the door for the hotel tonite we’d invariably forget something…
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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 1886 – Coca-Cola is advertised for the first time, with founder John Pemberton placing an advertisement in The Atlanta Journal. The beverage, invented by Pemberton, had first appeared in Atlanta a few weeks earlier and the ad was simple, advising readers that the drink was delicious, refreshing, and exhilarating, not to mention invigorating. While History has not passed down the cost of the ad, Coca-Cola today is one planet’s biggest advertisers, spending over $4 billion a year.
In 1997 – The Utah Jazz win the NBA’s Western Conference title for the first time, defeating the Houston Rockets 103-100 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Utah guard John Stockton’s had the game-winner with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Jazz had won the NBA’s Midwest Division and had beaten the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Jazz would lose the NBA Finals 4 games to 2 to the Chicago Bulls, a feat they would repeat the following season.
In 1971 – The Rolling Stones are #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two consecutive weeks with Brown Sugar. The song also went to #1 in Switzerland, Canada, and the Netherlands, peaked at #2 in Great Britain, and was Billboard’s 18th-biggest song of the year. The song was the sixth of their eight #1s and was their 13th of 23 Top 10 hits. Though credited to the songwriting team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the song was mainly written by Jagger.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
When everybody owns everything nobody will take care of anything.
Aristotle
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Billboard’s #1 song of 1983 was Every Breath You Take by The Police, which spent eight weeks at #1.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was the Rolling Stones’ first #1 song on the Hot 100? – Answer next time!
The Diary of a Nobody/Sunday, May 28, 2023
The Daily Dose/May 28, 2023
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
The Sunday Bottom 5
A ranking of some things.
1. US Government – Another debt ceiling bill snuck in just under the wire…Thanks guys for the latest partisan, fractured, and bickering imbroglio that gives the impression you would have trouble agreeing on a resolution saying the sun rises in the east…Who can blame you, though, because we keep electing you…Were we expecting anything different?
2. Iowa – Long-time state bravely rolls back child labor laws due to low unemployment, now letting kids to, among other things, work longer on school nights and serve booze in restaurants…Iowa Governor Kim “Clock In” Reynolds telling herself it’s OK by saying it will allow youngins to “develop their skills in the workforce,”
3. #USA! #USA! – The 3-hole staple…Twelve (12) more mass shootings – defined as shooting wounding or killing at least four (4) – since last Sunday…Sunday Bottom 5 pollsters “pretty sure” these will continue as long as we allow 2nd Amendment to remain license to hold any weapon mankind can produce and as long as our government and entertainment remain also remain violent.
4. Miami Heat/Boston Celtics – Lack of crystal ball prevents Sunday Bottom 5 pollsters – lousy prognosticators anyway – from healding either Celtic’s comeback for the ages or Heat’s greatest collapse ever, though they “strongly suspect” that either Celtics will finish it off or Heat will pull it off…Either way, rested Denver Nuggets will wipe floor with either of them.
5. Fake News – Click here to see what some wizards amongst us were actually believing this week…Runs occasionally when Sunday Bottom 5 pollsters can’t come up with sufficient material…Courtesy of the AP?
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
It’s Read Free Sunday (RFS) at The Diary.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow wonders what the deal is with the robins. Today’s Diary.
Recall they were in residence in their nest on the electric meter next to the kitchen door when we got back from vacation, and that usually indicates a stay of at least a month, but lately we haven’t seen either mom or dad around the nest…
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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 1934 – The Dionne Quintuplets are born in Callander, Ontario, the sixth through tenth of 13 children born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne. They were later made wards of the Crown, with the province of Ontario turning them into tourist attractions. The sisters would later become the first quintuplets to survive infancy, with all making it to adulthood, with two sisters, now 88, still living.
In 1995 – The Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers establish a new major league record for most home runs in a game in a 14-12 White Sox win. The teams combined for twelve home runs, seven by the Tigers, and research into whose record they broke was inconclusive. The two teams would tie the record in 2002 and the all-time major league record is 13, by the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019.
In 1983 – Irene Cara is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of six consecutive weeks with Flashdance…What a Feeling. It remains the only #1 song for Cara and was her third of six Top 40 hits and her second of three Top 10s. The song went to #1 in 13 other countries, including Japan, Norway, and Portugal, peaked at #2 in Great Britain, was Billboard’s 3rd-biggest song of the year, and its 6th-biggest of the 1980s. The song was written by Cara, Keith Forsey, and Giorgio Moroder.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
She does not strive and is therefore successful/It is exactly because she does not contend, that nobody can contend with her.
Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching, #22
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Besides Rick Mears, the other drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 four times are A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Helio Castroneves.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was Billboard’s #1 song for 1983? – Answer next time!
The Diary of a Nobody/May 27
It’s Read Free Sunday (RFS) at The Diary. Enjoy.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Saturday, May 27
Recall last week Assistant Front Desk Manager Q anticipated tonite was going to be a monster, with him scheduled to work the last half by himself, but his fear turned out to be unfounded…The parking lot was not particularly full and Q did not appear to be particularly flustered at the front desk and it would turn out the hotel was only two-thirds full…The monster nite is going to be tonite, with 68 arrivals…Q’s scheduled again, until 2100, with Chris going the distance until 2300.
The Daily Dose/Saturday, May 27, 2023
The Daily Dose/May 27, 2023
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
Leading Off is on hiatus while we work on a project.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – The acoustics in the new county building continue to make every chat sound like armageddon.
…and it was loud enuff so that not for the first time ol’ Sparrow was obliged to turn up the volume on whatever crap he was watching.
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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 1930 – The Chrysler Building in New York City opens, the tallest building in the world at 1,046 feet. Located at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 43rd Street on the east side of Manhattan, it would be the tallest building in the world for eleven months, eclipsed by the Empire State Building the following May 1. The record is now held by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, at 2,717 feet.
In 1979 – Rick Mears wins the Indianapolis 500, taking the lead for good with 18 laps remaining and beating A.J. Foyt and Mike Mosely. The race was shrouded in some controversy, including problems with qualifying and equipment, plus a squabble between sanctioning bodies USAC and CART. It was the first of a record-tying four Indy titles for Mears, who was the first winner born after World War II.
In 1967 – The Young Rascals are at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second and final consecutive week with Groovin’. The song also went to #1 in Canada, peaked at #8 in Great Britain, at #3 on Billboard’s soul chart, and was Billboard’s 9th-biggest song of the year. It was the fourth of 13 Top 40 hits for the group, their third of seven Top 10 hits and their second of three #1s. Later in the year, an instrumental version by Booker T. and the M.G.s peaked at #21 on the Hot 100 and at #10 on the soul chart.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
No man ever followed his genius till it misled him.
Henry David Thoreau
Walden
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Madonna has not had a #1 song on Billboard’s soul chart. Her biggest soul hit has been Like a Virgin, which went to #9 in 1985.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Who are the other drivers that have won the Indianapolis 500 four times? – Answer next time!
The Daily Dose/Thursday, May 26, 2023
The Daily Dose/May 26, 2023
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
Bonus project work continues. So does The Daily Dose’s hiatus.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow switches protein powders. Today’s Diary.
Recall we had been using a plant-based protein powder, mainly because it was sugar-free…The problem tho, was it didn’t mix very well and there was always some powder – and a good amount of it – left at the bottom…Plus, since it was sugar-free – it tasted like poured concrete…
———
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 1896 – The first of what would become the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is published by Charles Dow. The index consisted of twelve components, the last of which, General Electric, left the index in 2018. Dow’s first listing of stock averages had been promulgated in 1884, an average of what is now known as the Dow Jones Transporation Average. Today the DJIA has 30 components.
In 1923 – The first 24 Hours of Le Mans begins in northern France. The race was run on public roads and in no small amount of rain, with Andre Legache and Rene Leonard the winning drivers, completing 118 laps. The winningest driver is Ton Kristensen of Denmark with nine wins and Porsche is the winningest manufacturer with 19 wins. The race is officially known as the 24 Hours Gran Prix of Endurance and the next one will be run in June.
In 1990 – Madonna is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second of three consecutive weeks with Vogue. It was the 21st of 49 Top 40 hits for Madonna, her 19th of 38 Top 10 hits, and her 8th of twelve #1s. The song also went to #1 in twelve other countries, including Greece, Norway, and Great Britain, peaked at #16 on Billboard’s soul chart, and was Billboard’s 5th-biggest song of the year.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
No man’s knowledge here can go beyond his experience.
John Locke
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
The Beatles’ version of Kansas City peaked at #75 on the Cash Box pop chart – long a chronicler of American music – in December 1965.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
How many #1 songs has Madonna had on Billboard’s soul chart? – Answer next time!