The Daily Dose/August 11, 2018
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Let’s dive right in, shall we:
From The Mail Bag
We got some feedback on a couple of items we ran yesterday. The first concerned our lead item about NFL anthem protests and how perhaps the NFL should consider not playing the national anthem before their games. We noted how this would be both an easy and difficult decision. One reader wondered how it would be difficult. It would, after all, solve the anthem protest problem immediately and for good. No anthems, no protests. Easy.
Well, The Star-Spangled Banner has been played before sporting events for about a hundred years and that is a lot of tradition to buck. It would cut so against our American grain that it might end up doing the NFL more harm than good, though we tend to doubt that.
Also yesterday we noted that Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, both Puerto Rican, do not qualify as a foreign act for the purposes of the Billboard charts. They are American citizens after all. The reader made the point that Puerto Rico, while certainly part of the United States, also fielded their own athletic teams in international competition and Fonsi and Daddy Yankee are, indeed, foreign acts. Besides, their song is in Spanish.
Yes, you make a good point, and we considered that. However, the point about them being American citizens trumps any other point: an American citizen cannot be a foreign act on an American music chart. If you disagree with this, get your own column.
Today At The Site
Sparrow is in a much better mood on today’s edition of The Diary of a Nobody. Freshly rested, he triumphantly whiles away the morning before reporting for his shift at the retailer, where both a messy restaurant worker and yapping older lady amuse him.
Today’s Thought for the Day is from a book we read many years ago called The Super Sleuths by American writers Bruce Henderson and the late Sam Summerlin, writers of some note that readers may recognize. They talk about shining amid the brightness.
On This Date
In 1934 – Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary receives its first prisoners. Prior to being a federal prison, Alcatraz had been a military prison in World War I and had even held POWs during the Civil War. Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary would remain open for 29 years, with Alvin “Creepy” Karpis serving the most time, 26 years.
In 1907 – Ed Karger of the St Louis Cardinals pitches a perfect game against the Boston Doves, later known as the Braves, winning 4-0. The game was the second game of a doubleheader and went seven innings by prior agreement, a common practice at the time. In fact, the two other National League doubleheaders that day were also scheduled for seven innings. Despite this, Karger is not credited with an official perfect game. The plate umpire for the game was Karger’s teammate Fred Beebe and the base umpire was Boston Doves pitcher Irv Young, who were pressed into service when Bob Emslie, who worked the first game alone, left for the day.
In 1984 – Ghostbusters by Ray Parker, Jr is #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of three weeks. The song would also go to #1 in Spain, South Africa, Belguim, France and Canada, was Billboard’s 9th biggest song of 1984 and remains Parker’s only #1 song in America. His first hit, The Other Woman, went to #1 in Australia and #4 in the US.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men is the other song to spend 16 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Today’s Stumper
Of the 36 men who tried to escape from Alcatraz, how many were never found? – Answer next time!
Shameless Plugs
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: A Vegas Memoir!: Clock in with the graveyard crew at the Monte Carlo Security Department on the glamorous Las Vegas Strip. You’ll meet drunks, reprobates and scoundrels, and those are just the officers! The funniest Vegas memoir ever! Promise!
The Regular Guys: Meet Lenny and Larry, two comedians who team up more or less out of desperation and become the biggest in show business. As funny as you would expect from Gaylon, and poignant, too.
Click here to read previews of both!
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