Here’s the truth of the matter: I was away last weekend, overbooked. (Will explain, eventually.) I’ve been exhausted much of the week, rather ticked by something else, and it’s difficult to write. I’ve created ONE blog post for this site this week (the one about the possible Olympic boycott in 2014).
Since I write ahead, it wasn’t an IMMEDIATE problem, but eventually, it would be. At the same time, I hit on a whole bunch of linkage, enough (as of August 9, as I write this) for a whole post, with three weeks to (I hope) find more linking goodness for the end of the month. So consider this my summer vacation/”it’s my blog and I’ll cheat if I want” post.
The Mark Evanier News from ME section, in honor of him being named by TIME magazine, as one of the 25 Best Bloggers of 2013:
While I am very fond of his stories about his parents individually, I love Tales of My Mother and My Father #1. “My parents met in Hartford, Connecticut in the mid-forties. They dated for a time but there was enormous pressure for them to not do this. My father, you see, was Jewish. My mother, you see, was Catholic.”
I remember reading the comic strip Rick O’Shea, created by Stan Lynde who died at the age of 82. Wasn’t in a big circulation newspaper, either.
Jim Henson’s local (DC) show called Sam and Friends in which a Kermit prototype and other Muppets perform to Stan Freberg’s record of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”
Mark gets a residual check..
Why good copy editors are ‘abnormal’ humans.
My US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) visits ‘The Daily Show,’ gets perhaps more than she bargained for. I like her, voted for her at least twice. But John Oliver does a great job, asking tough questions in this interview.
You’ll learn a lot from Arthur about James Baldwin, who would have been 89 this month. And Ken Levine learned from Tony Bennett, who just turned 87.
The absurdity of standardized testing; several posts at this site.
Chuck Miller again dubbed a post of mine on his Best of our TU Community Blogs for August 8, 2013: End the blood donation ban on gay men. I liked his piece on Calvin and Hobbes. I usually enjoy his regular K-Chuck Radio series; for this one, featuring a surprisingly raunchy song from the 1940s, and a cover version of Que Sera, Sera that sounds like La Bamba.
Melanie is dealing with her blind spots, in more ways than one.
Is Kindness a Weakness? (No!)
Confession: I’ve never learned to drink coffee, or to make it. I blame these guys.
Daniel Nester’s Notes on record stores and his first girlfriend.
Sounds Just Like suggests that one popular song sounds just like another one.
Neil Innes on The Rutles, ‘working’ with Lennon & McCartney and being impersonated by Elvis!
Gus “Cosmo” Allegretti, who created Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose on ‘Captain Kangaroo’, died at 86. He also operated Grandfather Clock and Dancing Bear. I watched his work a LOT in my childhood.
How to fold a shirt in 2 seconds.
Me Want It (But Me Wait) by Cookie Monster.
You may have seen Your Morning Jam: The Roots Do ‘Blurred Lines’ With Kiddie Instruments, with Robin Thicke and Jimmy Fallon.
