I think we could all use some humour today, so … you know where I head when I need a laugh or two, right? And as always, Debby and Sally have filled the bill and made me laugh! Thank you, ladies! We all appreciate you more than we can say!
Firstly, some funnies foraged from the web from Debby Gies – D.G. Writes is where you will find an archive full of wonderful posts across several subjects including writing tips, social issues and book reviews.
Today is June 6th. I often don’t even think to look at the local news, so caught up am I in the national politics, global events, and happenings of the day, but every so often … a couple of times a week … I hop onto the local news site to see what’s happening near me. Last night, just before going to bed, I decided to check in on the local news and this is what I found. The following comprised the majority of the non-sports-related headlines for the first five days in the month of June:
As city leaders evaluate budget, residents air concerns over 29 shootings in 10 days(05 June)
CPD: Officers shot at during three separate incidents over weekend(05 June)
CPD: Man arrested after holding wife hostage, shooting at PD in East Price Hill(04 June)
PD: 14-year-old charged with multiple felonies after firing shots at officer(04 June)
Deputies: Man shot victim with pistol that fired shotgun shells in Sycamore Twp.(04 June)
Shooting anxiety rises after 25 shot in eight days in Cincinnati(04 June)
Coroner releases ID of East Price Hill shooting victim, suspect charged(03 June)
Police: 7-year-old girl shot in North Avondale(03 June)
CPD: 3 people shot in Spring Grove Village; all are expected to survive(03 June)
CPD: 1 in critical condition after shooting in East Price Hill(03 June)
‘He wasn’t even writing a ticket’: Parking enforcement agent shot at(02 June)
CPD: 21-year-old shot while driving in Westwood(02 June)
Police: 2 men shot in West End(02 June)
Residents, city leaders react after shooting that hurt 4, including 10-year-old(01 June)
Do you see a trend here? One city … one fairly average city in midwestern USA … 29 shootings in 10 days … an average of 3 per day.
Yesterday, when I played a song by Barry Manilow for my friend Carolyn, a couple of people, including Carolyn herself, mentioned Billy Joel and I started thinking that it’s been a while since I’ve played a Billy Joel song. Turns out, I’ve already played four of his this year, and we’re not even halfway through the year! Still, by that time, I had Billy Joel on my mind, so I decided to play this one that I haven’t played since back in 2019! I like the rhythm, like the video, like most everything about it and I hope you will, too!
Released in 1983, Uptown Girl was conceived on an occasion when he was surrounded by Christie Brinkley, Whitney Houston and his then girlfriend Elle Macpherson.
“The song was originally called ‘Uptown Girls’ not ‘Uptown Girl.’ I know its associated with Christie but when I started to write that song I had recently divorced prior to meeting her, all of the sudden I’m a rock star and divorced. All these women were going to go out with me.”
He married supermodel Christie Brinkley less than two years after this song was released, but he wasn’t even dating her when he started writing the song. Joel also said that the song was inspired by the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. He and Christie divorced after just nine years.
This charted at #1 in Canada, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, and #3 in the U.S.
Uptown Girl Billy Joel
Uptown girl
She’s been living in her uptown world
I bet she’s never had a backstreet guy
I bet her mama never told her why
I’m gonna try for an uptown girl
She’s been living in her white bread world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she’s looking for a downtown man
That’s what I am
And when she knows
What she wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind
She’ll see I’m not so tough
Just because
I’m in love with an uptown girl
You know I’ve seen her in her uptown world
She’s getting tired of her high class toys
And all her presents from her uptown boys
She’s got a choice
Uptown girl
You know I can’t afford to buy her pearls
But maybe someday when my ship comes in
She’ll understand what kind of guy I’ve been
And then I’ll win
And when she’s walking
She’s looking so fine
And when she’s talking
She’ll say that she’s mine
She’ll say I’m not so tough
Just because
I’m in love
With an uptown girl
She’s been living in her white bread world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she’s looking for a downtown man
That’s what I am
Uptown girl
She’s my uptown girl
You know I’m in love
With an uptown girl
My uptown girl
You know I’m in love
With an uptown girl
My uptown girl
You know I’m in love
With an uptown girl
My uptown girl
You know I’m in love
With an uptown girl
Things creep up on us, often unnoticed. For instance, we age but it happens so gradually that we don’t really notice until one day when we look in the mirror and wonder who that ol’ hag is and how she got in here. Winter turns to spring and spring turns to summer while we gain 1-2 minutes of daylight each day, but we don’t really notice it on a day-to-day basis … just one day we realize that we’re not turning the lights on until 9:00! How did that happen? Other things can creep up on us too, often without us really noticing. Blogging friend Ten Bears has written a post … mostly an excerpt from a book I read several years ago … that I really, really hope you will take a few minutes to read (the post, not necessarily the book, though I highly recommend it, too!) because every word is so spot on, so thought-provoking, and so very relevant to where we are today here in the U.S. Here is a short excerpt, but please … his post is short, just over 500 words … do take the time to read it all.
Milton Mayer writes in his book They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-1945 not overnight, incrementally, like the legendary slow boiling of frogs.
“You see,” my colleague went on, “one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone; you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble.’ Why not?—Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.
Monday afternoon seems like just about as good a time as any for a bit of political humour, don’t you think? I’ve been collecting political cartoons for the past week or so and it’s time to clean out the file and share some of them! Mind you that you have to consider the broader definition of the word “humour” here, for it’s a darker humour than, say, a Pickles cartoon or Charlie Brown & Snoopy, but the political cartoonists have an innate understanding of what is happening in our world, and the talent to reduce a situation into a single image.
Look closely at the images in the letters on this one
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, Indiana law, abortion, 10-year old, rape victim, political cartoon
Putin, Lukashenko, nucleau weapons, Belarus, Russia, Ukrains Warm, political cartoon
Well, it seems my two co-directors cannot agree about Barry Manilow. One of them, Carolyn, suggested Manilow’s I Write the Songs, while the other, Clive, threatened to sick up if he had to listen to Manilow. And then my friend Ryinger ringed in and suggested Copacabana! So much to consider, yes? So, I considered all viewpoints, listened to Copacabana … a song I’ve always liked, but never really bothered to listen and contemplate the lyrics & meaning before. I opted out of that one, and then reviewed Manilow’s record in the UK … not a very impressive set of charts for him, I must admit. And after much pondering and listening to a variety of Manilow’s songs, I settled on the one Carolyn originally suggested! Why? Well, I’m not gonna please Clive, nor likely any of my UK friends, with ANY Manilow song, so I might as well play what I want, and frankly, I Write the Songs is one of my top favourites of Barry Manilow’s music. And so, that’s my reason/excuse for tonight’s song! Now if somebody would get Clive a bag …
According to SongFacts …
This was written by Bruce Johnston, who is a member of The Beach Boys. The song is sometimes erroneously rumored to be about Brian Wilson. Johnston cleared this up when he told us: “The Captain & Tennille were the first artists to record my song ‘I Write The Songs.’ I never wrote ‘I Write The Songs’ about Brian Wilson. I wrote it about ‘where music comes from’ (for me, music comes only from God). My song has nothing to do with Brian! I admire Brian Wilson’s great melodies and, as a member of the Beach Boys, I’m singing these fantastic songs in concert year after year.”
Teen heartthrob David Cassidy released a successful version that was a single in England and hit #11 on the UK charts. Clive Davis, who was in charge of Manilow’s record label, heard Cassidy’s version and had Manilow record it.
This won a Grammy for Song of the Year. The Beach Boys never won a Grammy – after winning this, Johnston became the only member of the group to get one until Brian Wilson’s “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow” was awarded Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2005.
From the liner notes of The Complete Collection And Then Some…: Manilow was originally reluctant to record this song, saying to Arista Records chief Clive Davis, “This ‘I Write The Songs’ thing Clive, I really don’t want to do it.” Manilow says his worry “was that the listeners would think I was singing about how I write the songs, when it was really about the inspiration of music. Clive understood, but didn’t think it would be a problem. ‘Besides,’ he told me, ‘You DO write songs!'”
Manilow says he was concerned about coming off as a gigantic egomaniac, but that he liked the song so much he decided to record it. He adds, “Whenever I heard the song in public, I felt the need to run to everyone who was listening and say, ‘You know, I’m really not singing about myself!'”
Interestingly, the David Cassidy version did make the UK charts at #11, but Manilow fell short there, not even charting in the UK and charting in the U.S. at #1 and in Canada at #3.
I Write the Songs
Barry Manilow
I’ve been alive forever
And I wrote the very first song
I put the words and the melodies together
I am music
And I write the songs
I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs
My home lies deep within you
And I’ve got my own place in your soul
Now when I look out through your eyes
I’m young again, even tho’ I’m very old
I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs
Oh, my music makes you dance and gives you spirit to take a chance
And I wrote some rock ‘n roll so you can move
Music fills your heart, well that’s a real fine place to start
It’s from me, it’s for you
It’s from you, it’s for me
It’s a worldwide symphony
I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs
I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs
Good morning, friends! How was your weekend? It was so hot here that I happily stayed in all weekend .. the temps were in the 90-degree range (F) with humidity of around 85% … not conducive to being able to breathe! In honour of the first Monday in Pride Month, Joyful has cooked up some very colourful goodies for us this morning, so let’s go see what’s on the buffet table, and then Jolly has some things to help us start the week with a smile …
I always think it’s fun to start with a few cute critter pictures, don’t you?
Jolly has been collecting some more of those funny signs you see now and then …
And now for our weekly selection of ‘toons!!!
And just a few funny memes we happened across …
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for … the funny animal video! I hope you like this one … it really made me laugh!
Well, friends … yep, it’s about that time again … time to pick up the briefcases, don the hard hats and head out to earn a living. Unless you’re lucky, like me, and already put in your 50 years or so and lived to tell about it! We’re glad you were able to join us this morning and we hope you have a safe and happy week ahead! And remember to share those smiles this week … there will be a basketful of smiles by the door in case you want to grab a few extras just in case! Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa, Jolly and Joyful!!!
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
No matter how many times I read this poem, written by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller, I never fail to be moved by the words. Niemöller penned this in 1946, at the end of WWII, the end of the Holocaust that took more than 6 million lives. It is engraved on a plaque at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts, and is known worldwide. The poem speaks volumes and should serve as a warning to people all around the world today.
I have shared this poem before, used it in different contexts, for it seems that “they” are always coming for someone. But today, the fourth day in Pride Month, I am especially moved to share it for it seems many people, groups, politicians, and religious leaders are coming for the LGBTQ community. Our friends, our neighbors, our family … are being vilified, even threatened with their very lives if they dare to be publicly proud of who they are.
In addition to coming for the LGBTQ community, “they” are coming for women, for people of colour, for Jewish people. Apparently in “their” eyes, the only people who have a right to be proud are white, Christian, straight males. The rest of us are the dirt beneath their feet. If we hide in our closets, wear camouflage in hopes of not being noticed, if we do not speak out against the atrocities being committed against the LGBTQ community and others, then perhaps we will be overlooked and allowed to exist. For now. Until someday …
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
I liked the Beach Boys okay when I was in my teen years but was more caught up in the Motown sound and to me the Beach Boys were … I dunno … too light, maybe? I worked full-time from the time I turned 13, so never had time to become a part of the beach crowd … that might have made a difference. That said, they did some songs that I loved, like Good Vibrations, Kokomo, Sloop John B, etc. Until last night, though, I don’t think I had ever heard of this song, Do It Again, although it did chart at #20 in the U.S. But, my team of directors, after a bit of discussion starting with Manilow, then Whitney, finally settled on this one for me to play today! 😊 Thanks, guys … despite my teasing, I do like it … you done good!
According to SongFacts …
Mike Love sang lead vocals and wrote the words for this celebratory track that takes a nostalgic look back at his days of sun and surfing. Love told us that the lyrics were inspired by a surfing safari with some of his old high school buddies, and were autobiographical. He explained: “I went to the beach with my friends and we went to the surfing spot down at a place called San Onofre, down near the Marine Corps base down south. And it was such a beautiful day and the waves were great. And then of course one of the great things about the beach is it attracts good looking girls. [Laughing].”
Love had the concept and most of the lyrics before Brian Wilson added the instrumentation. He recalled to us: “I came back and we sat down at Brian’s piano, and we banged that song out in maybe 15 minutes, something like that. I had the concept and the lyrics in mind, and he just got a good groove going on the piano.”
Love told us that it was the Beach Boys’ engineer at the time, Stephen Desper, who came up with “that really interesting” drum effect heard at the beginning of the track. Desper created it by blending the original sound with that of one drum strike being repeated four times. The engineer recalled: “I had commissioned Phillips, in Holland, to build two tape delay units for use on the road (to double live vocals). I moved four of the Phillips PB heads very close together so that one drum strike was repeated four times about 10 milliseconds apart, and blended it with the original to give the effect you hear. Everyone liked the sound and credited me with adding to the commercial success of the single. Whether or not that was true, I don’t know, but it put me in the engineering seat for many years.”
The song was originally entitled “Rendezvous.”
The song charted at #1 in the UK, #3 in Australia & The Netherlands, #10 in Canada, and #20 in the U.S.
Do It Again
Beach Boys
It’s automatic when I talk with old friends
The conversation turns to girls
We knew when their hair was soft and long
And the beach was the place to go
Suntanned bodies and waves of sunshine
The California girls and a beautiful coastline
Warmed up weather let’s get together
And do it again
With a girl the lonely sea looks good
Makes your nighttimes warm and out of sight
Been so long
Hey now
Hey now
Hey now
Well I’ve been thinking
‘Bout all the places we’ve surfed and danced
And all the faces we’ve missed
So let’s get back together and do it again
I’ve read and heard many a commentator say that they hope Trump wins the Republican nomination in 2024 because they believe he’s the candidate least likely to be able to beat President Biden. Hmmmmm … I wondered. I made the mistake in 2016 of underestimating the fools who would fall under Trump’s spell, and I’m trying hard not to make the same mistake again, but … with all Trump’s baggage — not the least of which is having the distinction of being the only president to be impeached twice — it does seem as if he would be the least likely Republican to pose a serious threat to Biden. And then I came across Frank Bruni’s column in the New York Times from Thursday and admittedly there are some things I haven’t been considering. Take a look … see if you agree with him …
Do not underestimate Trump’s chances — or the damage he’d do with a second term
By Frank Bruni
01 June 2023
Did we learn nothing from 2016?
That, you may recall, was when Donald Trump’s emergence as the Republican presidential nominee seemed like some cosmic joke. Some cosmic gift. Oh, how Democrats exulted and chortled.
Donald Trump?!?
Hillary Clinton could start working on her inauguration remarks early.
Or so many of us thought. We got “American carnage,” two impeachments and a deadly breach of the U.S. Capitol instead.
And yet some Democrats are again rejoicing at the prospect of Trump as his party’s pick. They reason that he was an unproven entity before but is a proven catastrophe now and that his troubles with the law, troubles with reality, egomania and megalomania make him an easier opponent for President Biden, who beat him once already, than Gov. Ron DeSantis, Senator Tim Scott or another Republican aspirant would be. Perhaps they’re right.
But if they’re wrong? The stakes of a second Trump term are much, much too high to wager on his weakness and hope for his nomination. The way I size up the situation, any Republican nominee has a decent shot at the presidency: There are enough Americans who faithfully vote Republican, lean Republican or are open to a Republican that under sufficiently favorable circumstances, the party’s candidate wins. And the circumstances in November 2024 are neither predictable nor controllable — just as they weren’t in November 2016. If Trump is in the running, Trump is in the running.
So I flinch at thoughts and remarks like those of Senator Debbie Stabenow, the Michigan Democrat, who told Politico in late April: “Trump’s obviously an extremely dangerous person who would be very dangerous for the country. But I’m confident that President Biden could beat him.” She added that “politically, for us, it’s helpful if former President Trump is front and center.” The headline on that article, by Burgess Everett and Sarah Ferris, was “Dems Relish Trump-Biden Rematch.”
The headlines on other reports that month: “Why a Trump-Biden Rematch Is What Many Democrats Want in 2024” (The Wall Street Journal) and “Trump or DeSantis? Democrats Aren’t Sure Who They’d Rather See Biden Face in 2024” (NBC News).
Granted, those three articles appeared before the Washington Post/ABC News poll that shook the world. Published on May 7, the survey gave Trump a six-point lead over Biden in a hypothetical matchup and showed that voters regard Trump, 76, as more physically fit and mentally sharp than Biden, 80.
Over the weeks since, I’ve noticed a muting of Democrats’ confidence that Biden can roll over Trump. But I still hear some of Biden’s supporters say that they’d prefer Trump to, say, DeSantis, who can define himself afresh to many voters, or to Scott, whose optimism might be a tonic in toxic times.
And I worry that many Democrats still haven’t fully accepted and seriously grappled with what the past seven years taught us:
There is profound discontent in this country, and for all Trump’s lawlessness and ludicrousness, he has a real and enduring knack for articulating, channeling and exploiting it. “I am your retribution,” he told Republicans at the Conservative Political Action Conference this year. Those words were chilling not only for their bluntness but also for their keenness. Trump understands that in the MAGA milieu, a fist raised for him is a middle finger flipped at his critics. DeSantis, Scott, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley — none of them offer their supporters the same magnitude of wicked rebellion, the same amplitude of vengeful payback, the same red-hot fury.
Trump’s basic political orientation and the broad strokes of his priorities and policies may lump him together with his Republican competitors, but those rivals aren’t equally unappealing or equally scary because they’re not equally depraved.
He’s the one who speaks of Jan. 6, 2021, as a “beautiful day.” He’s the one who ordered Georgia’s secretary of state to find him more votes. He’s the one who commanded Pence, then his vice president, to subvert the electoral process and then vilified him for refusing to do so and was reportedly pleased or at least untroubled when a mob called for Pence’s execution. He’s the one who expends hour upon hour and rant after rant on the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him — a fiction that’s a wrecking ball aimed at the very foundations of our democracy. His challengers tiptoe around all of that with shameful timidity. He’s the one who wallows happily and flamboyantly in this civic muck.
There are grave differences between the kind of threat that Trump poses and the kind that his Republican rivals do, and to theorize a strategic advantage to his nomination is to minimize those distinctions, misremember recent history and misunderstand what the American electorate might do on a given day, in a given frame of mind.
I suspect I’d be distraught during a DeSantis presidency and depressed during a Pence one. But at least I might recognize the America on the far side of it.
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