Month: October 2021

CNN’s excessive coverage of Trump

Here are the lead subjects of their newsletter The Point this week (from the email Chris Cillizza sends out

10/4: What Mitch McConnell is betting on 

10/5: Why we shouldn’t give Stephanie Grisham a pass

10/6: Here’s exactly why Republicans are afraid to criticize Donald Trump

10/7: Some very good polling news for Donald Trump

10/8: Donald Trump has a theory to explain the anti-vaxxers

Three stories with Trump in the subject line, one about a former Trump employee and one about Republicans. Don’t they understand Biden is president? This is disgraceful.

My favorite Hitchcock films

I’ve probably seen about 30 films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I like most of them. Here are my favorites:

  1. Notorious (1946) is a great suspense film and great romance. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are a wonderful pair.
  2. Rear Window (1954) is one of his funniest films. I had a leg cast when I watched it on VHS but didn’t have Grace Kelly to help me.
  3. Foreign Correspondent (1940) is my favorite of his espionage films. Hitchcock did more than murder mysteries.
  4. Vertigo (1958) is the most highly rated of his films now. It’s up there.
  5. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Both versions are excellent but I am partial to this one. Did you know this is where “Que Sera Sera” debuted?

Television – Marquee Moon (1977 album)

This is a great record. I am glad Pitchfork reminded us of it (again).

A low moment in Orioles history

25 years ago yesterday. An obvious bad call.

Hot Rats – Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats was released on this date in 1969. The Hot Rats Sessions (2019) is a six CD set of music recorded then. Here are my two favorite songs and earlier versions of them.

The Basement Tapes – Bob Dylan and the Band

The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan and the Band were originally recorded in 1967. The 1969 bootleg The Great White Wonder contained some of the songs. Other artists released covers before the original versions were released. The Basement Tapes (1975) was an official release of 24 songs. We didn’t know then that some had overdubs and some of the Band tracks were recorded later. The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete (2014) has 138 tracks. Greil Marcus wrote The Old Weird America about the recordings.

Some of Dylan’s best songs are here.

A photo from the album cover session

Examples of how Republicans won’t accept the will of the voters

In Florida, voters determined that former felons could vote. Florida Republicans tried to negate this by passing a terrible poll tax.

In Utah, voters authorized a non-partisan commission to draw lines for districts. Republicans neutered the commission by making it advisory.

In Missouri, voters approved the expansion of Medicaid but Republican legislators blocked it. A court finally stepped in and overruled them.

🧵 Ohio Republicans are pushing a bill to totally ban abortion, IVF, & some contraception—even criminalizing women who seek abortion with homicide charges. This extreme proposal would overturn Ohio’s 2023 constitutional amendment protecting abortion, which 57% of voters approvedtinyurl.com/37k62ks7

— Jennifer ✨Get In Good Trouble (@thejenniwren.teamlh.social) 2025-06-17T22:26:13.158Z

Trump lied about losses at his Washington hotel

Trump should never been allowed to keep the hotel once he was elected. It had obvious potential for conflicts of interest.