Virus Stats – a red state concentration

The first Tommy John surgery was on September 25, 1974

Young people may not know that the surgery is named after major league pitcher Tommy John who had a fine career before and after the operation. I recommend the 30 for 30 short. John and Dr. Frank Jobe, who did the operation, really didn’t know what would happen when he pitched again.

30 for 30 Shorts: Tommy and Frank

Tommy John Surgery list from @MLBPlayerAnalys

excellent article on MRIs and Tommy John operations

Clockers (book and film)

Clockers is an outstanding novel by Richard Price from 1992. It preceded The Wire with its focus on cops and drug dealers. I saw Price read from it at Chapters in Washington, DC and got a signed copy. The book is almost 600 pages long.

Clockers, the film, was directed by Spike Lee from a script by Lee and Price. They do an outstanding job of boiling the novel down to its essence, stripping out less important characters and events.

Price also worked on The Wire and even made an appearance in the second season leading a book group in a prison.

Tweets about Covid tests

Biden bets on rapid COVID tests, but they can be hard to find

Imani Perry’s great essay on Gayl Jones

Imani Perry has written an outstanding essay on author Gayl Jones that appeared in the New York Times. Jones wrote three fine books of fiction in the 1970s – Corregidora (1975), Eva’s Man (1976) and White Rat (1977). I have read them but not her later works. Eva’s Man is my favorite of the three. They are tough, uncompromising works. If you read about her, you’ll see she has had an eventful life. She is getting attention now because she has written a new book.

Wideman is a fine author too, Start with Sent For You Yesterday

Atlantic profile from 2020

Noted writer resurfaces in a tragedy Author: Gayl Jones, once heralded by Maya Angelou, turns up in a bloody confrontation in Kentucky.

Ranking the Kinks albums 1969-1975

Elizabeth Nelson, who posts on Twitter as The Paranoid Style, linked to the list prepared by Timothy Bracy and her ranking all of the Kinks albums. I don’t agree with every ranking but it’s an excellent list.

I don’t know them all. Prior to 1969, I was only familiar with the singles. After 1975, I heard some of the albums but don’t know them nearly as well. Their list does not include the fine compilations The Kink Kronicles (covering 1966-70) and The Great Lost Kinks Album (late 1960s/early 1970s outtakes). I saw the Kinks live in 1972, 1974 and 1993.

This is how I rank the albums I know

  1. Muswell Hillbillies
  2. Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
  3. Arthur
  4. Everybody’s in Show Biz
  5. Preservation Act 1
  6. The Kinks Present A Soap Opera
  7. Preservation Act 2

Muswell Hillbillies (1971)

The best Kinks album I know. It took guts to do something this English and understated after the hard rock success of Lola. Davies has a lot of affection for his characters.

Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (1970)

“Lola” may be the best Kinks song. The album is louder than its predecessors and successors. There are many fine songs – “Apeman”, “This Time Tomorrow”, “Powerman”, “Strangers” and “Denmark Street” among them.

Arthur (1969)

Would any other band have single about Queen Victoria?

Everybody’s in Show Biz (1972)

“Celluloid Heroes” is one of the best Kinks songs. I like the live disc of the 2 LP set which accurately reflects their sloppy but very entertaining concerts of that era.

Preservation: Act One (1973)

The beginning of the decline. “Sitting in the Midday Sun” reminds me of their 1960s classics. I am also partial to “Cricket”. I can’t imagine that they thought anyone in the US would care.

The Kinks Present a Soap Opera (1975)

“Everybody’s a Star” is good but some songs are so slight, they could just blow away. I’m thinking of “Ducks on the Wall”, an inferior cousin of “Supersonic Rocket Ship” from Show Biz.

Preservation: Act 2 (1974)

Very small percentage of memorable songs here. I like “Scum of the Earth” and “Mirror of Love”.