Covers: Here Comes the Night

“Here Comes the Night” by Bert Berns may be the only song associated with Van Morrison that he didn’t write. His group Them had a hit with it in 1965 and he also performed it solo. I love his version on 1974’s It’s Too Late to Stop Now. Lulu released a version in 1964.

Covers: Saturday Night at the Movies

“Saturday Night at the Movies” was recorded by the Drifters in 1964. I am posting this because it was also used in the 1991 film Popcorn which I am currently watching on Blu-ray disc.

Trump caused a government brain drain

I’m sure this has happened at other departments. Trump showed how easy it was to undo decades of work. Would you want to work on something knowing that changing the president could undo all you accomplished?

When Trump took office, federal career staff told me they worried he would reduce the government's capacity to address climate change, even after he was out of office.

Those predictions are coming true.

W/ @CoralMDavenport & @LFFriedman
https://t.co/poKVsHWUfx
— Christopher Flavelle (@cflav) August 2, 2021

USDA Research Agencies ‘Decimated’ By Forced Move. Undoing The Damage Won’t Be Easy

The Trump cult should have their own airline – call it Delta Variant

The Trump cult should get their own airline where they could be unmasked. It could be called Delta Variant.
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) August 1, 2021

Nathanael West’s A Cool Million would make a great Tim Burton animated film

A Cool Million is a 1934 novel by Nathanael West. It has modern parallels since the depression is similar to the hardships many face today. The main character, Lemuel Pitkin, loses limbs during the novel. It would look like a horror movie if it was live action instead of the satire it is. West skillfully skewers eternal optimism.

It would make a great Tim Burton animated movie. It would be gruesome but the gore would not be the point and would not obscure the humor.

Talking with my bestie about all the books made into movies. Then the question came up.
'What book has not been made into a movie would you like to see on the big screen?'
— MZS Press (@MZSPress) July 30, 2021

Ohhh yes!!! That would be phenomenal.
— MZS Press (@MZSPress) July 30, 2021

More covid cases in Florida

It doesn’t help to have a terrible governor.

A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Fla. on Sun broke a previous record for current hospitalizations, as the number of patients in hospitals because of COVID once again broke through the 1,000-person threshold https://t.co/Tr6Bd5qVP5
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) August 1, 2021

Florida reported 21,683 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the state’s highest one-day total since the start of a pandemic, according to data released Saturday by the CDC. https://t.co/QkLH0OUR2Q
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 1, 2021

Analysis: When does Florida’s coronavirus surge become a problem for Ron DeSantis? https://t.co/utnB55Ox0h
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 23, 2021

Florida reported a record number of COVID cases & 30% of all cases nationally.

So DeSantis decided to pick today to overrule local school boards & outlaw mask mandates in schools.
— Andy Slavitt 🇺🇸💉 (@ASlavitt) August 1, 2021

This is not good. FL is now in uncharted territory with 21.7K new cases reported today (the largest single day number of new cases). 108 new deaths. This wave is now larger than all previous waves. 10,187 hospitalized (83% of its all-time pandemic high). Time to change gears: pic.twitter.com/4wJ3PpWaJL
— Thomas P. Bossert (@TomBossert) July 31, 2021

More COVID deaths in Florida today than in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, and Canada combined. https://t.co/rpfdYNYcN2
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) July 31, 2021

Florida now ranks first in per capita COVID19 hospital admissions and second for child hospitalizations in the country. We need real leadership now!
— B.Ashby MD, MPP, FACC (@BAshbyMD) July 30, 2021

DeSantis response to soaring COVID case/hospitalization in FL is fund-raising letter: "For more than a year, our freedom has been under a constant assault by the radical left. Now, they’re coming for your freedom again."
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) July 31, 2021

Politico nailed it, March 18: “How Ron DeSantis Won The Pandemic” https://t.co/eT8iFQChrJ https://t.co/Pm7PhscLHU
— Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun, News Guild (@DanRodricks) August 1, 2021

There should be a TV show called “America’s Bloodiest Home Videos”

I’m being sarcastic in case that wasn’t clear. There are plenty of amateur videos of regular people fighting on YouTube and Twitter. I don’t approve of this behavior…but I’d watch the videos. Each episode could have a theme. I’ll post more restaurant fights. I guess only adults could watch it, at least on YouTube. These are from a quick search. There are many more.

There are enough fight videos for a weekly show. It could be America’s Bloodiest Home Videos”. https://t.co/dJD0EyjW63
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) August 1, 2021

More on people who regret not taking the covid vaccine

Father of 5 dies of COVID-19 after texting “I should have gotten the damn vaccine” https://t.co/ocVxu5uuuU via @fox5vegas
— David Mack (@davidmackau) July 30, 2021

When reporters interview COVID patients in hospitals who say they regret not getting the vaccine, they should ask them where they get their news. Then the reporter should ask if they still trust that source. This would be a good topic for a survey as well. pic.twitter.com/UfIscXQWgO
— Alan C. Miller (@alanmillerNLP) July 24, 2021

Radio host who regrets mocking vaccines is "fighting for his life" https://t.co/Be4YG7cwPn
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 24, 2021

9 days into his hospital stay, and after hospital staff made a heroic effort to save his life in ICU, anti-vaccine Pastor Danny Reeves FINALLY says those three little words: “I was wrong.” pic.twitter.com/iYaIYfbmRE
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 24, 2021

This is the one. This story about the anti-vaxxer who got Covid and now regrets being an anti-vaxxer — the 940th identical story in the national press — will be the one that finally convinces people to get the vaccine. I can feel it. https://t.co/I5ODkWGY6s
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) July 23, 2021

The media is now filled with stories of people who did not get vaccinated, got gravely ill, and now have regrets.

We're seeing some uptick in vaccinations the past few days: we need more people to get this free, safe, convenient, effective protection before it is too late.
— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) July 24, 2021

"Please, just go get the vaccine," a man who ended up in the hospital with coronavirus now says.

"I almost left my wife and my daughter here to fend for themselves because I didn't get one." pic.twitter.com/hNs5sP3nB4
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 22, 2021

Alabama’s vaccination rate is 30%. https://t.co/EtpN7NYh7z
— MZS (@mattzollerseitz) July 21, 2021

GOP lawmaker who once spurned masks urges people to take covid-19 seriously after eight-month illness https://t.co/jIGN6wMsd7
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 1, 2021

Ron Popeil

Older readers will recall Ron Popeil and his endless TV commercials. Popeil died on July 28, 2021.

Ron Popeil was an incomparable huckster — but wait! There’s more! https://t.co/Q4GOYTixL7
— Joe Nocera (@opinion_joe) July 31, 2021

wow, RIP Ron Popeil. my dad held this man in such high regard, a true legend of the craft. pic.twitter.com/HBNH3nCWqM
— Billy Mays III (@infinitethird) July 28, 2021

Ron Popeil became a well-known presence on TV, hawking products that people didn’t know they needed, including the Veg-O-Matic and the Inside-the-Shell Egg Scrambler. https://t.co/IcLcRWUtIA
— NYT Obituaries (@NYTObits) August 1, 2021

How Ron Popeil perfected the art of the infomercial https://t.co/Ter6rxVuHI
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 10, 2021

Covers: I Will Always Love You

“I Will Always Love You” is a 1973 Dolly Parton song from made famous by Whitney Houston in the 1992 film The Bodyguard. I saw this article on what Parton did with her songwriting royalties.

Dolly Parton quietly invested her royalties from Whitney Houston’s cover of ‘I Will Always Love You’ in Nashville’s Black community. It was “a very Dolly thing to do.” https://t.co/NwsUQOGFDK
— David Beard (@dabeard) August 1, 2021