The NYT says Bud Light slipped from the #1 spot in U.S. beer sales in recent weeks due to a right-wing boycott. The right is upset that Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, posted a video promoting a Bud Lite contest. The company tried to backtrack by announcing the departure of two marketing execs who were behind the idea, but that only angered the left! (Oops.) I was surprised to learn that the top spot for U.S. sales has been taken over by a Mexican beer: Modelo Especial.
Here’s one of my tax students enjoying a few cold ones after our final exam last month. (Burp!)
Lisa del Giocondo, born Lisa Gherardini, was a beautiful girl. It’s her birthday today — she was born in Florence Italy in 1479. She didn’t have a rich dowry and her family had no connections, but she snared a wealthy silk merchant when she was only 15 (he was 30) because she was so damn gorgeous. He was Francesco del Giocondo, and he was simply captivated by her. And it never wore off — in his will he mentions her noble spirit and faithfulness, and speaks of his love and affection for her. They had five children. Lisa outlived Francesco by four years — she died at age 63 and he died in his early 70’s.
In 1503, when she was 24 (I did the math), Francesco commissioned a respected local artist to paint her portrait. It may have been in honor of the birth of their second son. The artist used a large canvas and “zoomed in” on his subject, which was revolutionary and influenced other artists in the region. Before he could finish, the artist got a better offer, so he stopped working on it and left town! He eventually finished the portrait but never delivered it to Francesco and Lisa — maybe because Francesco never paid him. It wound up in the hands of the French King Francis I.
You may have figured out by now that the artist was Leonardo da Vinci and Lisa was, well, you know who Lisa was.
That “better offer” Leonardo got was to work with Michelangelo on decorating the Palazzo Vecchio. Leonardo worked on The Battle of Anghiari but it wasn’t completed and did not survive. Some battle! — 20 to 24 hours of fighting resulted in only one death, and that was a soldier who died when fell off his horse. It was like a fight at a baseball game — no one gets hurt. Here is Rubens’ version of the Battle.
Remember the Clinton years? Here’s the Monica Lisa.
Kobayashi Issa was born on this date in 1763. He was one of the masters of Haiku. By the end of his life, he had written over 20,000 haiku celebrating the small wonders of everyday life. Here are a few (translated). He had a sense of humor.
The snow is melting
and the village is flooded
with children.
On a branch
floating downriver
a cricket, singing.
All the time I pray to Buddha
I keep on
killing mosquitoes.
Mosquito at my ear—
does he think
I’m deaf?
The clue at 46A today was: “‘A foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever, when they are only wasting their time,’ per Shaw.” The answer was CHESS, but Rex noted it might have come with a little wink because it could easily apply to XW puzzles as well. D’oh!
Let’s give actress Mary-Louise Parker a warm Owl Chatter hello for her visit to the puzzle today in a clue for WEEDS, “Mary-Louise Parker show about a suburban mom dealing pot.” MLP is 58 and was born in Columbia, SC. She was with actor Billy Crudup for seven years and they have a son, William Atticus Parker, but in 2003 he left her for Claire Danes when Parker was seven-months pregnant. Boo! Susan Sarandon is William’s godmother. MLP also has an adopted daughter, Caroline Aberash Parker, from Ethiopia.
Phil got this nice shot of Mary-Louise in her Owl Chatter shirt.
There was a terrific and unusual double play in last night’s Toronto-Orioles game. The Jays had men on first and third. No outs. The batter hit a grounder to the shortstop who threw to second, apparently starting a double play. So the runner from first was out. The runner from third took off for home, expecting to score on the DP. But the second baseman did not complete the traditional DP by throwing to first. Instead, he fired the ball home in time to catch the runner from third on a tag play. I saw that only once before, back when Willie Randolph was at second base for the Yanks. Great baseball. Adam Frazier was the alert second baseman for the O’s. He was formerly a Pirate. Take a bow, Frazier.
Good night, everybody. See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 