Maya Rudolph will be Kamala on SNL. She has already won an Emmy for doing so. But Steve Martin nixed a role as Walz. Too bad.

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After snapping their 21-game losing streak on Tuesday vs Oakland, the White Sox giddily entered the seventh inning last night, ahead 2-0. Oakland, we should note, had a 47-68 record, a dismal 21 games under .500. But Chicago was 28-88, an astounding 60 games under .500. Alas, Oakland came back to win 3-2. Is this the start of a new streak?

Speaking of streaks, did you know that over the course of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941 he struck out only 5 times? In all of 1941, he struck out only 13 times. By way of comparison, in 2022, Aaron Judge’s monster year (.311, 62 HR, 131 RBI), he struck out 175 times.

DiMaggio’s streak started on May 15, 1941 and ended on July 17. But get this — over the duration of the streak Ted Williams out-hit Joe D, .412 to .408. After Joe D’s streak ended, he ran off another one for 16 games.

Ever hear of Bill Dahlen? Me neither. In 1894, he hit safely in 70 out of 71 games. First he had a streak of 42. Then, after a hitless game, he had another streak of 28. In that hitless game he went 0 for 6 while his teammates cranked out 17 hits. D’oh! He played for 21 years and had just under 2,500 hits. A case could be made that he should be in the Hall.

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Ninety years ago yesterday, James Joyce’s Ulysses was ruled not obscene by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Writing the opinion, John Woolsey stated: “In respect of the recurrent emergence of the theme of sex in the minds of his characters, it must always be remembered that his locale was Celtic and his season Spring.”

I never read it, even though it was assigned in a course I took at Brandeis (albeit Pass/Fail). My plan was to see the movie, but I didn’t even do that. Too fucking lazy to schlep in to Cambridge. The course was a seminar with a well-known prof: Yglesias. He was very good. It was me and maybe seven English-major types. What the hell was I thinking? I still remember some of the discussion on Don Quixote. And I remember there was a pretty girl in the class named Miriam. That’s a lot more than I remember from the rest of my classes. Brown hair and glasses.

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Some felt today’s puzzle fell on the easy side. Commenter Rich G. took exception to some folks boasting about how quickly they finished it. He wrote: “It took me 4 minutes but that was because I was busy collecting my Nobel Prize, after bench pressing six hundred pounds.”

At 41A, the clue for COD was: “A carved one hangs in the chamber of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.” Rex’s guest blogger notes: “It’s known as the “Sacred Cod,” and the state Senate does them one better with (and I am not making this up) the Holy Mackerel.” Here’s the cod:

The House originally met in the room the Senate now occupies. And when the House moved, it took its cod with it. The Senate then replaced it with the mackerel. (For you spelling nerds, note that mackerel ends in “el” and not “al.”)

Carola noted the Wisconsin capitol features badgers.

The puzzle also honors LOU Costello today, clued with “He asked Bud ‘Who’s on first?’” There’s a great statue of LC in Paterson, NJ, where he was born. It’s not far from a spectacular waterfall. Phil spent a day out there for us recently and took these shots before he started drinking. Careful on that ledge, Buddy!

At 19A, the clue for WELD was “Fuse by heat.” Boo! I would have gone with Tuesday _______. Yow! — did you know she was married to Pinchas Zuckerman and Dudley Moore? It’s that breeze-in-the-hair effect. Few men can emerge whole.

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How many people were disappointed in Austria this week? 200,000. Two Islamic terrorists were arrested for planning to wreak havoc at Taylor Swift’s concerts, so the whole schmear was canceled for safety reasons. Three dates. Jeez Louise, that sucks. In related news, boyfriend Travis announced he’ll be hosting a new TV game show Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?, an Amazon production starting in the fall.

Meanwhile, Owl Chatter is putting out a warning that a Taylor Swift imposter has been appearing at various venues, posing as TS. Do not be fooled. Do not fall in love with her.

I’m too upset to continue. What is wrong with the world?

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