The NYT had a piece today on commencement speakers at various campuses. Derek Jeter is speaking at UMich. Go Blue! If you’re wondering why a NY Yankee in Ann Arbor, it’s because DJ is from Michigan — Kalamazoo. He would have gone to UMich had he not gone pro out of high school. But UMaryland is one-upping even Derek this year. They’ve invited Kermit the Frog to give the address. Could you croak?
Here’s Derek with Elmo. Kermit’s below.
Hey who’s Tiger’s new babe? Looks like she could be about the age of his granddaughter, no? (In fact, no — she’s 47, just two years younger than Woods. There must be a painting of her, aging, in some attic somewhere.)
You hear about this? It was news to me. That woman has five kids of her own. Need another hint? Their last name is Trump. Yeah, you heard me. Trump. It’s Vanessa Trump, the ex-wife of Trump’s idiot son, Donald, Jr. The oldest of their five kids, Kai, below, is turning 18 in two weeks. She’s a competitive golfer and spoke at the 2024 GOP Convention. If Tiger becomes her step-dad it won’t do her golf game any harm.
Eugenio Suarez is one of the few Venezuelans left that Trump hasn’t shipped off to an El Salvadoran prison, and Diamondback fans are relieved. He hit 30 homers and drove in 101 runs for them last year, and last night he hit four dingers in one game — only the 19th time that’s happened in MLB history. Making it even rarer in an odd way is the fact that ‘Zona still lost the game, 8-7 in 10 innings. It’s only the second time ever that a batter hit four homers in a game his team lost.
Maybe Gino’s feat is not so surprising: he twice had 3-homer games, and he’s a pretty accomplished slugger, with four seasons of 30 or more along with hitting a whopping 49 in 2019 (with 103 RBI).
The puzzle today was a little blah, IMO. The whole trick was that the theme clues seemed to be long numbers or equations. But you had to realize they were numbers that, when you turned them over (upside down), they became words. You can do this if you limit yourself to these letters: BEGHILOS.
For example, take my favorite. The clue was
If you turn those numbers upside down they become letters spelling out HIGH HEELS. (See it?) So the answer was STILETTOS. The problem was once you saw the trick, the whole puzzle fell into place. (There were 8 of those.)
Hey, while we’re on the topic, Armas — can you model a pair for us?
Thanks Babe. BTW, you can be sure that’s Ana and not an imposter by the little heart tattoo.
This one spelled out HILLBILLIES BOOZE:
The answer was MOONSHINE. Son Volt shared this song on it.
Did you know about these? The clue was “Food-centric broadcasts originating in South Korea” and the answer was MUKBANGS. They are videos people make of themselves eating. [Who are we to judge?] Most go on for quite a while, but here’s a short clip that gives you some idea.
I also liked 14D. The clue was “Tough customer for a wedding planner,” and the answer was BRIDEZILLA.
This tiny love story by Reem Faruqi is from today’s NYT.
When my father was a college student and moved from Karachi to California, his father wrote him letter after letter that could be collected only at the post office. When my father told his father that his shoes were getting worn out by walking to and from the post office, his father promptly airmailed him a package. Inside the box: new shoes. Luckily, I’m a 45-minute drive away from my father, not a daylong flight. Yet, the cycle of care packages continues. For me, he will deliver steaming soup, my favorite books and box upon box of sweet mango juice.
Happy 44th (!) wedding anniversary today to Ringo Starr, 84, and his bride Barbara Bach, 78. It was the second marriage for each. Barbara had two kids and Ringo three from their exes (and no kids together). In 1985 Ringo became the first Beatle to be a grandfather and has eight g’kids now. In 2016 he was the first to become a great-grandfather.
Ringo is very funny. I heard him begin an interview once by saying “I was born at an early age. . . “
L’Chaim, kids!
See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 