When I went to sleep last night things were not looking good for the Vikes and their young quarterback UMich’s JJ McCarthy in their game against the rival Chicago Bears. JJ had just thrown a “pick six,” which means his pass was intercepted and run back for a touchdown. Ouch. And he had been a dud up till then, passing for only 48 yards in the first half. But let’s step back a moment.
JJ stands for Jonathan James and he’s from the Chicago area. In 2023, he led an undefeated Michigan squad to the National title, their first since 1997. He was drafted high by the Vikings but blew out his knee and missed all of 2024. So last night’s game was his pro debut. Want some more pressure? Minny had put all of its chips on JJ, letting their starting QB leave (Sam Darnold), and the game was in very hostile Bear territory.
OK, so getting back to that pick six. Reportedly, JJ went up to his teammates after it and said: “That was my fault, but I’m going to make it up to you.” (Or words to that effect.) And he did. Minny roared back behind JJ in the fourth quarter scoring three TDs: two on passes by McCarthy, and one that he ran in himself. Final score: Minny 27, Bears 24.
We’ll be keeping an eye on JJ and wish him continued success. Off the field, he’s becoming a dad for the first time this month, kinehora. Here’s the missus, proving once again that the quarterbacks get all the pretty girls. (And the tax professors, darling — they do too!)
I was listening to BBC News on our public radio station WNYC this morning, and a woman who seemed quite intelligent used the expression “in the recent future.” Now I was still in bed, just waking up. So I figured it was me; that I misheard her. But then she said it again: “in the recent future.”
Apparently, it is an expression that is gaining usage to mean “in the near future,” despite making absolutely no sense. I am bringing this to the attention of my brothers and sisters in the Dull Men’s Club (UK) immediately, and I will report back to you. When? You know damn well when: in the recent future.
Miriam Webster’s “Word of the Day” yesterday was one of those words that has always troubled me: sanguine.
Here’s what Miriam says: Sanguine is a formal word that today almost always describes someone who is confident and hopeful, or something that shows confidence and hopefulness. Sanguine can also describe something that is bloodred in color, something involving or relating to bloodshed, or a person’s reddish complexion.
That’s one confused-ass word. Confident, hopeful, and relating to bloodshed?
Here’s how M explains it: “During the Middle Ages, health and temperament were believed to be governed by the balance of different liquids, or humors, in one’s body: phlegm, black bile, yellow bile, and blood. [Yum!] Those lucky people who were governed by blood were strong, confident, and even had a healthy reddish glow (all that blood, you know)—they were, in a word, sanguine. In time, the physiological theory behind the humors was displaced by scientific medicine, but the word sanguine is still commonly used to describe those who are cheerfully confident.”
Thanks Miriam!
Mark Volman of The Turtles died. He was only 78. He founded the band with his high school buddy Howard Kaylan. Both were/are Jewish. They had a string of cheery hits. “Happy Together” (1967) was the only one to reach #1 on Billboard. (It knocked The Beatles’ Penny Lane off of the position. PL had only held it for a week.)
They performed it on The Ed Sullivan Show and at a White House party hosted by Nixon’s daughter Tricia. Volman said they had a blast at the White House and that the Secret Service folks were especially nice. But the band broke up in 1970 after only a few years, apparently “not happy together” anymore. Fights over money and creative freedom took their toll.
Volman and Kaylan continued performing as Flo and Eddie, including serving as backup singers on Bruce’s “Hungry Heart.”
Mark grew up in LA and attended HS with classmate Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. [Fromme was a member of the infamous Manson family. She was not involved in the Manson murders but spent 34 years in prison for attempting to kill Pres. Ford. She was released in 2009, and said the time went pretty fast. (No she didn’t.)]
Get this: Later in life, Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in screenwriting at Loyola Marymount and became a professor at Belmont U. in Nashville, teaching classes on the music business. He was still touring, and said: “I’m touring while I’m teaching, so I’m a living part of this class. My students get to visualize it firsthand.”
He was married to his high school sweetheart Patricia Lee Hickey for 25 years and they had two daughters. After they divorced he was married to his second wife Emily for 15 years. They divorced too, but she was referred to as his significant other in the death announcement. So we hope they were still happy together.
The obit in the NYT ends as follows: Looking back on his life in 2023, Mr. Volman told People magazine, “It all sounds like a dream now. I’m just a groupie at heart.”
Here are The Turtles on Ed Sullivan. Volman’s the Jew with the tambourines.
OK, my post for the Dull Men’s Club (UK) generated a good bit of interest. It received 6 likes and a Wow, and over 40 comments (so far). Here’s what I wrote:
“I am in New Jersey (in the U.S.) but was listening to the BBC news on my public radio station this morning. The woman speaking seemed intelligent but twice used the expression ‘in the recent future.’ It makes no sense but seems to be gaining usage to mean ‘in the near future.’
“Brothers (and sisters) — please help this confused American understand this if you can.”
Brian Mansfield: I apologise on behalf of the British people. Such nonsense should not be allowed on the airwaves.
Avi Liveson: Accepted.
Joe Murray: It’s to compensate for the broadcast delay.
Richard Thresh: These days, broadcast media seems to take pride in slightly dumbing down our beautiful and expressive language. As a result, I’m beginning to largely eschew the BBC, as an increasing proportion of what is said on there is borderline incomprehensible. For many years my inner pedant has been kept on a tight leash, in a forlorn attempt to pander to the foibles of the easily offended. However, I fear that I shall soon have to unleash my more curmudgeonly persona and give in to those urges!
Avi Liveson: A friend of mine likes to say: “I eschew it, and I spit it out.” [Hi Joe!]
John Worledge: I’m British and can confirm that BBC standards have fallen so far that this now constitutes their version of English.
Murray Atkinson: This is part of the modern trend.. get things wrong often enough and it catches on and becomes acceptable to those who think language still needs to evolve, while confusing those of us who try to to do it correctly.
Rick Bedford: Ah… in the UK, we’re able to time travel limited time distances. She’s probably just been to the near future recently, thus, for her making it the recent future. Hope that helps.
God Save the Queen!
From The Onion:
DOGE Employees Dig Up Arlington National Cemetery
Agency Assures Public It’s Making Executive Branch More Efficient
ARLINGTON, VA—In an initiative they described as a vital part of their effort to cut federal spending, officials at the Department of Government Efficiency reported Wednesday that they had dug up Arlington National Cemetery. “The American people gave the president a clear mandate to fight waste, fraud, and abuse by removing the freeloading corpses buried in these graves,” said acting administrator Amy Gleason, who argued that DOGE was simply cracking down on an “unpopular woke bureaucracy” when its fleet of bulldozers and excavators leveled the 400,000 white tombstones that marked the final resting place of armed service members and their immediate families. “Last week, we asked the U.S. Army to send us five things the bodies had accomplished recently, and we heard nothing back. So it’s possible this entire graveyard is a fraud against the American people. Some of these veterans have been dead for over 150 years. They’re no longer even authorized to be on this land.” At press time, a team of DOGE employees was seen continuing the effort to eliminate waste at the cemetery by loading the massive marble Tomb of the Unknown Soldier into a dump truck.
Set your timers to 7pm (or whenever it’s on by you) tomorrow (9/10) to catch Jeopardy! Owl Chatter has received word that one of the contestants will be Paolo Pasco, winner of the American XW Puzzle tourney last year which we attended. Paolo is a terrific constructor, and a very funny and nice guy. Here he is with Wyna Liu, of the NYT puzzle staff. Sheesh, they look like brother and sister. (Hope that’s not racist.)
Unable to get into a good college, Paolo was forced to go to Harvard where he earned a degree in Computer Sci and graduated in 2022. He’s a California boy, but lives in NY now. Should win big.
See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 