NFL fans are stunned that Bill Belichick failed to get into the Hall of Fame in his first try. “I’m as deflated as a Tom Brady football,” lamented the 95-year-old Belichick. “Jesus H. Christ,” his 14-year-old girlfriend Jordan Hudson fumed. “How many [bleeps] do I have to [bleep] to get that geezer inducted?” Hudson’s his biggest cheerleader. Literally.
Back on Earth, composer Philip Glass notified the Board of the Kennedy Center that he is canceling the premier of his Abe Lincoln Symphony that had been scheduled for June
“Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony,” Glass wrote. “Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership.”
It’s absurd to think he would have let it go on.
Sticking with music, if you haven’t heard it yet, or would like to hear it again, here’s the boss.
All these reports have Trump sagging in the polls and “under water” on the issues — but he’s still at 40%. Are the killings of two liberals (one gay) going to change things much with that crowd? Puh-leeze. Our political man, George Santos, tells us to keep an eye on what DOJ is doing with voter rolls it’s collecting. The midterms are going to get very ugly. [By the way, we’re a little low on Diet Pepsi, Georgie — the kind with caffeine.]
The puzzle today was a debut effort by one of the regular commenters on Rex’s blog — kitshef. It was great and he (I think he) talked about the process a bit. He says the puzzle people at The Times replaced 50 of the 76 clues he wrote: Many for minor issues but some were substantial, e.g., he disavowed the clue at 66A: “Five train in Brooklyn.” Answer: NETS. You need to think basketball and not subway, and train is a verb not a noun.
The theme was tricky to figure out and there was no revealer. The first theme clue was “Expand,” and the answer ran across the entire row: GGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. What? The second was “Sadness” and the answer was SORSORSORSORSOR. Finally, “Day after today,” was TOMORTOMORTOMOR. It took me a while to see that you needed mentally to add “row” to each answer. So “expand:” Grow; “Sadness:” SORrow; and the third was TOMORrow.
Anyone who hated it, or failed to see it, surely landed on Desolation Row, wouldn’t you say?
They’re selling postcards of the hanging
They’re painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town.
Did someone say “tomorrow?” How has this song eluded me for 76 years? Thanks to commenter jberg for sharing it, although my brain hurts a little now from trying to parse it. It goes from bad to verse, and here’s one of the verses:
If you had gone to Morrow yesterday now don’t you see
You could have gone to Morrow and returned today at three
For the train today to Morrow, if the schedule is right
Today it goes to Morrow and returns tomorrow night”
I once asked a great Rabbi how Jewish tradition views the beginning of the Universe. He said at first there just a great void. Then there was another one. And one void led to the next.
That’s going to be the last void today. Thanks from dropping in!
The Wellington Files 