Monday Madness

Just random stuff of various sorts this Monday. What can I say, it's hotter than Hell outside (temps getting near 100F this past week with no relief in sight) and the coffee is just starting to kick in.

1) Extremely Silly Thought #21: If bears played instruments, I honestly think many would take to the Baritone Sax. How could you go wrong with that gravelly ursine sound and the sheer uniqueness of this instrument in a solo context. Listen to folks like John Surman, Harry Carney (played for years with Duke Ellington) and the uncharacteristically smooth Gerry Mulligan, you'll see what I mean.

2) Karl Rove Resigns: Yet another in the George Dubbaya Bush Cavalcade of Stars to turn in his resignation, THANK GOD!! Apparently, he'd been contemplating it for about a year (what took you so long?????), Good riddance I say to the one who some referred to as George Bush's "brain" (hows that for an oxymoron?), and of course, who could forget his well-known involvement in the Valerie Plame case (and how he escaped prosecution but should've been hanged) and I'm sure a ton of other underhanded, sleazy goings-on with the George Dubbaya crew (including a certain matter of 8 US attorneys being fired under rather questionable circumstances). Read about this sorry excuse for ahuman being HERE

3) Doin' It To Death: This weekend saw the passing of Merv Griffin at age 82 from prostate cancer. Merv was definitely the type of man that sternly refused to retire until death beckoned. In his life, he went from being a $100 a week radio big band singer to a multi-millionaire from things as far flung as television shows (his own Merv Griffin Show, Jeopardy, for which he also wrote the theme song, Wheel Of Fortune, Dance Fever and more) hotels, real estate and more. A story HERE. I have to note 2 things, one of which was the remembrance of watching his anything-goes talk show growing up, the man GENUINELY embraced diversity and absolutely LOVED the element of the unpredictable on his talk-show. I'll also have to watch a certain Seinfeld episode in which Kramer somehow finds the original stage-set for the Merv Griffin Show in a dumpster, brings it home and converts his apartment into the set, and acts disturbingly like a talk-show host all the time. So long Merv and thanks for many wonderful memories and laughs!