Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks.

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks.

Happiness

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"We often forget the existence of words is no statement on their truth." - Shane Parrish

"Re-watching Idiocracy in 2023... it should have won an Oscar for Best Documentary." - Danielle Bolelli

"If my critics saw me walking over the Thames, they would say it was because I couldn't swim." - Margaret Thatcher

"Our society is run by insane people... I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends." - John Lennon

Happiness

Happiness

 

The Death of John Lennon

 

It has been 40-years since John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in Manhattan. Like many I learned of Lennon's death via Howard Cosell while watching the Patriots on Monday Night Football. 

Gerard Van der Luen has a much more personal remembrance of the death of John Lennon.  

Lennon was an infinitely interesting guy who counted among his friends people you may not have expected like Peter Boyle (John Lennon was best man at Boyle's wedding) and Monday Night Football's Howard Cosell. It can't be denied that Lennon's cultural significance is beginning to fade. As is even more true of his friends. When's the last time you thought of or heard Peter Boyle, Howard Cosell or Harry Nilsson mentioned in conversation? Life is fleeting and fame only slightly less so. Memento mori.

I still can't help but think of a "what if" situation. After shooting John Lennon - Mark David Chapman just stood around waiting to be arrested. What if he didn't? What if Chapman just stuffed the gun in his coat pocket and just started walking away? A slightly over-weight, average height white guy in a city with millions of people matching that description. He had no motive that the police would have been able to discern on their own. How could they have fathomed that they were to look for a guy who was delusional about being Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye. If Chapman just walked away would the police have been able to find him? Would we have to this day all sorts of conspiracy theories about "who really killed John Lennon"?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

"You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time." - Donald Rumsfeld. I keep thinking of that quote whenever I see or hear people bemoaning the current choices for President and suggesting other alternatives... Oh the humanity! Covid-19 outbreak at Cruisin' Chubby's strip club in Wisconsin. Of course Covid-19 isn't the only virus these folks should be tested for... Having said the above that the choices in November will be either Donald Trump or Joe Biden there's a significant chance that the choice for Democrats may actually end up as Kamala Harris (or whoever Joe Biden picks as his VP candidate) if Joe Biden has to step aside because of his cognitive decline. But then that opens up a whole other can of worms... Heh Heh... Hiking Mount Wachusett in Central Mass with my daughter for Father's Day. Here's a nice article from Outside Magazine on suggested hikes in the White (New Hampshire) and Green (Vermont) Mountains... Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there... 

The Death of John Lennon

It has been 39-years since John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in Manhattan. Like many I learned of Lennon's death via Howard Cosell while watching the Patriots on Monday Night Football. 

Gerard Vanderluen has a much more personal remembrance of the death of John Lennon which he reposted today.  

Lennon was an infinitely interesting guy who counted among his friends people you may not have expected like Peter Boyle (John Lennon was best man at Boyle's wedding) and Monday Night Football's Howard Cosell. It can't be denied that Lennon's cultural significance is beginning to fade. As is even more true of his friends. When's the last time you thought of or heard Peter Boyle, Howard Cosell or Harry Nilsson mentioned in conversation? Life is fleeting and fame only slightly less so.

I still can't help but think of a "what if" situation. After shooting John Lennon - Mark David Chapman just stood around waiting to be arrested. What if he didn't? What if Chapman just stuffed the gun in his coat pocket and just started walking away? A slightly over-weight, average height white guy in a city with millions of people matching that description. He had no motive that the police would have been able to discern on their own. How could they have fathomed that they were to look for a guy who was delusional about being Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye. If Chapman just walked away would the police have been able to find him? Would we have to this day all sorts of conspiracy theories about "who really killed John Lennon"?

The Fleeting Impermanence of Fame

An interesting article on how famous people fall out of the collective memory. They used John Lennon as the example but the example that came to my mind was John Wayne. My youngest is a junior in college and a couple of years ago I learned she had no idea who John Wayne was!

When I thought about how this could be I realized that she didn't grow up with John Wayne re-runs on TV like I did. In fact she grew up with little TV at all. Her generation may have started with Sesame Street type shows but then transitioned to video games and then streaming TV like from Netflix. How many John Wayne movies are on Netflix? And how appealing would those movies be to her generation even if they were available?

Another example would be Al Jolson. In the 1920's he was America's most famous and highest paid entertainer. Today, if he's remembered at all, he's remembered as the guy who wore blackface. And that's certainly not the sort of non-PC thing this generation would discuss.

Fame certainly is fleeting.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Howard Cosell and John Lennon - such a cool photo

- Interesting read on Alexander Hamilton's early years.

- First they're installing drywall for us next they'll be using us as human batteries.

- Good for you Lindsey Graham

- Interesting - why there's a good case for sanctioning Christine Blasey Ford's lawyers

- How the Internet gave all of us superpowers

- George Gilder: Forget cloud computing, Blockchain is the future

A Burly Lad is Nutting

Liam Gallagher of Oasis has a the most Liam Gallagher response possible to his reaction to the story of Paul McCartney and John Lennon masturbating together.

Christmas Flotsam and Jetsam

Christmastime miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

What has ruined Christmas music more for you? Radio stations that start playing Christmas songs 24/7 since Thanksgiving or Yoko Ono's back-up "singing" on John Lennon's Happy Christmas (War is Over)... A very touching Christmas Bloom County... Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Pud Galvin was born Christmas 1856. He was nicknamed Pud because he made hitters look like "pudding" at the plate. Not because he was a dick... Dear Jack Edwards - we wish you a merry Christmas too... History factoid: The official signal for the scramble to evacuate the US Embassy in Saigon 40-years ago was the playing of Bing Crosby's White Christmas... They were trying to kill each other again the next day...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Gilbert Arenas' rebuttal to Caron Butler's version of the locker room gun story

- 13 facts about Hemingway's Farewell to Arms. Hard to imagine with today's standards but this book was very controversial at the time.

- Heh heh

- The future of Bitcoin?

- The night John Lennon met Jerry Garcia

John Lennon RIP

On this day 32-years ago John Lennon was murdered.

When I think of the tragedy I think of Howard Cosell announcing the news to the world on Monday Night Football.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

The time they found a mass grave in Ben Franklin's cellar

Steve Nash - girly man

How much is Jim Koch, the founder and chairman of Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) worth?

Where do we get such men as Captain Barry Crawford?

John Lennon may give you some perspective today

11 Memorable Images from the 1970's

Heh heh - Where the Wild Obama's Are

If you dropped a penny - how long would it take to get to the bottom of the Mariana Trench? (The answer is actually 3.5 hours but the math involved is pretty cool)

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Devastating ad from Mitt Romney regarding Obama and the economy in PA. The ad reminded me of this quote: “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell.” Harry S Truman

- Llewellyn M. Chilson - bad ass! Saw that and wanted to verify it was true. Found out it was. How did this man not rate a Medal of Honor?

- My Little Serenity - awesome!

- Louis CK on The Daily Show explaining why farts are funny. There no argument here.

- John Lennon - fan of Ronald Reagan

- Heh heh - James Brown: Godfather of Miso Ramen Cup Noodles

John Lennon

It has been 30-years since John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in Manhattan. Lennon was an infinitely interesting guy who counted among his friends people you may not have expected like Peter Boyle (John Lennon was best man at Boyle's wedding) and Monday Night Football's Howard Cosell. ESPN has a fine piece on what happened behind the scenes at MNF 30-years ago when it fell to Cosell to announce the tragic news to the world.

I can't help but think of a "what if" situation. After shooting John Lennon - Mark David Chapman just stood around waiting to be arrested. What if he didn't? What if Chapman just stuffed the gun in his coat pocket and just started walking away? A slightly over-weight, average height white guy in a city with millions of people matching that description. He had no motive that the police would have been able to discern on their own. How could they have fathomed that they were to look for a guy who was delusional about being Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye. If Chapman just walked away would the police have been able to find him? Would we have to this day all sorts of conspiracy theories about "who really killed John Lennon"?