Get On The Mar-A-Lago Train Or Get Tied To The Track -- December 11, 2024

Locator: 48384TRUMP.

Get on the Mar-a-Lago train or get tied to the track. 

Breaking: Mark Zuckerbert's Meta has donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.

I don't know how this works, but my hunch is that these streaming cable news shows disappear after a day or two, which if accurate is sad. 

This is one of the better ones.

Ratings, link here. 

Good, bad, or indifferent, we're going to see some incredible numbers when it comes to viewers -- on any network, or any cable news outlet, or any celebrity show. I think Vanity Fair is going to have an incredible year. 

On the other hand, magazines like The New Yorker and/or The Atlantic may have a tough couple of years. After a while, even those who like good writing, like me, tire of all the nattering nabobs of negativity.

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A Musical Interlude

This one has a particular importance for me. The line, "I stopped into a church I passed along the way, when I got down on my knees and I began [chorus: "pretend"] to pray." 

Twenty years ago (?) I was on temporary duty with the USAF to a remote overseas air base. I often went for long (very long) walks many nights during the winter. I would always pass a small village church. I carried a portable compact disc player -- a Sony Walkman -- and would play an eclectic mix of 60s rock and roll / folk music. I would play the early, early Hank Williams songs over and over and over. That's where I came to really, really enjoy Arvo Pärt and Te Deum. Today, while driving, I only listen to classical musical stations. I prefer evensong, church music, while driving.

In that YouTube loop, perhaps the most attractive woman ever paired with Jerry Lewis. 

Dion, Runaround Sue, how can one be so happy singing a song with this message. LOL. 

Max Weinberg, later, of the E Street Band and Mel Taylor. The Ventures, Wipeout. Whoever went along with this / suggested it -- pure genius.

And then, from there, Yellow River. This is where I start when I need to ward off depression. 

Time to write a letter to an old Air Force buddy. After thirty years and a day in the USAF and hundreds (thousands) of memories, I only stay in contact with one veteran, an almost exact contemporary.