Tag Archives: billy joel

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician Sex

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Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, Paulus PP. VI, Il Papa, Kick-ass caller of Vatican II

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Gio served on St. Peter’s Rock from 1963 until his death in 1978.  He succeeded Angelo Guiseppe Roncalli (John XXIII) and was followed by the brief Papal term of Albino Luciani (john Paul I).  JP I was gone in 33 days and followed by Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II).

This rapid progression of Papal Throne Owners resulted in 1978 becoming the most recent “Year of Three Popes”.  There was actually a “Year of Four Popes” in 1276, less of a result of multiple Popes dying within a calendar year and more of a result of schisms; multiple Papal claimants.

Amazing that The Church still sells the direct and continuous lineage thing.

Malcolm X was born in Omaha and assassinated in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965.

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British Politician is most likely a reference to The Profumo Affair.  John was 46, his inamorata Christine was a 19 year old dancer from London who spoke mostly of makeup and records.

This one was a SLOG.

U-2, Syngman Rhee, Payola, Kennedy

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Not this one:

CERTAINLY not this one (ugh):

But probably this one:

U-2 Spy Plane

The event here involved one Francis Gary Powers and “overflights” by the US into Soviet airspace. An official account (at least from the American perspective) can be found herein https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/u2-incident

I would consider the nomenclature “overflights” to be redundant. Are there underflights? Also, how did someone with the first name of Francis get a gig like that in the 1960s?

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Syngman Rhee served as the head of state for South Korea from 1948-1960, including the Korean “Conflict”. He died in exile in Hawaii in 1965. I think I would like to die in exile in Hawaii. I also used to think that Billy sang “Sigmund” Rhee.

“Payola” references a (supposedly covert) pay-to-play debacle involving American record companies and radio stations. Back in 1959 Alan Freed and Dick Clark blah blah blah money under the table, music “Industry”, etc. Freed Suffered the most from this thin excuse to keep Rock (and/or Roll) Music off the radio and away from the CHILDREN! Instead, radio (at least the commercial veins) became a homogeneous hinterland ruled by playlists and corporations. Did you know that 117% of all commercial radio stations are owned by 2 corporations? Also, it is totally NOT illegal to publicly disclose that Corporation X is PAYING to have a particular song played 17 times every hour. Just make sure you tell someone that is the case, failure to do so = Payola.

And still, I miss being on the air.

I still have to write about Kennedy? Sheesh.

Camelot, OG filthy Papist Prez, mob cohort, son of Nazi lovin’ papa Joe, tragic.

Is that enough?

Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

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Hula Hoops in the modern iteration were conceived by Spud Melin and Richard Knerr in 1958 for WHAM-O. Over 100 million Hula Hoops were sold world-wide in 1958.

httpv://youtu.be/97mAuo3HCzU

Apparently, the Germans have a strange affinity for this type of thing. IT’S UNIVERSAL!

Fidel Castro served as the leader of an island nation with red missiles and swimming pigs or something. More importantly, he now lives a zombie existence as a model for hipster facial hair.

Edsel Ford sounds like an adventure carrying art supplies across running water.

Yeah, it’s a rough re-start to this series. Maybe I’ll finish it within 5 years. Am I half done? Did you know that John Updike didn’t publish anything for a 5 year span at one time? I hope Harper Lee is happily medicated.

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball

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I remember it because it has a cedar tree on it. And the second thing I contemplate about Lebanon is this promontory proboscis:

jamiefarr in his mudhens shirt

When I was a kid, the Toledo Mudhens were the Triple A affiliate for the Minnesota Twins.

Charles de Gaulle is an airport and a brain in a jar. And I’m passing him quickly to get back to baseball.

The era of California Baseball starts in 1958 on the major league level. The Giants move from New York to San Francisco and the Dodgers abandon Brooklyn for the less bum-infested Chavez Ravine. Although Chavez Ravine is in Sulfur Canyon and therefore probably smells a lot like bums. Two points to make here:

    1. I am obsessed with Ebbets Field
    2. Vincent Edward Scully is still calling Dodger games.

Seriously folks, hear him call a game while you still can. He IS a tie that binds back to multiple eras of baseball. I’m out of superlatives so I’m switching to analogies. Imagine being able to listen live to a performance by Liszt, or Chopin. Or having to move your beer to avoid a Carrie Nation hatchet blow. Do it.

Sputnik, Chou En-Lai (Zhou Enlai), Bridge on the River Kwai

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Ah, back on the horse. Honestly, I suspected the lag to be longer and the finish to be more distant when I picked back up. So count this as a Pinter Pause and move forward.

Sputnik translates into English as “traveling companion” which reminds me of the following (with reverse translation by me) Paul Simon lyric from “Graceland”:

My Sputnik is nine years old. He is the child of my first marriage.

Maybe that doesn’t really work.

I remember my father telling me the story of his father waking the family up so that they could listen to the beep of Sputnik on the radio. Maybe they even watched it’s orbital track? Not sure on that.

Chou En-Lai (Zhou Enlai) attended a religious school in Japan, swung through France to pick up Communism, and ended up as Mao’s slightly less bumbling Dan Qualye. He’s also responsible for Nixon going to China. So thanks for taking him off our hands for a week or so. Writing this is making me feel exceptionally ignorant about everything outside of my small world. I did actually finish reading a whole entire book written primarily for adults recently:

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It was fiction, about Japan, and interesting. I bought it in an airport.

The Bridge on the River Kwai is a novel written in 1952 by Pierre Boulle. The movie is better known than the book. The Music Section in the Wikipedia article provided me much amusement upon reading. Mostly because it lead me to the song “Hitler Has Only Got One Ball” (Spotify link).