Well, the Old Man is back from a week in Miami Beach and actually survived the experience. I don’t know which place I dislike more, Miami Beach, Atlanta or Las Vegas, so I’ll make that an “all of the above.” The exhibitors at the trade show I attended were probably 60% Israeli, the guy I was with is Israeli, so I spent hours listening to heated political discussions about the upcoming elections there, with the disputants flipping back and forth between Hebrew and English. All spoken rapidly and with, ummm, emphasis. They were all ex-IDF. It was exhausting. And it’s safe to say that there’s not much libertarian slant to their opinions, but I can say that they love Trump, they love Joe Arpaio, and they love to ask probing and personal questions (“So tell me what you think about abortion.” “Can we talk about deep dish and circumcision instead?”).

Birthdays today include decomplexifier Maimonides; the real Gomez, John Astin; Turkish delight Turhan Bey; and the very good but vastly overrated guitarist Eric Clapton.

The news awaits.

 


 

The Middle Eastern equivalent of, “Hey, y’all, watch this!”

 

This is just getting started. Holy fuck, we’re in for a lot of entertainment.

 

“Fuck you, cut spending” has not quite sunk in.

 

There are visuals you just don’t want.

 

I’d say “no.”

 

And there really are some jobs Americans won’t do.

 

Sometimes, there actually IS good news in this world.

 

“See, you need the secret decoder ring.”

 

Some people really will fuck anything.

 

Say what you will about his idiot politics, this guy is a fucking genius.

 


 

And Old Guy Music is a classic with the masters. And really, who could ever combine brilliant composition with brilliant playing in a totally individual voice as well as Monk? No-one, that’s who.