Did Mr. Stengal ever moonlight as an English tutor for our current President? I seem to recall an eerily similar sort of Q&A recently.

“Senator O’Mahoney: What I am trying to find out, Mr. Stengel, is how many players are actively working for the major league teams now as was formerly the case? How many players do you suppose—

Mr. Stengel: You are right, I would honestly tell you they naturally have more and they are in more competition now. You have to buck now a university — anyone who wants to be a hockey player—

Senator O’Mahoney: Let’s stick to baseball for a minute.

Mr. Stengel: I stay in baseball. I say you can’t name them. If you want to know get any executive, you have got any names, bring any executive with the Yankees that is an official in the ball club and he will tell you how many players the Yankees have. And there is his jurisdiction — every ball club owner can tell you he is an official, they have enough officials hired with me with a long pencil, too.”

I did an album with the Stones back in the early 80’s, and spent many days in the studio with them all (well, almost all — Bill Wyman wasn’t there). I can tell you that contrary to his public image, KR is a very thoughtful, polite, and articulate man.

That said, he is also known, I think, to have ridden a motorcycle inside that apartment (which I believe is in the old Tower Records building in the Village).

I lived in a building in New York which recently had Keith Richards as a tenant. The doormen said that he was a quiet family guy who would take his kids in and out of the building in their strollers. I ran into someone who knew Richards slightly, and she said that he was indeed a family type. Who knew?

So I’m skeptical of the truthiness of Rock Legends. (On the other hand, my friend Fraser Botwright was Ginger Baker’s landlord for a few years, and that guy really was dissipated. Also he thought of himself as a jazz drummer, not a rock drummer). But I digress.

Indeed, I think I have. And no, we don’t…

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

“Look how you go with this!” Well that’s the problem when one thinks about it. To be a successful blogger the individual must possess a considerable degree of certainty or in other words, lean in one direction or the other. My individual problem is that I have developed “sea legs” which Mr. Duff (whose prose and acuity I do admire) would nonetheless describe as wobbly and thus, waste no time on any blog I might present.

And, I like a well-tuned wit. Generally I find that the Conservative take on things “Liberal in nature” tends to lend itself, by the nature of it’s subject, more amenably possessed of subject matter. Understated of course, sometimes less needful of the overt. I think of guys like Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, David Letterman, and guess who: Peggy Noonan? Oh, and Sam Clements.

Sometimes it is best to begin the joke but not supply the punch line.

But then I recall guys like Ralph Reed, Jack Abramoff, Milhouse, Larry Craig, that Vitter guy-but heck, as I say, I’ve got “sea-legs.” And as I indicated to Mr. Duff, I’m outta my league when in company with all these guys who, were linguistic gymnastics an Olympic sport, I doubt I’d make B-Team Varsity.

But JO, I take your words as complimentary.

Mr. Duff,
I agree that choosing Joe was a “here’s an older, white male ” for you and if I’m inexperienced, he’s not so much.

Malcolm,
I can’t bear Peggy N.-I agree with many of her themes, but the way she gets them expressed leaves me cold. I just always want to smack her!

Jeanie

On a different subject (but relevant to your title): I was in LA last week and had lunch with an old friend of mine who managed the Doors from 1971 to 1974. My wife asked what he thought of the Val Kilmer depiction of Jim Morrison. He hated it: all wanton sex, drugs, and debauchery. According to my friend. although Morrison was certainly no stranger to the louche life, he was also an intellectually very curious man who could expound knowledgeably on a wide range of topics.

But there is a very specific situation in this particular cycle, that being generally, in the realm of economics, specifically in the greater portion of America there seems to be, a sense of dread where the individual is concerned with his or her own sense of economic survival. I suspect, that the individual reptilian brains have some qualms about a fellow who admits to “not knowing much about economics.” Admittedly I’m wandering quite far from my area of expertise, and much further afield from my comfort zone.

I also am considering a portion of the eligible electorate that in the past could pretty much be ignored, I consider it “iffy” at best if such will not turn out to be the same when that cold, blustery day in November arrives and it comes time to put the mittens on to go out to vote. That voting bloc being the so-called and “ballyhooed” youth vote.

The VP pick as I consider it is simply “a means” for the main candidate to hide behind during his fits of “hemming and hawing.” While Barack is busy thinking about how he should respond to a dicey situation, “Old Joe” will be the guy the media will be paying attention to, devoting their time to. He shoots from the hip. Hip-shooters make for better soundbites and you-tubes. That might be part of the reason he got chosen, I don’t really know, admittedly again, I’m out of my league.

There was a time in the not so distant past when a certain refrain was sure to be heard, “It’s the economy stupid.”

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/JH19Ag04.html

There are actually much larger problems, problems that I personally consider far more pressing as the above link indicates, but the title of the article listed gives a reasonhable (to me) picture in general, and of course it will be a general election that decides it. My fear is that indeed the reptilian brain will decide which way the lever gets pulled.

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13726

Also, from the outside looking in, Obama’s choice of VP strikes me as a very big mistake, almost a case of him admitting that he might not be quite grown-up enough for the job and needs Daddy around to hold his hand. Perhaps, as usual, I am missing something.

Just my two cents, should Malcolm be swimming or otherwise enjoying himself, while I’ve never actually cast a vote for a Democrat (for President anyway) I consider it for now - a toss up. In other words, I’m not betting - yet.

Yes, I have a lot of responsibilities here, but I will try to bear up manfully.

I started studying kung fu at the end of 1975. I stayed with my first sifu, Master William Chung, until the mid-80’s sometime — at the end of which I had a black belt in Lam Sai Wing Hung Gar. We had a “falling out”, though, sad to say; I was at loose ends for a while, teaching a bit, and then, in 1993, took up with my current sifu, Master Peter Berman, who teaches the Tang Fung branch of the same system. I pretty much started over from scratch with this new teacher, as the forms are all slightly different, and got a second black belt from him a few years back.

I’ve written a few posts on the subject, and gathered them here.

And no, in the pointed-stick scenario I certainly wouldn’t break your neck with a flick of the wrist. (An elbow or palm strike, perhaps.) A pointed remark would, I should hope, be more likely to evoke a flick of the wits than the wrist.

Am I perhaps missing something important? Seneca, it is reputed, alluded toward Nero in his treatise, De Clementia, your French phrasing in, as I recall, 56 AD.

Two thousand years to the year two other guys, one more learned, the other less so, arrived on-scene. (JK the Less.)

Or has, as Mr. Duff suggests, this all taken on an air of silliness?

We have so little hope of solving this world’s problems that we might as well have a try at Mars; at least it’s a cleaner slate.

Anyway, après moi le déluge: I’m on vacation. Off to the beach.