“… all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
— HL Mencken in The Baltimore Evening Sun from july 1920
Mencken was early by almost 100 years. That “great and glorious day” came after the election of 2016 with Moron Don. What a colossal fucking douchebag.Contrary to what you might hear on FOX News, two assholes are not better than one.
“The Hydrogen Man” (1954) by Leonard Baskin (photo at National Gallery West Wing in March 2024). Two young patrons appear undeterred by the grotesque visage. And to the woman on the right, perhaps something unintelligible was being conveyed.
MoMA Gallery Label (from website):
“In 1954, the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb—the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the United States—was tested at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. That year, Baskin, who often explored the effects of mortality and destruction on the human form in his sculptures and works on paper, produced a monumental woodcut in response to this action, which generated vast and unanticipated radioactive contamination. The Hydrogen Man is an imposing figure that is, at the same time, mutilated and misshapen, composed of partial limbs and exposed blood vessels. Indeed, for Baskin, the human body was at once magnificent and deformed: ‘Our human frame, our gutted mansion, our enveloping sack of beef and ash is yet a glory.'”
A real-life demonstration of the natural attraction between magnets (MRI scanner) and metal (handgun). Walter Egan sang about it in his 1978 hit “Magnet and Steel.” In the parlance of hospital administrators, this is a “never event.” Ah, well, just add another training module and claim the credit. And with more guns than people in America, trouble like this is bound to bloom (photo from Chicago in 2015).
Sometimes you land in clover. Other times in dog shit.Hanging on by just a thread. “Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead.”A thinly masked warning on the dangers of tobacco.Bad lies abound in Baltimore.This one is buried inUS Open rough.Off the unbeaten path.“Tommy can you see me?”“Serenity now.” Photo shared by my friend JS, just prior to him being chased by a cocaine bear and jumping into the creek to escape.Turf field at Harvard University. Photo taken by my friend JS, just prior to him running wind sprints and then puking.
A paparazzo documents our spending spree on the Rive Droite. We hired a second car for the luxury shopping bags.
Eat your cœur out, people. We are moving, part time anyway, to Paris! We took le plunge and bought a small (Ha! It’s 5000 sq feet with parquet floors and a private elevator, as well as a champagne fountain) pied-à-terre on the Rive Gauche with a view of the Eiffel Tower. It’s 3 BR, 3.5 bath (with 1.5 solar-powered bidets). To putter around, we bought a new car in statement gold (above), heralding our arrival. We celebrated at an intimate dinner with the Macrons before spending the weekend at Johnny Depp’s Provençal village amongst Catherine Deneuve, Gad Elmaleh, Idris Elba, Audrey Tautou, Awkwafina, the Cubes (Mark Cuban), super-chef Bobby Flay, Charo, and U2. It was almost too much. Once we get settled in — we are taking the air in Zermatt for a month — please come for a visit. We have more Beluga caviar than should be legal!
We have a private zip-line from top of the Eiffel Tower to our balcony.
Chest CT shows dilated cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart) with delayed transit of contrast. The right heart chambers are opacified (top/bright) while the left ventricle remains unenhanced, in a quasi yin-yang configuration. It’s hard to not be half-hearted these days. As my old friend JS says, “Where’s the joy?”
It’s any window, in any hotel, in any city in America. This one happens to be in Denver, Co (from Feb 2019). If these curtains could talk, you’d be asleep in 5.
Novelty shark glass with Blue Curaçao(photo in Baltimore from Jan 2022)
My family is reliable for several things. One is novelty gifts at Christmas time. I recently became the proud owner of a pair of NERF basketball hoops (that I openly wanted) and a Bob Ross Christmas tree ornament. The shark glasses were from two years before. The second thing is intermittent reminders that for many years after “Jaws” (1975) was released, I adamantly refused to swim in the ocean. To which I answer, yes, and that’s why I’ve lived to tell about it…
Walkabouts and all that jazz in NOLA from March 2018.“You are like a HURRICANE…”New day, new beginning.Looks a safe place to park your money or your dreams.Between here and VooDoo BBQ, you’d never have to go home. Peeling back the many layers of the Crescent City.Walking past we heard, “Who dat?!”Sylvain is a terrific bar and restaurant. Got many good local tips from a kind and heavy-handed bartender.I’d love to take my morning “coffee” up there.Some of the best “SEAFOO” we’ve had was in NOLA! This pic is from inside at Pêche. I love the understated charm and calm vibe of this building. Seems like a benign, non-zombie movie set.Many banking options in NOLA, though you might be paid out in Mardi Gras beads.No crazy stories (real or fabricated) told in there, I’m sure.
And here are partial lyrics to the song “Walk On” by the masterful John Hiatt:
Someone called out to you And it sounded just like crying On a street where nobody Even knows your name Your mind was getting high on the sweet air As your spirit was flying
Steam rising from the sidewalks Of New Orleans after an evening rain Steam rising from the sidewalks After an evening rain
If you haven’t heard the song, buy the album. If you’ve never been to Sylvain, book your rez. But on the same trip in 2018, we also had dinner at a nice little French place called Lilette. We went for a nightcap next door and sat outside, when up walked Jennifer Coolidge. She was joining friends who gave her such a fawning reception that it seemed to me a little over-the-top. I mean, c’mon. While I had enjoyed her turn in “Best in Show” (her “we both love soup” line kills me every time!), I couldn’t recall her other films (my wife also knew her from “American Pie” and “Legally Blonde”). And I distinctly remember thinking that it was a little sad to be an aging actor who hadn’t really crossed the threshold of stardom — although I now think it best to be a steadily working character actor who barely gets recognized in public. But then here comes “White Lotus” in 2021-22, for which she won a Golden Globe plus an Emmy, and suddenly she is everywhere. She’s in every third ad and must be drowning in scripts. No longer just an ensemble cast bridesmaid. Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame can’t be long in coming. How wrong I was, and I couldn’t be happier about it. She seems cool as fuck. Girl, you got this…
Great Exudations 