Yes, it’s still somehow free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is the author of fourteen books and director of four films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. You can also show appreciation by pledging a small sum if we go partly “paid” one day.
Aziz Ansari last night guested on ‘SNL’ as their new Kash Patel. You’ll recognize his bulging eyes from “Parks & Rec.”
Weekend Update:
Trump went wild again last night on Truth Social. Remember when he cozied up to Bill Maher and vice versa, and okayed Bill getting the Mark Twain prize? Now "Bill Maher is a MORON, though slightly more talented than Jimmy Kimmel.” Trump was mad Bill did not take on Gavin Newsom more strongly on Friday night on his HBO show—and that Fox, the MAGA home team, continues to allow Bill on as a visitor.
He also uploaded a meme of himself holding a handful of "wild" cards from the game Uno alongside the caption "I have all the cards" and then a photo of his own face superimposed at one end of Mount Rushmore, next to Abraham Lincoln.
But the topper was this A.I. image answering critics of his plan to paint the bottom of the reflecting pool in D.C. a bright blue. So here we see that he has trimmed 50 pounds off his waist, added J.D., Marco and Doug Burgum—and a shapely woman no one has quite IDed as yet.
Good to see super serious historian Heather Cox Richardson having a little fun today, marking the Kentucky Derby, with this tribute to a famous horse from our youth:
Mr. Ed was a talking palomino in a 1960s television show by the same name. At a time when Westerns dominated American television, Mr. Ed was the anti-Western, with the main human character a klutzy architect and the hero a horse that was fond of his meals and his comfortable life, and spoke with the voice of Allan “Rocky” Lane, who made dozens of “B” westerns. But the show was a five-year hit as it married the past to the future. Mr. Ed offered a gentle, homely wisdom that enabled him to straighten out the troubles of the humans around him. The startling special effects that made it appear that the horse was talking melded modern technology with the comforting traditional community depicted in the show.
On the other hand, front page of the Vatican's official newspaper below, "South Lebanon Villages Razed to the Ground. After the bombings, Israeli bulldozers swing into action. As in Yaroun where in recent hours a Christian school was also demolished."
Music Pick
Brand new from Beck, “Ride Lonesome.”
Bruce continues to close his arena shows with “Chimes of Freedom” but some may not know the arrangement is not based on Dylan but on The Byrds’ original cover, right down to Stevie playing a Rickenbacker. Here the Byrds do it live, with Ed Wynn as host.
From Tunes to Toons
Bramhall:
de Adder
Bennett:
Tjard Royaards:
Homage to the new Banksy statue in London that we posted yesterday:
Brodner:
Photo Finish
From my camera to you: “ Sunrise Over the Hudson”
A powerful collection of cartoons.
The toons by Royyards are both excellent and too on the mark for our era. The hand giving the finger to NRA is priceless