Reads for Wednesday

 Trump is so hellbent on retribution, he may well have the Kennedy Center for the Arts torn down.


Just insane, and nobody will have the nerve to stop him.

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Speaking of insane, there is a right-wing conference of religious whack jobs with a "keynote speaker" who is the king of the whack jobs, Alex Jones.

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Once again, Moscow, Idaho, conman pastor Doug Wilson gets his ass handed to him:   



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Some Reads for Sunday

Peter Thiel is getting a very cold reception outside his new mansion in the exclusive Barrio Parque neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentinians are chanting: “Out, out, Peter out.”

[image or embed]

— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@nothoodlum.bsky.social) August 30, 2026 at 2:57 PM
For an even colder reception, Thiel should go even further south like to the South Pole and never come back. ____________________________

 


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More whiny shit about how "Gen Z" people are even less inclined to date and have romantic relationships.  These writers never grow up and understand that the 1950s are dead and gone and good riddance.

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Saturday Reads

 The chickens came home to roost and shit on Milo, who is apparently already gone from the US.

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Today's Travers Stakes was interesting to say the least:



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Reads for Friday

 Republicans are facing the reality they are likely to lose both houses of Congress.  I still can't believe Republicans in the states of Texas and South Carolina nominated complete dipshits or crooks to fill Senate seats when the candidates they rejected would have handily won.

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Here are the odds on tomorrow's Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

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Over 500 people have died and more than 2,500 are still missing from Nepal's devastating mudslide and flood from the other day.  Apparently a piece of a glacier broke off.

link

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A Couple of Obits to Note

 Entertainer Jaye P. Morgan, real name Mary Margaret Morgan, died on August 24 at the age of 94.  She was a singer and actress, enjoying a long career, but her greatest claim to fame or notoriety was her long stint on that horrible turkey "game show" called The Gong Show, created and hosted by Chuck Barris.  She pushed the envelope one too many times during her tenure:


Not that she had that much to show, but it was still outrageous and would be considered outrageous even now.

Snip:

The vocalist died Aug. 24 of natural causes, her representatives confirmed in a statement shared with USA TODAY. She had been living with her nephew and niece, Duke Morgan Spencer and Peggy Sue Spencer, in Longview, Washington. There will be no memorial service, with Morgan's family planning to honor her wishes and mourn privately, her representatives said.

The performer made a name for herself as a singer in the 1950s with recordings of the songs "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" and "That's All I Want from You," though she is largely remembered for her time on TV. From 1954-55, she was a vocalist on the ABC quiz show "Stop the Music" around the time she was a regular on the CBS' daytime variety program "The Robert Q. Lewis Show."

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Rocky Horror Picture Show actor Tim Curry has died at the age of 80.

Snip:

A classic character actor, Curry often portrayed supercilious Brits, crafty villains (he played the devil more than once) and befuddled sidekicks.

He demanded attention as soon as he walked on screen as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in 1975’s “Rocky Horror,” boldly strolling past rows of acolytes and ripping off a robe to reveal a corset and stockings. His Lord of Darkness, from 1985’s fantasy film “Legend,” was equipped with giant horns and a tomato-red face, but it was Curry’s casual delivery, dripping with menace, that elevated the role to more than a caricature.

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Obituary: Dolly Parton

 Today Dolly Parton's family announced she had passed away after having had some recent health issues.  Of course, she was a giant in the music field, one of the biggest stars  who ever came out of country music with the added bonus of  being a popular crossover artist.  She was 80 years old, the same age as her mentor and original duet partner Porter Wagoner was when he died in 2007.  She had also acted in films and was prominent in philanthropic work.



I don't think there is anybody who ever had a bad word to say about Parton.  What set her apart from many performers is she had real charisma, with her kindness, good humor, and so many other positive character traits showing.  She was somebody who seemed to be unaffected by all the fame and money and seemed to be approachable.   Of course, she had the talent with her distinctive style and her songwriting.

I don't have much to add.  Who could add anything more about somebody who was such a fixture in popular music for some sixty years?

Dolly had been married to contractor Carl Dean for almost sixty years.  He died last year at the age of 82.  They married in 1966, right as she was beginning her career and right before she partnered with Porter Wagoner and hit the big time.  He always stayed out of the limelight and lived a more or less normal life.  

Unlike many people who think her best work was after she left Wagoner in 1974, I regard their music as nothing short of magical.  They made a perfect duet.  Dolly Parton seemed born to do duets, and she was never better than she was with Wagoner.  I could listen to their work all day.  They were that good.

However, good things have to come to an end, and Dolly decided in 1974 to strike out on her own.  Her famous song, "I Will Always Love You," later covered by Whitney Houston, whose massive hit version got played to death over the radio, movies, videos, CDs, whatever, was written as a farewell to Porter Wagoner.  Dolly knew as well as anybody that he was the person most responsible for her having the massive success she had. Wagoner was rather hurt over her leaving, but whatever animosity there was between the two, they long buried the hatchet at the time of Wagoner's death.  Dolly was with him when he died in 2007.

She died after a brief bout of cancer.  Snip:


Born Jan. 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River near the town of Sevierville, Parton was the fourth of 12 children.

Her father, Robert Lee Parton, could not read or write and often supplemented the family's meager income from their farm by working construction jobs.

Her mother, Avie Lee Parton, ran the household and was fond of singing traditional Appalachian ballads. The future superstar said it was her mother who instilled in her a love for music.


Vintage Dolly and Porter:



Later on with "Jolene":






Some Reads for Sunday

 Obituary:  Actress Shelley Fabares, 82, who was a staple of many years on television including a long stint on The Donna Reed Show and even recorded a hit song, "Johnny Angel" during her time there, has passed away.  She had had health problems for a number of years.

With husband Mike Farrell


Shelley, born Michelle Ann Marie Fabares, was the niece of actress Nanette Fabray.  

She also made a number of appearances in film in addition to television.  She co-starred with Elvis Presley in three of them.  She was also on the popular television series Coach.

Fabares was once married to record producer Lou Adler, but she ended up marrying actor Mike Farrell in 1984.  Farrell, 87, survives her along with her stepchildren.

She passed away yesterday.

Snip:

Fabares was born in Santa Monica, Calif., in 1944. Her aunt Nanette Fabray (who changed the family’s last name to the phonetic spelling) was already a working actress. Fabares’ mother got her into modeling at the age of 3, and at 10 years old in 1954, she made her TV debut in Letter to Loretta.

The life of a child actor, she told The Roanoke Times in 1994, could be tough. “It’s hard to know who you are and what you are,” she explained. “The things that go into the making of a child — you’re not totally disciplined, you don’t always behave, you have a sense of freedom — those things are not allowed on a set.” 

In 1958, she began starring in The Donna Reed Show as Mary Stone, the teenage daughter of Reed’s Donna and Carl Betz’s Dr. Alex. The family was completed by son and brother Jeff, played by Paul Petersen. Fabares became extremely close to Reed, telling PEOPLE in 1984, ​”She was a role model before I knew what a role model was.”

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For fans of horse racing, here is a list of possible contenders for next Saturday's Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

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Some Saturday Stories

 A couple of quasi-political obituaries to note:


Former Kansas senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker, 94, has died, her son Bill Kassebaum announced.  The daughter of one-time presidential candidate Alf Landon, who himself lived a long time (100), she served three terms in the U.S. Senate.  She was the first woman elected to the Senate not replacing a deceased spouse or other relative.  




One could argue Margaret Chase Smith also didn't follow a husband to the U.S. Senate.  She did, however, serve in the House upon the death of her husband, Clyde Smith, in 1940, several years before serving in the U.S. Senate.

Later on, Nancy Kassebaum married former senator Howard Baker in 1996.  He died in 2014.

Snip:

Kassebaum Baker was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978 and served three terms. Her modest demeanor endeared her to voters of all political stripes, though she shared the moderate, progressive Republican politics of her father, Gov. Alf Landon, the unsuccessful 1936 GOP nominee for president. Even after leaving the Senate early in 1997, she continued taking on public service roles.

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They don't make Republicans like this anymore.  They did exist before in droves in national politics before Reagan came into the presidency and with him the dregs from society.

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Nancy Kissinger, who since the early 1970s was married to one-time Secretary of State (and many would say war criminal) Henry Kissinger, died the other day at the age of 92.

She was known for her philanthropy.

Snip:


The daughter of a New York City lawyer, she met Henry Kissinger while working for New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. The couple wed in 1974.

She was described by one profiler as a brainy, Blass-bedecked blonde. She was often seen at high fashion openings and was a strong presence on the New York philanthropy scene.

“Nancy Kissinger can pick up the phone and get right through to the CEO. Nobody keeps her waiting,” philanthropist Judy Peabody said after chairing a successful hospital charity event in 1989.

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Stories for Thursday

 The right-wing "war on woke" is falling on hard times in Florida.

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Religious bullshit disguised as "sex education" has no business in schools.

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Some Stories for Wednesday

Voters in a few states, including Idaho, will vote on abortion rights and access. 

Ten cents says red Idaho will vote to approve abortion rights.

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So where are the state seats that were red but flipped blue in recent special elections?

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Schools allowing for staff to assault students, also called "corporal punishment," is still allowed in a number of states.  This despite the high chance of lawsuits being filed, regardless of parental consent.

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Some Stories for Tuesday

 A couple of obituaries of very old actors and actresses are noted here.


Director/actor  Mark Rydell, 97, has died at a Los Angeles nursing facility.  He was nominated for his work as director of 1981's On Golden Pond.  

He died on August 14.

Snip:

Born in New York, he was raised in that corner of the city by his parents, Sidney, a stockbroker, and Evelyn, whose passion and talent for the piano rubbed off on him: Mortimer – a name that he traded for Mark early in his career – trained at the Juilliard School of Music under the great jazz pianist Teddy Wilson, then worked on the New York and Chicago club circuits for five years before abandoning that career to avoid the temptations of heroin. “Knowing that I have an addict’s personality … I knew I was in danger,” he said. He served in the army and later won a scholarship for Sanford Meisner’s Neighborhood Playhouse, where he studied alongside McQueen and was instructed in dance by Martha Graham. From there, he joined the Actors Studio and appeared with his classmate Dean in 1953 in a TV version of William Inge’s play Glory in the Flower.

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In the article, he said directors should try their hand at acting.  A lot of them did, of course.

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Radio actress Peggy Webber, 100, died on August 15.

She was known for her work with Orson Welles.

Snip:

Webber died Saturday of natural causes at an independent living facility in Napa, California, her son, Rob Sinskey, told The Hollywood Reporter. She had moved north from Los Angeles after she had to be evacuated from her home amid the fires in January 2025.

Webber worked on thousands of episodes of radio shows, among them The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce; The Story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lionel Barrymore and Lew Ayres; The Man Called X, starring Herbert Marshall; and Escape, starring William Conrad.

A Few Reads for Monday

 It's like two dogs fighting over a dirty diaper.

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Obituary:  Actress Hayden Panettierre, only 36, has died after a 9-1-1 call.

What is really sad is both parents have outlived both of their children.  Hayden's brother died in 2023.

I remember many years ago when she was a young girl playing Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light.  It didn't surprise me she would go on to bigger things.

However, she battled substance abuse and depression over the years.




Snip:


Panettiere was born August 21, 1989, in Palisades, New York. Her career started when she was 11 months old, appearing in commercials.

She voiced Princess Dot in the 1998 movie “A Bug’s Life,” and became one of the youngest people ever nominated for a Grammy Award for “A Bug’s Life: Read-Along.”

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A Few Reads for Saturday

 What does it mean when prostate cancer spreads?

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Lotsa luck trying to get Trump to find a way to get out of the Iran war. He started that war to divert attention from the Epstein files.

It really is the Epstein War.

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Nick Reiner is shit out of luck getting any of the trust money his parents set up for him.

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Tuesday Reads

 A jockey did double duty by not just riding his mount, but also acting as an outrider and catching a horse who lost its rider.

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Trump has a plan for the midterms, and it is best to be warned about it in advance.

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Obituary:  This is interesting:  Actor Jon Cypher actually spent his final years near where I live, in Central Point, Oregon.  This is where he died last Monday, August 3.  He was 94 years old and had been a successful actor in movies and especially television for many years.  I remember from years ago when he had a regular role in the soap As the World Turns.  He played Dr. Alexander Keith on the show, but he was on there more than three times.  AI is wrong here.  He played the role in 1978-1979. As I recall, he was the love interest of Valerie Conway, played by Judith McConnell.  




The Hollywood Reporter:


Cypher was a virtual unknown when he was cast as the prince alongside rising British star Andrews in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s original musical adaptation of Cinderella. The lavish production, which aired live and in color on CBS in March 1957, attracted more than 107 million viewers, with more than 60 percent of U.S. households tuning in.

Cypher, however, is probably best known for his run as the calculating, bureaucratic Daniels on Hill Street Blues. On 71 episodes of the acclaimed NBC hit from 1981-87, Daniels frequently clashed with Daniel J. Travanti’s Capt. Frank Furillo, prioritizing politics and budgets over doing the right thing.


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Jon is going to be buried today in the Ashland wilderness through one of those "compost" type burials.   He will be buried at the Willow Witt Ranch, which is located near Grizzly Peak. It is a very pretty area. You can find the link to the Forest Conservation Burial Ground site here.

It appears he lived in a retirement center at the Twin Creeks subdivision in Central Point.  At least that is what is showing in an online search.  He was married to scientist Carol Rosin since 1986.

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Lake of the Woods Pictures

 The other day, I went with a small group and escaped the smoke in the valley and went to Lake of the Woods, located between Medford and Klamath Falls, Oregon.  A few pictures:












Some Reads for Sunday

Obit:  Singer and actress Abbe Lane, 93, died this past April but her death wasn't announced until this weekend.  She died from natural causes.  Her real name was Abigail Francine Lassman.

Snip:

In 1952, she married Cuban bandleader Xavier Cugat at the age of 16 (he was 49 years old at the time). Lane, who spoke four languages, fronted his Latin music orchestra until their divorce in 1964. She went on to remarry theatrical agent Perry Leff shortly after, and the couple had two sons, Steven and Andrew. Perry died in 2020.

Along with her work on-screen, Lane also made headlines for her suggestive comments about fellow Hollywood actresses, including her now iconic, “Jayne Mansfield may turn boys into men, but I take them from there.”

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Oregon Caves Pictures

 A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Oregon Caves National Monument, located near Cave Junction in southern Oregon.  It was the first time I have been there since the centennial of its designation in 2009.  Here are a few pictures of that trip:

















Some Reads for Thursday

 A recently rediscovered silent film from 1913 has been restored and will get a public screening.

Here is a list of films recently rediscovered that were thought lost forever.

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Mitch McConnell is allegedly still alive and claims he has been discharged from the rehab center.

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A Few Reads for Wednesday

 Todd Blanche is yet another religious right dipshit trying to impose his beliefs on everybody else, especially women.

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I don't know if tinkering with the Triple Crown in horse racing is such a great idea.

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Featured Post

Crater Lake National Park Photos 1

 Here are a few pictures I took at Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon today, including a couple of them from the historic lodge: