We are a weekly compilation of local and national notes along with a smattering of sports, history and the oft-borrowed piece of wisdom from the 5:05 Newsletter – all from a politically incorrect slant.

First thing on our mind:

Our semi-saintly daughter tells us that many of the emails we send her should be texts. She forgets how long it takes to text on a flip phone.

Leading off: Getting along

Whenever we view the nonsense in our Congress, we invariably flash back to Thomas “Tip” O’Neill. Tip was the consummate New England Democratic politician who served as Speaker of the House for a decade. He would fight like a tiger for what he believed to be right and, after the votes were counted, sit down with Dick Nixon or Ronald Reagan and have a beer. None of this “They’re ruining America” or “He’s Nazi” claptrap we now hear from both sides of the aisle. We can only imagine sitting down with some foreign acquaintances and watching our current crop of legislators embarrass themselves and us as Americans. We will never get America back on track until we return to civility. And we fear that day is a long way off.  

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

We note the passing of a Clearwater High School classmate, Tim Ohr, a writer and author. Tim, the only real tuba player we ever knew, was 80.

So, how many of the folks running for Governor can you name? Hint: there are six.

An addendum to last week’s lead article on gambling interests and political contributions - it’s estimated some $10 million is being spent this election cycle in Georgia alone. Georgia is one of our largest states without large scale gambling.

If you have a chance, go back and read last Sunday’s (5/17) Blondie. In it, Clearwater’s Dean Young tells you everything you need to know about today’s “customer service.”

We’ve been tracking the many changes in the auto industry this year. Along with the slimming of several models and the backing away from EVs (Cadillac being the exception), another change is in the cabins of cars where more buttons for critical functions are coming back replacing touch screen options – mostly due to driver pushback.

Related: Sony and Honda have dropped their joint venture on a high-end, high-tech electric vehicle, the Afeela.

Sitting through a four-hour condo seminar a few weeks back, it occurred to us that in 1941, Congress declared war in less time. All meetings are way too long.

Factoid: the state capital with the highest elevation is not Denver, as most of us would surmise, but Santa Fe, New Mexico which is nearly a half mile higher than Colorado’s mile high city.

The 5:05 Newsletter singing the Gas Pump Blues: I didn’t realize how high gas prices were until today when my mailman called to tell me he is now working from home and then read my mail to me.

Sixty-five years ago this spring (1961), five guys formed a singing group called the Pendletones named after a popular men’s shirt of the era. Less than a year later, the first of their 59 Billboard hits made the charts. By then they were known as the Beach Boys.

Sports and random notes:

More wins than anyone in NASCAR history which was the legacy of Kyle Busch who died last week of severe pneumonia at a much too young 41. Richard Childress Racing announced it will retire his #8 for the foreseeable future.

Hard to believe that it had been over 100 years (1919) since an Englishman won the PGA tournament.

Okay, so how many of you have heard of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? Next question: how many of you have heard of Larry Bird, Bill Russell and LeBron James? They are all multiple NBA MVPs, but who follows the NBA anymore?

Folks compare Ohtani to Babe Ruth. Get back to us when Ohtani does this in May or any other month. Hits the first of 714 homeruns and goes 12 innings on the mound for the Red Sox against his future team the Yanks.

Oddity: As we “go to press”, the Milwaukee Brewers lead the NL Central despite the fact they are dead last in homers among major league teams. Atlanta is tied with the Yankees for the most round trippers. And our Rays still have the best record in the AL, but now, by two percentage points, also the best record in the majors.

Liam and Olivia remain the two most popular boy and girl names in America. Noah remains number two among boys while Charlotte has jumped to number two among girls. Emma, our sweet granddaughter’s name, falls to number three.

Related: we were helped by a very nice lady named Martha last week. It occurred to us that our first First Lady had that name; we had an Aunt Martha but our graduating class of over 500 had only one Martha. It now ranks as only the 713^th most popular girl’s name in America.

Tops at the box office 50 years ago this week was All the President’s Men. Twenty-five years later (2001), the big movie hit was the animated fantasy comedy Shrek.

One last thing: Our annual summer playlist

Memorial Day and the unofficial start of summer – and the time for our annual summer playlist suggestions, starting with Great Britain’s skiffle band Mungo Jerry’s In the Summertime; then the Carolina beach song, William Dell’s Most of the Pretty Young Girls; a yacht rock classic Dance Til the Sun Comes Up by Dexter French and Wolfgang Black; add some surf music with Jan and Dean’s Honolulu Lulu; follow it up with the Drifters’ Sand in My Shoes and complete the set with the Beach Boys’ Keep an Eye on Summer. Happy Summer!

Next Week: Marilyn & Andy: MLB 2 months in; Accord

Sorry, time does not permit replies to comments.

052426/380

Remember