It’s a very cool Sunday in Chicago (60° F or 16° C at sunrise, with rain prognosticated), and fall is coming on fast. It’s August 21, and it’s Ninoy Aquino Day in the Philippines, marking the assassination of Ferdinand Marcos’s political opponent in 1983—a killing that ultimately brought down Marcos and installed Ninoy’s wife, Cori Aquino, as President.
This is a big day in musical history, too, for it was on August 21, 1961 that Motown Records released what would become its first number one hit. It was by the Marvelettes, later covered by the Beatles. Can you guess the song? On this day in 1936, Wilt Chamberlain was born, one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Later in his career (he died at 63 of heart failure), he became famous for his sexual exploits, estimating that he’d slept with 10,000 women in his life. Notables who died on this day include Sheriff Buford Pusser (1974), whom I’ve put in just because I like his name. But he was a colorful character, and a television show and several movies were based on his life. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, we have another complicated Hili dialogue, which requires Malgozata to explain:
Explanation first: “Sophism” in Polish is spelled “sofizm” and for Hili and Cyrus it is an inseparable part of their sofa [JAC: The words are similar in Polish.] Poland is now ruled (in a way deeply disapproved by both animals) by a party with the name “Prawo i Sprawiedliwość” (PiS) [JAC: That means “Law and Justice”.] So if there is sophism-sofa there must also be pisism-PiS.
Cyrus: Sophism is a great philosophy.
Hili: But it’s being driven out by pisism.
In Polish:Cyrus: Sofizm to piękna filozofia.
Hili: Tak, ale wyparta przez pisizm.
Meanwhile, Leon is in Southern Poland enjoying another walking trip. He and his staff are staying in a quaint cottage:
Leon: I’ve found a place suitable for meditation.
And, out in Winnipeg, Gus is, well, doing his usual thing:
Please, Mr. Postman.
Bingo.
I thought I’d see if this would work. Are those all your cats?
Nope, none of them.
After at least a month of stupid hot weather, today’s weather seems chilly. I even felt cold a couple weeks ago when the temperature dipped to 26 C. Obviously, and as usual, I’m not prepared for Fall or Winter.
Leon’s expression in the above photograph reminds me of Che Guevara’s in his famous photograph
“Red and yellow, kill a fellow. Red and black, venom lack.” That’s the way I learned it. No “Jack” involved.
Warblers: less specious than we thought