From the Annals of Space – In 1969, Astronaut Neil Armstrong spoke the first words ever known to be uttered from a celestial body other than Earth. At 3:18 CDT, Armstrong confirmed, “Houston, Tranquility Base here – the Eagle has landed.” He also became the first man to walk on the moon on later that same day.
Old General Sam would be mighty amused to know that his name was the first word ever spoken from the Moon.
Red is weeping today as The Frisco on Burnet Road in Austin will be closing up shop on July 29. From his early days, Red always enjoyed many a Fabulous Frisco burger with plump fresh cut fries and a dinner salad with 1000 Island with his family and later while sitting at the counter at the iconic spot in North Austin. And he even enjoyed the occasional splurge of a slice of banana cream pie. Red was fond of one waitress in particular who always asked him “Do you use ketchup?” To which Red always wanted to reply that he not only used ketchup – he abused it. In recent years, Red almost always stopped at The Frisco when he was in town even after it moved a mile or so up Burnet Road.
The Frisco was the last of the Night Hawk chain of restaurants. The Night Hawk was started in 1931 by Harry Akin, a former Austin mayor, on S. Congress. A second location near the UT Campus on The Drag was opened in 1933. Other locations were in San Antonio and Austin. Akin was a pioneer in desegregation and his restaurants were among the first in Texas to break the color barrier and serve all people. His restaurants were also largely staffed by women and minorities.
Red is inconsolable.
From the Annals of the Outlaws – In 1878, Texas Rangers mortally wounded Texas outlaw Sam Bass in Round Rock. Bass had been on a crime spree for about a year after joining a gang that robbed a Union Pacific train in Nebraska. With his share of the loot, Bass formed his own gang which held up stage coaches and trains around Dallas. A concerted effort to find the outlaw was unsuccessful until the Texas Rangers turned to some rather unethical tactics. The Rangers took into custody for questioning the father of Bass gang member Jim Murphy. Murphy’s father was very ill. The Rangers withheld medical treatment sending a message to Murphy that if he did not meet with them, they would continue to hold his father without treatment. Murphy agreed to the meeting and turned informant to save his father – revealing that Bass planned to rob the Williamson County Bank. Once Bass’ movements were known, the trap was set. Bass and gang were scouting the area before the robbery. After buying tobacco at a store, they were noticed by Deputy Sheriff A. W. Grimes. When Grimes approached the men and demanded they surrender their firearms. A gang member shot and killed Grimes. Bass fled but was shot by Texas Rangers George Herold and Sergeant Richard Ware. He was found in a field outside of town and died two days later.
“I’m Your Puppet” by Marvin Gaye
A long distance dedication from Donald to Vlad.
Snap your finger and I’ll turn you some flips, I’m your puppet
Your every wish is my command
All you gotta do is wiggle your little hand
I’m your puppet, I’m your puppet
“I might even end up having a good relationship, but they’re going, ‘Will President Trump be prepared? You know, President Putin is KGB and this and that.’ You know what? Putin’s fine. He’s fine.”
Donald Trump.
And for those of you who want to check out exactly how “fine” Trump’s good buddy Vlad actually is – you can look at the State Department’s 2017 Russia Human Rights Report. If it doesn’t turn your stomach, then there is something wrong with you. And just what are the odds that Trump brings up any of the egregious human rights violations documented by the State Department during their mano-a-mano in Helsinki? Can Red get a – “No chance in hell?” Thank you.
From the Annals of Pop – In 1923, the Dr Pepper Company was incorporated in Dallas. Dr Pepper had been made for almost 40 years after first being served at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug in Waco. The owner, Wade Morrison, employed a pharmacist named Charles Alderton, who filled prescriptions and also served soft drinks to customers. Alderton experimented with various combinations of fruit extracts and sweeteners and landed upon a combination which was later dubbed Dr Pepper. Morrison named the popular drink after Dr. Charles T. Pepper, a physician and pharmacist for whom Morrison had worked in Virginia. Today Dr Pepper is an operating company of Dr Pepper/Seven Up, based in Plano. Red has personally boycotted Dr Pepper ever since the company refused Dublin Bottling Works to continue to produce Dublin Dr Pepper.
Trumph – the Insult Comic President™ was in rare form the other night in North Dakota and the NoDaks in attendance were served up mostly a lot of talk about crowd size.
Let’s Start with Crowd Size Remarks:
I wish we could have had this stage back about 100 yards (then I wouldn’t have to be so close to so many smelly farmers). You’d see how many people. This place is packed (and smelly). Always, always, always talk about how this crowd is big and it could have been bigger (because bigness is bigly big-time important). This place is packed. The only thing more packed is outside, trying to get in. (take my word for it – people are being crushed to death trying to get in – but they are dying happy.) You know, we had the chance for a 24,000-seat arena (somewhere in Canada I think). And we should have taken it. (can I get a B, can I get an I, can I get a – um – never mind).
If crooked Hillary (never giving that one up because I know some crooked) would have won this election, and if she came here, which is about a 0% chance (you know, smelly), after the election she’d have 200 people in a conference room in a small hotel (owned by me). And I wish those cameras (but of course they are controlled by the scum-sucking enemies of “the people” – meaning me) would circle the room to see how many thousands of people are here (again bigly important), because, you know, on the screen I look — and all you see are those few beautiful, wonderful people (a few of whom don’t smell) — I don’t know who the hell I — but you’ve got a nice group over there (what am I even talking about – sometimes I don’t know). I know you have Mike and some others. They’re going to be so famous (and that folks is what it is all about). They never take those cameras off my face (it is the most handsome face in the world after all). Look at all the women (I once had a farm girl thing before my super-model phase).
And then Move on to His Brilliance:
Oh, I am so smart (so smart that I have to repeatedly tell you how smart I am). I am the smartest person (Euclid, Aristotle, Descartes, Newton, Rousseau, Jefferson, Einstein, Churchill, etc. – not fit to lick the shit off my shoes). My uncle was a great professor at MIT for 40 years. Can you believe? Forty years. I said, ‘But I’m smarter than him (I mean how much did he get paid). I’m smarter than anybody.’ (My IQ is like 2500).
And hurl a few insults – because after all that is what he does best:
I meet these people (okay they smell better than you). They call them the elite. These people. I look at them. I say, ‘That’s elite?’ (let me tell you – elite is having a naked super model in your bed). We got more money (the only thing that matters). We got more brains (see above – and now I’m thinking my IQ may actually be north of 3000). We got better houses (money), apartments (money). We got nicer boats (money). We’re smarter than they are (okay at least 3500). And they say, ‘The elite.” We are the super elite (we meaning me – most of you are pathetic losers – but what’s a conman without a ready supply of pathetic losers?).
From the Annals of the Border Raids – In 1855, Governor Elisha Pease authorized Captain James Callahan to lead a party of Texas Rangers across the Rio Grande into Mexico purportedly to punish Apaches who were raiding Texas and hiding out in Mexico. It appears more likely that the Callahan Expedition was an attempt to recapture runaway slaves (primarily Black Seminoles) who had escaped to Mexico and obtained permission to settle there. Governor Santiago Vidaurri of Nuevo León y Coahuila had earlier rebuffed a more peaceful attempt by an emissary sent by slave owners and fearing the worst had ordered his troops to prepare for invasion. Callahan crossed into Mexico in early October and engaged the allied Seminole and Mexican forces. A side attack was staged under the command of William R. Henry in an attempt to seize the Black Seminole women and children. But Henry was ambushed and the entire expedition was forced to retreat to Piedras Negras. But there they faced a large contingent of Mexican Regular Army troops supported by the Seminoles. Callahan torched the town in retribution before skedaddling back to Texas with cover from American troops on the north side of the Rio Grande. In 1876 the Claims Commission settled claims originating from the expedition, awarding 150 Mexican citizens a total of $50,000 in damages.
From the Annals of the Red Scare – In 1962, John Henry Faulk was awarded a $3.5 million libel judgment against AWARE, Inc. for branding him as a communist. AWARE was a for-profit corporation which purportedly offered a “clearance” service to advertisers, and radio and television networks. AWARE would supposedly investigate entertainers for signs of Communist sympathy or affiliation. In reality, AWARE was but a tactical arm for notorious scumbag Sen. Joe McCarthy and provided another way to promote his Red Scare agenda.
Faulk’s “mistake” occurred when he and other members wrested control of The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists away from officers backed by AWARE. With no evidence, AWARE labeled Faulk as a Communist. Faulk soon discovered that AWARE was keeping its radio station clients from hiring him. Faulk sued with the back of other radio entertainers and CBS News vice-president Edward R. Murrow. Faulk hired famed New York attorney Louis Nizer. AWARE engaged notorious scumbag attorney Roy Cohn (later the attorney for Trumpf – The Insult Comic President). After many delays instigated Cohn’s tactics for AWARE, the case went to trial and the jury found for Faulk awarding him more damages than he had sought in his petition. had determined that Faulk should receive more compensation than he sought in his original petition. The $3.5 million was the largest ever in a libel case at that point. On appeal, the damages were reduced to $500,000. After paying legal fees and accumulated debts, Faulk received about $75,000. Faulk’s book, Fear on Trial, published in 1963, tells the story of the experience.
Here is how Red fared in his Group Play predictions.
Group A Red – Uruguay and Egypt Group A Results – Uruguay and Russia
Group B Red – Portugal and Spain Group B Results – Spain and Portugal
Group C Red – France and Peru Group C Results – France and Denmark
Group D Red – Argentina & Iceland Group D Results – Croatia and Argentina
Group E Red – Brazil & Costa Rica Group E Results – Brazil and Switzerland
Group F Red – Germany & Mexico Group F Results – Sweden and Mexico
Group G Red – Belgium & England Group G Results – England and Belgium
Group H Red – Columbia & Poland Group H Results – Columbia and Japan
Red was 10 of 16 for the Round of 16. A really good grouping would be 12 or more out of 16, but Red is far from embarrassed by his picks. Red certainly did not see Croatia, Switzerland or Sweden as the powerhouses that they have proved to be in Group Play. Picking Peru over Denmark was probably Red’s biggest blunder followed by picking a shaky Egypt side over the team playing on home soil. Germany heading home probably surprised all but a very few prognosticators, but that is what happens when you score one goal – one goal!
Red’s knock-out round picks will be up tomorrow.
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