I pride myself on being a down to earth, realistic man, but there are times when I wish were more idealistic. But that would probably be a terrible idea. I’m afraid that if I gave up my pragmatic ways, some bad juju might head my way. And the last thing I need right now in my life is chaos and controversy. So I think I’ll get my head out of the clouds, throw in the towel on this whole idealism shtick, zipper my lips, and stick with my practical pragmatism.
Written for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (terrible), Ragtag Daily Prompt (pragmatic), Your Daily Word Prompt (juju), Word of the Day Challenge (controversy), The Daily Spur (towel), and MMA Storytime (zipper).
The idea behind Who Won the Week is to give you the opportunity to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.
I will be posting this prompt on Sunday mornings (my time). If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.
This week’s Who Won the Week Winner is comeuppance. Comeuppance is defined as deserved reward or just deserts, usually unpleasant, as in, “He finally got his comeuppance for his misbehavior.” So who got his just deserts this week? None other than the man who was once known as “America’s Mayor,” Rudy Giuliani.Giuliani, the former personal attorney for ex-President Donald Trump, was suspended Thursday from practicing law in New York. In his role as Trump’s attorney, he had propagated baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and tried to persuade state legislators to override the will of the voters during the 2020 presidential election.
A New York appellate court found that there is uncontroverted evidence that [Giuliani] “communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as Trump’s lawyer and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.”
The court’s decision went on to say, “These false statements were made to improperly bolster his narrative that, due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client. We conclude that Giuliani’s conduct immediately threatens the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law, pending further proceedings before the Attorney Grievance Committee.”
Honorable mention this week goes to a gun violence prevention group, Change the Ref. The group released a video in which former NRA president David Keene is seen addressing a stadium of empty chairs. At that time, Keene believed he was speaking to James Madison Academy’s 2021 graduating class. But there is no James Madison Academy and the 3,044 empty chairs Keene was addressing represented children and teenagers who were shot and killed before they could graduate from high school.
Take a moment to read this article, which details this spectacular comeuppance prank and where you can view the video.
What about you? Who (or what) do you think won the week?
This week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme is meals, specifically breakfast, brunch, dinner, lunch, snack, and supper. Jim Adams credits fellow blogger Paula Light with these delicious themes, although knowing Paula, I’m surprised she didn’t specify cupcakes. For my meal-related song I’m going with the song “Breakfast in America” from Supertramp.
“Breakfast in America” was the title track from Supertramp’s 1979 album of the same name. Supertramp was a British band whose main songwriters were keyboard player Rick Davies and bass player Roger Hodgson. Although they shared songwriting credits, most of their songs were written separately.
Hodgson wrote this one when he was in his late teens and still living in England. The song described an English youth who dreams of going to America and becoming famous, which is exactly what Supertramp did. It was a top-ten hit in the UK and a live version of the song reached number 62 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in January 1981.
The band included the song “Breakfast in America,” on the album — and used the song’s name as the name of the album — even though Hodgson had written it eight years before most of the other songs on the album. They felt that the song would have a shot at being a commercial success and they wanted the album to have pop appeal. That was a change from Supertramp’s previous albums, which were more conceptual and elaborate.
Hodgson said of the song, “It was just mind chatter. Just writing down ideas as they came, fun thoughts all strung together. And I do remember the Beatles had just gone to America, and I was pretty impressed with that. That definitely stimulated my dream of wanting to go to America. And obviously seeing all those gorgeous California girls on the TV and thinking, Wow, that’s the place I want to go.” He eventually did move to California in 1973 and has lived there ever since.
Hodgson and Davies had a specific disagreement over the first line in the song: “Take a look at my girlfriend, she’s the only one I got.” Hodgson explained that Davies never liked the lyrics to “Breakfast.” He thought the lyrics were trite, especially that first line. Hodgson said that he didn’t actually have a girlfriend at that time, and, he added, “If I did, it wouldn’t have lasted much longer after that.”
Here are the lyrics to “Breakfast in America.”
Take a look at my girlfriend She’s the only one I got Not much of a girlfriend Never seem to get a lot
Take a jumbo across the water Like to see America See the girls in California I’m hoping it’s going to come true But there’s not a lot I can do
Could we have kippers for breakfast Mummy dear, mummy dear They got to have ’em in Texas ‘Cause everyone’s a millionaire
I’m a winner, I’m a sinner Do you want my autograph I’m a loser, what a joker I’m playing my jokes upon you While there’s nothing better to do
Ba-ba-ba-dow, ba-bow-dum-doo-de-dow-de-dow, de Ba-ba-ba-dow, ba-bow-dum-de-doo-de-dow Na na na, nana na na na na
Don’t you look at my girlfriend (girlfriend) She’s the only one I got Not much of a girlfriend (girlfriend) Never seem to get a lot (what’s she got, not a lot)
Take a jumbo cross the water Like to see America See the girls in California I’m hoping it’s going to come true But there’s not a lot I can do
Ba-ba-ba-dow, ba-bow-dum-doo-de-dow-de-dow, de Ba-ba-ba-dow, ba-bow-dum-de-doo-de-dow
Welcome to June 27, 2021 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.
I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).
Today’s word is “terrible.”
Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.
Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.
And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.
The idea behind Who Won the Week is to give you the opportunity to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.
Giuliani, the former personal attorney for ex-President Donald Trump, was suspended Thursday from practicing law in New York. In his role as Trump’s attorney, he had propagated baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and tried to persuade state legislators to override the will of the voters during the 2020 presidential election.
Welcome to June 27, 2021 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.
This, That, and the Other 