Happy Anniversary Jeff!

A very great day eight years ago today. 

I haven't been wearing my wedding ring much lately.

That's not any sign of marital woes whatsoever.  Just the opposite, in fact. Oddly, it's a sign of the strength of our marriage and my love for Jeff.

Eight years ago today, Jeff and I got married.  I'm biased, but I still regard that as the best wedding ceremony I've ever seen. But I should explain the ring, since I brought it up.

Jeff and I don't get out much these days.  You know, Covid.  For the past so many months, Jeff and I don't go out to shows, movies, restaurants, plays or to visit friends.

It's just as depressing for us as it is for everybody else, but we are hanging in there just fine. We make do. It works.

I now work mostly from home, he's retired.  When I do work outside the home, it's in somebody's garden, far from any other people, which makes social distancing easy.

Before Covid, I was out and about quite a bit.  I wore that wedding ring as a badge of honor, gloating to everyone how lucky and blessed I am to be married to Jeff.

Jeff knows how much I love him, or at least he'd better! I have nothing to "prove" to him. Since most of my life outside the house is gardening, I don't want to lose that ring in the dirt. So I take it off. And there's just no incentive to put it back on, since I can't wave it under anybody's nose. Yes, I'm that shallow.

I don't need to wave the ring under Jeff's nose, either. He knows how much I love him. I've said this a million times before:  What first attracted me to Jeff was his absolute decency, kindness and humor.  These characteristics just keep growing on me, confirming to me every day that marrying Jeff was by far the best decision I ever made.

I imagine the isolation that Covid has created for everybody can create tension in some marriages. Being cooped up in the house with the same person day in and day out might not work for some people.

It works for me! I'm happy to report we're great.  We are also smart enough to explore both our mutual interests and our own.  Jeff has gotten somewhat addicted to researching family ancestry. I was initially only marginally interested, but now he's got me totally hooked.

I go out and do my gardening.  Now Jeff seems to have gotten that gardening bug. He's been experimenting with hollyhocks, gardinias, calla lillies and other plants. The gardens around the house are so much better as a result.

This is just one example of how this works so well.  We have our own interests, along with common ones. Separate interests meld into one, and the result is much greater than the sum of its parts.   It's a sign of what Jeff has done to my entire life:  Add one ingredient, namely Jeff, and it just transformed my whole life.

Life goes on, we hope, anyway.  Even the small disasters seem much more manageable with Jeff around. Recently, the fridge sprung a leak and wrecked the floor. The hot water heater needed replacing. So did the kitchen stove. Jackson the Wonder Dog got sprayed by a skunk. The extreme summer weather was harsh on the gardens.

I tend to whine when a problem hits, but Jeff always gently reminds me that we just need to deal with it.  It cuts the whining short, and we move on and solve the problem.

There's a song I like called "Easy's Getting Harder Every Day."  Because of Jeff, if I wrote my version of that song, I'd have to call it "Hard is Getting Easier Every Day."

Jeff might have spoiled a cry in your beer country song, but he keeps improving everything else around him. Including me.

I don't deserve this, but I'll take it.

Happy Anniversary, Chief!

Randy Rainbow Channels Officer Krupke

For awhile, I stopped religious posting Randy Rainbow videos, since I didn't want to be all Randy all the time.

But I can't resist.  

Last week, Rainbow borrowed from Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein with his take on "Gee, Officer Krupke" from "West Side Story."  Sondhein and Rainbow are enthusiastic fans of each other, so why not?

Don't worry, Rainbow doesn't have a problem with Fauci. He's begging the good doctor to save us from lots of other idiots.

By the way, Rainbow hasn't been able to have a hair cut in five months, but his do still looks fabulous. Just saying.

Anyway,  here's the video:

Gallows Humor Videos Help With These Tough Times

Sarah Cooper is just one of my gallows humor
lifelines in this terrible pandemic era. 

Sarah Cooper. Julie Nolke. And, of course, Randy Rainbow.

These are people I absolutely rely on as this depressing, awful, horrible pandemic roars on.

LIke everybody else, I get anxious, depressed, angry, frustrated over the way things are, the bad direction the nation is going in, and the so-called leaders who have utterly failed us.

Negative emotions like this are not sustainable. The wear you down, and you become brittle and hostile and standoffish and not somebody you want to be around

So you look for an antidote. The best way to do it, at least for me, is to just embrace the gallows humor the current situation has us in. Which is why these three people are my lifeline.

You can look Cooper, Nolke and Rainbow up on social media. I have featured all three on this here blog thingy before, but it's always good and to highlight them again.  Maybe they can be your lifeline

First, here's Julie Nolke with Anna Akana in "Pandora's Box"  We watch Pandora and Zeus having a Zoom meeting. And it is the ultimate example of a bad, stereotypical mess up of a corpoerate meeting between a boss and underling.

 It turns out, both are culpable here, and it's a parable of how the leaders and their middle managers are incompetendly mucking up our lives.



I know many people will disagree with me, but Donald Trump's voice just grates on me. I clench my teeth every time I hear that idiot spout his word salad.  Sarah Cooper comes to the rescue with her delicious lip syncing of Donald Trump.



And who can forget Randy Rainbow? I've stopped posting every video he puts out, like I used to, because as much as I love Randy, I can't be exclusively a Randy Rainbow fan club. It's so easy to ind his videos anyway.

Between his singing talent, his top rate ability to throw shade, the lyrics, and the ideas, and his pretend participation in news conferences, you can't beat him. He also has an encyclopedic knowledge of songs he can tap to turn into his perfect parodies.

And his naughtiness.  I'll spoil a joke because I love it so much: Rainbow sings that lately all his rallies and events are like his sex life: Nobody comes.

His latest video taps "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from "The Little Mermaid to bring us "Poor Deplorable Troll:

Watch:

Odd TV Commercial Is A Brilliant Short Film

A scene from the epic 2009 ad for Cullman Liquidation

Believe it or not, the ad you'll watch at the bottom of this post is a real TV commercial. It's also an absolute work of art.

It actually came out a decade ago, but is enjoying some new viral fame out there on social media.

It's an ad for Cullman Liquidation, a purveyor of used mobile homes. I checked, and it IS a real business. 

The proprietor of Cullman Liquidation introduces us to his team, and gives us some intriguing personal biography.  For instance, he tells us, for no apparent reason, "My wife's boyfriend broke my jaw with a fence post."

There's quick cuts to the team looking menacing, a woman smoking a cigarette and a few sound effects. It's really a terrific short film.

Producers of several "reality" shows contacted the company pitching a show, but they turned the idea down, which is probably kind of smart.

Watch:

Harrowing Hudson River Is The Video You Need Now. Seriously

A superhero in Hoboken rescues Teddy. Film at 11. 

You probably need a feel good story right now. I do.

Don't worry about the beginning of this story, because, spoiler alert, you'll like the way it turns out.

Inside Edition reported on what they call is a harrowing rescue along the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey recently.

A toddler named Thomas, who is almost 3 years old,  lost his best friend, "Teddy" who fell into the river while he and his mom were taking a stroll.

A heroic rescuer appeared on the scene, found Teddy floating in the river, retrieved him and performed some dramatic CPR.

The rescue was successful!  Teddy has fully recovered and has been reunited with Thomas.

Like many heroes, the rescuer disappeared into the crowd when things settled down. Thomas' dad, Ron Levi, is on the hunt for the hero.  The Levi family, at the very least, wants to take the hero out for ice cream.

You'll fully understand when you watch the video:

Imagine A January, 2020 Conversation From Yourself 4 Months In The Future

April, 2020 Julie Nolke tries to explain the world to January, 2020
Julie Nolke, and it's confusing. 

(EDITOR'S NOTE) Fun Update to this post when you scroll down past the video with this first post.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION 

Almost none of us new the coronavirus pandemic would this be horrific and all consuming back in January or early February.

Imagine if your future self, from April 2020 sat down for a chat with you in January, 2020. The future self maybe couldn't give you all the details, but could provide hints.

Julie Nolke did imagine that. So she made a video of her January self hanging out blissfully in her home when the April version of Julie Nolke appears.

How awesome! The January Julie Nolke is going to learn what will happen in her exciting year. But, it becomes apparent that what actually happens is not her ideal version of exciting. January Julie Nolke learns that the giant Australian wildfires (remember those?) will not be the defining image of 2020.

It kind of goes downhill from there.

This video, by the way, was made before the nation erupted in protests over the George Floyd, who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer in May.  The video probably would have been much different, and darker, had it been made more recently.

In any event, the video is genius. Watch:




UPDATE: Now, Nolke has an update, a darker one, really, of the April self in the video above talkig with her June self.

"Murder hornets? Murder hornets!"   Then the conversation devolves from there, believe it or not.

It's a great video, but to make absolutely sure the new video gets revenue, I'll just have you click on this link.  Proceeds of the video go to the Official George Floyd Memorial fund.

Sarah Cooper's Trump Lip Syncing Is Comedy Gold

Sarah Cooper in full Donald Trump mode

There's a series of TikTok clips and YouTube videos that you just HAVE to sample.

It's writer and comedian Sarah Cooper imitating Donald Trump's rantings during news conferences and other events. What makes this so hilarious is her very natural looking but mocking mannerisms that just really hit the funny bone.

They come quickly. Notice early in the video, below,  how she sniffs the Sharpie she's holding.

Or when she's playing with the spray bottle of bleach while touting how that might cure Covid. Or how she quickly puts away that can of Diet Coke when a reporter starts asking questions.

Cooper has said in interviews she's amazed how some corporate types, and people like Trump can prattle on about nothing and people around them pretend they're saying something profound. She's just exposiing the vapidness of these so-called titans in these videos.

She said she purposely dresses as herself and doesn't put on a wig or makeup to look like Trump.  After all, it's the words she's highlighting.

In any event, you have to see Cooper's videos to truly enjoy them.  It's the best parody since Randy Rainbow.  Who, by the way, put out a new video last week called "Distraction." It's to the tune of "Tradition" from Fiddler On The Roof.  So go watch that video, too.

But first, here's a Sarah Cooper compilation:



Cooper also parodied the infamous interview between Anderson Cooper and the completely bonkers mayor of Las Vegas a month or so back:

Mother's Day Talent, For A Sweet Moment

So you can forget the pandemic for a moment, here's a mom who was also a 96-year old contestant recently on "Britain's Got Talent."  Fitting for Mother's Day, right?

Enjoy the sweet vid:

Randy Rainbow Has Some Advice For Clorox Virus Fighters

A bit of a scary screenshot from Randy Rainbow's latest
Time for a Clorox treatment! 

After Donald Trump's ill fated appearance Thursday in which he "sarcastically," so he said, suggested using household cleaners in our bodies to kill the coronavirus, people have of course reacted with an appropriate mix of horror and derision.  

However, as usual, Randy Rainbow has the last word on this subject with a new video dropped perfectly timed this morning - a nice Saturday treat.

This time, he's channeling Julie Andrews with this (very much NOT) medical advice

One of the things I love about this latest video is how cheerful it is, with such a grim topic. I know, I'm a bit weird, I know.

So sit back with Dr. Rainbow and enjoy "Spoonful Of Clorox"

Happy 100th Birthday Dad, Wherever You Are

Here's an open letter to my dad, who would have turned 100 years old today:

My dad, Red Sutkoski, would have turned 100
years old today. Happy Birthday, dad! 

Dear Dad:    

Happy 100th birthday!  I hope wherever you are, they're showing you a good time. 

I can't believe it's been more than four years since who left Earth.  But you never really did leave us, did you? You show up in my dreams at least twice a week. Lynn and Laurie say you visit them frequently, too. 

In those nightime visits, you're the same as you always were. Steady, good humored, ready with good stories. You always remind me to try and be the same way.  Funny how I always wake up feeling better on mornings after your visits. 

As you well know, times are tough right now down here on Earth.  That virus going around the world is killing lots of people, and scaring the rest of us. The economy has bottomed out. A lot of people are unemployed.

We're told to stay home and socially isolate ourselves so we don't make the situation worse.

It would have bothered you to have to do what we're doing now. You were always such an outgoing, social person. You always wanted to hear the latest stories, the latest news, the latest silly pratfall somebody in town did. 

But you would never complain about the situation, would you?  You understood duty, and your responsibility toward others. You always found ways to make do. You would have in this situation, too.  I try to use all that as a guide for me to get through this mess.  

You lived through tough times, too. You endured the Great Depression and World War II. You always told all kinds of colorful stories about those times. You'd acknowledge the difficulties during those years, but barely. 

Instead, you focused on the life, the color, the humor. You talked about how sometimes, you'd indulge yourself by watching  a film at the Joy Theater in West Rutland during the Depression. Or tell a funny story about how Mrs. Reczek got busted for moonshining during Prohibition.  You'd tell us about the leaders, like FDR, who shepherded us through the rough times. 

And you cherished the memory of World War II, finally ended, as you and your mates were serenaded by the song "Sentimental Journey" as you sailed home into Boston Harbor. 

Your style is a road map on how to get through our times.  I'm taking notes on how we are all coping through the current crisis, how humor and compassion like yours is helping people get through this now. 

All through life, at your tavern, Red's Place, you always knew to surround yourself with good, fun, kind and down to earth people.   Sometimes they were raucous, and they always made us laugh.  You know the type. Friends like Julia Redington, Clay and Jeanie Burney, Larry Carrara and all the rest. You kept each other grounded. Sane. In good humor. You taught me that's the way to do it. It's a good lesson for all of us. 

Down here on Earth, we can't get together now in a bar like Red's Place. At least for the moment. But we have technology and such, so we can connect and  find ways to laugh, and raise a glass. And try to look on the bright side. 

To blow off steam, or just to keep yourself occupied, you always had outdoor projects. You would build stone walls, clean out the Whipple Hollow Cemetery, or just tinkering around out in the fresh air.  I find myselt doing the same thing, as it works so well. It really clears my mind.  I always feel better after planting more perennial beds, clearing brush, and yes, building stone walls. 

Jeff says hi.  Jeff still keeps telling me how appreciative he is of you because of how accepting and warm you were to him when he came into my life. Also, your embrace of Jeff confirmed that I had chosen well in marrying him. 

That was your M.O. anyway.  You held tight to anybody from any background who was a good person. You rejected the haters.  It's a great way to go through life, as I keep discovering, over and over again. Thanks for instilling that in me!

Jeff's mom just joined you up there a month or so ago. I hope Jeff's parents, Don and Lois, are able to swing by to wish you well today. But I guess everything is pretty well up there, isn't it?

So a toast. Only a select few will understand what I'm saying, but I raise a glass in your honor and to you: Nice Driveway! 

Love, Matt

Needed Day Brightener: Watch This 97 Year Old Dance To Justin Timberlake

Chuck Franzke, 97, know just how to dance properly to a
Justin Timberlake tune. 

I want to be like this guy.

This guy is Chuck Franzke, 97 a World War II Navy Pilot, who, while maintaining social distancing, had to get some dancing out of his system.  The video, naturally, went viral.

In the video, he dances to "Can't Stop The Feeling" by Justin Timberlake.

Friends texted the video to Timberlake, who had this to say about it:

"I actually got choked up.... I said to my friends, 'When this quarantine is over that is the first person I want to find and meet.' That was just so amazing."

Timberlake said Franzke was already a certified bad ass, given his World War II service, but this takes it to a whole new level.

I have to say that Franzke's moves are pretty damn good!

Here's the video:

Religious Nuts Want To Kill Us All With Coronavirus

Florida :"pastor" Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested earlier
this month for defying orders to not hold services that
attract crowds.  

Religious wing nuts, the so-called "pro-life" activists, want to kill us.

That's the only conclusion I can reach with these idiots who insisting on opening their churches this pasr Easter Sunday for crowded services, in defiance of local, state and national orders to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Plus, they continue to hold services and are suing to be able to keep doing it.

So much for being "pro-life."  

Oh, sure, they're against abortion, saying it "kills babies," but they are plainly all for making the coronavirus pandemic worse by holding these services despite these crowds being the perfect way to spread Covid-19 exponentially.

More people will die than otherwise would had it not been for these idiots. Many of them will be innocent people who unknowingly make contact with these murderers.  Thou shall not kill?

Even pandering GOP politicians have gotten into this deadly act.

"Most  people want to limit the spread of Covid-19 (but) don't tell is we can't practice our religious freedoms," huffed  Kansas Republican Senate President Susan Wagle according to the Wichita Eagle.  in an article earlier this month. The paper reports that already, at least three clusters of Kansas Covid-19 outbreaks stemmed from religious services.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, sued the state's GOP legislative council over that group's decision to overturn Kelly's order to limit the size of religious meetings and funerals to ten people, as HuffPost reports.

Hours before church services were to start on Easter, the Kansas State Supreme Court backed Kelly, saying she had the right to limit groups, including those in churches, to 10 people or less, reports the Kansas City Star.

This battle, of course continues, needlessly, of course.

There's all kinds of local dramas, mostly in the South, with these "religious" people. The guy who operates the Joe My God blog has brilliantly labeled these types as "Branch Covidians."

One of these idiots is Rodney Howard-Browne of The River At Tampa Bay, who was arrested for opening his church a week or two back.

According to The Daily Beast, Howard-Browne said he "would never back down," but did just that for the silliest attempt at a fig leaf.

He said he didn't want an outsider with coronavirus might go to the church to make the faithful sick, or something like that.

As you can tell, I'm completely fed up with these murderous evangelicals.  They whine constantly about how persecuted they are, and yet they are arguably afforded more rights and benefits than any other group in this nation. Their persecution complex has always been that they are all miffed beyond belief that not everybody thinks and acts the way they do.

Those smug asses think everybody should act in accordance with their "Christian nation" beliefs.

God forbid. No pun intended.

We all know exactly why the scamevangelists are cynically opening churches and risking their flock and fans.  It's all about the collection plate. This stay at home stuff just doesn't fit their business model.  Let's face it, most of these "pastors" are filthy rich and are some of the most common grifters out there.

The famous saying is true: There's a sucker born every minute. There's plenty of gullible people who fall for these religious scams. You can't shake their "faith" that attending church in groups is the only way to salvation. Whatever that is.

They tell us God is all powerful. If that's the case, God can hear our prayers whether we're in a church or alone at home.

Plenty of other religious denominations get it. They've closed their church doors and put their services on YouTube, or Facebook Live, or whatever else helps people get access to the church.  At last check, God has not struck these responsible churches down. No lightning strikes on the shuttered churches in my town, at least.

Besides, if you believe in God, you should know He gave us a brain.  Probably with the assumption we'd use it. Maybe God gave us the power to decide what is right and not right for us and especially for our neighbors. Passing this test is probably more of a mark of decency, religious righteousness and morals than anything else.

The scamevangelicals failed this test, and so did their fans.

I'm sure a lot of these gullible marks have gotten convinced this coronavirus pandemic is some sort of second coming. The End Times. They probably have been so brainwashed by these "pastors" that they'll believe anything. Just as long as the scamevangelicals rake in the dough, right?

In turn, these gullible cultists don't mind killing the rest of us. They know they Way, or so they think.

That persecution complex among these so called religious types is in full force when people try to enforce these big church gatherings.

In Kentucky, about 50 members of the Maryville Baptist Church attended Easter services, in violation of a state order to limit the size of gatherings during this pandemic. Policd took down license plate numbers of these church goers, threatening to quarantine them.

The church is planning a federal lawsuit claiming its constitutional rights were violated. After all, the First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, right?

However, one can practice their religion and not do it amid a crowd. In his order banning group gatherings, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear banned all large groups, not just religious ones. So no, the governor is not persecuting religious types, despite the whines of the Branch Covidians.

And despite the facts, the Liberty Counsel lawyers who are suing are claiming it was Beshear's intend to focus on churches. Um, yeah. Right.  I thought thou shall not lie was in the 10 Commandments, but what do i know?

As constitutional attornry Mitchell Denham told television stations WAVE, "You cannot place people in harm by exercising your religion."

A similar idiotic lawsuit, by the way, is pending in California.

It would be one thing if these religious nutbags were only putting themselves in harms way. But they're doing it to the rest of us, too.  Remember, as I said, they demand we be just like them.

But that is the worst role modeling anyone can follow.

The "religious" scammers I've just written about is just one of several groups of villians in this coronavirus outbreak. I'll feature more in coming posts.

That sounds negative, I realize, but now's the time to take down names.  When or if this is over, or even doing the evildoers in this pandemic need to be made accountable, just as the many heroes in this episode need to be celebrated forever.

Cuomo Brother Begin Coronavirus Family TV Comedy-Drama

The Cuomo Brothers, Chris and Andrew, have been giving us a bit of
family comedy amid the tragedy of the Coronavirus pandemic 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to lead his state through one of the world's worst and most tragic "hot spots" in the global coronavirus pandemic.

His brother, Chris Cuomo, is a CNN anchor trying to report on this massive story. In a plot twist, Chris Cuomo has come down with the illness.

Chris has had to interview his brother Andrew through this.  The brothers' sibling rivalry has become maybe the hottest TV comedy-drama out there.

Its' obviously the brothers love each other, but boy, are they brothers in every sense of the word!  Through this serious time, despite the Cuomos serious demeanors, they've given us several splashes of welcome comic relief.

Here's a highlight video to prove my point:

A Departure For Randy Rainbow: He Praises His Target, Hilariously, Of Course

Randy Rainbow today offered a video love letter to Andrew Cuomo.

We're all used to the brilliant comedian and satirist Randy Rainbow skewering political nitwits in his videos.  

Today, he dropped a video called "Andy" which is to the tune of "Sandy" from "Grease."

The target in this video is New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the good gov survives the video unscathed.

Rainbow's "Andy" is a love letter to the level-headed, fact driven, compassionate but tough Cuomo, whose daily televised coronovirus updates and briefings are some of the most informative, reassuring information we get about the Corvid-19 pandemic.

I certainly feel myself drawn to Cuomo's briefings. They sure are, ahem, a big contrast from what we're getting from the Trump administration.

Rainbow is so smitten by Cuomo in "Andy" that he sings that he now identifies as a "cuomosexual."  I kinda do, too, frankly.  If only all our leaders could be as good in a crisis as Cuomo.

Here's Rainbow's latest to give you a little levity in this dark week:

Parody Music To Help Get You Through Pandemic Isolation

Chris Mann trapped indoors like the rest of us due to coronavirus

I certainly get it that the coronavirus pandemic is one of the greatest tragedies in modern history. Depressingly, it will only get worse before it gets better.

To stay sane through this, I think we all need some gallows humor to help us get through it.  Singer/Songwriter Chris Mann to the rescue.

He's had a serious and successful music career ever since he was a finalist on The Voice in 2012.

Lately, though, he's been putting out parody videos of how his stay at home is going. Spoiler alert: Not that great.

Mann is among millions of us going stir crazy at home, trying to maintain the social distancing we all hope will blunt the coronavirus impact.  I'm sure Mann's YouTube channel will have more in the coming days and weeks.

So let's enjoy what he's got so far.  in addition to "My Corona," a parody of the bad 1979 hit "My Sharona," we have two other even better ones.

First, we'll bring you "Hello (From The Inside)" a parody of the heartbreaking Adele song "Hello" from 2015.  Mann's version is heartbreaking in quite a different way. Click on the this sentence to watch it. Totally worth it.

Up next, we go back a little further to Madonna's "Vogue"

I especially like the sort of semi-wrap part in the middle starting at about 2:20 in:

Scenes From A Pandemic: Faith In Humanity Editiion

People throughout the world are pausing each evening, going out to
their balconies and porches to cheer all the life-saving health workers during
the coronavirus pandemic Above is a recent scene from Madrid.

I'll warn you right now, this post will probably make you shed a tear or two.

This coronavirus pandemic is bringing out the worst in a few people, but the best in many others.

Here's some examples:

People worldwide, under lockdown, are trying to encourage others from their balconies and windows.

Here's a young woman in Italia singing a beautiful, mournful and defiant version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."   At the end the translation of what she says in part is: "Thank you, but one thing I have to say: I didn't do this for publicity or to hear people telling me that I'm good. Absolutely, you all know that luckily, thanking God, I have a job it with my heart for the people of Pascarola."

Here's the vid:



In the "we're all in this together" department, residents of a German apartment complex get together to sing "Bella Ciao."  The improvised instruments are a nice touch:



One great idea that has spread around Europe faster than the virus is, each evening, people holed up in their apartments stop, go to their windows and balconies and cheer on health workers. This idea is also spreading to the United States and Canada, among other nations:



Turn up the sound on this one: It's haunting. New York City. Locked Down, but glittering like always. But the air is filled with the sounds of ambulances, sirens wailing scrambling back and forth bringing new victims of Covid-19 to hospitals:


In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, an extended annually gather at Alfred Vecoli's house to celebrate his birthday. This year is his 92nd.  Due to social distancing, the gathering was called off. But not really. His family decided to just do a parade in his honor. Stick with this news report. It gets more and more touching:



And this one's kind of cute. St. Patrick's Day parades were canceled worldwide, but this familly in Ireland decided to have a parade to mark the occasion anyway.  I especially like the floats that feature hand sanitizer and toilet paper:

Furloughed Sportcaster Gives "Mundane" Sports Play By Play, Hilariously

Which pedestrian will make it across the street first?
Sportscaster Nick Heath has the coronavirus play by play. 

British sportscaster Nick Heath is temporarily out of a job. There's no sporting events on due to the coronavirus, so, he had to come up with a different plan.

You know, to stay in practice, to make sure his skills don't fade during his layoff.

So, Heath has been going around doing his sportscaster thing on people doing mundane things, like walking their dog, or grocery shopping, or sitting outside a cafe.

The results are strange, but pure comic gold

Below are a couple examples of Heath's play by play.

Randy Rainbow Instructs Us Hilariously On Social Distancing

Randy Rainbow this Sunday morning released a new, much needed
musical video urging social distancing because of the coronavirus

This Sunday morning, the always-welcome Randy Rainbow dropped another video to help get us through our coronavirus lockdowns.  

Rainbow's output of videos seems to be increasing lately. He must be staying at home and making these.

I'm sure his shows are suspended for now. I notice his tour schedule is blank through May 1, at least for now.

He's obeying the social distancing orders to blunt the spread of the coronavirus.

That's what he urges us to do in this latest video, which is a parody of the song "I Can Go The Distance" from "Hercules."

As always, Rainbow starts with a news interview, this time with who he describes as "The dance captain of the coronavirus task force Mike Pence."

Rainbow notes that, at least in Donald Trump's mind, the disease is now called the "Hillary Flu."  At first, Rainbow resists Pence's call for social distancing by noting he already has purchased tickets and doesn't want to cancel his Passover plans to participate in the Black Light Underwear Foam Party in Cancun.

Luckily for all of us for a lot of reasons, Rainbow pivots, quickly and wholeheartedly embracing  the idea of social distancing as he launches into the song. "I will save the human race by lying on my couch," he vows. Rainbow adds, as he patriotically wraps himself in an American flag, "I'll defeat the enemy by binging 'This Is Us,'"

He concludes by singing "But for now just suck it up and stay the f**k inside," while we see an image of the of-so religious Pence solemnly nodding to the line in approval. Watch:

A 1946 PSA Will Make You Laugh While Reminding You To Cover Your Sneezes And Coughs

This old PSA from 1946 is a funny, good reminder of what to do.

For weeks now, we've been told to be very careful about sneezing and coughing with the coronavirus going around. 

It's serious, distressing stuff, as we all know.

To make you laugh a little bit, here's a British PSA reminding people not to sneeze out in the open, to cover your mouth when you have a sneeze coming on.

Here it is:

Coved-19 Happy And Sad Again: Animal Edition

Desperate monkeys look for food in Lopburi, Thailand. Tourists would
always feed them, but now they're gone, chased home by the
coronavirus. Locals have been trying to help by leaving food out
for at least some of them. 

From what I've read, most animals don't get the coronavirus that is alarming everybody around the world right now.

That doesn't mean the disease has no effect on them. After all, anything that happens to humans can affect animals.

I have two of no doubt zillions of examples in this post.

First, the sad.

One of the charms of Lopburi, Thailand is the thousands of monkeys that roam the streets and buildings and temples in the region.

It turns out the monkeys' main supply of food is tourists, who kindly give them treats as they visit. The coronavirus has dried up tourism everywhere, including Thailand.

Now, the monkeys are incredibly hungry. They're viciously fighting each other over food, and running around in gangs through town, frightening people.

Locals have begun leaving food out for the monkeys to help get them through this crisis.

Now the (relatively) happy:

Wellington the penguin checks out the fish tanks at the Shedd Aquarium
in Chicago. The aquarium is closed to the human public due to the
coronavirus, so animals living there were given tours. 

The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, like so many other attractions is closed to the public while we try to whether the coronavirus pandemic.

Well, somebody's got to tour the place, so why not let the penguins there have a look-see, since humans aren't currently in the way.  I'm very partial to penguins, by the way, so this is my kind of story.

"Without guests in the building, caretakers are getting creative in how they provide enrichment to animals.....introducing new experiences, activities, foods and more to keep them active, encourage them to explore, problem-solve and express natural behaviors," aquarium officials told the Chicago Tribune. 

One penguin, named Wellington, seemed particularly fascinated by the fish.

We all need distractions like this to get us through what I'm calling the plague weeks.

Here's a clip from CBS News about the penguims:

Coronavirus: Bad People, Good People

This idiot bought up all kinds of Lysol disinfectant wipes and tried
to sell them at a wildly inflated prices on Amazon

In every crisis, as I said a few days ago, jerks emerge, and good natured people emerge.

So it is with the coronavirus situation.  Two incidents add clarity to what I mean.

I'll get the bad out of the way first.

Meet Manny Ranga and Violeta Perez, who captured the outrage of Canadians and now the world for their stunt to make money off the coronavirus.

They raided a Costco store in Vancouver, British Columbiaa and bought all the six packs of Lysol disinfecting wipes recently, which normally sell for $20 for each six pack, according to The Star.   They completed loaded the back of their F-150 truck with the wipes.

The Star reported that the wipes fetch four times the price from Costco online, and Ranga said that represented a "big opportunity" for them.

They spent $70,000 on the wipes at Costco and profited more than $100,000 in gouge-priced sales on Amazon.

Amazon finally suspended their account Friday, saying the couple violated their policy on pricing inflation.

Ranga whined to The Star that he objects to the way he has been portrayed in the media. Reaction to the story was jeopardizing their livelihoods, he said. Poor baby.   Ranga and his wife normally work as home developers and business had slowed.

Too bad, bubba. We're all in the same boat.

Ranga's scheme might not have been uncovered if not for The Star reported Douglas Quan, who was reporting on a story about panic buying at Costco. He stumbled upon Ranga and Perez loading their truck and asked questions.

Quan said the couple appeared to have no regrets and seemed actually proud of their venture.

The couple isn't so happy now. They're getting slammed on social media, 'natch.

This is one example.  There are also plenty of examples out there of people price gouging. 

CORONOVIRUS MUSIC

One of the potential songs for your virus quarantine playlist 

Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, have the coronovirus, unfortunately and are on lockdown in Australia.  They're hanging in there, and I have to appreciate Wilson's gallows humor through this.

She went on Twitter and asked for crowdsourcing help to develop a playlist for her Spotify account.  She knew it was a fun way to confront the crisis with humor and lots of people picked up on that suggestion.  

Some of the suggested songs are by Wilson herself

A lot of the song ideas were great, and I'll share them with you, as we'll all need this sort of thing, even if we're not under quarantine.

"All By Myself" by Eric Carmen.
"Dancing With Myself," by Billy Idol
"Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu," By Johnny Rivers
"U Can't Touch This," by MC Hammer
"I Wanna Be Sedated," by The Ramones
"I Will Survive," by Gloria Gaynor
"I Want To Break Free," by Queen
"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You" by Kelly Clarkson
"Leaving On A Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul and Mary.
"So Far Away," by Carole King
"Come Healing," by Leonard Cohen

Other people suggested:
"Splendid Isolation," by Warren Zevon
"I Think We're Alone Now," by Tiffany
"Stayin' Alive," by the Bee Gees
"Toxic," by Britney Spears
"If I Could Turn Back Time," by Cher
"In The Air Tonight," by Phil Collins

Randy Rainbow Takes On The Coronavirus

Randy Rainbow is giving us a bit of gallows humor
with "The Coronavirus Lament."

Leave to Randy Rainbow to give us a bit of comic relief for the coronavirus nightmare.

Over the weekend, Rainbow dropped a new video called "The Coronavirus Lament."

It's based on "Adelaide's Lament," by Frank Loesser, which is from the 1950 Tony-winning musical "Guys and Dolls."

I've been a nervous wreck during this crisis, so I definitely need a laugh. You do, too.

Italians React In Beautiful Way To Coronavirus Quarantine

This Italian neighborhood is deserted due to a government-imposed
coronoviris quarantine, but residents insisted on making things
beautiful anyway

Italy, as you have probably heard in the news, is pretty much locked down because of the corona virus.

That means 60 million or so Italians have been told to stay in their houses. Italians have a reputation of being very social animals, so this has to be painful for all of them. No matter how physically  healthy they feel.  

To boost each other's spirits, residents in city neighborhoods have been singing to each other from windows and balconies, even as the streets below are deserted. A viral video of this, which you can see at the bottom of this post actually made me cry a little.

When there's big calamities hit, there are sometimes awful moments of cruelty. Or moments of absurdity - witness the great Toilet Paper rushes of this week.  But also great beauty emerges from humanity in times of crisis.  This is video is just one manifestation of that.

Let this being an example of how we should behave, moving forward:

Televangelists Want People To Die Of Covid-19 So They Can Get Richer

Scamevangelist says if your church is taking coronavirus precautions, that
church is not really a religion. Obviously, if your church suggests
precautions, God would probably want you to go along with them. 

Everybody is an understandable, correct tizzy over the dangerous conornavirus, as I'm sure you're all experiencing.

One of many patterns I'm noticing is how evil televangelists and conspiracy theorists are through this whole thing.

I've always known most of these types are scum of the Earth, but to use a pandemic to get rich using scams, no matter how many people die as a result, is just....just.....I can't even come up with the word.

We give life prison sentences or the death penalty to mass murderers. Aren't these people doing exactly the same. Except not with a gun, but with words aimed at the gullible.

I've got just a few examples. Let's start with one dude named Jonathan Shuttlesworth.

Here's what he said about churches that close down and/or limit services.

"Shame on every European full gospel church, bunch of sissies, that shut down during this thing. Catholic Church not having holy water in the lobby - how holy is the water then?  That should be a sign to you that your whole religion's a fraud.  Any faith that doesn't work in real life is a fake faith. Totally fake.

If you're putting out pamphlets and telling everybody to use Purell before they come into the sanctuary and don't greet anyone, you should just turn in your ministry credentials and burn your church down -- turn it into a casino or something. You're a loser. Bunch of pansies. No balls."

Shuttlesworth has a solution to this though. Join his church!

If you join Shuttlesworth's ministry, he says. Just join up and send him all your cash, you will be given a supernatural protection from the coronavirus. So that's the scam.  So people will give this idiot donations, think they're protected, get infected and spread the virus to anyone who unwittingly comes in close contact with them.

Nice, huh?

Scammer Jim Bakker tried to sell a fake "cure" for Covid-19.
There's lots of cease and desist letters over this out there 

Same is true with Jim Bakker. You probably remember him, or his wife. He's been scamming for a long, long time.  Here's a recap, put succinctly by NPR:

"Bakker gained fame in the 1970s and '80s as the host of The PTL Club, a Christian television program he hosted with his then-wife, Tammy Faye. He stepped down from PTL after a sex scandal and later spent several years in prison after a jury found that he had defrauded his viewers out of millions of dollars."

Bakker's out of prison now for that.  So he's scamming people in a much more deadly way than his crimes earlier.

He's hawking a product called Silver Solution.  As NPR reports, Bakker had a guest on his show back on February 12 named Sherrill Sellman and implied it can cure illnesses associated with this virus.  "Well, let's say it hasn't been tested on this strain of the cornavirus, but it has been tested on other strains fothe coronavirus and has been able to eliminated it within 12 hours....Totally eliminate it. Kills it. Deactivates it."

Missouri filed a lawsuit against Bakker and his production compant to stop them from advertising and selling Silver Solution.  New York State issued a cease and desist against Bakker for this item.  Also, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission warned Bakker that he and his cohorts were selling unapproved new drugs in violation of the law, reports NPR.

Bakker has since taken down advertisements for Silver Solution, but Missouri is still pursuing the case because they worry Bakker might quietly start selling the stuff once attention to it starts to die down.

Creepy scamevangelist Kenneth Copeland says he can protect you from
the virus if you let him bless you by putting your hand on your TV
screen when hes on. 

Then we have the oh so creepy looking "televangelist" Kenneth Copeland, who told his viewers to put their hands on their TV screens in order to get God's protection from this virus.

Once people did that, Copeland instructed them to say "I take it, I have it. It's mine. I thank you and praise you for it."  Then I'm sure Copeland did his usual money beg for his grateful, but still very unsafe viewers.

But, according to Copeland, his viewers shouldn't be afraid because Jesus. Or Copeland. I don't know. Anyway, he said this weirdness:  "Fear is not OK. It is sin. It is a magnet for sickness and disease. The moment you begin to fear about anything, the devil goes to work on you. You are giving the devil a pathway to your body."

Got that? Coronovirus isn't a virus. It's the devil.  So an eventual vaccine won't help?

You might remember Copeland from early 2018 when he bought a private Gulfstream jet for $5.8 million.  He did so because he once called flying in a commercial airplane as "getting in a long tube with a bunch of demons." 

Anyway, I'm being Captain Obvious here. If you really want advice about coronovirus, televangelists won't help you.  Go to the CDC or better yet, the World Health Organization (WHO) if you want to learn ways to protect yourself.

If God were really speaking through these scamevangelists, I'm betting he'd be telling you to go to WHO, too.

Anti-Milk Protesters Were (Briefly) Scary, Still Dumb, Still Ineffectual

Jill Biden wrestling an anti-dairy protester away from her
husband, Joe Biden

A little highlight of the Super Tuesday primary last week was the noisy but very dumb anti-dairy direct action protesters that scared Joe Biden and the people surrounding him during a rally Tuesday evening.

A couple of idiots, identified as Sarah Segal and Ashley Froud from some outfit called Direct Action Everywhere yelling "Let Dairy Die!" ran toward Biden.  His wife, Jill Biden, demonstrating that she is a Philadelphia badass, physically blocked one of them.

The whole thing led to a now-iconic photograph of Jill Biden, teeth clenched, grabbing the protester's arms and wrestling her away from her husband.  Jill Biden, and Biden aide Symone Sanders, who forcefully and physically drove the anti-diary nuts away,  were the only ones who came out looking good from this.

According to Time Magazine:

"'The protest was intended to draw attention to the inherent violence of the dairy industry,' a spokesperson for Direct Action Everywhere tells Time over Twitter DM. 'We targeted Biden's rally because the Biden campaign has prominently featured appearances by former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who now receives a million-dollar salary as CEO and President of the U.S Dairy Export Council.'"

It seems like Direct Action Everywhere is into these dumb stunts.  The anti-dairy protesters have interrupted  Elizabeth Warren events in the past.  And they made a splash at a Bernie Sanders rally earlier this year.

According to The Hill,  three topless women crashed the stage in February at a Nevada Bernie Sanders rally with the words, "let dairy die" painted on their chest. Another (clothed) protester, wrestled the mic from Sanders and declared, "Bernie, I'm your biggest supporter and I'm here to ask you to stop propping up the dairy industry and stop propping up animal agriculture,"

I really can't stand Direct Action Everywhere for lots of reasons, as you've probably figured out by now.  They emphasize they are nonviolent and I'm certain the demonstrators had no intention of harming Biden, Sanders and Warren.

But their protests come perilously close to violence, which paints Direct Action Everywhere as hypocrites.  Forcefully grabbing a mic from Sanders was vaguely violent, as was charging toward Biden on Super Tuesday. With all the nutcases running around out there, I'm sure Sanders, Biden and the people around them were briefly scared.

The Biden incident looked especially frightening to me.  Meanwhile, Direct Action Everywhere's Facebook states that they ".....ask folks who come into our spaces to be nonviolent in not only action, but tone and word."

They didn't make it to that standard at the Biden rally, did they?

One of the Biden protesters, Ashley Froud, told the Los Angeles Times she heard Jill Biden scream during the incident. (Who can blame her?)

"When you're so passionate and driven to do something, you don't even think about it. You just do it," Froud said.

By that logic, when somebody says, "I'm so mad at Bill I could kill him," they should just go ahead and kill Bill?

Froud told the Los Angeles Times how full of herself she is that everybody is talking about her message. "Looking at that photograph, I feel proud that I was able to deliver that message....If I could have done it another way that would have gained this much attraction, I would have, because I don't want to make people feel like they're in any fear. But it's hard to make people listen to these issues that matter."

It's hard to get the message out so you did this stupid stunt. Yes, a lot more people are now aware of your cause, but now, at least as many people won't take you seriously.

I'm pretty sure there are serious abuses in the dairy industry, at least in the big factory farm type operations. (I'm more familiar with the small farm operations here in Vermont, and it doesn't seem like there's a lot of animal abuse on those little dairy farms).

What Froud and her cohorts are failing to do is telling us why we should care, which is how you get people on board with your cause. People don't like animal abuse.  They don't like agribusiness cutting corners on safety. They want to know that what they're eating and drinking comes from good, ethical sources.

Instead, these demonstrators were just acting stupid. That doesn't inspire me to take their argument seriously, that's for sure.

Song From "A Star Is Born" Creates A New Star Being Born

Charlotte Awbery might be a case of a star is born
because she sang "Shallow" from "A Star is Born"
in a viral video 

One of my favorite songs in recent years is "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. As most of you know, it's from the most recent remake of the movie "A Star Is Born."

Lady Gaga has one of the best voices in the music business, and of course I'm a huge fanboy of hers. She can do no wrong.  And the song "Shallow" is absolutely gorgeous.

The reason I bring this up is that viral video, perhaps the most viral video of the year, of a woman who was accosted by a man in the London Tube who sang the first lyrics of "Shallow" and demanded the woman sing the subsequent lyrics.

The man in the London Tube, Kevin Freshwater, is a video blogger who did this as part of his shtick. He was clearly not prepared for what the woman, named Charlotte Awbery did. Hesitant at first, Awbery built up and belted it out with Freshwater's encouragement.

In that moment, well, a star was born.  The video of Awbery in the London tube went extremely viral.   It's had something like 60 million hits on social media. Her Instagram following went from 4,000 to 400,000.

This moment changed her life.  Awbery was already a professional singer, but she hadn't hit it big until now.  She is a singer and songwriter by profession.  There are previous clips of Awbery floating around out there of her singing classics like "Purple Rain" by Prince and hits by Celine Dion and Sia.

She's also had a steady string of gigs at clubs, bars, weddings, parties and such, but nothing big time.

The viral video of Awbery in the Subway singing "Shallow" pushed the original Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper back on the iTunes Top 40.  Last week, Ellen Degeneres had her on her daytime show to sing the entire song.  I'm sure a record deal is in the works.

You never know what will come of this, of course. Will Awbery be another flash in the pan, or does this establish her as a star.  It's yet another case of how big breaks, or at least potential ones, can come out of nowhere.

This is the second time in about a year that music in a subway causes a sensation.







In any event, here's Awbery's performance on "Ellen"

Randy Rainbow's Latest, To Nurse Your Super Tuesday Hangover

The ever-productive Randy Rainbow released a new video during Super Tuesday, urging us to vote for a Democrat. Any Democrat. He doesn't care. As long as it's not GOP Trump.

This parody is from the song "Any Dream Will Do," from Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

Instead of "Any Dream Will Do," Rainbow switched it to "Any Dem Will Do."

In the fast-pace time of primaries, certain aspects of this video were outdated upon release, even though he clearly made the video in the past few days.  Democrats featured in the video include Peter Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer, who all dropped out of the race in the day or so before Super Tuesday.  (Then Mike Bloomberg dropped out just this morning).

Of course, Rainbow doesn't even remember Steyer's name in the video, Todd or something, because this candidate wasn't exactly an overpowering presence in the Democratic lineup.

In any event, Rainbow, in his song adheres to his motto, "Any Dem will do," because despite any and all of the Democrats' individual quirks and shortcomings they're better than Trump. Such as Bernie Sanders, "He's more kvetchy than my mom."

Here's the video:

Nation Getting More And More Stupid

No Corona beer has nothing to do with a virus

There have always been a lot of stupid people around.  Frankly, I'm not especially smart, but there seems to be a big, intensifying competition out there about how extreme stupidity can get.

I don't want to be a part of that competiton.  However, I can gawk at it, because there's tons of examples out there.

I'll start with a relatively mild one, and then let it go downhill from there. You are going to be rolling your eyes and shaking your head, guaranteed.

CORONA BEER CAUSES COVID-19?

Then there was the poll that suggested 38 percent of Americans would never drink a Corona beer because it's similarly named to the Coronavirus.  As if you could get the illness from anything with the word "corona" in it.

By that logic, I guess you could get the illness by going outside on a sunny day.  After all, the sun has a cornona, right?

To my relief, this 38 percent number in the poll could easily be misleading because the poll was poorly worded.

According to HuffPost, the questions and some of the answers went like this:

Question: "Is Corona related to the coronavirus?"  Disconcertingly, 16 percent of beer drinkers were "confused" at this.  Hopefully, the respondents were drunk when they were asked.  Everybody is confused when they're drunk.

Question: "In light of the coronavirus, do you plan to stop drinking Corona?"  Four percent of people who say they usually drink Corona beer would stop because of this. Dummies.

Question: "Would you buy Corona under any circumstances now?"  This was the magic question that got all the publicity. Thirty-eight of beer drinking Americans said they would not.  I'm just hoping and praying most of those who said they would not simply don't like Corona beer and wouldn't drink it even if the coronavirus wasn't a thing.

Or, as HuffPost notes, people might stop drinking Corona because it reminds them of something unpleasant they'd rather not think about, or that drinking a Corona in front of friends or in public would set them up to be the butt of a joke.

So, my bad for not thinking through the logic, or lack thereof, in the way the poll question was worded.

That doesn't mean there's a lot of stupid people out there.  It gets worse. Keep reading.

IT'S THE DEMOCRATS' FAULT

Some of Donald Trump's most ardent supporters have noted that so far, early in this coronavirus epidemic, the majority of cases have been reported in states and cities run by Democrats.

There could be lots of reasons for that.  Bad luck? More widespread testing in those districts? More people in these areas that have traveled to countries that have been particularly hard hit? All plausible explanations. Who knows, right?

Well, the MAGA crowd sure knows what's going on, apparently.   According to Raw Story, here are some of the reasons why the coronavirus has hit places like Washington State and California, both blue states.

I don't want to provide links to these people's Twitter accounts because I don't want to reward them, here's a sampling:

Some moron named Bob Berger tweeted, "Have you noticed all new cass of the coronavirus are in Democrat states Wash. Or. Cal. I'll (sic) RI. do you think the dems are dumb enough to get sick to make Trump look bad just saying."

Yes, because people always want to come down with a potentially deadly illness to own the MAGAs.

 They get worse:  "Prediction: Democrat run cities in the US will start announcing many sick people with coronavirus "symptoms" to crash the Mkts to hurt Trump. It's sad that this is where we are as a country but it's the truth. Democrats know the only chance to beat Trump is a mkt crash."

I'll repeat the above refrain: Destroy their own 401ks to own the MAGA's? Really?

A couple more before my headache gets too extreme: "Notice how the virus is located in Democrat states? Are the Dems purposely contaminating these people? It's a fair question."  So Democrats are into committing genocide?

The answer is apparently yes according to the most stupid MAGAs.  Like this tweet: "Democrat run Blue States will infect the poor with the virus in State Run Hospitals to exploit their deaths against Trump, because, well, it's the Democrats."

This almost, but not quite, makes me wish these ignorant tweeters would come down with the virus. But that would be mean.

GARTH BROOKS AND NOT THAT SANDERS

Garth Brooks wearing a Sanders football jersey.  It references
Barry Sanders, not the Bernie Sanders. But people are too stupid
to understand that, apparently

So this happened to country music legend Garth Brooks last week:

He was in Detroit and part of the plan was to honor Barry Sanders, one of most notable running backs and Detroit Lions NFL players on record.

Brooks wore a #20 Sanders football jersey at his show, and shared a photo of him wearing it on Instagram.

I get it that not every Garth Brooks fan knows who Barry Sanders is.  But it was clearly a football jersey, right?

Nope. Some now erstwhile Garth Brooks fans exploded in anger. The football jersey Brooks wore said "Sanders" so these ignoramuses just automatically assumed Brooks was campaigning for presidential candidate and Democratic-Socialist Bernie Sanders.

As Snopes reported, one person wrote: "I had no idea you wer a big freaking liberal socialist! I've listened to your songs for the last time!" Another wrote, "If this is for Bernie Sanders, I'm done with you. I thought you wer a true American that loves our country."

You wouldn't believe how many similar declarations there were out on social media over the past few days.

As far as anybody can tell, Garth Brooks has in actuality not given any kind of opinion on who he favors for president. Other than perhaps Barry Sanders, who tweeted, "Hey @garthbrooks, want to be my VP? #Number20For2020."

Brooks tweeted back, "I would run any race with you."  At least the country music star is keeping a good sense of humor about this whole thing.

TIN HAT TIME!

I'll leave you with this, um, creative theory from an actual U.S. Congress candidate Joanne Wright who apparently approvingly retweeted the following now-deleted missive:

 OK, my headache just got much worse. Time to shut this post down for today.