In May, a Connecticut man found a bag with around $5,000 in cash in the parking lot of a Connecticut bank. Yep, the parking lot of a bank. He patted himself on the back, saying to himself, “finders’ keepers”, and kept thinking it was just like hitting the lottery. He said there were no markings on the bag indicating it had an owner. (But indeed, inside the bag were numerous documents that identified the owner of the contents as the Town of Trumbull, Connecticut Tax Collector Office. Hmmm.) The bag had been dropped on the ground, the police officer wasn’t paying attention, and there was no one else around so he picked up the bag and put it under his arm and walked to his car. “If I knew I was wrong in the first place, I would have given it right back,” he said. “I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.” Oh, my. Now this is the good part. He was released from custody promising to appear in court. Quit it. A promise? This guy’s promise is worth nothing.
I was at Walmart to buy bird seed and with a straight face I asked the nice young lady that checked me out, “How long does it take the birds to grow once I plant the bird seeds?”
Pay attention. The Kremlin says that investigators are considering the possibility that the private jet carrying Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was downed on purpose. Goodness gracious and stone the crows. Really?!? As we all know, the plane crash happened exactly two months after Prigozhin led a short-lived mutiny against Putin. Surprised? Nah. Prigozhin probably knew from the first moment that he was very quickly he would be poisoned or thrown out a window. Putin cannot appear weak and must always be a shining star. America feeds his weaknesses by reporting how sick he is, or if he’s about to die. I wonder how many people Putin has killed over the years. I also wonder if the Wagner Group (made up of former Russian inmates and soldiers-for-hire, known for their brutality) will take revenge, or if they are all next on Putin’s list. I would think that Putin needs those guys to fight his war.
It was so hot I bought a loaf of bread and by the time I got home it was toast.
Ahhh. Picture this brilliant idea. I am always looking for ways to get more stuff into my freezer. I must be a frozen food hoarder. This suggestion showed to take several giant binder clips that you use for large piles of papers. You know the ones that open with little arms that then fold down. Clip to your top freezer shelf wire, then underneath the shelf, clip your partially full bags of frozen vegetables. It could really increase your freezer space.
This past weekend I was having a discussion with a very nice man about Sir Tom Jones, and he shared a story about the song, I Won’t Crumble with You If You Fall. It’s a pretty fabulous song, but then again, Tom Jones still has the most exceptional voice ever. Pull up the video. You’ll be glad you did. The story Tom gave was his childhood sweetheart (they were both 12 when they met and 16 when they married) and wife of 59 years was dying of lung cancer, and he had always been able to fix anything she needed fixed. She told him that he couldn’t fix this, and he needed to continue doing what he does…”so do not crumble when I die.” Then he heard this song; felt it was perfect and he needed to be a part of it. Trust me… powerful song.
It’s so hot you realize asphalt has a liquid state.
New data shows that you may have a stronger immune response from the COVID vaccinations if you get them all in one arm instead of changing arms. Hmmm. This could be because the vaccines are targeting the same lymph nodes, making them more active in producing immune cells to fight off infection. It’s going to be harder to track the new variant because not everyone reports their illnesses now.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Singer Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) is 71. Guitarist David Marks of The Beach Boys is 75. Actor Shelley Long is 74. Fiddler-singer Woody Paul of Riders in the Sky is 74. Actor Rupert Grint of Harry Potter is 35. Bassist Gene Simmons of Kiss is 74. Singer Rob Halford of Judas Priest is 72. Keyboardist Geoff Downes of Asia is 71. Musician Elvis Costello is 69. Director Tim Burton is 65. Country singer-actor Billy Ray Cyrus is 62. Singer Valerie Simpson of Ashford and Simpson is 78. Singer Bob Cowsill of The Cowsills is 74.
The guitarist Mason Williams is 85. He released Classical Gas in 1968. Then in 1969, the piece won three Grammy Awards: Best Instrumental Composition, Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental, and Best Instrumental Arrangement. In 1998, Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) awarded Williams a special Citation of Achievement, because the piece had logged over five million broadcast performances to become BMI’s all-time number-one instrumental composition for radio air play. I just listened to it again (YouTube), and it still sounds incredible!
Singer-songwriter Gary Wright, known for the beautiful song Dream Weaver, was co-founder of the band Spooky Tooth, and was a member of Ringo’s All-Starr Band, has died at 80 from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
It’s hard to imagine a world without Jimmy Buffet, who died last week at 76. J.J. Watt said, “More than a man, an entire lifestyle.” Paul McCartney remembers his friend as “one of the kindest and most generous people.” (FYI – McCartney makes an appearance on a new Buffett song, “My Gummy Just Kicked In,” set to be released this week. His story about how the song came about is inspirational.) A few years back, Gage and I enjoyed his musical theatre Escape to Margaritaville at the Hobby Center. It was cute, and seriously, what’s not to like about Jimmy Buffett music, no matter the storyline. To our surprise, instead of the normal, boring, clap-clap encore that happens at the end of each show, the global lifestyle guru himself came out and gave us a sweet concert of several of his best songs, thanking us for coming. Heck. I liked him before, but I fell in love with him that evening. Jimmy Buffett had been fighting Merkel cell skin cancer for four years, an aggressive and relatively rare skin cancer that eventually metastasized into lymphoma. Thank you for the joy, music, and fun you left us with. You were one of a kind.
A surgical tool the size of a dinner plate (a retractable cylindrical device used to draw back the edges of a wound during surgery) was found inside a woman’s abdomen 18 months after her baby was delivered by cesarean section. The woman had suffered months of chronic pain and had x-rays that found nothing. Aren’t nurses supposed to count instruments when surgeries are over? Eleven passengers and/or crew members were hospitalized after a Delta Air Lines flight hit severe turbulence on approach to Atlanta last week. Climate change seems to be making turbulence on planes more frequent and severe, so remember to keep your seatbelt fastened whenever you’re in your seat to reduce a chance of injury. The latest version of Apple iPhone could be announced September 12th or 13th, with pre-orders for the iPhone 15 following. A huge price increase is expected with rumors that iPhone 15 Pro will be starting at $1,099. In the Atlantic, there are two disturbances, and tropical storm LEE, forecast to become a major hurricane but it’s just too soon to determine where it will go, but looks like the East coast is a possibility. A 127-year-old water main gave way under NYC’s Times Square, flooding streets, and subways.
A year after the Queen’s death (September 8th), royal fans and their pet corgis gathered and walked outside the palace in memory of the Queen. The corgis were dressed up in crowns, tiaras, and royal outfits. Throughout Queen Elizabeth’s life, she owned around 30 corgis, the first named Susan that was a gift on her 18th birthday and generations of corgis have descended from Susan.
It’s so hot the cows are producing evaporated milk.
Remember those cute little animal paper plates for kids called Zoopals. There were cows, ducks, bears, alligators, foxes, panda bears and more. My kids loved these plates. My daughter called while I was writing this section and I asked her if she remembered the plates from her childhood? “Mom, they have started making those plates again!” Yep, she already knew what I was going to tell you. Pepsi is now 125 years old. There is a new sandwich coming to Chick-fil-A, the Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich. They will use the original Chick-fil-A filet topped with custom-made creamy pimento cheese, mild pickled jalapeños, served on a warm, toasted bun that’s drizzled with honey. If you need something sweet, you can enjoy it with their new Caramel Crumble Milkshake… vanilla soft serve blended with butterscotch caramel flavor, blondie crumbles, topped with a cherry and whipped cream.
Did you recently lose your wallet in front of The Source Weekly office? Please call us, identify it and we will let you take possession of this precious object. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading us.
😊 LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com