SUNDAY READING

 Here's some things about Rumpole that you probably did not know. This is strictly Sunday morning stuff. 

1) We cannot get enough of the Pete Davidson/Kim Kardashian stories. It is one of the favourties on our Apple News Feed. Now the thing is, we are not sure why Kim K is famous. Her dad was part of the OJ team and then several years later she seemed to be everywhere. Famous for being famous. But that doesn't stop us from gobbling up all the stories we can. 

2) The "How They Spend Their Sunday" is one of our favourite re-occurring articles in the NY Times.

3) We are a connoisseur of standup comedy. Not that we frequent comedy clubs and mix with hoi-polloi, We do not. Never did.  But  the history of Stand Up fascinates us. The rise of the Improv, Catch a Rising Star in NYC along with the Comedy Store in LA in the 1970s, and the history of the great comedians who got their start fascinates us.  William Knoedelseder's   "I'm Dying Up Here" is a great history of the rise of the Comedy Store in LA, which gave starts to Jay Leno, David Letterman, to name a few. The book also details the Comedy Strike which eventually got standups paid for their work. Prior to that, many standups fought for five minutes of stage/mic time with no renumeration.  And when the dust settles, and we can argue about it, George Carlin stands above the rest. 

4) What are your favourite Science Fiction novels? We haven't read a really good one in years and years. 

5) If you have HBO Max "Showtime Rise of The Lakers" is about as great a mini-series as you will ever see. The writing is crisp, funny, and smart. The acting is superb. At various times each one of the actors steals the show for that episode. Don't miss it. 

6) When you're next out and about look to your left and then your right. One of those people already had Covid, and the other is currently infectious with Covid/Omicron.  But you're so done with masks, right?  Covid is the prime example of how employing a philosophy could affect and potentially save your life. Certain types of collectivist philosophies believe that if you ignore something it will go away. The Russians are currently ignoring that they are getting their asses kicked in Ukraine. If they ignore it enough, their army will go away because will be wiped off the face of Ukraine. 

      Other philosophies, and we are talking about Ayn Rand's Objectivism here, hold that A is A and reality exists and cannot be ignored. Put another way, just because you are tired of wearing a mask and want Covid to go away, will not make it go away, no matter how many of your contemporaries smile and affirm your decision not to wear a mask. Maybe some of them will attend your funeral if they really like you. 

7) But let's end on a happy note. Let's see- the weather? Nope- 500 million people worldwide will suffer with global warming this summer (although if you're a conservative republican, you can feel free to ignore it and chant "drill baby drill". And if you're a conservative republican in a costal region, you can weather the floods from the rising oceans in your yacht).

 Biden is in Asia. But North Korean is threatening to shoot off an ICMB. Not that. 

The Supreme Court's term is winding down. But Roe is a goner, so not that. 

Hmm....bear with us, we will find something. 

(*tick*tock*tick*tock). 

Got it! 

TOP GUN MAVERICK IS BEING RELEASED THIS WEEK!  Enjoy your Sunday.