@Capt. H 12:14 Noting your restraint, Captain, and while I don't want to reignite the great C-Word flame-thrower of a few months ago, there are times I feel that epithet is richly deserved.

Back to my hidey hole! Good night all.

Narciso: I am going to order the book about the Kobyashi Maru (?) challange. Generally, I avoid fan fiction, but this one looks good. Have you read it?

Narsico, speaking of creators -- Gene Roddenberry modeled Star Trek after the Hornblower series (another huge favorite of mine!). Kirk was Hornblower; Spock was Bush -- although I think Picard was, ultimately, closer to Forester's creation. Shatner (however much I love him) was a real scene chewer! Once went to a dinner party with Leonard Nimoy -- he was such a gentleman! I told him how much I loved the series and he treated me with real kindness, not the contempt I probably deserved.

Miss Marple: In these troubled times I have retreated to both the past and the future. Just ordered the first Star Trek reader (I have all the Logs, but volume two!) to supplement my collection. Also, have ordered Friday's Child and Unknown Ajax. Have all other volumes in my collection. As I say, going to better times and places!

Galaxy Quest was fantastic.

Miss Marple: We are in the Venn diagram of Trekkers and Heyer fans!

Narciso, I went to the very first Star Trek convention in NYC in the mid-70s. Yes, in addition to all my other oddness, I am a Trekker. Not to be a total bore and reiterator-- the stories I could tell about that convention!

Narciso -- do you have Jack's email? He has mine, and we can touch base that way.

Gus! What a generous response to a post that some -- most!! -- would have responded to with raised hackles. I hope we can meet up in person at some point (I traverse the USA via automobile with some regularity) and all shall be well. The JOM family is a real family, with all that implies. Watching Monterey Pop on TCM -- reliving my youth. I skipped my high school graduation and worked there as an usher. Oh, the stories I can tell! Much love to all my JOM confreres.

You know Gus, there's a reason I often SOB your posts. Most of the time I see incredible warmth, wisdom, insight and generosity in what you post. But sometimes I see real crumminess. I really don't know how to square that circle. People here I know and value esteem you and I tend to defer to their good judgment. Plus, I really admire your grit, spirit and kindness! Just not sure why you sometimes seem to lash out so gratuitously and viciously. Not a hit and run, if you flame-throw me I will try to respond in a timely and appropriate way. I write this with both affection and bafflement. Yours, Tonto

No apologies to me, Henry. You are on my personal pantheon of favorites.

My Dear Henry: Please cease and desist with all the slighting short-men snark. There are JOMers who, while not tall in stature, are very tall in every measure that counts.

On another note -- and in TM's defense! Not long after Trump was elected, some wag in the NY Post sports pages (I believe) said if you just imagined Trump was calling WFAN (local sports call-in) and identifying himself as "Donny from Queens," his tone made perfect sense. We laughed out loud at that -- because it was TRUE! So, "Donny from Queens" is actually rather affectionate for some of us.

PS -- referencing our neighbor's democrat bona fides because he swore he would never vote for Andrew Cuomo under any circumstances. Life must be very hard for him, now, since he hates Trump, too, natch.

I've mentioned this before, but who doesn't want a repeat of an Andrew Cuomo diss? When we lived in Westchester, our across-the-street neighbor was a former speechwriter for Mario Cuomo. (And, speaking of myth-busting, he was the one who wrote Cuomo's famous "City on the Hill" speech for the democrat convention. He had to explain the reference to Mario, by the way.) Anyway, that speechwriter was a true-blue democrat-- his father had been a democrat congressman, briefly. He, and virtually every other Mario staffer hated Andrew (then on his. father's staff) with the heat of a thousand suns. Our neighbor ranted that he was (as we all know now) incredibly corrupt and vicious. Easy to believe his security detail hates his guts, as everyone who's crossed his path seems to. Too bad, that tell-all will never see the light of publishing day.

A very happy anniversary to the Captain and his First Mate!

This is a long, but, I think, very important piece by Matt Taibbi, just out today. Apologies if it's already been posted. https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-spies-who-hijacked-america?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMjUzNDk2NSwicG9zdF9pZCI6ODI5MTMxLCJfIjoiOUJ3YUIiLCJpYXQiOjE1OTcwMDQ2NTYsImV4cCI6MTU5NzAwODI1NiwiaXNzIjoicHViLTEwNDIiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.AiqIyxoAEUjSlS91R4l5r9u3blQzoMFep7fUfRxuY8g

Hope I don't sound too white or too privileged, but that was my (channelling Althouse) cruelly neutral observation of the scene.

Really, my post should have read," After having been scooped up off the street ..." They were a sorry lot, and did not seem to be sure what their mission was. Assuming they went home with a few pitiful Soros bucks in their pockets.

@Melinda 4:35 They started their rally right across the street from us. By the way, we are not billionaires. It looked like they had been bussed in (busses were parked right in front of our house) after having been scooped up by Soros-bucks-funded organizers. What a bunch of sad sacks. Anyway, they, apparently, headed over to the billionaire area over by the ocean, but no trouble ensued. The local cops, with whom we are on a first-name basis and greeted us cheerfully, had the situation well in hand.

@ James 9:40 Occam's Razor!

Here's a piece that might interest Olivia de Havilland fans.

Well, I'll try to link it again. https://www.city-journal.org/remembering-charles-evers

Here's a short piece by Harry at City Journal that I quite like.