Wait, Wait...

On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest contestant is composer Bobby Lopez.  He not only is an EGOT winner – but a double-EGOT winner, most notably co-writing the score for the Broadway musicals The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q, and the movies Frozen and Coco.  (In fact, he’s one Oscar away from a triple-EGOT!)  In his conversation with host Peter Sagal, he tells some very funny stories about the writing of The Book of Mormon, especially how the words of songs on the page read differently (in ALL CAPS) than they sound with the music.

This is the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but you can jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it starts at the 21:45 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGZW4bg24dI

You Can Call Him Al

On this Al Franken podcast, his guest is Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic. As the show writes, "We're joined by our friend Mark Leibovich of to break down Trump's sinking approval ratings, the approaching midterms, and whether Democrats are overconfident. We begin by looking at Trump and whether or not his party is feeling demoralized. Al thinks they certainly should be. We then discuss the shape of the Senate, where Democrats need to win a net of 4 seats to take control, and the House, where Democrats seem to be on track. Given the close races and election tampering from Trump and the GOP, how worried should Democrats be. And IF they take back Congress, what should their priorities be? Al and Mark agree that the House should leave impeachment alone."

Personal note: I think their agreement about impeachment is very premature. They don't yet know the results of the Mid-term and how concerned MAGOPs might be of the electorate by defending Trump. They don't know what Trump might do between now and the end of his time in office. And they don't know how low his approval may get. Besides which, it sends a terrible message that even if a president doesn't something blatantly impeachable that's truly dangerous or egregiously corrupt, we should impeach him because he's been impeached enough. Or because whatever the reason is. Maybe he shouldn't be impeached depending on the specific situation. But to say right now that impeachment should be left alone is ignoring what the reality might be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HKs3ZL50kI

Oh, Brothers

As I’ve noted here in the past, I’m a big fan of the Smothers Brothers.  In fact, I think their first album, Live at the Purple Onion, was the first album that I ever bought.  This is a concert they gave in 2006.  It’s a combination of conversation, songs, yo-yo tricks and a very good video retrospect of their life, going back to their childhood.  (I like too that they have a brief opening credit clip of the sitcom that they did a few years before their far-more famous variety show, of which I’ve posted an episode of.)

Most of the songs are old, but the comedy still holds up.  But some of the comedy material between the numbers is new.  The concert is an hour-and-a-quarter, and the video quality is excellent, being professionally recorded.  And it’s all a great treat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTPLMGbOywA