Another Week: Number 145

This was a week of blissful weather: Warmish, dry days perfect for reading a book in a backyard lounge chair; comfortably cool nights with the windows open and all types of nocturnal beasts from raccoons to men roaming the local landscape. All night long, train whistles and internal combustion engines echoed along the horizons as guys zigzagged furiously from somewhere around here to somewhere nearby, spewing their frustrations into the darkness.

One particular vehicle caught my attention several nights running. It reminded me of the old commercials for “Big Daddy” Don Garlits back in my youth, but it’s hard to picture a dragster negotiating the streets of Racine. Nevertheless, it was roaring outrageously at 11:30 p.m. and at 3:45 a.m. like the star of some show. These shrieks ended in loud bangs — backfiring, I suppose, but they sounded exactly like a fireworks display.

On Tuesday, the weather was so perfect that I combined a neighborhood walk with my hair appointment. Along my way, an old guy walking his little dog down a tree-lined block remarked “Beautiful!” to an old guy on his front step. “Yep,” was the reply. On another block, a couple brought out their lawn chairs to sit in their front yard and take in all the peaceful nothing.

Walking home, a Parks Department guy complimented my Indiana Fever T-shirt, and we exchanged admiration for that team’s tenacity despite injury after crushing injury. Later that night, the Fever finally broke for good, losing to the Las Vegas Aces in overtime, one win short of the Finals, and ending my WNBA-watching for this year.

On Saturday, I washed the windows of my mom’s apartment, and people in cutoff shorts cruised lazily around Pleasant Prairie on their motorcycles in the golden afternoon light. It was August in October, and everyone knew it would not last.

I walked 6.54 miles this week.

Trump to deploy US military against Americans

On Tuesday morning, all of the top U.S. military brass from around the world were called to an auditorium at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia, for an address by their commander-in-chief.

Opening the show was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who always strikes me as the hapless dad from some 1980s sitcom, but I can’t recall which one. At this event, his topic was the “warrior ethos,” and he repeated words like “war” and “kill” a lot while disparaging women, transgender soldiers, overweight soldiers, and soldiers with beards.

Apparently, though, his “warrior ethos” is okay with hair mousse, too-tight suiting, and American Flag pocket hankies.

The headliner, 79-year-old Donald J. Trump, was clearly out and about too early in the day, and he mumbled away for most of an hour, musing on whatever foggy notions crossed his mind — the quality of “A” paper stock versus “D” paper stock is just one example — occasionally adding a line from the teleprompter.

About 45 minutes in, Trump finally got around to his point: He’s going to deploy the U.S. military to American cities as an armed force against residents, m’kay?

The whole spectacle was met mostly with silence — which is a military tradition — even though Trump opened by threatening the rank and the future of anyone who didn’t like what he was saying.

Watching this, I can’t imagine it was wise to place all of these officers directly in front of a commander whose mind is obviously rotting away by the minute like an unsold apple.

This is what the President of the United States was doing 15 hours before the U.S. government shut down. He’s far more concerned about the election a year from now — after which he’ll be screwed — so he’s starting to move his forces into position now. That part of his message to these generals was clear. Like it or not, they’ll probably fall in line.

Sampling podcasts: Billy Corgan, Amy Poehler, Jason Schwartzman

The finale of WTF with Marc Maron is imminent, and I have been dipping into other podcasts, searching for interesting conversations.

The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan

Billy Corgan is the singer/songwriter/lead guitarist of the Smashing Pumpkins and a pro wrestling owner/promoter. He has a somewhat grim and gothic persona, but also a keen intelligence and expansive curiosity. My late sister Lori used to serve him regularly at the north suburban Chicago restaurant where she worked, and she said he was a really nice guy.

Among his refreshing mix of guests, here are a couple of examples:

• July 30, 2025: Elliot Mintz — The music interviewer who developed an extremely close relationship with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
• August 27. 2025: Marilu Henner — Henner is known especially for her years on Taxi and her astonishing memory abilities, but Corgan also brings out her Chicago beginnings.

Good Hang with Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler is famous for her work on SNL and Parks and Recreation. Her podcast, which she launched in March, seems consciously and conspicuously courteous and complimentary in this era of careless rudeness. For example, she prefaces each interview by having some other celebrity praise the main guest.

Here are a couple of recent episodes I heard while pulling weeds and mowing my lawn:

• September 16, 2025: Olivia Colman — One of my late wife Amy‘s favorite actresses and a thoroughly delightful guest, Colman is somehow the epitome of elegance and the most down-to-earth person imaginable at the same time.
• September 30, 2025: Kristen Wiig — I love Kristen Wiig.

Song Exploder — Key Change: Jason Schwatzman

I have mentioned Song Exploder before. This episode from July 16th is not about one particular song, but about Jason Schwartzman, his love for this podcast and music generally, and the crucial role music played in the making of the excellent 1998 movie Rushmore.

Dark Passage (1947)

A 1947 film noir starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall has got to be worthwhile, right? Bonus: Neither my mom nor I had ever seen it.

So we watched Dark Passage via her cloud DVR on Saturday night, and it turned out to be a very crappy movie.

Bogart escapes from San Quentin. He was convicted of murdering his wife. Bacall harbors him as a pet project because, of course, her own father was wrongly convicted of murder.

You actually do not even see Bogart for the first half of the movie, because he’s eventually going to get plastic surgery that gives him an entirely different face. Only then does Bogie emerge from the shadows — but unfortunately, the plot just gets squirrelier from there.

The movie does feature a bunch of San Fransico scenery from the period, as well as a fine performance by Agnes Moorehead.

We had fun mocking it.