The Rebel Black Dot Hallowe'en Song o' the Day

Spike Jones & His City Slickers, "My Old Flame" from the The Spike Jones Anthology compilation (Mike Papa Wendigo)

Commentary: "My Old Flame" debuted as a Hallowe'en R.B.D.S.O.T.D. in 2012.

Two-thirds of "My Old Flame" is sung-spoken in the unsettling style of Peter Lorre, as a murderer with a collection of human heads & so forth.

"I've met so many who had fascinating ways,
A fascinating gaze in their eyes—
I saw the sigh! So I removed the other eye!
That eye that kept winking and blinking at other men!
It was making (indistinct mumbling)—
Some who took me up to the skies…"

The Rebel Black Dot Hallowe'en Song o' the Day

Snmnmnm, "Zombie Girlfriend" from Snmnmnm (Mike Papa Wight)

Commentary: "Zombie Girlfriend" debuted as a Hallowe'en R.B.D.S.O.T.D. in 2010, our first Hallowe'en series.

Hallowe'en is about fun, not fear; about make believe, not malevolence. Laugh in the face of the things that go bump in the night.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Shawn and Gus in Drag (Racing)" (season five, episode five; 11 February 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The street racing/The Fast and the Furious episode.

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXXIX

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars
23 October 1926: Leon Trotsky & Lev Kamenev were ousted from the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; during Vladimir Lenin's illness (1922-1923), Kamenev had formed a troika with Iosif Stalin & Grigory Zinoviev against Trotsky, then head of the Soviet armed forces; the troika broke up in April 1925 & Kamenev & Zinoviev formed the United Opposition with Trotsky in May 1926.

Lest we forget.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Chivalry Is Not Dead… But Someone Is" (season five, episode four; 4 August 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Shawn & Gus investigate the death of a young man who was courting a wealthy older widow & discover a school for gentlemen, which irrationally annoys Shawn.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the XXX Sunday in O.T.

The Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Kenny Rogers, "For the Love of God" from Amazing Grace (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Love God & love neighbor.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Not Even Close… Encounters" (season five, episode three; 28 July 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Meh.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: Go Blue!

Team 147, Game 7: Michigan v. Indiana
John Williams, "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" from Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Mike Papa Wolverine)

Commentary: The valiant Wolverines are 4-2 halfway through the season, & are only two plays away from being either 3-3 or 5-1. Sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood has been replaced by freshman Tommy Carr, grandson of 1997 National Championship winning head coach Lloyd Carr & All-American safety & Michigan interception recordholder Tom Curtis, & younger brother of current Notre Dame (Boo! Hiss! Boo!) quarterback C. J. Carr. How badly has Underwood played? Nineteen starts into his collegiate career (all thirteen games in 2025 & six in 2026), his few remaining defenders had to cite his status as a five-star high school recruit as a reason he must remain the starting QB for Michigan.

The wily Hoosiers are the defending National Champions.

Go Blue!

Bonus! Hallowe'en Song o' the Day

They Might Be Giants, "I Left My Body" from I Like Fun (Mike Papa Wraith)

Commentary: "I Left My Body" debuted as a Hallowe'en R.B.D.S.O.T.D. in 2021.

"I left my body
And I went on a journey,
And I forgot where
I left my body…

I left my body,
And right away
I knew I'd made a mistake.
I left without my senses
And I can't see anything!
Can't see anything!
Can't see anything!…"

The Rebel Black Dot Hallowe'en Song o' the Day

Dr. John & The Blues Brothers Band, "Season of the Witch" from Blues Brothers 2000: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Mike Papa Warlock)

Commentary: "Season of the Witch" debuted as a Hallowe'en R.B.D.S.O.T.D. in 2011.

"Must be the season,
The season of the witch!
Must be the season of the witch!…"

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Feet Don't Kill Me Now" (season five, episode two; 21 July 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Gus teams up with Lassie & Shawn teams up with Juliet. Neither pairing works out very well. Also, tap dancing!

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXXVIII

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of Luna 12
22 October 1966-19 January 1967: The Luna 12 probe (A.K.A. Lunik 12) lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Molniya-M rocket; Luna 12 entered lunar orbit (25 October) & transmitted its first high-resolution photographs home (27 October); an unknown number of photos were sent via 302 radio transmissions; radio communications were terminated after 602 orbits.

Commentary: The Soviets took steps to prevent the U.K.'s Jodrell Bank Observatory from intercepting & pubishing their transmitted photos, as had happened with the Luna 9 lander's images in February. The Soviets only ever released a handful of photos of the Mare Imbrium & the Aristarchus Crater.

Ex Luna, scientia.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Romeo and Juliet and Juliet" (season five, episode one; 14 July 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: A Romeo and Juliet story involving young lovers from warring Chinese Triads, also serving as Psych's kung-fu episode. Our Juliet, Detective O'Hara, is working at city hall, still struggling with her kidnapping & brush with death in the fourth-season finale, "Mr. Yin Presents…."

The theme song, "I Know, You Know," is the same as ever, but the opening credits are presented first in Chinese characters (I presume Mandarin, but could be Cantonese, I don't know, I neither speak nor read a word of Chinese) & then change into English letters.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Optional Memorial of Saint John Paul II, Pope
Dan Potthast, "Pope" from Sweets and Meats (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"…It was like a parade at forty miles an hour,
And the pope zipped past in his see-through car,
And we laughed and we waved and I think he smiled,
It all happened so fast, all the people were chanting:
'John Paul Two, we love you!'…"

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Mr. Yin Presents…" (season four, episode sixteen; 10 March 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Mr. Yin Presents…" is to "An Evening with Mr. Yang" (season three, episode sixteen) & "Yang 3 in 2D" (season five, episode sixteen) as The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V) is to A New Hope (Episode IV) & Return of the Jedi (Episode VI), very much the second act of a three-act drama, not brought to any conclusion & yet very much a compelling story. Mr. Yin (played by a masked actor) emerges, murdering a waitress to catch Psych's attention, whereas the year before Mr. Yang had kidnapped a waitress & given our heroes the opportunity to save her, which they did. Yang (no longer Mr. Yang since she is played by Ally Sheedy) returns, acting as an advisor to Shawn & Gus, Hannibal Lector to their Clarice Starling. Mr. Yin runs our heroes through a funhouse of references to Alfred Hitchcock films, eventually murdering returning Yin-Yang Killer expert Mary Lightly (played by Jimmi Simpson). Mr. Yin kidnaps Shawn's girlfriend, Abigail Lytar, & Detective Juliet O'Hara, putting them both in death traps. Shawn & Henry are able to rescue Abigail & Gus & Lassie are able to rescue Juliet, but both woman aere traumatized. Abigail breaks up with Shawn, unwilling to subject herself to any more peril, & Juliet takes leave from the police (as seen in season five). Mr. Yin gets away, & we last see him in his home, where there is a framed photograph of Yang with a young Shawn, taken circa 1990.

This is without question the darkest & most serious episode of Psych.

Operation ÖSTERREICH

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Rebel Black Dot Jeopardy! Song o' the Day

Operation AXIOM: The 16th Anniversary of My Loss on Jeopardy!
"Weird Al" Yankovic, "I Lost on Jeopardy!" from "Weird Al" Yankovic In 3-D (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Sixteen years ago today—Thursday, 21 October 2010—my episode of Jeopardy! aired on nationally syndicated television.

60 Years of Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-2026)

Operation AXIOM: Episode o' the Week
"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (season one, episode seven; production code: 10; 20 October 1966): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is one of the best (worst) examples of the Theiss Theory of Titilation, costume designer William Ware Theiss's theory that the more a costume looked like it was going to fall off an actress, the more titilating it would be. He was right; that's awful, but he wasn't wrong.

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is also relevant to our current moment of Artificial Intelligence. A robot that looks like Dr. Roger Korby & has his "memories" insists that it is Korby, but Captain Kirk insists, correctly, that Dr. Roger Korby is dead & the robot is not Korby. The "synthetic" (android, robot) in Star Trek: Picard seasons two & three that insists it is Jean-Luc Picard is not; Jean-Luc Picard died at the end of Picard season one.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' This Auspicious Day

Jim Gaffigan, "Presents" from Beyond the Pale (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: "Presents," though there is no presence this year, due to many—too many—commitments by the denizens of Xanadu. Alas!

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Episode" (season four, episode fifteen; 3 March 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The Jaws episode, guest-starring Jeri Ryan (who played Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager) & Michael Hogan (who played Colonel Tigh on Battlestar Galactica).

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Sufjan Stevens, "Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)" from Sufjan Stevens Presents… Greetings from Michigan, the Great Lake State (A.K.A. Michigan) (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Think Tank" (season four, episode fourteen; 24 February 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Shawn & Gus are hired into a think tank set up to prevent the assassination of a Richard Branson-type billionaire, Ashton Bonaventure, though the twist is that the think tank is run by the assassins, trying to figure out how to get through or around Bonaventure's security.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the XXIX Sunday in O.T.

The Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Johnny Cash, "Personal Jesus" from American IV: The Man Comes Around (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Every one of us, from Tiberius Caesar in the First Century to you, dear reader, in the Twenty-first Century, is made in the image of God. Each of us belongs to Him.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Death Is in the Air" (season four, episode thirteen; 17 February 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The Outbreak episode, guest-starring Judd Nelson.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: Go Blue!

Team 147, Game 6: Michigan v. Penn State
Bombskare, "Bad to Worse" from A Million Ways to Die (Mike Papa Wolverine)

Skammentary: Earlier this week, Coach Whittingham announced that Bryce Underwood would start because he "gives us the best chance to win." That is tantamount to giving up on this season as lost. I bear Underwood minimal personal ill will (he made a profoundly bad first impression in 2025 with his boast, "You've never seen a freshman like me"), but it is manifestly evident to anyone who has been paying attention that inconsistency is the only consistency in Underwood's game & that he doesn't have the ability to play quarterback at this level. Who knows, he might thrive in the Football Championship Subdivision (F.C.S.) of Division I or Division II.

The only saving grace might be that the ferocious Nittany Lions are also enduring a disappointing season under a first-year head coach from the Big XII Conference. The valiant Wolverines are 3-2, B1G 0-2 under Coach Kyle Whittingham, late of Utah; the ferocious Nittany Lions are 3-3, B1G 0-3 under Coach Matt Campbell, late of Iowa State.

Go Blue!

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"A Very Juliet Episode" (season four, episode twelve; 10 February 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: It always struck me as odd that "A Very Juliet Episode" dealt with a corrupt U.S. Marshal & the Witness Protectice Program, but didn't cross over with fellow U.S.A. Network show, In Plain Sight. Maggie Lawson (Juliet O'Hara), did a great job as the emotional core of the episode.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Sufjan Stevens, "Chicago" from Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel the Illinoise (A.K.A. Illinois) (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Thrill Seekers and Hell-Raisers" (season four, episode eleven; 3 February 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: I really like Gus's girlfriend, Ruby (played by Sarah Shahi). For a second consecutive episode, a W.W.E. wrestler guest stars, though Stacy Keibler had a much smaller role than John Cina & was much easier on the eyes. By the end of the episode, Gus rejects Ruby because of her thrill-seeking lifestyle, which doesn't really add up, given that Gus hunts murderers & robbers, including serial killers like Mr. Yang & Mr. Yin. Gus & Shawn's reckless thrill-seeking is acceptable, but Ruby's more careful thrill-seeking (wearing a helmet & buoyancy aid whilst white water rafting) is off-putting?

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Simon & Garfunkel, "The Only Living Boy in New York" from Bridge Over Troubled Water (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXXVII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Soyuz 23
14-16 October 1976: Soyuz 23 lifted off from Baikonur, carrying CDR Vyacheslav Zudov & F.E. Valery Rozhdestvensky aboard a Soyuz 7K-T capsule atop a Soyuz rocket; call sign Radon; the duo tried but failed to dock with the Salyut 5 space station; after 32 orbits, Soyuz 23 splashed down on a frozen Lake Tengiz, broke through the ice, & sank; after nine hours underwater, the duo were recovered.

Bonus! Space Age Song o'the Day: Soyuz 23
Bombskare, "Sink or Swim" from A Million Ways to Die (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

60 Years of Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-2026)

Operation AXIOM: Episode o' the Week
"Mudd's Women" (season one, episode six; production code: 04; 13 October 1966): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Mudd's Women" introduces the roguish Harry Mudd, the only recurring antagonist on The Original Series, but the bulk of the story is a meditation on the fleeting nature of beauty & the pricelessness of a good woman. "Mudd's Women" was one of the three story treatments offered for the second pilot; it's a good episode, but too small & quiet a story for the crucial second pilot.

Operation ÖSTERREICH

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
They Might Be Giants, "Say Nice Things about Detroit" from Phone Power (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"You Can't Handle This Episode" (season four, episode ten; 27 January 2010): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "You Can't Handle This Episode" is in the running for the worst episode of the series, both because of the muddled plot & because of the stunt casting of W.W.E. wrestler John Cena as Ewan O'Hara, Detective Juliet O'Hara's older brother & an awkward combination of the fictional heroes John Rambo & James Bond. Later appearances of Ewan O'Hara are handled much better, as gonzo cameos.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Paul Butterfield Blues Band, "Born in Chicago" from Blues Brothers 2000: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary: Please pray for Pope Leo, who is having surgery today.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark" (season four, episode nine; 16 October 2009): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark" is a very unusual episode. Shawn is isolated from Gus, Juliet, Lassiter, & Henry. He spends most of the episode suffering from the famously quick healing Hollywood gunshot wound to the shoulder & help hostage by a pair of thieves planning a heist. Our intrepid fake psychic is able to elicit sympathy from the more kindhearted of the two thieves & leave clues for Lassie & Henry, who are following his trail in the field, & Juliet & Gus are investigating the heist.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Columbus Day

Dan Potthast, "I've Set Sail" from Eyeballs (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXXVI

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars
14 October 1926: Winnie-the-Pooh was published, a collection of short stories for children, written by A. A. Milne (1882-1956) & illustrated by E. H. Shepard (1879-1976); the characters were based on Milne's son, Christopher Robin Milne (1920-1996) & his stuffed animals; the setting was inspired by the Ashdown Forest; Pooh Bear's name came from a black bear seen in the London Zoo, Winnipeg.

Semper exploro.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Let's Get Hairy" (season four, episode eight; 9 October 2009): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The werewolf episode, which necessitates a non-supernatural explanation for the apparent werewolf attacks. Guest-starring David Naughton, who played the eponymous character in the feature film An American Werewolf in London (1981).

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the XXVIII Sunday in O.T.

The Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matt Glaser, Evan Stover, Jay Ungar, Art Baron, & Molly Mason, "Kingdom Coming" from The Civil War: Original Soundtrack Recording (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: The Lord is kind & merciful, but His patience will not last forever; eventually, we will each be called to account for how we used or didn't use the myriad gifts He gave us, especially the gift of our very lives.