Cleaning out the inbox-Mostly Non-Sports Edition

I wanted to get this finished before the Browns start of free agency later today and then boxing over the weekend,so here is a quick and mostly non-sports cleaning of the inbox.

Vulture.com (which I had never heard of) landed a great interview with David Letterman.
The wide ranging feature does discuss a lot about Donald Trump,but more than you would think about Letterman's home life along with his thoughts on television,late night,his life after retirement and more.
If you even are a mild Letterman fan,this is a fascinating read.

The New York Times as part of their series "Vietnam 1967" writes about Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam and how the former President and master politician wound up immersing himself in what the Times describes as an "Unwinnable War'.
The article discusses Johnson's fear of appearing weak,the domino theory and the various reasons that Johnson got into Vietnam and how he couldn't get out...

The Comeback writes of the finding of the "Chase Car" of one of the famous chase scenes in film history from the 1968 film "Bullitt" starring Steve McQueen.
Apparently,car customizers often make replicas from the 1967/68 Mustangs to make replicas from a car used in the film "Gone in Sixty Seconds".
I've never seen that movie,so I wouldn't know much about it,but people in that industry seem to be looking for those models for the above reason.
The car was found in a Mexican junkyard and upon some research and the handy VIN number managed to trace it back to being one of the two"Bullitt' cars.
Instead of being processing for its original intention,the car will be fixed up in true Bullitt style.
An estimate in the Los Angeles Times has the car perhaps reaching one million dollars if the owner chose to sell it after renovation.
The article says Steve McQueen,who died in 1980,reportedly tried in vain to find the car before his death.
Wonder if his son,Chad McQueen (as in Dutch from Karate Kid) might be interested in obtaining the car?

Sorry to hear of the death of Robert Osborne at the age of 84.
Osborne was the host of Turner Classic Movies,who appeared at the beginning and end of each TCM offering,giving some interesting facts and anecdotes on the film.
I remember first seeing Osborne in a similar position for the Movie Channel when Cherie and I were first married and we had that channel.
Osborne was so knowledgeable about film history and seemed like a pretty nice person in the years that he was in that position.

I wrote recently in an edition of the inbox about Ball Four and saw another piece to mention today.
Mark Armour of SABR brought this article of his about the book back on a tweet honoring Jim Bouton's birthday.
Bouton turned 78 yesterday and I hope it was a good one.
The article is a comprehensive one that mainly looks at Bouton,co-author Leonard Shector,the book and its aftermath.
It's a very deep look at the topic and very well written.

Cleaning out the inbox-Non-Sports Version

We return to the inbox for a non-sports cleaning out and we start with a article on one of my favorite films that never was a huge hit.

Bulletproof Action writes on Remo Williams-the Adventure begins.
The 1985 film is based on the Destroyer series of novels and stars Fred Ward,who as Remo Williams was attempting to break loose from character actor status into leading man roles.
After the film disappointed at the box office,Ward would never get another shot at carrying his own films,although he was still sought after for character positions.
The post is very detailed in covering the film with facts on the stars,locations and on the plot.
I always was a fan of this movie and I never understood why it wasn't a bigger hit.
It's currently playing on the Starz networks and if you haven't seen the 1985 film,see what you think....

Megyn Kelly is leaving Fox News for NBC and despite my long-time fandom for Kelly,I'm not sure that this is a great idea.
Kelly will receive a daily show in the afternoons,a Sunday night interview (not sure how that's going work for the network that has Sunday Night Football) and will be involved with political coverage in election years.
Several careers have been damaged by getting away from the genre' that made them successful and so many have failed with daytime talk shows-usually the audience watching network television isn't always interested in substantive topics and that makes it difficult to attract an core group.
Kelly turned down 20 million per year from Fox to stay with them (and they say athletes are overpaid),but Kelly claimed that the easier schedule with NBC was a major factor in her moving on.
It'll be interesting to see if she can succeed where so many have failed....

What has been rumored and thought to have occurred without concrete proof for almost 50 years finally has some teeth behind the claim as a new book about Richard Nixon by author John Farrell (not the manager of the Red Sox) has discovered notes from Nixon chief of staff Bob Haldeman that confirm that Nixon did know about a clandestine partnership to keep South Vietnam from going to the negotiating table faster with the Lyndon Johnson administration.
Had those talks started,they might have swung a hairline election in the direction of Johnson's Vice President and Nixon opponent in the race-Hubert Humphrey.
The New York Times article even shows the notes that Farrell was able to find at the Nixon library among other information about the dealings with South Vietnam and envoy Anna Chennault.
Assuming that these are legitimate and they certainly seem to be,working against your country is beyond my understanding of what a presidential candidate should be doing.
When it comes to politics,the old adage is true-the more things change,the more they stay the same.

We are getting closer and closer to various 50 year anniversary celebrations from the different Apollo missions over the next few years.
The first one to hit the big 5-0 comes in a few weeks with the 50 year mark for Apollo One,which is the mission that caught fire in a test mission and cost the lives of three astronauts.
Over the next five years,we'll have all the Apollo missions being over fifty years old and not a trip to the moon since....

Cleaning out the inbox-Non-Sports Edition

We start with our non-sports cleaning of the inbox with a word of thanks to Rachel for the awesome wallet of Mr.Spock.
It was a complete surprise and super cool.
Thanks again to my talented daughter...

Speaking of Leonard Nimoy,I read many articles on Nimoy after his passing and the best was this tribute from Grantland.
It's really the best synopsis of a career and yet tells you about the person himself.
I enjoyed the work of Alex Pappademas and hope you will as well.....



Michael Beschloss of the New York Times offers two articles with this one being an interesting article on the friendship between two of my favorite Presidents (Johnson and Truman) and how it helped Medicare pass along with a story of where the bill was signed and how that location was picked.
I love stuff like this and usually make time to read.
The "Paper of Record" may not be of the standards of the past on a consistent basis,but it still provides quality writing,even if you have to shift a bit to find it...

Beschloss's other article is on the looming 50th anniversary of the Astrodome as a facility now deemed "unsafe for public use,but looks back at the opening of the dome with the aforementioned Lyndon Johnson in attendance along with all the bells and whistles that came with such a groundbreaking stadium..
I also liked the note on the Presidential Suite inside the Dome.
It screams 60's,but that's not so bad,is it?

Another Grantland basehit as they ask why aren't more of you watching The Americans on FX.
The 1980's cold war thrillers about sleeper agents from the USSR living in America is one of the best shows on today.
Those of that listened to the last podcast (really? why not?) heard me mention the Americans as one of the shows that I watch regularly....

Letterman Memories,which as you could have figured,is a site that is devoted to the years of David Letterman on television,has an interview with long time media critic Tom Shales.
Shales,formerly of the Washington Post,now is semi-retired,but an unabashed Letterman fan for years ( as am I) and reading Shales memories of the show and Dave were very enlightening...

We wrap up with an article on ESPN reporter Heather Cox from the Boise Statesman.
It isn't as much about sports as it is about Cox,the demands of being on the road and the Boise area.
Pretty interesting in showing that sports and television aren't all glamour and glory....