Mission: Implausible

Paying Attention, RNC Delegates?

"Money, schmoney. Everything's going according to plan."

In the latest episode
of the clown show that is the presidential campaign of asshat Donald Trump, the Federal Election Commission released
a monthly fundraising report yesterday with disastrous numbers for the narcissistic alleged billionaire.



For all intents and purposes, his campaign is broke, and isn't raising enough money to wage a campaign for a single House seat, much less the nation's highest elective office.

Trump's repeated boasts about "self-funding" his campaign were just that, too. He has NEVER been self-funded, and he can't afford to start now.

In a badly bungled attempt to control the news cycle, Trump also fired his campaign manager. He'd rather respond to stories about that than about his campaign's parlous financial state. And no wonder, since his explanations about his campaign's finances are laughable.

"Surely the RNC delegates aren't going to kill the party by nominating this guy?"

We'll have to wait and see...I certainly hope not...

Cruise Update

Today my best friend Skip and his wife Elaine are visiting Bilbao and Getxo, on the northern coast of Spain...

Bilbao, Spain

Getxo, Spain

Road Trip

Today my beloved Kansas City Royals begin a brief two-game series with the New York Mets at Citi Field.

It is the team's first visit to this ballpark since winning the 2015 World Series there last fall. That was fun...

"Any predictions?"

I would be happy with a split, but the pitching match-ups don't look very promising for the Royals...

The Next Development

From the indispensable comic strip Non Sequitur, by Wiley Miller, which you should read every day, as I do (even though Wiley is a squishy liberal).

Until Next Time...

On June 21, 1932 Lalo Schifrin was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The son of a professional violinist, Schifrin began studying piano at age six. Although he also began an education for a non-musical career (most likely as an attorney), at age 20 he received a scholarship to the famous Conservatoire de Paris, which led to an award-winning career as a pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor.

By far his best-known work for the American audience was his soundtrack material for the TV series Mission: Impossible beginning in 1966. The theme he wrote for that show is arguably the most famous one in TV history. The show's soundtrack album reached the Top 50 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, and his work for the show earned him two Grammy Awards and two Emmy nominations.




Schifrin was no one-hit wonder, though. He produced dozens of movie scores (including the Oscar-nominated score for Cool Hand Luke and the jazz-inflected score for Bullitt) along with a substantial body of television series work, and collaborated with some of the biggest names in jazz as well.

Today's send-off is one of my favorite such collaborations, "The Cincinnati Kid," written as part of his score for the movie of that name, and featuring a vocal performance by the inimitable Ray Charles. Enjoy...