Sunday Potpourri No. 36

Feast Day

St. Ignatius of Loyola, by Peter Paul Rubens

Today is the feast day of St. Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish knight who underwent
a conversion experience while recovering from wounds he had received in battle.

In 1534 Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General (referred to by some as the "Black Pope"). He is also known for publishing Spiritual Exercises, a collection of prayers and meditations which remain popular among Christians of all denominations even today.

Ignatius was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1609, and canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622.

Ignatius is the patron saint of soldiers and educators.

Training Camp

Heading down to the practice field

Yesterday afternoon my beloved Kansas City Chiefs opened Training Camp 2016 at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.







Coming off a highly successful season which saw the team reel off 11 straight victories after a slow start (including the team's first playoff game win in 22 seasons), enthusiasm is running high among Chiefs fans.

"Awesome! Something to take your mind off of the Royals' collapse."

Not the best way of putting it, but I am glad football season is starting up...

Happy Birthday!

On July 31, 1912 Milton Friedman was born in Brooklyn, New York.

He went on to a distinguished academic career, including a Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976, and was a major figure influencing the conservative politicians and intellectuals I followed.

I first read his Capitalism and Freedom while in college, and it made a lasting impression on me. With his wife Rose he also reached a wide audience with Free to Choose in 1980.

He appeared several times on my conservative hero William F. Buckley, Jr.'s PBS series Firing Line.

On July 31, 1951 Evonne Fay Goolagong was born in Griffith, New South Wales, Australia. After learning to play tennis at a young age, she went on to a storied career, winning seven Grand Slam singles titles and appearing in 11 other Grand Slam finals.

I watched on TV as she won Wimbledon in 1971, and from that point on I had a huge crush on her. I was fortunate enough to see her play in an indoor event at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City in 1977.

"A teenage boy with a crush on an attractive woman? Shocker!"

I had my share of them, yeah...what's it to you?

The "Flyover Country" Perspective

From the incisive pen of Michael Ramirez, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

My taste in music has always been eclectic, thanks to my parents, but by the time I had reached late adolescence it had become pretty rare for jazz music to turn up on any of the Top 40 lists that dominated radio airplay. You could still find jazz on FM stations, but for the most part the jazz artists I enjoyed back then were pretty scarce on both TV and AM radio.

The brilliant jazz guitarist George Benson had released his first album in 1964 at age 21. By 1976 he had released 13 albums, but although many of them had been hits on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart only four of them had made the Billboard 200, and none had ever cracked the Top 50. That would all change when Benson moved to his sixth different record label, Warner Bros. Records. His first album for his new label was a surprising "crossover" success.

On July 31, 1976 Benson's album Breezin' reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, a position it would hold for two consecutive weeks.

The album went on to become the first jazz recording to achieve a platinum certification from RIAA, and it won Benson two of his ten Grammy Awards.




The album included "This Masquerade," Benson's first-ever single release, which reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and received the Record of the Year Grammy Award.

Today's send-off is the full-length album version of the song (it was a shorter "radio edit" version that had been a hit). Enjoy...