zowie!

I have two comic heroes, one stoic, one manic. One of them has a birthday today.

It's a laugh riot. Like Waiting for Godot in Miami.

Are you Don's offspring? I dealt with him many years ago.

Congratulations to you both. Stand up and be counted.

And let's not forget "Don't Laugh" from Hot Spot.

Aren't there a few "Marianne" songs? I particularly like the one from The New Moon, but, of course, that was a hit.

Summer Is Over wins that battle. But Harmony is pretty great Kander.

And I could go on.

Begin with "There's a Room In My House."

And the punishment goes on forever.

Time to reread Devin Gordon's excellent biography of my favorite team So Many Ways to Lose after today's final indignity for the New York Mets. I guess we wait till next year.

You need to spend more time on it. I mean, what the hell else are you doing?

An old Sears riding mower with a cigarette lighter

We had a world where lawnmowers had cigarette lighters and we threw it away

That's just what I say.

As Son House frequently said, "you got to rhyme it up good or it don't do nothing for nobody."

If only I had the wall space!

A distinction without a difference. Or whatever that expression is.

Great mail too! Thanks.

Absolutely lovely. I particularly loved the strings behind "I know I was naive." So tender and tentative, as if he's afraid to tell us the story, but will.

I must acquire all of these at once. Ella's recording of "Give it Back to..." is the one I grew up with and she sounds like she's singing it in a language she's never heard before for all her unparalleled musicality.

That might be the reason my favorite recordings of it are piano and vocal only. But I'm sure you conquered it.

This is why no one ever sings it.

Agreed. Some nights it’s my favorite game of all.

Chattering and clattering down all of those flights.

Of course we don't know this for a fact. What I've heard about Martin Van Buren...well, don't get me started.

And about three great songs, including "I Like to Recognize the Tune." And at least two that you couldn't sing today.

Where did they all dress? There must have been thirty in each dressing room.

That would be my brother Tom Viertel's team. I'm just a lonely boy.

I had an allergist named Gaylord. Back in the 60s it meant nothing to me.