Late Show - Top 10 Things That Sound Romantic When Said by Barry White

If you've been following this blog, you've certainly seen this before. But it bears repeating and this is the officially-released isolated clip.

Does it bother anyone else that the category is "Top 10 words" but then some of the entries are phrases? I'll try to get over it.

JAZZERCISE...

Brits Try PA Dutch Food

A few notes.

Red-beet pickled eggs are my favorite. It would be my #1 recommendation except when people actually take that recommendation, it never turns out well. People who didn't grow up with them seem to be utterly repulsed 100% of the time, so I guess they're not the best idea.

Secondly, birch beer is also worth trying.

When it comes to pie, these kind of taste-tests are always Shoofly pie. Every time. That's fine, as far as it goes, but everybody's sleeping on Funny Cake. Funny Cake is the superior dessert.

Anyways, kudos to this family because they really went all out and over-performed.

I just wish people liked red-beet pickled eggs though.

Dave and Jim Downey

Who is that in the thumbnail, is that Estelle Costanza? No. Is it Jim Downey's mom? No, that's Jim Downey.

Apparently there's a new documentary out all about Jim Downey. It's called "Downey Wrote That" and it apparently covers his time as a writer for Letterman and SNL. I'm not big on movies anymore but I'm gonna have to find this one.

David Letterman Inducting Warren Zevon at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Warren Zevon has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and David Letterman was chosen to be the ... what's the term for this - inductor? He was inducted by David Letterman.

You know we're all familiar with the Foo Fighters playing "Everlong" for the last episode of the Late Show. This was certainly appropriate. When Dave came back from heart surgery, he introduced them as "My favorite band playing my favorite song." But I've always been inclined to think that if Warren Zevon had lived, he would have been in that spot.

Johnny Cash Endorses Lionel Trains

 

 

Not exactly sure if anyone will be as entertained with this as I am, but I like it. I respect the "Hi, I'm actor Troy McClure" nature of it.

Popcorn in Bed - Duel

 

 Girls watching "Duel"? Sign me up.

Duel seems to be one of those rare movies where it's both a classic and underrated. 

Mister Rogers Episode 1

 

[Embedded video removed because the source was deleted]

By the time I saw Mr. Rogers for the first time, there had been a thousand (perhaps thousands) of episodes that came before it. Now, in 2025, the first episode has been uploaded to youtube.

The differences stand out. The kitchen is different, the character of Edgar (the traffic light?) was never a thing in my day and rolling out a bed for make-believe is... pretty weird. Pretty weird. The closing song is different.

Visiting the woman who wears lampshades is an interesting segment. On the one hand, Fred traveling to another location to talk to someone is a regular part of the show. On the other hand, it was always a realistic person doing some real activity that kids could learn about. I don't remember anything like this "real" woman wearing lampshades in my day. Fred Rogers loved whimsy and lampshade fashion is certainly that.

But it's also notable how much didn't change. You're looking at a 20 year difference (this first episode being 1968) and it's pretty much the same show. Same theme song, same set (mostly), same format, same characters.