Lunch at the Old Guy’s Table

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Control Data Corporation, STL

Yesterday, four of us got together for lunch. Greg (far left), John (Asian man, front row center, sporting a mustache), Chet (peeking out above John) and myself (second from the right). John, one of the Ons had arranged this luncheon. My David in junior high would sometimes act as my secretary at home. When I got home from work, I would ask him if anyone had called. He would usually answer, “One of the Ons called.” John, Don and Ron were my biking buddies. This photo was taken some time in the early eighties and shows our Professional Services Group at its height. We all worked for Chet. We called ourselves analysts. I moved to Saint Louis in 1980 and left in 1990. There were about a hundred people working for Control Data when I arrived and there were about a hundred when I left, but most of these people were gone by then. It was a nice lunch, a nice trip down memory lane. I left feeling like a survivor, at the old guy’s table.

Dirt Bag

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This still won’t help Schmitt-head

There is dumb, then there is Republican dumb, then there is Missouri Republican dumb. Yesterday, former special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary committee. The low point of that hearing was MO Senator (R) Eric Schmitt’s attempt at a gotcha moment. His attempted ambush, pictured above, accused Mr. Smith of traveling to Atlanta for purposes of conspiring with Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis against President Trump. His receipts were a series of text messages from Smith’s staff that discussed his attending a basketball game. Schmitt claimed that these messages were about an Atlanta Hawks game, while in reality they were about an Iowa Hawkeyes game that was occurring in Maryland, not Atlanta. Schmitt compounded his mistake by calling Smith a “Dirtbag”. This all occurred in real time during the hearing. This is not the first time that Schmitt has embarrassed himself. As the Missouri former attorney general, he ran for that office on the promise that he would serve out the term, but two years into his tenure, he dropped that promise and ran for an open Senate seat. So much for promises.

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

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Eiffel Tower Courtesy of Jane

Attack of the Hollywood Clichés! is a 2021 Netflix comedy-documentary special hosted by Rob Lowe that roasts cinema’s most overused tropes, the special dedicates a specific segment to mocking how Hollywood lazily establish international locations. In the case of Paris, the special deconstructs the ultimate geographic visual shortcut: always letting the audience know they are in France by showing a shot of the Eiffel Tower, usually accompanied by a character walking around holding a grocery bag with a single, massive baguette sticking awkwardly out of its top. This special was released at the height of covid and was a welcomed diversion from lockdown. Because of this show, when I last spoke with Jane, I asked her for a photo of the Eiffel Tower, and she came through for me. Thank you, Jane!