Funny Favorites
Five Funny Books, Browndog Barlor, Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds, Pistons Picks, Sod for Sore Eyes
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week’s issue features funny books, movies, and TV shows; a surprising source for Taco Tuesday; a female-fronted band; two Detroit draft choices; and a truckload of turf. I hope you enjoy the picks and pics.
Fave Five 39: Funny Favorites. Rip-roaring Reads (Five Funny Books), Taco Tuesday 2-Packs (Browndog Barlor), Ann Arbor Alternative (Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds), Ausar and a Sasser (Pistons Picks), and a Horticultural Hauler (Sod for Sore Eyes).
Fave Five Lists: Funny Favorites
My sister Ann needed some amusement in her life, so she asked me to recommend some funny books and movies. This week’s book best bets feature five of my favorite humorous writers. And here are two additional lists of movies and TV shows that always make me laugh. You may raise an eyebrow at the presence of Woody Allen in two of the lists due to his contemptible personal life, but I choose to separate artists from their art.
Five Funny Movies
Airplane! (and others by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker)
Bananas (and others by Woody Allen)
Lost in America (and others by Albert Brooks)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (and others by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin)
A Night at the Opera (and others by Chico, Groucho, Harpo, and sometimes Zeppo Marx)
Honorable Mention: Best in Show (and others by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and sometimes Harry Shearer, and in this case, Jennifer Coolidge, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, and Fred Willard)
Five Funny Televison Shows
Curb Your Enthusiasm (Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, Susie Essman, J. B. Smoove, and Richard Lewis)
Fawlty Towers (John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, and Connie Booth)
Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin)
SCTV (John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Catherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas, and sometimes Harold Ramis)
Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, and Jason Alexander)
Honorable Mention: Veep (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Tony Hale, Sufe Bradshaw, Timothy Simons, Kevin Dunn, Gary Cole, Sam Richardson, Sarah Sutherland, and Clea DuVall)
Book Best Bets
Five Funny Books
Getting Even (and others by Woody Allen)
High Fidelity (and others by Nick Hornby)
Parliament of Whores (and others by P.J. O’Rourke)
Slats Grobnik and Some Other Friends (and others by Mike Royko)
Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and other disasters (and others by Jean Shepherd)
Honorable Mention: Pure Drivel (and others by Steve Martin)
Restaurant Recommendation
Browndog Barlor & Restaurant 120 E Main St, Northville, MI 48167
Last night was another Book Club Counterprogramming dinner with the husbands of Barb’s book club. Our initial destination did not work as it was closed on Tuesday, and the second was also a bust due to a broken soda machine. So, the seven of us walked down Main Street of our home town of Northville to the Browndog. To our pleasant surprise, it was Taco Tuesday there.
I split two 2-packs with my friend Mark: Pulled Pork and Philly Steak. They were both excellent.
Browndog is an ice cream parlor as well as a bar and restaurant, so for dessert I ordered a cup of Salty Dog: The perfect combination of salty and sweet. Praline pecans & house-made brownies hand-mixed into salted caramel ice cream with a salted caramel swirl. It, too, was a winner.
From the restaurant: The “Browndogs” are real! Three rescued Boston Terriers are the inspiration for the name behind what has evolved into Michigan’s first Barlor®. We started by creating a food and ice cream experience with locally sourced, high-quality ingredients that humans and their pets could enjoy.
After our beginnings as an artisan ice cream parlor, we got a little crazy and added a bar and a restaurant. Our ice cream is handmade in small batches of six gallons or less at a time. All of our bakery items are made from scratch, with no mixes or pre-packaged items.
Our bar focuses on cocktails inspired by Michigan spirits, while our food follows the creativeness of the ice cream and cocktails by putting our unique Browndog twist on classic bar food. And one of the best things we did? We put our artisan ice cream into boozy shakes and cocktails that literally put “Your Childhood on the Rocks®.”
We’re genuinely passionate about what we do at Browndog. When we say “handcrafted,” we mean it: using local products, slicing our cheeses, and making our sauces from scratch. Every ingredient has a purpose, and quality defines what we do.
Marvelous Musicians
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival (A2SF) is a two-week event every June that is mostly free and features many outstanding local performers. We made it there for the only time this year on Saturday to catch one of my favorite Ann Arbor bands. Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds put on a fine show. Erin and her brother TJ write good songs, sing harmoniously, and are accomplished instrumentalists.
I saw also saw them on June 29, 2018 at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, on August 23, 2018 at Sonic Lunch, and on the Acoustic Alternatives podcast with John Bommarito on September 8 ,2021. I saw Erin with The Accidentals at The Ark on April 24, 2019.
From Wikipedia: Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds are a four-piece, female-led, folk-rock-world fusion band out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. They describe their music as "infectious global groove". The musical roots of the group sound are complex - with Gypsy, Middle-Eastern, Americana, rock, and Latin influences, all stirred with a Celtic fiddler’s bow. The songs carry a positive message and include both pop hooks and improvised solos. The Ragbirds make use of numerous traditional folk instruments, blending them with modern sounds to create an infectious world groove rooted in the traditions of many cultures and eras.
Bottomless Heart
The Curse of Finger Pointing
Cosmos
Acoustic Alternatives with John Bommarito
My Playlist
Sports Stars
Pistons Draft Picks: Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser
The Detroit Pistons had the worst record in the NBA in the just-concluded season (17 wins and 65 losses). To add insult to injury, they had bad luck in the draft lottery, dropping to the fifth spot and missing out on the chance to draft one of the top three prospects (Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller, and Scoot Henderson).
With the fifth pick they took Ausar Thompson. And they traded back into the first round to take Marcus Sasser with the 25th pick. An interesting contrast is that Ausar skipped college to play for Overtime Elite and Marcus played for four seasons at the University of Houston.
The Pistons believe that both players are of great character, will play really good defense, and are good passers. Ausar is very athletic but needs to improve his shooting, and Marcus is a great shooter but is only 6’1” tall. The hope is that they will significantly improve the team’s defense, keep the ball moving on offense, and fit well with the other young players on the team.
The Pistons have not won a playoff game in 15 years. Here’s hoping that Ausar and Marcus help put an end to that sad streak.
The Pistons Pulse: A Draft Deep Dive by Omari Sankofa and Bryce Simon
Picture Pun
When I asked this English landscaper to move his truck, he told me to sod off.
