My first posting on Monday said: Here it is, Monday morning, when I review what happened over the weekend and what is to come this week, and there is almost emptiness. I then went on to write about a non-news item.  Well, I was right.  Nothing much happened this week. Before going on to my topic of this Saturday, I can report that this will be the longest summer ever.  How?  What? Monday, May 25 is Memorial day, which has become the unofficial beginning of summer. Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer will come on September 7. This 105-day period is the longest summer you will ever experience in your life. Of course, if you're old enough, you saw a 105-day summer in 2015. And this happened 17 times more since 1900. Ethel Caterham from the UK is 116 years old. If she is still alive on Memorial Day, this will be her 17th longest summer.  Well, 16th until Labor Day this year. This matter of official summer length is, actually, quite complicated. The astronomical...

I woke up to Nilsson singing  Without You , the 1973 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.  Then I noticed on the TV screen something about Nilsson Schmilsson.  My first thought was that this was his real name.  Turns out that  Nilsson Schmilsson  ( the whole CD ) is Harry Nilsson's seventh album, which also includes  Coconut .  Sure, you've heard it, for...   featured in the films   The Addams Family ,   Reservoir Dogs ,   Practical Magic ,   Dick , and   Hey Arnold!: The Movie ; and heavily referenced on the television show   Bones . Nilsson sings and composes.  However,  Without You  was written by Peter Hamm and Tom Evans for Badfinger, their group, for release in 1970, and in addition to Nilsson, was recorded by over 180 artists.  Paul McCartney described Nilsson's version as  the killer song of all time . Harry Edward Nilsson III was born nearly 81 years ago in Brooklyn and pa...