Been writing about the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska, which was somewhat disappointing.   However, various sources reported on the life of Vladimir Putin, and here is one where Mark Levin of Fox News digs into  Putin's behind-the-scenes life .   How Putin survived 43 assassination attempts . From ITV News a month ago,  the evolution of Putin:  bullied child, KGB man and autocrat .   From CNN a few years ago,  dark reason why Putin keeps his daughters a secret .  Has had only one wife, Lyudmila, now 67.  Top photo. 72-year old Putin lives with partner, 41-year old Alina Kabaeva, with whom they have 2 sons and also linked to 49-year old Svetlaana Krivonogikh and one daughter. Putin's Billion-Dollar Palace off the Black Sea, with views of his secret bunker. Taylor Swift announced that she will release her 12th studio album,   The Life of a Showgirl,   on October 3.  The world reacted in orange.  Huh?  You'l...

My posting yesterday ended with the #1 song half a century ago, which was  Jive Talking.   I mentioned that the shortest tune reaching #1 on Billboard was the 1960  Stay .   So before entering my blog of today, I was wondering what was the  longest song to hit #1 on Billboard , and consulted Guinness. This was difficult to find because Google kept sending me to the #1 song that spent the longest time in that slot. The 10-minute version of Taylor Swift's  All Too Well  went on for 10 minutes and 13 seconds.  But this was the extended version of this ballad that originally in 2012 appeared on the album Red, and was only 5min29sec long, which was re-released as a single at that length.  Here is her  10-minute version .  Did she attend the  NFL preseason game yesterday ?  No. So I guess Don McLean's 1972  American Pie  is the longest chart-topper at 8min37sec. But according to that chart above, Swift. As an asid...

But first, about doings in the world today. The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is in trouble .  The Hamas indicated there would be no hostage trade this week, blaming Israel for not honoring their commitments.  No doubt President Donald Trump threatening to occupy the site forever influenced this development. More tariffs coming from Trump. The courts are stifling Trump edicts.  But he defies their orders, with plans to appeal eventually to the Supreme Court.   Do we have a Constitutional crisis?   Even  NBC thinks so . Trump further stated that  he is serious about Canada becoming our 51st state . The Donald told the Treasury to  stop making pennies , for each one almost costs 4 cents to make.  The nickel might be next, for that is costing nearly 15 cents each. Have you been affected by this  shortage of eggs ? The Philadelphia Eagles wiped out the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59, with Trump prevailing over  Taylor Swift. Ken...

Nothing to do with a hurricane hitting New Orleans.  Tomorrow is Super Bowl LIX or 59.  This logo was created by "Queen" Tahj Williams ( below ) of the Mardi Gras Indians.  They are African American carnival revelers in New Orleans.  Their origin goes back to around 1730 when they danced during the Mardi Gras.  This is the first time that the NFL has collaborated with a local artist on the design of a Super Bowl Emblem.  Note the fleur-de-lis, resemblance to ironwork balconies and color combo, evocative of New Orleans and the Mardi Gras. Another first is that the Super Bowl game will be streamed for free via Tubi, owned by Fox. The Philadelphia Eagles will be the home team, and has chosen to wear their midnight green home jerseys with white pants.  The Kansas City Chiefs will wear white with red pants.  These are the same uniforms worn when they met in SB57, won by the Chiefs.  Kansas City won again last year, and could become the first to ev...