Gary Larson, Man of Prescience

Inconvenience Stores

This old Far Side strip has stuck in my mind all these years, and reality feels just like this cartoon whenever I step into a pharmacy nowadays. With every visit more and more items have moved behind locked cabinets and it’s rare that one can complete a pharmacy run without needing to press the customer service button to receive assistance. What makes this aggravating is that the Walgreens CFO recently admitted that they overstated the shoplifting claims that have led to all of this increased security.

My parents were shop owners, so I am well aware that shoplifting losses can be devastating, particularly since in their case it was literally a mom & pop store. But there is a huge difference between the pain that even a small theft can impose upon an independently owned small business and the losses that a multimillion dollar corporation is able to absorb. This is all security theater and it’s largely unnecessary. I’m only one man, but there have already been multiple times that I’ve gone shopping for an item, seen that it was under lock and key, and chose to purchase it someplace else where it wouldn’t be so much of a hassle. I can’t be the only person who feels that way. Are these stores costing themselves more revenue from lost customers than whatever the theft losses may have been?

It’s That Time Again!

I get only slightly less excited than Navin Johnson does when the new list of R&R HOF nominees is released. This year’s announcement literally dropped moments before I hit “publish,” so I obviously haven’t had a chance to closely examine the honor roll yet. For now I’ll say that there are multiple names that had me pump my fist and say “yes!” and I am somewhat shocked that Mary J. Blige did not make the cut as I had predicted.

This is not meant as a dis against any of the nominees, more a reflection of how deep the backlog of deserving candidates is. But I could very easily come up with a completely separate group of 14 artists just as strong as the names on this year’s shortlist. Anyone reading this can likely do the same. This is just my way of asking that people try to avoid the reflexive “How could they have left ___ off!” reaction. I feel much more comfortable celebrating those that have made the final cut rather than bemoan the absences of those that did not. Or, as Donald Rumsfeld famously said, “You go with the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame that you have, not the Hall Of Fame that you wish for.”

I’ll have more to say in Friday’s newsletter, but for now let’s just say that debating season is underway.

Barrett Strong

It didn’t crack the top 20, but Money (That’s What I Want) was the first single from a Motown affiliated label to make an impact on Billboard’s Hot 100, igniting the run of cultural dominance for what was arguably the most important record label of its era. It turned out to be the only hit single on the pop charts for Barrett Strong as a singer, but he went on to become a crucial behind the scenes cog in the Motown machine.

Largely teaming with Norman Whitfield he wrote and/or produced several of the more heavily R&B leaning tracks from the later portion of the 60s into the early 70s, most crucially for The Temptations during their psychedelic era. The pinnacle of his career came with I Heard It Through the Grapevine, which for years ranked as the top selling single in Motown’s entire history.

Strong passed away earlier this week. Because much of his contribution to Motown’s success fell under the radar, he didn’t receive the same level of fame that many of his co-workers did, but his contributions to The Sound Of Young America should never be forgotten.

Among the classic tracks that he co-wrote was Edwin Starr’s “War,” which leads directly to the next item…

Enough With the Edwin Starr References

And speaking of “War,” I don’t know who the first grizzled sportswriter was that made a “WAR, what is it good for?” joke, but that pioneer has a lot to answer for. I can’t believe that after all these years there are still people that think it’s a clever reference, but it survives.

Just last week during MLB Network’s Hall of Fame Election Day programming, Bob Costas punctuated a point he was making about what he felt was voters’ over reliance on advanced metrics by having the production track actually play a snippet of the Edwin Starr track. Come on, Bob, you should be better than that. Similar sentiments came from New York’s preeminent dinosaur, Bill Madden, who also ranted about the topic. His piece had the “what is it good for” headline, and although it is true that columnists rarely write the headline, his sentiments were in sync with that headline.

I do have some issues myself with WAR, but at its most basic level it effectively reflects the full range of contributions a player makes. For all the handwringing about numbers nerds allegedly ruining the game keep in mind that with few exceptions even the greatest proponents of advanced stats wouldn’t claim that WAR is the be all and end all, it’s merely another tool in the box to be used. Yes, players nowadays are evaluated differently than they had been in the past, both positively and negatively, but the displeasure so commonly thrown at newer stats is misplaced. It has too much of that “get out of Mom’s basement” condescension.

Why Can’t SHIRLEY Ever Get Arrested?

This is the odd way my mind works. When I heard the news that Cindy Williams had passed away, I quickly thought of a profile that ran in TV Guide more than 40 years ago. Why do I remember stuff like this?

As the headline implies, Williams expressed frustration that Laverne & Shirley writers constantly pitched premises that gave meatier plots to Laverne while shunting Shirley off to the side. That was neither the first nor the last time that a TV show would shine the spotlight on the more dynamic half of a duo while forcing the quieter member to beg for table scraps.

So, Cindy Williams/Shirley didn’t have a distinctive wardrobe with an “S” stitched on every piece of clothing, nor did she introduce the world to a signature drink such as milk & Pepsi. And she had an acrimonious departure from the show. But she carved out a significant notch in sitcom history in addition to playing memorable roles in major 1970s films such as American Graffiti and The Conversation. All in all, not too shabby of a legacy.

DC Universe Reboot #???

I used to be a serious comic book collector, and I was a major DC loyalist. That means that I have looked at the massive success of the MCU with a certain amount of envy as Marvel dominates the box office charts whereas the executives at Warner and DC demonstrate a keen talent for constantly stepping on rakes. It’s true that DC has generally had a solid track record when it comes to TV, but not only do movies hold more prestige, but when a DC movie fails - which happens much too frequently - it does so spectacularly.

Yesterday they announced yet another ambitious lineup of upcoming projects. I try to avoid falling for Lucy’s promise to hold onto the football for real this time, but since James Gunn is now in charge of DC Studios I am guardedly optimistic. Like Marvel, DC has decades worth of IP and dozens of characters that could easily be sources of outstanding content in the right hands. I don’t want to say that this is their last chance at making it work, but they’re getting close.

And In Closing

Thanks for visiting this little corner of the internet. Happy February everyone.