That'll Be The Day

Hey, are politicians for real? Do they have any clue what matters to real people?

After spotting this Buddy Holly story, it brought me back to the early days of Covid and one of my favorite Dukes Up ditties where I wrote about Dr. Ernest Mandel from Newton who built a humdinger of a skating rink right in his front yard. He did it because his kids, along with everyone else in the neighborhood, were cooped up and he wanted to give ’em some exercise and a little fresh air.

Hey Bucko, he was just being a good doctor.

But along came the goddamn mayor, who slapped an orange ticket on his front door saying Mandel had seven days to tear down the rink or be fined $700 a day. So the Doc ended up building a rinky-dink rink in the backyard—and I’m pretty sure the mayor lost her next election.

Here’s another hound dog.

 

In Lubbock, Texas, where Buddy Holly was born, they have four crosswalks leading to the Buddy Holly Museum on Crickets Avenue. There’s a Buddy Holly statue where he’s playing his signature Fender Stratocaster. And in the crosswalks they have artwork of Buddy’s glasses painted on them. Nothing political here. Just a tribute to the Lubbock legend.

Well, here we go, Gin-Bottle Garvey. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent letters to governors directing that crosswalk art is a safety distraction and must be removed. They have 30 days to pave it over or they’ll pull federal funding. What the Christ? Is anybody having any fun in America anymore?

Keep your dukes up.


 

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