Djoker and Cilic move on. Venus and Serena will face off today, and the fields will continue to wilt in the heat in Flushing. A few college football games on the slate last night had Purdue (where Neil Armstrong, who to the consternation of Ryan Gosling and the other dickheads involved in a recent film, planted a US flag on the moon, went to college, lost to Northwestern in a hell of a good game. Some big games coming tomorrow and through the holiday weekend. And on the diamonds, the winners were: Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, St Louis, Chicago (NL), Boston, Anaheim, Seattle, Arizona and San Diego.

Damn! Look at all those names.

This date’s birthdays include: Roman emperors Caligula and Commodus, the original schoolmarm Maria Montessori, comedian Buddy Hackett, actor James Coburn, frog sports legend Jean Beliveau,  baseball legend Frank Robinson, musician Bob Welch, music legend Van Morrison, (alleged) rodent-afficianado Richard Gere, rocker Rudolf Schenker, lousy prosecutor Marcia Clark, singer Glenn Tilbrook, once-adorable singer Debbie Gibson, and hilarious actor Chris Tucker.

Its also the date when the following occurred: Jack The Ripper’s first victim was found, Thomas Edison patented the Kinetiscope, “The Threepenny Opera” hit the stage, the Young Plan was agreed upon, Foghorn Leghorn made his screen debut, Malaya gained her independence, the first solar-powered car debuted, Trinidad & Tobago gained her independence as well, The stupid Dept of HUD was established, a computer beat Garry Kasparov at chess, Sinn Fein declared a cease-fire in Northern Ireland, and (former) Princess Diana and boyfriend Dodi Fayed were killed in a car crash in Paris.

OK, now on to…the links!

This happened. In SAE too, metrictards.

Just in case they were worried about large crowds flooding theaters, moviemakers ensure they piss off the largest audience for the film. Oh, and enjoy your metric system, rest of the world (yes, I know there are a couple of other exceptions). We will enjoy being the only nation to send men to the moon.

Well it looks like NBC might have some explaining to do. I mean, sure, they had to dedicate a team of reporters to dig up such groundbreaking stories as what Trump had for dinner and how it causes mental illness in some lab animals. But you’d think they might support reporting on the biggest sex scandal this side of the Catholic Church.

That boycott of In-N-Out isn’t exactly going as planned. Not surprising. They’re good burgers, their staff are friendly and efficient and they take good care of their employees.  Their fries still suck though.

Now, drive me to the cemetery.

Fuck John McCain. This is how you do a damn funeral.

When teachers unions say their only focus is on the children, you might want to remain skeptical.  Good job though, kid. You can literally tell your kids how much harder you had it when you’re older.

Chicago is a powder keg ahead of the Jason Van Dyke trial.  I, for one, predict shit going very, very bad regardless of what happens. And this being the crookedest city in the nation when it comes to cops getting special treatment, I’d bet on a not guilty verdict and some nasty riots.

Duhhhhhh. Uhhhhhh. Duuuuuuhhhhhh.

The Papa John’s shitshow continues.  You know, all of those dumbasses are gonna be out of work until they realize that airing your dirty laundry in public is a bad idea.

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling is out of prison. Jeez, I wonder how many people are gonna be looking for that asshole to exact some revenge.

Something for everybody today. The birthdays are just too plentiful to narrow it down to one person. Although if I had to give top billing, this would be it. But these guys had their shit together too. And if you don’t like this last one, then you just don’t get my generation.

Go have a hell of a (long) weekend friends.  I’ll be spending part of it watching football and the rest with my son, as he departs Monday night for basic training.  Many tears will be shed.