Ben Kaufman Cabana Stripe Beach and Pool Towels

At Amazon, Ben Kaufman Cabana Stripe Beach & Pool Towel - Large Cotton Terry Beach Towel - Soft & Absorbant - Assorted Colors - 30" x 60" - 6 Pack.

BONUS: Hawaiian Tropic SPF 50 Broad Spectrum Sunscreen, Sheer Touch Moisturizing Protection Sunscreen Lotion, Coconut, 16.0 Fl Oz , 2 Count (Pack of 1).

Sophia & William 6-Person Round Cast Aluminium Outdoor Dining Table

At Amazon, Sophia & William 6-Person Round Cast Aluminium Outdoor Dining Table, Patio Bistro Table with 2.2" Umbrella Hole for Porch Backyard, Bronze.

BONUS: Char-Broil Classic 280 2-Burner Liquid Propane Gas Grill with Side Burner.

Midea Duo 12,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner

At Amazon Midea Duo 12,000 BTU (10,000 BTU SACC) HE Inverter Ultra Quiet Portable Air Conditioner, Cools up to 450 Sq. Ft., Works with Alexa/Google Assistant, Includes Remote Control & Window Kit.

Coleman 70-Quart Xtreme Hard Ice Chest Cooler

At Amazon, Coleman Xtreme Portable Cooler - Hard Cooler Keeps Ice Up to 5 Days.

BONUS: Carhartt Men's Loose Fit Washed Duck Insulated Active Jacket.

How Crazy-Ass Tom Cruise and 'Top Gun' Saved America (VIDEO)

I saw this movie. Folks are right: It's very good.

From Matt Taibbi, on Substack, "America needs to get back to meaningless fun, and "Top Gun: Maverick" delivers in colossal doses." 

Lottie Loves Summer

On Instagram.

First Day of Summer!

Today's the day! The official start of summer!

I love it. Time to get a nice tan, like this woman, wow.

Bare Season

Interesting, to say the least.

At the New York Times, "Suddenly It’s Bare Season":

“People, in other words, are running around half naked.” Can confirm. https://t.co/2niLTT2sSh

— Matt Welch (@MattWelch) July 22, 2021

Bras in the parks, skivvies on Fifth Avenue: Is this the logical endpoint of increasingly blurred distinctions between public and private?

          ***** 

Who hasn’t had the nightmare? It’s the one about being caught in public dressed in your undies. Therapists and dream bibles tend to cast these dreams as symbolic expressions of shame or repression.

Yet what if the so-called experts are wrong and these dreams are instead a subconscious bid for liberation? Shed the embarrassment along with those constricting outer garments. Go forth proudly in your turtle-print boxers or your Cosabella bra.

That is assuredly what a lot of people are doing lately, as many venture forth after 16 months of hibernation with a startling degree of license about what passes for street wear.

As recently as a decade ago, it was a rarity to spot people on Fifth Avenue, in Washington Square Park, riding the subway or milling about at airports in various states of advanced dishabille. Anyone who’s taken a stroll in New York lately can tell you that’s not true anymore.

People, in other words, are running around half-naked.

Last week Claudia Summers, a writer, was out doing errands in Midtown Manhattan when she passed a young woman nonchalantly ambling along 33rd Street near Moynihan Train Hall dressed in low-slung jeans and a bra. “Was it a sports bra?” a follower inquired after Ms. Summers posted a snapshot of the woman to her Instagram account.

“Most definitely not!” replied Ms. Summers, who quickly added that she admired the woman’s moxie and, anyway, the day was hot.

Of course it wasn’t a bra top. Bralettes, itty-bitty bandeaus and crocheted bikinis are everywhere. So, too, are Daisy Dukes cut high enough to expose buttocks curvature. And these items are by no means relegated to people who identify with the pronouns “she” and “her.”

“I’m an exhibitionist, and I get pleasure from showing off my body,” said Kae Cook, 32, a messenger, of his wardrobe choice one recent evening as he made his way across Eighth Street in the East Village.

San Diego Sees Surge in Road Rage Incidents (VIDEO)

It's the COV-Rage surge, apparently.

At ABC 10 News San Diego:

Günter Grass, The Tin Drum

At Amazon, Günter Grass, The Tin Drum.

Here Comes Summer!

I love it!

At Old Row.

Labor Day Weekend 'Record' Heat

If you go back and read the "climate change" debates from just a few years ago, one big issue is measuring temperatures. The NOAA, if I recall, stopped using satellite earth temperature data, for on average, those satellite readings showed less movement toward the upper temperatures, amid all the baloney about "global warming."

In 2018, our electrical power went out during a 109 degree heat wave. So far, Irvine hasn't broken 100 this summer, if I recall.

At LAT, "Ferocious heat wave could bring record temperatures to California over Labor Day weekend."

Bad-ass Buffalo Chucks Tourist Kid Like 20 Feet Lol

Well, that's a vacation she'll never forget.

OH NO! A 9-year-old girl was thrown in the air by a bison when the animal charged a group of about 50 tourists at Yellowstone National Park.
STORY: https://t.co/Do3487Dn8O pic.twitter.com/bke0xt3FDV

— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) July 24, 2019

Politico's Summer Reading

This is actually pretty good.

Some good suggestions.

See, "What the 2020 Candidates, James Comey and Other Politicos Are Reading This Summer."

And this looks interesting: Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.

.@politico included THE GREAT BELIEVERS by @rebeccamakkai and THE FEATHER THIEF in their roundup of books titled "What the 2020 Candidates, James Comey and Other Politicos Are Reading This Summer." https://t.co/catcJWkRYb

— Penguin Books (@PenguinBooks) July 8, 2019

Danielle Gersh's Wednesday Weather Forecast

It was overcast all day yesterday, which was weird. Mild, but weird.

Here's the lovely Ms. Danielle, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Nice Cap

It's beach weather. Get out there and check out some fabulous women!

WhimsicalLadies pic.twitter.com/6lnG9vfu8P

— Erotic Goddesses 97K (@trozo2015) July 15, 2018

Americans Looking for a Summer Escape — From the News!

Well, summer's a good time to escape. I read the New York Times and followed politics on Twitter while on vacation, but that probably wasn't enough. Sometimes you have to shut all down for a few days, sheesh.

At Bloomberg, "Freaked Out Americans Desperately Seek to Escape the News":

“State of the nation” trumps money and work to be America’s primary source of stress.  https://t.co/J3yaqMLJUZ via @BloombergQuint

— Denzil Weitz (@Rhinosan1) June 30, 2018

(Bloomberg) -- Last week, Jen Wrenn, a children’s literacy advocate in San Diego, attended her first political protest after reading about the Trump administration policy of separating small children from their immigrant parents at the border.

She had heard ProPublica’s audio of a little girl crying in the border camp and decided to do something about it.  She shouted. She marched. And afterwards, she decompressed by watching the Mr. Rogers documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

“As soon as I hear the theme song, my blood pressure goes down,” Wrenn said. “I think that kind of calm is what we all crave mentally right now.”

The film about Fred Rogers, the beloved figure of American childhood, has made $4.9 million at the box office since it opened on June 8—more than 20 times the typical haul for a documentary. In interviews, director Morgan Neville paints the documentary’s success as indicative of our times. “We’re in this period in our culture where I feel like nobody wants to be an adult anymore,” Neville recently told Deadline. “A character like Fred takes us back to how we should treat each other.”

Last fall, the American Psychological Association found that almost two-thirds of Americans listed “the state of the nation” as their primary source of stress, above both money and work. More than half  believed that America was at its lowest point in history. Almost 70 percent of all Americans feel a sense of “news fatigue,” according to the Pew Research Center. The nation’s emotional exhaustion even makes an appearance in a recent Enterprise Rental Car survey: When the company surveyed more than 1,100 Americans about their summer travel plans, the top three reasons given for traveling were stress, the news and the political climate.

“Just this morning I had a guy come in who is so distracted by the news that he can’t get his work done,” said Jonathan Alpert, a New York psychologist. “The levels of anxiety and stress I’m seeing are profound.”

“It’s way more relaxing than reading about Melania’s terrible jacket choice.”

Those heightened stress levels are reflected in Americans’ chosen leisure activities...

RTWT.

Myla Dalbesio Leaves Nothing to the Imagination (VIDEO)

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

Jennifer Connelly, 46, Flaunts Age-Defying Figure in Skimpy Bright Yellow Bikini

She's nice. At London's Daily Mail, "PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Sizzling Jennifer Connelly, 46, displays her sensational age-defying figure in a bright yellow skimpy bikini as she frolics on Ibiza beach with husband Paul Bettany."

Sizzling Jennifer Connelly, 46, displays her sensational age-defying figure in a bright yellow skimpy bikini https://t.co/vsVtWJeWo8

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) August 18, 2017

Devin Brugman Bikini Update

She's so nice.

😎 pic.twitter.com/SHMGx3zC8t

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 5, 2017

Wow 😍🤤 pic.twitter.com/kiz5jLioaz

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 5, 2017

😋 pic.twitter.com/SJpG3ktaS9

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 5, 2017

🌠 pic.twitter.com/JyjmmexiQe

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 5, 2017

😜 pic.twitter.com/nqlhkcjTXe

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 6, 2017