The Full Belmonte, 5/22/2022
“Russia said it had taken control of Mariupol, which would be its most significant symbolic gain of the invasion. Ukraine has not verified the claim.” Read more at New York Times
“14 states had significant miscounts in the 2020 census — a revelation that comes after House seats were already divvied up for the next decade.” Read more at NPR
“TULSA, Okla. – Tiger Woods' body finally said enough was enough.
The 15-time major champion and four-time Wanamaker Trophy winner withdrew from the 104th PGA Championship shortly after play ended Saturday.
Woods mentioned his withdrawal was a possibility after he turned in his worst score – a 9-over 79 after Saturday's third round – in his PGA Championship career. Woods clearly labored through the round, feeling pain in his right foot, ankle and leg that was severely damaged during a single-car rollover accident 15 months ago.
Woods also had a tough time in the second round when he grinded his way to the weekend with a 69.
One of the few things on the bright side of matters for Woods was breaking 80 Saturday. He needed to play his final five holes in 1 under and with a birdie on the 15th and four pars, the last coming on a knee-knocker 5-footer on the 18th. The 79 looked a lot better than an 80 in Woods' eyes. Still, it was his highest score in a PGA by two strokes.
Most everything else, however, was miserable. For the first time in a major championship as a pro, Woods made five consecutive bogeys or worse. He made a triple-bogey 6 on the downhill par-3 sixth. He hit two balls into the water. He hit just six fairways and six greens in regulation on a day the thermometer never hit 60.” Read more at USA Today
“BALTIMORE — Much of the attention leading up to the 147th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course focused less on the horses racing on the sizzling Saturday evening than those who weren’t even in attendance.
Rich Strike, the 80-1 long shot winner of the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, was conspicuously absent after owner, Rick Dawson, and trainer, Eric Reed, decided to give the horse more time to rest and recover for next month’s Belmont Stakes.
Bob Baffert, one of horse racing’s most successful and controversial trainers, also did not make the trip to Baltimore. The 69-year-old is still serving his 90-day suspension from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission after Medina Spirit, who finished first at last year’s Kentucky Derby, was disqualified and stripped of the title following a positive test for betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory medication. Medina Spirit collapsed and died last December after a workout.” Read more at USA Today
“The Season 47 finale of "Saturday Night Live" was full of goodbyes.
While ‘Russian Doll’ actress Natasha Lyonne made her ‘SNL’ host debut, much of the finale's attention was on Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Kyle Mooney and Aidy Bryant, who will consider Saturday's episode their last.
News of the ‘SNL’ departures came Friday but were more tangible with tender moments during Saturday's show. Before showtime Davidson said his goodbyes in a touching post on ‘SNL’ writer Dave Sirus' page. McKinnon waved goodbye to the audience in the cold open under the guise that she was being abducted by aliens, Mooney appeared in many of the night's sketches and trend forecaster Bryant said her time on the show was "in."
‘Thanks for letting me stay awhile. Live from New York, it's Saturday night,’ McKinnon said with misty eyes.
Each comedian has been a fixture on the long-running NBC sketch show, which broadcasts live and features celebrity hosts, for several years. Davidson, 28, started on "SNL" in 2014 as one of its youngest cast members; McKinnon in 2012; Mooney in 2013 and Bryant in 2012.” Read more at USA Today
The composer and synthesizer player Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, better known as Vangelis, in 1976.Credit...Michael Putland/Getty Images
“Vangelis, the Greek film composer and synthesizer virtuoso whose soaring music for ‘Chariots of Fire,’ the 1981 movie about two British runners in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, won the Academy Award for best original score, died on Tuesday in Paris. He was 79.
The cause was heart failure, said Lefteris Zermas, a frequent collaborator.
A self-taught musician, Vangelis (pronounced vang-GHELL-iss), who was born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, recorded solo albums and wrote music for television and for films including ‘Blade Runner’ (1982), ‘Missing’ (1982) and ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise’ (1992). But he remains best known for scoring ‘Chariots of Fire.’
The most familiar part of that score — modern electronic music composed for a period film — was heard during the opening credits: a blend of acoustic piano and synthesizer that provided lush, pulsating accompaniment to the sight of about two dozen young men running in slow motion on a nearly empty beach, mud splattering their white shirts and shorts, pain and exhilaration creasing their faces.” Read more at New York Times