HiddenEntries (A Wholly Owned Cynthia Publishing Company Subsidiary Blog)

Hey! You still alive out there, given the white-knuckle, squeaky-bum, heart-palpitating finishes of these Big League ’murriKKKan Gridiron Throwball Cartel wild-card games so far? Like they used to say about the hoopball — you don’t need to watch until the final 2 mins. of the fourth quarter, and then and only then is the game is decided. So it has been here with the precarious pigskin postseason proceedings. Pass, punt, paydirt!

Greetings from Southern California, where the weather is once again warm & sunny. Greetings!

The rain has gone away from L.A. for now, so back to the courts for the almost-daily tennis routine. We warmup pretty competitively, not just playing catch back-and-forth, and we pull out all the stops: sharp angles, drops, heavy topspin deep in the corners etc. Here’s one we managed to keep in play for quite a bit yesterday.

Well, now, another local washout! Also, today is the 39th anniversary of the deadly trainwreck outside of Chase, Md., which has been commemorated on this here Web log every year as follows…

https://cynthiapublishing.com/hp_wordpress/?s=January+4

Don’t know what happened in 2025, though; dark day, no racing, cancellations, etc. Well, you can read all about it by clicking on the link above. Unforgettable stuff, an unlucky day but also the luckiest day, really!

Your No. London Arse ended its quartet of festive fixtures this morning (PST) away at Bournemouth. After going behind 1-nil within the first quarter-hour, the Gunners responded the way potential champions must, scoring three on-the-trot, the latter two courtesy of the talismanic Declan Rice. A late fightback from the hosts was not quite enough, and so The Arsenal made it a true ‘twelve points of Christmas’ to go six points clear of second-place Villa, with third-place Man City to face Chelsea tomorrow. Again, from the Vitality Stadium in the South West of England, it’s Bournemouth 2, Arsenal 3. #COYG

Well, Friends of Damp Weather, you’ve hit the jackpot now to start this new year. Yea, verily, it looks almost certain that sunny Southern California will sustain precip on each of the first seven days of 2026 — cazart! Nonetheless, we hit a seam of stable-enough skies this morning to get in our first public-court tennis session of the season. Yay!

For the boomers, the obligatory Mistah Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians. After that, for the Xers, something from Los Angeles’s very own multiculti musical darlings Oingo Boingo. Both are nice songs to ring out the old and look forward to the new!

RIP, Brigitte Bardot. The motion picture in today’s video lede had it all: Jm. Stewart a little bit hapless; Billy Muny not wishing his enemies into the cornfield; Brigitte Bardot getting crushed-on as a nice lady, instead of as an international sexpot. PLUS HORSE RACING! Bay Area HORSE RACING from Tanforan & Bay Meadows & Golden Gates Fields. So, RIP to both Brigitte Bardot & Bay Area NorCal Thoroughbred horse racing, which ceased to exist way-before Ms. Bardot split the scene; way-before! Vale!

Happy Boxing Day now! Generally this marks Opening Day of every big Santer Aniter meet, but this year we wait a couple more days. Can you stand it?

A veritable Saturday Sportstravaganza (wut?!) is three-fifths complete now, and the results were not too good, especially in the contest most personal to us…