Septembers in St. Louis are sublime. The wicked heat breaks, the humidity weakens, and the trees start to crank up their production of leaves. Taking out the trash no longer gets logged as cardio, and the dogs need 15-20 minutes before they start panting and searching for water. As my brand new beautiful Pit bull named Leeroy slinks over the dog bed looking out at my pool, here’s a few articles and highlights you may have missed from me since the last dispatch on July 31.

What about me? I switched up the 5 things model, pointing the scope on me and the little things that make a guy run.

Why John Wick Chapter 4 should be the final film is simple. The dude found peace, so let him chill. More on that.

Dose-reading veterans will appreciate the throwback style in the first official RANT over at the Ramble On, Buffa Substack blog. Every once in a while, I just let it rip.

In case you’re wondering who this new Pit bull is that the Buffas adopted yesterday, here’s a recent photo. He was left abandoned in a house after the owner was evicted. If I ever find the person who did this, all you have to recognize and remember is the ending of a Steven Seagal gem called Out for Justice. There’s no need to ever abandon an animal, especially this one:

Funny story about abandoning things before their time is up. I had abandoned Greta Gerwig’s Barbie even before seeing it. Once I did, one could say the tables turned and now it’s on my 2023 best movie short list.

I don’t care that Mark McGwire used steroids. Who wasn’t back then? I do care when he begs for empathy for the cheaters. Hold up, bro.

If you haven’t explored Searching for Sugar Man, the late Sixto Rodriguez documentary that explores the legend of a Detroit musician, please do soon.

Before we continue on, a picture from our (non) sponsors that I just found cool.

What if Jose Oquendo was named manager in 2012 instead of Mike Matheny? Then the Secret Weapon would have been even less secret.

Proof that I write even when on vacation in a beautiful spot.

The world is full of good film critics, but there simply aren’t a lot of Calvin Wilsons left. The esteemed solo mind wrote at the Post Dispatch up until his sudden death at the age of 70. We weren’t friends, but his way of doing things won’t be lost on me or the many film lover colleagues that he shared space with.

If you haven’t noticed here, the ads and popups are more frequent. Possibly not. One of the great things about leaving KSDK was not having to share an article that would load up in three minutes. The number of ads that block paragraphs does have a real effect on the amount of time people give to reading it. But as I pointed out in January, there needs to be ONE main housing for my writing. Last month, I decided to discontinue the premium plan on this site. DOB will always be the launch pad and library for the earlier collections and writings of this rabid mind-this post will be #1,512 on the site.

While it’s not going anywhere, there may be a few (or a couple?) advertisements for feet pics or snack packs, and I can’t stop them. Enjoy, or stay patient. Subscribe to the Ramble. It’s getting interested over there.

So long for just a while,

DLB