Sign this petition and you’ll be younger, thinner, richer and happier. Trust me.

There’s a big thing I forgot to include in my last post so I’ll do it right now. Thank you.

HILLARY CLINTON WON THE POPULAR VOTE. On December 19 the Electors of the Electoral College will cast their ballots. We are calling on the Electors to ignore their states’ votes and cast their ballots for Secretary Clinton. Why? Donald Trump is unfit to serve. His scapegoating of so many Americans, his childish impulses, bullying, lying, admitted history of sexual assault and utter lack of experience make him a danger to the Republic. Please sign this petition on Change.org to urge the Electors to vote for Hillary Clinton. She won the popular vote and she deserves to win the presidency. (It’s worth a shot, right?)

After you sign the petition you’ll feel much, much better about yourself and more hopeful about America. You’ll also be miraculously younger, thinner, richer and happier. Trust me.

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Leonard Cohen, 82, the hugely influential singer and songwriter whose work spanned nearly 50 years, died Monday in Los Angeles.

On Thursday a statement on Cohen’s Facebook page read: “It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away. We have lost one of music's most revered and prolific visionaries. A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. The family requests privacy during their time of grief.”

Cohen fell into poor health following an epic tour but still managed to produce a final and powerful new album. “My father passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records,” Cohen's son Adam wrote in a statement to Rolling Stone. “He was writing up until his last moments.”

Leonard Cohen was the “dark eminence” among a small pantheon of extremely influential singer/songwriters to emerge in the 1960s and early 1970s alongside Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. 

You’re probably already familiar with one of Cohen’s most well-known songs. Here he is singing “Hallelujah.” Oy, he’ll be missed ...

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Our other dead celebrity is actor Robert Vaughn, 83, best known for his role as Napoleon Solo on TV’s “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” in the mid-1960s. Vaughn died today of acute leukemia.

“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” was a James Bond-style spy hoo-hah co-starring David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin. When the show hit it big as a pop-culture phenomenon in the mid-1960s the overall tone wavered back and forth from a fairly serious Cold War drama to a cartoonish spoof and back again. Frankly, I never found this show very appealing. I think the turn-off was actually Robert Vaughn, who always thought he was gorgeous. He wasn’t.

Vaughn was, however, an amazing actor even though he rarely had a chance to show it on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Check him out sometime in The Young Philadelphians (1959) with Paul Newman, which turns up every now and then on TCM. Vaughn was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. His performance was a jaw-dropper.

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And now for a Sam update! He had quite a bit of “work” done this morning at the dermatologist, freezing several moles (they’ll eventually dry up and fall off) and taking biopsies of several others that are potentially cancerous. We’ll have the results next week. At the moment, though, Sam is asleep in the family room and feeling beat-up, under the weather and rather crabby. He’s also covered with large bandages that I’ll have to replace after he showers tomorrow morning. Please hold a good thought for him, okay?

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I thought you might need a little cheering-up tonight — don’t we all? — so I’m pleased to share the following video clip in case you weren’t aware that Kevin Spacey has another talent besides acting. He also does EXCELLENT IMPERSONATIONS! Here he is on “Inside the Actors Studio” with James Lipton. Spacey actually nails the requisite  facial expressions, too!



Thank you for reading this and have a pleasant evening. Don’t forget to remember the Alamo, okay? A few million Texans would appreciate it.