Daily Dirt: Movies, baseball and country music

by Steve Eighinger

Everyone loves a good summer movie, including the Daily Dirt. See why in Vol. 19:

1. Has there ever been a better overall summer film than 1978’s “National Lampoon’s Animal House?” I’m normally not one to watch a movie over and over, but this is one of them. This movie, at least for me, is just as funny 43 years after I saw it the first time. From the late John Belushi as Blutarsky to the late Stephen Furst as Kent “Flounder” Dorfman, “Animal House” featured a perfect cast for what turned out to be the perfect summer comedy.

2. Interesting statistic: According to the Los Angeles Times, the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani was accountable for 28 percent of all merchandise sold connected to the recent MLB All-Star Game. It’s stars like Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres who will be driving the (inter)national pastime the next decade-plus.

3. I got tired of the “pop sound” in the 1980s and drifted more toward country, and what a time to do so. Country music in the 1980s and 1990s was phenomenal, and then it began to drift toward what it is today, which is, well, not good. Anyway, back to the 1980s and 1990s, … these were my favorite country songs from that era:

“Always On My Mind” (1982): The first time I heard Willie Nelson’s interpretation of this classic made me a lifelong fan of the red-headed stranger.

“Old Flame” (1981): Alabama’s string of No. 1 hits in this decade is legendary, and this will always be No. 1 for me.