Overheard

[In a movie theater.]

“It’s so dark in here.”

Related reading
All OCA “overheard” posts (Pinboard)

Elitists and liberal arts

William Deresiewicz:

It is not the proponents of a liberal arts education who are the elitists; it is those who would reserve it for a lucky few. If you think the humanities have any value, whether as a doorway to enlightenment or just as cultural capital, then they are valuable for everyone and should belong to everyone.

Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life (New York: Free Press, 2014).

I’m reminded of something I wrote in a 2015 post: “The idea that the humanities are for ‘rich kids’ is one that any humanist must reject.”

Related reading
Other Deresiewicz posts

[As I write this post, the public university where I taught for thirty years is considering an ad hoc committee’s recommendation that the philosophy major be eliminated. Philosophy? Don’t even think about it.]

Dowdy-world brands

The Dry Look. Jean Naté. Sea and Ski. In The New York Times, Wendy MacLeod writes about “Name Brand Nostalgia.”

I’ll add three: Bromo-Seltzer. Hai Karate. Stridex.

David Owens’s “The Dime Store Floor,” about the smells of childhood, is worth mentioning here. Listerine. Mentholatum. Old Spice.

Related reading
All OCA dowdy-world posts (Pinboard)

Henry gets his shoes fixed

[Henry, February 17, 2017.]

Henry last stopped in for shoe repairs in August 2012 and October 2015. He must be harder on his shoes now. These two panels appear to be more or less recycled from August 2012. I don’t mind: there are shoe booths involved.

Does anyone else remember sitting in such a booth waiting for new heels or soles? My memory of the experience probably has something to do with the powerfully strange smell of the shoe-repair shop: chemicals, leather, and perhaps a dash of feet.

Related reading
All OCA Henry posts (Pinboard)

Lucy, seeress

[Peanuts, February 17, 1970.]

In truth, Lucy was speaking of Snoopy, who was just promoted to Head Beagle.

Related reading
All OCA Peanuts posts (Pinboard)

“Past events”

George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

See also yesterday’s press conference.

Related reading
All OCA George Orwell posts (Pinboard)

M. Proust?

Jean-Pierre Sirois-Trahan, of the University of Laval, Quebec, has discovered film footage that appears to show Marcel Proust in 1904, leaving a church after a friend’s wedding. Says Sirois-Trahan, “Tout tend à faire penser qu'il s'agit de Proust”: Everything tends to suggests that it’s Proust — though of course there is no certainty. Watch for the man in light-colored clothing who begins descending the steps at the 0:35 mark.

The best reports of this news that I can find are those in France24 (in French and machine-made English) and Le Point (in French and machine-made English).

Related reading
All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard)

[Can anyone identify the music? My guess: Reynaldo Hahn. The music is “L.A. I Love You” by John David Hanke. Thanks, Shazam.]

Neologism of the day

lanelocked \ˈlān-ˌläkt\ adjective
: stuck immediately behind a slow-moving vehicle and thus unable to pass into a lane of more rapidly moving traffic because vehicles to the rear are already passing into that lane

Sample sentence: Dammit, I’m lanelocked.

I thought I’d posted this word a long time ago, but I see now that I was thinking of lane duck. To be a lane duck or to be lanelocked: take your pick. In our car, lanelocked is more common. As in, “Dammit, I’m lanelocked.”

More made-up words
Alecry : Humormeter : Lane duck : Misinflame and misinflammation : Oveness : Power-sit : Plutonic : ’Sation : Skeptiphobia

Separated at birth

 
[Victor Buono and Dan Seymour.]

Diane Schirf suggested these actors for a separated-at-birth post. Yes. But finding a pair of photographs to suggest the resemblance was more difficult than I expected. Searching for “dan seymour” actor turns up relatively little (and that little includes a photo of Victor Buono). If this pair of photographs doesn’t convince you, please, take Diane’s word for it (and mine): these guys strongly resemble one other.

Also separated at birth
Nicholson Baker and Lawrence Ferlinghetti : Ted Berrigan and C. Everett Koop : David Bowie and Karl Held : John Davis Chandler and Steve Buscemi : Ray Collins and Mississippi John Hurt : Broderick Crawford and Vladimir Nabokov : Ted Cruz and Joe McCarthy : Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Gough : Jacques Derrida, Peter Falk, and William Hopper : Elaine Hansen (of Davey and Goliath) and Blanche Lincoln : Barbara Hale and Vivien Leigh : Harriet Sansom Harris and Phoebe Nicholls : Ton Koopman and Oliver Sacks : Steve Lacy and Myron McCormick : William H. Macy and Michael A. Monahan : Fredric March and Tobey Maguire : Molly Ringwald and Victoria Zinny

Gilmores and Gilligan

Elaine Fine, co-director of our household’s Center for Media Studies, had a thought: Gilmore Girls is Gilligan’s Island.

The Skipper: Taylor Doose. Gilligan: Kirk. The Howells: Emily and Richard Gilmore. Ginger: Lorelai. Mary Ann: Rory. The Professor: Luke.

Yes, the analogy is rough. Many Stars Hollow residents are unaccounted for. (Jess is pretty clearly some visitor to the island.) The Center will need at least one grant to work out the details.

Related reading
All OCA Gilmore Girls posts (Pinboard)

[Posted here with permission.]