A joke in the traditional manner

Where do amoebas golf?

No spoilers. The punchline is in the comments. (And yes, “On a miniature golf course” would be much too obvious.)

More jokes in the traditional manner
The Autobahn : Did you hear about the cow coloratura? : Did you hear about the thieving produce clerk? : Elementary school : A Golden Retriever : How did Bela Lugosi know what to expect? : How did Samuel Clemens do all his long-distance traveling? : How do amoebas communicate? : How do worms get to the supermarket? : What did the doctor tell his forgetful patient to do? : What did the plumber do when embarrassed? : What happens when a senior citizen visits a podiatrist? : What is the favorite toy of philosophers’ children? : What was the shepherd doing in the garden? : Which member of the orchestra was best at handling money? : Why did the doctor spend his time helping injured squirrels? : Why did Oliver Hardy attempt a solo career in movies? : Why did the ophthalmologist and his wife split up? : Why does Marie Kondo never win at poker? : Why was Santa Claus wandering the East Side of Manhattan?

[“In the traditional manner”: by or à la my dad. He gets credit for all but the cow coloratura, the produce clerk, the amoebas, the worms, the toy, the shepherd, the squirrel-doctor, Marie Kondo, Santa Claus, and this one. He was making such jokes long before anyone called them “dad jokes.”]

Happy Mother’s Day

[Photograph by James Leddy.]

That’s my mom Louise Leddy and me. My dad Jim made a notation in the baby book next to this photograph: B.M.

Today seems like an appropriate time to say that our daughter Rachel and her husband Seth are going to have a baby girl, due in October. Which means that my mom, Rachel’s Grandma Louise, will soon be someone’s great-grandmother. And Elaine and I will soon be grandparents. Grandparents? But we’ve always been “a nice young couple.” [Insert moment of stunned silence.]

Happy Mother’s Day to all.

Telling

Mark Shields:

There have been three memorable American presidents, the story goes. President George Washington could never tell a lie. President Richard Nixon could never tell the truth. And President Donald Trump cannot tell the difference.

Overheard

“Have either of you ever been to a French restaurant?”

And from the same speaker, a minute or two later: “You set it on fire and drink it.”

I would like to have heard whatever was said in between.

Related reading
All OCA “overheard” posts (Pinboard)

Carhartt B324

A recommendation to my fellow man: Carhartt B324 Washed Twill Dungarees. They’re carpenter pants, not heavy or stiff, not baggy or saggy, and their slightly longer length begins to look perfectly appropriate after a few days. A pocket on the right leg solves the problem of carrying a cellphone. And there’s another pocket on the left leg. And because they’re carpenter pants, there’s also a hammer loop, which seems to me weirdly cool, even if I don’t often carry a hammer. B324s come in five colors: Black, Dark Coffee, Army Green, Dark Khaki, and Field Khaki.

I just retired a pair of Carhartt B18 jeans after seven years. I’m pretty sure I’ve never had a pair of jeans last that long. I hope the B324s are as durable.

[A caution: the cellphone pocket easily holds an iPhone 6 or 7, but the Plus size may not fit. Try before you buy. May 2019: The iPhone XR fits. But try before you buy is still good advice.]

Domestic comedy

[After warbling a couple of lines of “It Ain’t Me Babe.”]

“Aren’t you glad I’m not Bob Dylan?”

“Yes — you’d be insufferable.”

“But I’d be out on the road all the time.”

“Then it’d be okay.”

“No!”

Related reading
All OCA domestic comedy posts (Pinboard)

A Mongol sighting

[From Call Northside 777 (dir. Henry Hathwaway, 1948). Click for a larger view.]

P.J. McNeal (Jimmy Stewart) is all het up. Must be on a jag. But Photo Lab Technician (his only name) is a mellow fellow, though a bit worldweary. His pencil: Mongol, right there in his vest pocket.

Related reading
All OCA Mongol posts (Pinboard)
More from Call Northside 777

[I think the actor playing Photo Lab Technician may be Ben Erway. But it’s difficult to put together one of several nameless roles and a photograph or two. The actor looks old enough to Ben Erway (b. 1892). The actor who plays Police Photographic Technician looks much too young.]

Call Northside 777 for supplies and technology

I sometimes wonder what Henry Hathaway’s office must have looked like. His 1945 film The House on 92nd Street is filled with supplies and technology: file drawers, ledgers, rubber stamps, teletype machines, the works. Call Northside 777 (1948), filmed (at least mostly) on location in Chicago, is a close second.

The Chicago Police Department’s Bureau of Information has a wire file basket, files, desk lamps, and overhead caged lamps. Also cops:





The department’s Communication Center has desk lamps and schoolhouse fixtures. Also telephony:


[Is that a quart of milk to the front right?]


[The only proper reaction to this shot in 1948 or now: “It’s complicated.”]

P.J. McNeal (Jimmy Stewart), newspaper reporter, has a tiny camera. He’s almost a spy, having passed himself off as a detective:




[A nifty touch: Joseph MacDonald, the film’s cinematographer, shows us the arrest record as it comes into focus in McNeal’s viewfinder.]

McNeal also knows how to work a typewriter:



Someone else handles the Linotype:



The shots of signage that precede the scenes in the Bureau of Information and the Communication Center strongly suggest (at least to me) that these scenes were filmed on location. If not, they’re pretty remarkable sets.

I’ve left out two elements of technology, one of which might be a spoiler. The other is a Mongol pencil.

More Hathaway, offices, and supplies
A pocket notebook in The House on 92nd Street notebook sighting
Dixon Ticonderogas in The House on 92nd Street
A police station in Niagara

This blog in Spin

My blog and me in Spin: “It’s Been Ten Years Since Brian Wilson Said His Favorite Movie Was Norbit.”

Pocket notebook sighting

[The Naked Edge (dir. Michael Anderson, 1961). Click for a larger view.]

The Naked Edge shows George Radcliffe (Gary Cooper) making frequent use of this notebook. Someone took care to have it look well-used. Notice the ragged edge of a page torn from a spiral notebook and saved here.

More notebook sightings
Angels with Dirty Faces : Ball of Fire : Cat People : City Girl : Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne : Dragnet : Extras : Foreign Correspondent : Homicide : The Honeymooners : The House on 92nd Street : Journal d’un curé de campagne : The Last Laugh : The Lodger : Mr. Holmes : Murder at the Vanities : Murder by Contract : Murder, Inc. : The Mystery of the Wax Museum : Naked City : The Palm Beach Story : Pickpocket : Pickup on South Street : Pushover : Quai des Orfèvres : Railroaded! : Red-Headed Woman : Rififi : Route 66 : The Sopranos : Spellbound : State Fair : T-Men : Union Station : Where the Sidewalk Ends : The Woman in the Window