Peggy Cummins (1925–2017)

The actress Peggy Cummins has died at the age of ninety-two. She is best known for her performance as the sharpshooter-turned-criminal Annie Laurie Starr in the deliriously twisted Gun Crazy (dir. John H. Lewis, 1949).

Where to see Gun Crazy? Amazon is streaming it. Netflix finally has it as a DVD.

New Year’s Eve’s morning

A charming idea: the Orpheum Children’s Museum’s Noon Day Drop, a celebration of New Year’s Eve that began at 10:30 a.m. on December 31 and ended at 1:00 p.m. that same day, with party hats, crafts, and thousands of balloons dropping “at the strike of noon.” Here is an eyewitness report.

Our fambly has special affection for the Orpheum, which, as its name suggests, inhabits an old theater. A babysitter for our children worked at the museum for a while after college. Thus it was Heather’s Museum, or as Ben then pronounced it, Hevverd’s Muhceeum. Heather gave us a tour of the Orpheum many years ago, onto the stage and up to the projection booth.

A quick Google search suggests that a noon New Year’s party for children is a common practice, common enough to have a familiar name: Noon Year’s Eve. I still like the awkward David Foster Wallace-esque multiple possessive New Year’s Eve’s morning.

A related post
LADIES’ RETIRING ROOM (As seen in the Orpheum)

Isaac Barrow on bookishness

Isaac Barrow (1630–1677), mathematician and theologian, on learnedness, or what I’ll call bookishness:

It is a calling that fitteth a man for all conditions and fortunes; so that he can enjoy prosperity with moderation, and sustain adversity with comfort: he that loveth a book will never want a faithful friend, a wholesome counsellor, a cheerful companion, an effectual comforter.

I spotted an inscription with the final clause (“he that loveth”) high on a wall at the Chicago Cultural Center years ago and finally got around to looking up the source: a sermon entitled “Of Industry in Our Particular Calling, as Scholars,” found in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow, Volume Three, ed. T.S. Hughes (1831), available at Google Books.

[I’ve borrowed bookishness from George Steiner.]

Resolution

I’m thinking about resolution, as a frame of mind, as “determination; firmness or steadfastness of purpose; the possession of a resolute or unyielding cast of mind.”

Not “Drink more water,” though that’s probably always a good idea. Not “Binge more,” as heard on a T-Mobile commercial yesterday morning.

I’m determined to be resolute in 2018, to not yield to cultural or political despair, to maintain a sense of humor and irreverence as appropriate, to maintain a sense of reverence as appropriate, to speak up and out when the occasion calls for it, and to do what I can in my very limited sphere of influence to make a better world. How about you?

And with regard to American democracy, I’m thinking about another kind of resolution:

the subsiding or cessation of a pathological process, disease, symptom, etc.; spec . the termination of inflammation, esp. without suppuration or permanent damage to tissue.

See? Still a sense of humor and irreverence. Happy New Year.

[Definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary.]

New Year’s Eve 1917

[“Sober Celebration for War New Year: Drinking Parties of the Past Give Way to Seriously Patriotic Watch Meetings. Town Will Close at 1 A.M. Entertainments for Soldiers And Sailors — Churches and Y.M.C.A. Bid for Men in Service.” The New York Times, December 31, 1917.]

In 1917, as in 1916, Mayor John P. Mitchel was a party pooper, with closing time in New York City just an hour past midnight. The high and low temperatures for December 31, 1917, as recorded in Central Park: 6°, -7°. Really, who wants to be going to and coming from scenes of revelry in that kind of weather?

On December 31, 2017, another cold day, there are many factors that might drive one to “more sober considerations.” Or to less sober ones.

[Temperatures from the National Centers for Environmental Information.]

Good advice from Ray Suarez

Here’s another fine episode of the podcast In Contrast : “Representing” in Broadcasting, with host Ilan Stavans interviewing the journalist Ray Suarez. I especially like what Suarez says about the choices he’s made in his work:

“I always thought, ‘Look, at the end of the day, I have to own myself, and I have to think I’m okay with me. And how much do I have to give away, how much do I have to transform in order to play this game as the game is being presented to me?’ And I always tried to square that circle by saying, ‘All right, who do I want to be at the end of the day: promoted and a jerk, or owning myself and owning the way I want to be in the world and maybe missing out on that promotion?’”

And on refusing to play office politics:

“I never wanted to play that game, and I never wanted to be that guy. And whether that hurt me or helped me, I don’t know. But when I look at it all, there are things that don’t add up to me. But I’ll never know what the answer is, and I don’t want to make myself crazy.”

On Twitter, Ray Suarez identifies himself as a “job-seeker.” He’d make an excellent replacement for a recently disgraced PBS host, don’t you think?

[The things that don’t add up would likely include the trajectory of Suarez’s work at the PBS NewsHour. The transcription is mine.]

BBC in Pidgin

The New York Times reports on the BBC in Pidgin. You can read BBC News in Pidgin here. My favorite headline: “Why Apple dey say sorry” [Why Apple is saying sorry]. You can also listen to the BBC Pidgin Minute and watch Bill Gates with Pidgin subtitles.

[The Times notes that seventy-five million people are believed to speak Pidgin, “either as their primary or secondary tongue.”]

From the Saturday Stumper

A clue from today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, 42-Down, five letters: “Keeps from littering.” No spoilers; the answer is in the comments.

Today’s puzzle, by Brad Wilber, is a tough one. Finishing a Saturday Stumper is always cause for minor self-congratulation.

Close the door

I heard the original radio version, by Tony Schwartz, in a recent episode of 99% Invisible. Everyone should watch and listen to this minute-long PSA — and pass it on.

[Prompted by this news story.]

*

January 2, 2018: A comment from Anton Schwartz, Tony Schwartz’s son, notes that Alan Bleviss, whose voice is heard on this PSA, died on December 30.

Nature v. nurture

[Zippy, December 29, 2017.]

Zippy wants to know: why is Mr. The Toad always so angry? Because he had Popeye wallpaper in his childhood bedroom.

Venn reading
All OCA Nancy posts : Nancy and Zippy posts : Zippy posts (Pinboard)