[Henry, May 26, 2018.]
Readers of a certain age won’t need the final panels of today’s Henry to understand what’s going on: Henrietta and Henry are — of course — talking to each other. I remember the good clean fun of taking over a bank of Garden State Plaza phone booths with friends and making calls back and forth. Hilarity on the cheap.
Related reading
All OCA Henry posts (Pinboard)
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Henry booths
From the Saturday Stumper
My favorite clue from today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper: 60-Down, four letters: “Sunset intersector.” A HAND shielding the eyes? The horizon LINE? No. And no spoilers; the answer is in the comments.
Today’s puzzle is by “Anna Stiga,” or “Stan again.” Newsday ’s crossword editor Stan Newman uses that pen name for easier Saturday puzzles of his making.
Friday, May 25, 2018
W2’s mommy
[Webster’s New International Dictionary, second edition (1934).]
This guide word caught my eye. “Aww,” said I. Followed by “Sheesh.”
Mom appears in W2 only in the extra bits that run along the bottom of the page, where the word is identified as “corrupt. of mamma.” In W3 (1961), mom becomes “short for momma,” and mommy becomes “alter. of mammy.” And both mom and mommy are now defined as “mother,” and nothing but “mother.” The old squaw duck (now known as the long-tailed duck) is gone.
How strange and wonderful that while writing this post, I got a FaceTime call from my daughter Rachel and her daughter Talia. Hi Mom.
“Beat Bop”
A blast from the past in The New Yorker: Hua Hsu’s “The Spectacular Mythology of Rammellzee.” It made me remember a 12-inch single from back in the day: Rammelzee vs. K-Rob, “Beat Bop.” It’s an extraordinary record, ten minutes and ten seconds of K-Rob’s storytelling and cultural commentary and Rammelzee’s spectacular wordplay. My favorite line, I think: “Patty Duke played out the hitting the top.” Say what?!
No, I don’t have the original Tartown release with cover art by Jean-Michel Basquiat. I have the plain old Profile single. On the record the name is spelled Rammelzee. The “day” was 1983.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Spare change
All those challenge coins.
*
May 25: They’re on sale. Deal of the Day price: $19.95.
*
5:50 p.m.: If you looked at this post earlier today and wondered what you were seeing, the cause was a missing quotation mark in the second link. (Shouldn’t Blogger flag such a thing before a post is published?)
Mac, asleep
Thank you, Rachel, for recommending this app.
Mac, awake
A more elaborate free no-sleep app: Amphetamine. As a resident of downstate Illinois, I wish that one had a different name.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Garfield minus Garfield
[Garfield, May 23, 2018.]
A carrier left a free copy of the local newspaper in our driveway today, and I ended up noticing Garfield on the comics page. And having noticed, I had to play Garfield Minus Garfield.
[Garfield revised, May 23, 2018.]
That dog must have magical powers. Clearly an improvement.
Related posts
Blondie minus Blondie : Garfield minus thought balloons : Garfield minus Garfield
Suspicion
Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Invention of Morel, trans. Ruth L.C. Simms (New York: New York Review Books, 2003).
The Invention of Morel is a wonderful novella, literally so. The cover of the NYRB edition — a photograph of Louise Brooks and books — is a bit of a lure: Brooks inspired the novella but plays no part in it. The setting is a mysterious island; the narrator, a man who realizes that he is not alone. No wonder the book appears in Lost, in the hands of James Sawyer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
