Heroic handwriting

“I told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it was a matter of humanity. I did not care if I lost my job. Anyone else would have done the same thing if they were in my place”: Chiune Sugihara saved lives with his handwriting.

Decorate, diagram

[Peanuts, October 18, 1971.]

Yesterday’s Peanuts is today’s Peanuts. But does anyone still diagram sentences Reed-Kellogg style? The book to read on these matters is Kitty Burns Florey’s Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: The Quirky History And Lost Art Of Diagramming Sentences (2006).

NPR, sheesh

Such deference this morning, NPR. Donald Trump wasn’t “making an argument” about climate change in his 60 Minutes interview. He was making an unfounded assertion: “Something’s changing and it’ll change back again.”

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[Argument: “a coherent series of reasons, statements, or facts intended to support or establish a point of view.” Assertion: “a declaration that something is the case.” Definitions from Merriam-Webster. The meanings of the two words make my statement about Trump an argument, not an assertion.]

Hallmark “trees”

The sappy, saccharine Hallmark movie Falling for Vermont has everything: a Famous Author, a cozy bookstore, a gazebo, even a “town meeting.” It’s a bit like Gilmore Girls with amnesia. That is, the protagonist has amnesia, not the movie itself.

An additional treat: the opportunity to watch for the same four or five gold- and orange-leafed artificial trees as they travel from scene to scene to scene to signify fall. Look, here come two of the trees now.

We saw most of Falling for Vermont last night. Me: “This has another hour to go.” Elaine: “That’s not a problem.” The movie airs again on October 20.

Main Streets

[Zippy, October 14, 2018.]

In the final panel of today’s Zippy, Griffy proclaims Main Streets “th’ antidote to strip mall America.” I love it. As Elaine will attest, I still fantasize about coming across a thriving downtown in some long-lost midwestern city. The closest we’ve ever come to it was in Jackson, Ohio, though that wasn’t close enough for me. Not downtown-y enough. Not Twilight Zone-y enough.

There’s a clue to location in today’s strip: the yellow sign reads “Waureg . . . otel.” That’s the Wauregan Hotel in Norwich, Connecticut. Here’s a view of Broadway from Griffy and Zippy’s perspective. Sigh.

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Main Street, Hackensack, New Jersey

Old barber, old joke

“I eat thin spaghetti, so I don’t get fat”: Anthony Mancinelli, 107, is the world’s oldest barber.

Another headline

From the New York Daily News: “Cultured klepto who swiped painting worth over $1,000 in the Bronx wanted.”

A painting worth over $1,000 in the Bronx? And in the other boroughs?

A possible revision: “Wanted: cultured klepto who swiped $1,000 painting in the Bronx.” I think it’s safe to omit “worth over.”

This post marks the first and (I hope) last time I’ll have reason to type the phrase “cultured klepto.”

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A garden-path Daily News headline

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Frank Longo, was tough. I stared and stared, and now and then a word suggested itself as right. I finished in forty-seven minutes — after practically going to sleep with quandariness, as Frank O’Hara might have, if he had tried this puzzle.

Three clues that I especially liked: 8-Across, six letters, “Racket clubs.” 22-Down, six letters, “Scorch with pans.” 47-Down, five letters, “David : Milhous :: Delano :     .” That last clue is not especially tricky, but it’s quietly disorienting. And it woke me up.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

[“After practically going to sleep with quandariness”: from the Frank O’Hara poem “The Day Lady Died.”]

Sardines in the comics

Today, in Rhymes with Orange.

“Like winter”

[Nancy, October 3, 1953.]

At least kinda like winter: 36° this morning. Elaine and I will reenact this scene when we go for a walk in the near near future.

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