Hi and Lois watch

[Hi and Lois, November 16, 2019. Click for a larger view.]

Beware of Irmas bearing gifts. But I think the butt in the ashtray blurs the joke, especially if you’re given to overthinking.

Thirsty Thurston first appeared in Hi and Lois on June 9, 1961. In 2017 I noticed that he was still smoking. He has now been smoking for more than fifty-eight years.

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Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, looked to me like a sea of troubles. I drifted to the middle of the sea — 38-A, seven letters, “Quack creation” — before finding a way to proceed. That answer gave me 24-D, four letters, “Old-style ‘used to be,’” which in turn gave me 23-A, five letters, “Had a home plate.” That answer let me make an educated guess at 9-D, six letters, “What sweetens some soy sauce,” which yielded 20-A, seven letters, “Foxy.” And then more drifting. The northeast and southwest corners gave me the most difficulty, and I managed to solve by trying and giving up on one corner, then the other, over and over. I know that seas don’t have corners though.

Some outstanding clues: 11-D, seven letters, “They fly for a union.” 28-D, five letters, “One shooting stars.” 37-D, eight letters, “Veggie dish specification.” 45-A, nine letters, “Explanation for passing.” 60-A, nine letters, “Bursting in.” And 66-A, nine letters, “They’re not drips.”

No spoilers: the answers are in the comments.

NYT commentary

Better late than never: The New York Times has a running commentary on today’s impeachment hearing, with seven reporters. Very helpful.

Thuggery

Watching Marie Yovanovitch’s testimony (on my phone, while getting an oil change), all I can think is thuggery, thuggery, thuggery. Complete with witness intimidation in real time! How much longer will this president’s enablers permit his thuggery to continue? As long as it takes, I fear.

Toni Morrison’s pencils

Toni Morrison, from a 1993 Paris Review interview:

What is the physical act of writing like for you?

I write with a pencil.

Would you ever work on a word processor?

Oh, I do that also, but that is much later when everything is put together. I type that into a computer and then I begin to revise. But everything I write for the first time is written with a pencil, maybe a ballpoint if I don’t have a pencil. I’m not picky, but my preference is for yellow legal pads and a nice number two pencil.

Dixon Ticonderoga number two soft?

Exactly.

[From Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (dir. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, 2019). Click for a larger view.]

No Ticonderoga in the documentary. That’s a Paper Mate SharpWriter. But it is a no. 2.

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All OCA pencil posts (Pinboard)

Nancy’s blog

[Nancy, November 15, 2019.]

Click here to learn more!

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All OCA Nancy posts (Pinboard)

Ben Leddy hosts The Rewind

Here’s the latest installment of WGBH’s The Rewind, “War Photography and Public Domain,” hosted by our son Ben. You can find all episodes of The Rewind at YouTube.

Planet Madeleine

[Click for a larger treat.]

When we journeyed east a couple of weeks ago, our friends Jim and Luanne had madeleines for us. Homemade madeleines, Jim-made madeleines. They were great — slightly spongy and deeply flavorful, with a touch of lemon. This picture makes me think of Jim and Luanne, and their friendship, and, uhh, madeleines.

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All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard) : Madeleine, the word

Two Frosts

From my story “The Poet,” in which Robert Frost visits the Lassie world:

Timmy had been right: Mr. Frost was an old poet. He looked tired. Even his clothes — a baggy shirt, baggy pants, a tattered scarf, and a rumpled jacket — looked tired.

Here’s Frost in a short documentary, heading off to a reading:


[From Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel with the World (dir. Shirley Clarke, 1963). Click for a larger view.]

Granted, there’s no scarf. But I think I must have seen this film years before I wrote the story. Either that or I’m just good at imagining tired old poets.

Object vs. subject

I’m impressed by William Taylor’s distinction between Ukraine as object (a nation to be exploited, manipulated) and Ukraine as subject (a nation seeking to exercise agency, autonomy).

Everything George Kent and Ambassador Taylor have said this morning is a rebuke to the clownish lies and obfuscations of those seeking to defend Donald Trump. High seriousness is winning the day here.