Patrick McDonnell’s paintings

Patrick McDonnell, creator of the comic strip Mutts, has a show of his paintings. Nancy and Sluggo looking at a mushroom cloud? It looks to me as if McDonnell has been paying attention to Joe Brainard. And perhaps John Ashbery. Story here.

Dr. Biden’s handwriting

Dr. Jill Biden has excellent handwriting.

Criminal handwriting

“Slattery entered three banks in Eastbourne and Hastings in the space of two weeks, and used written notes to ask the cashiers to hand over money, officers said”: “Man’s handwriting was so bad Eastbourne bank staff didn’t know he was trying to rob them.”

[A bit first (?) done in Take the Money and Run.]

Heather Cox Richardson again

Today’s installment of Letters from an American. More helpful than hours of “analysis” on cable news.

Exclamations

It would be wonderful to live in the Peppa Pig world, even if only for one five-minute episode. There, virtually all developments can be met with “Ooh!” or “Wow!” or “Yes, please!” or “Hooray!”

About Afghanistan

Heather Cox Richardson’s August 15 installment of Letters from an American is well worth reading.

Mystery actor

[Click for a larger view.]

Warning: This one’s tricky. Leave your best guess in the comments. I’ll drop a hint if needed.

*

Nearly two hours have gone by without a guess. Here’s a hint: she’s in disguise.

*

The answer is now in the comments.

More mystery actors (Collect them all!)
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?

[Garner’s Modern English Usage notes that “support for actress seems to be eroding.” I use actor.]

Pat Hitchcock O’Connell (1928–2021)

Alfred and Alma’s daughter. Forever memorable in Strangers on a Train. The New York Times has an obituary.

New England Mobile Book Fair

A belated goodbye: I learned by chance yesterday that the New England Mobile Book Fair closed last August. The closing is likely permanent.

Here’s an article that explains what happened. And here’s a post from a 2010 visit.

Pedro Almodóvar in my local paper

I wonder what algorithm chose this headline as one of the three top stories in the online edition of my local paper: “Pedro Almodóvar warns against algorithms in Instagram row.”

Whatever. I will now be on the lookout for the forthcoming Almodóvar movie, Madres paralelas [Parallel mothers].

Here, from ABC News, is the story of Almodóvar’s battle against an algorithm. To read the story in my local paper would require a battle with a paywall.

Our household is an Almodóvar-friendly zone: Elaine and I have seen sixteen of his movies. But we gave up on the local paper in 2008. We had our reasons, good ones.