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.

Today’s Saturday Stumper

I set up my iPad at the kitchen table to do the crossword. The 11th Hour ran at the far end of our mid-century all-in-one room. The minutes went by.

“Are you done yet?” Elaine asked. It was getting late. “Only halfway,” I answered. And at some point I realized that today’s Newsday  crossword, by Greg Johnson, was another Saturday Stumper. No wonder it took so long (twenty-three minutes).

That makes two consecutive Stumpers. And much greater difficulty with this week’s puzzle — that’s good.

Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:

6-D, six letters, “What some projections and pitchers provide.” Very clever.

11-D, ten letters, “Common grade-school homework.” Yes indeed. And now I’m wondering when they became a thing.

16-A, three letters, “‘Sharp’ starter.” I learned something.

17-A, fifteen letters, “’70s kids’ educational animated-short series.” I know it only from later parodies and repurposings.

19-D, thirteen letters, “Taunt for a hand.” My first thought was of an insult comedian.

28-D, ten letters, “Uranium ore, from the Latin for ‘violet.’” From the west-central region, the toughest part of the puzzle. Just try to figure out what the first letter might be.

45-D, six letters, “Drop-box legend.” Oh, now I get it. Fun to see this answer below 9-D, three letters, “Makes greater.”

50-A, five letters, “About 591 drops.” I’d like to say I learned something, but I will forget this factoid posthaste.

56-A, fifteen letters, “App you can’t download.” I am 48-A, six letters, “Finding something funny.”

One clue whose answer I don’t understand: 44-A, seven letters, “Score fourth.” Fourth? Huh?

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Snopes and plagiarism

David Mikkelson, co-founder of Snopes, turns out to be a serial plagiarist.

Mikkelson’s acknowledgement of “multiple serious copyright violations of content that Snopes didn’t have rights to use” is a tad disingenuous. Using text without permission might be a copyright violation. Putting your own name on that text is plagiarism. Putting your name on a slightly altered version of that text: that, too, is plagiarism.

If you’re “rewording,” as students say, you’re plagiarizing.

Related posts
“Rewording” : Rogeting

[I always mistype plagiarism as plagiairism. I am nothing if not consistent.]

Poverty and dignity

“I think if there’s one thing I’ve learned in thirty-five years, it’s the opposite of poverty isn’t wealth. The opposite of poverty is dignity”: Jacqueline Novogratz, from Alan Alda’s podcast Clear + Vivid.