“Some rocks”

[Click for bigger rocks.]

There they were, where two roads meet, or diverge, depending on which way your feet are going. They are large rocks, aspiring to grow still bigger.

Imagine if Robert Frost had been out walking: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / When all at once I saw some rocks.” Then we would have “The Roads Not Taken,” the poet (already with Wordsworth on his mind) having been stopped in his tracks by the sudden stony sight.

Frost’s “For Once, Then, Something” refers to “a pebble of quartz” at the bottom of a well. I think “For Once, Then, Some Rocks” would be a much more satisfying poem.

“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

See also today’s Zippy.

[I’m not touching “Mending Wall” — too many rocks.]

From the PBS NewsHour

The PBS HewsHour had a story about whether people feel safe enough to return to theaters. “Absolutely not!” one person said. That made me think of something from Martin Buber that Matt Thomas quoted in a blog post.

Then the NewsHour went to Stephen Sondheim’s house. The house had a trick floor, with a small section of one floorboard that was held to the rest of the board by a metal pin at each end. A reporter pushed down on one side of the section, and it tilted, revealing $300,000.

When the house burned down, the money went with it.

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Another Brooklyn candy store 4302 12th Avenue, now with a Saturday Night Fever connection, or almost.

Another Brooklyn candy store

[4213 and 4215 Fort Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn, New York, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click either image for a much larger view.]

Or at least a candy-store location. Either 4213 or 4215 was the home of Mary’s, which sold comic books, water pistols, novelty items — in other words, life’s necessities. A curtain in a doorway at the back of the selling floor seemed to screen a kitchen. And indeed, Mary and her family may have lived behind and above the store. I never understood that these storefronts had houses behind them.

I have a hazy memory of Mary — and her father? — doing business from lawn chairs, what my family called beach chairs. I remember that Mary made change from coin reserves in enormous pockets (of a smock?). I remember buying reprints of old comics at Mary’s, including one with a hero who discovered his superpower when pulling baked potatoes outta the fire for the gang. I’ve never been able to track down that origin story.

When these photographs were taken, 4213 was devoted to ignition parts and repairs (if I’ve read the large sign correctly) and radio repairs. Even if you have difficulty spotting HARDWARE in the 4215 window, the key below the street number makes that store’s identity clear. The guy in the coat, obviously with the shoot, appears in several photographs from this block. The kids disappear after these two. It’s worth clicking to see details in the larger version of each photograph.

A 2019 photograph in Google Maps shows 4213 as Kim’s Nails. At 4215, W Sunrise 99 Cent Market. Search results suggest that they’re both still going. If you look closely, you can see that the brickwork between these storefronts, or at least part of it, is the same as it ever was. As Holden Caulfield would say, that kills me. It really does.

Five more candy stores
4417 New Utrecht Avenue : 4319 13th Avenue : 94 Nassau Street : 4223 Fort Hamilton Parkway : 4302 12th Avenue

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Anna Stiga, “Stan Again,” Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor, is easy — too easy, really. MEH or SOSO, in crosswordese.

Some clues whose answers interested me:

13-D, six letters, “Blunder.” I had never heard or seen the answer, which is both noun and verb.

29-A, twelve letters, “Yukon Quest and La Grande Odyssée.” I didn’t know they had such noble names.

35-D, eight letters, “Personal-care brand name since 1872.” Ick.

38-A, twelve letters, “What follows a successful shakedown.” BAGFULLOFCASH doesn’t fit.

49-A, ten letters, “James River tributary.” Can anyone spell the answer correctly on the first try?

50-D, five letters, “Two bells, to bosuns.” Right away I thought of Cap’n Jack McCarthy, who hosted one of WPIX’s cartoon shows for kids. “Eight bells, and all is well,” he’d say. That was at noon. So what would two bells signify? Alas, you need — spoiler approaching — more than Cap’n Jack to figure it out. But I enjoyed the reverie.

62-A, five letters, “Tablespoon fractions.” The answer interests me because it has another meaning suggesting something more than fractions of a tablespoon.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Here in downstate Illinois

Any regular reader knows that Elaine and I live in downstate Illinois, where we had harrowing weather last night. This post is just to say that we are fine.

When we heard the tornado warning on our phones, we brought our electronics and musical instruments downstairs (as we have done many times) and watched the weather on local television for about two hours. We had strong wind and rain, but the closest tornado (quite close) bypassed our town, or nearly all of it. Other places were not nearly so lucky.

And now I am waiting for a news source to post some “How to help” links.

Shadows

[From Johnny O’Clock (dir. Robert Rossen, 1947). O’Clock (Dick Powell), a junior partner in a casino, and his boss Guido Marchettis (Thomas Gomez), in the office of Inspector Koch (Lee J. Cobb). Cinematography by Burnett Guffey. Click for a larger view.]

Yes, that’s a gold watch in the boss’s hand.

Among Burnett Guffey’s films as director of photography: In a Lonely Place , From Here to Eternity , and Bonnie and Clyde.

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A miniature city

Night and the city

[From Johnny O’Clock (dir. Robert Rossen, 1947). Click for a larger view.]

A miniature city.

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Shadows

Barry Harris (1929–2021)

Pianist, teacher. The New York Times has an obituary.

Here’s Barry Harris, playing in 2017, parts 1 and 2.

Giant telephone

[Life, January 30, 1950. Click for a larger telephone.]

Maybe an early version of the monolith?

See also: Giant scissors, giant pencil.