TPM, sheesh

Talking Points Memo this morning: “sharing sources of what I believe are reliable information.”

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It was corrected after an hour or so. I wouldn’t have made this post if I hadn’t already noticed so many other problems in the writing at TPM.

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Mississippi John Hurt Memorial

The ruins of the Valley Store, County Road 41, Carrollton, Mississippi, are preserved in Google Maps, with a marker for Mississippi John Hurt close by. Here’s a clearer view. If you have the 2011 Discovery CD, you can see a photograph with Hurt standing outside the Valley Store.

See also the Mississippi John Hurt Museum, Hurt’s house in Avalon, Mississippi. The title of Hurt’s 1928 recording “Avalon Blues” was the clue that led to his renewed musical career in the 1960s.

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[“Renewed musical career”: I don’t like the usual term “rediscovery.”]

“Music as resistance”

From The Washington Post, “Music as resistance: Kyiv’s orchestra plays on”:

The very site of the outdoor concert by the Kyiv-Classic Symphony Orchestra symbolized the defiance: Kyiv’s central square, Maidan, the focal point of revolutions including one in 2014 that ousted a pro-Moscow president and helped define Ukraine’s Western political path.

And the musicians, bundled up in thick coats and jackets, played outdoors despite the constant threat of missiles or bombs falling.

Two presidents

In The New York Times, Mikhail Zygar describes Vladimir Putin’s world. As I read, I kept thinking of another president.

Let’s see: hedonism, seclusion, an obsession with the past, an obsession with restoring “greatness,” an attachment to conspiracy theories, a belief that only he can save his country, a retinue of ideologues and sycophants. It all sounds too familiar.

Matthew Snelgrove

Of the firm Snelgrove, Martin and Fitzalan.

Robertson Davies, Leaven of Malice (1954).

Leaven of Malice is the second novel of Davies’s Salterton Trilogy.

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[Is this passage Dickensian, or what?]

Charles E. Entenmann (1929–2022)

“The two-millionth piece of cake must not only be good — it must be as good as the first”: Charles E. Entenmann, quoted in a New York Times obituary.

Cross my heart: I almost typed Entenmann’s when I typed his name.

Cough drops

I stepped into Walgreens to buy some cough drops. I was surprised to see the store looking old-timey, with wall displays of candy and perfume behind sliding glass doors. I realized — too late — that I had forgotten to put on a mask. And then I saw — yikes — that no one else in the store was wearing a mask. Well, I thought, I’ll just have to hurry up and get the cough drops.

But I couldn’t find them. I went up and down the aisles, which were crowded, as in a supermarket. No luck. Finally, I saw some cough drops — Luden’s Wild Cherry, in the old familiar box, on a shelf behind a sliding glass door. I asked the cashier if I could have a box. She said yes, but the store was being sold in three minutes, so I’d have to hurry.

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[Possible sources: the pandemic, supply-chain problems, and thoughts of candy stores past.]

“Qua”

[“Qua,” xkcd, March 9, 2022.]

I can’t decide if it’s a joke on Waiting for Godot. It might just be someone being witty about qua.

Related reading
Two more posts about qua

[But shouldn’t the punchline read “Nice use of ‘ “qua” qua “qua” ’ qua ‘ “qua” qua “qua” ’ ”?]

Mystery actor

[Click for a larger view.]

Do you recognize her? I didn’t. Leave your best guess in a comment. I’ll add hints if necessary.

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9:15 a.m.: That didn’t take long. The answer is now in the comments. More mystery actors
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?

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

Stricken mountaineers

Hector Mackilwraith is in difficulty:

Robertson Davies, Tempest-Tost (1951).

Elaine and I both wonder if John Kennedy Toole might have been familiar with this bit of gastric comedy.

Tempest-Tost is the first novel of Davies’s Salterton Trilogy.

Related reading
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