Harold and Mel

I was writing a review of a book by Harold Bloom. In my review I called Bloom “a comical curmudgeon.” But there was nothing comical about the book I was reviewing. In it, Bloom accused Mel Tormé, his former graduate student, of killing five people in an abandoned house on the north side of town.

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[“Only fools and children talk about their dreams”: Dr. Edward Jeffreys (Robert Douglas), in Thunder on the Hill (dir. Douglas Sirk, 1951).]

TV nostalgia

“Free streaming services Pluto TV, Tubi, Xumo Play and others show classic TV shows with ads, easing decisions for those overwhelmed with options”: “Americans Get Nostalgic for the Cable TV Experience” (The Wall Street Journal ).

I remember what Orin Incandenza says about broadcast television: “I miss seeing the same things over and over again.” And: “The choice, see. It ruins it somehow. With television you were subjected to repetition. The familiarity was inflicted.”

Sam’s, not Sam’s

[5714 New Utrecht Avenue, Boro Park, Brooklyn, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

This morning I’ve moved from Bensonhurst into Boro Park. But I’m still the prisoner of New Utrecht Avenue.

I like the look of this modest grocery store. In the windows: signage for the then-ubiquitous White Rose Tea (no relation to present-day fancy tea). And: QUALITY FOODS / ITALIAN GROCERIES / IT’S GOOD / DELICATESSEN. I like the use of the sidewalk as additional floor space. And I like puzzling over the mystery items displayed to the left. Is that baccalà I’m looking at?

Pre-grocery, this address housed a funeral parlor, then a paint store. The paint-store owner declared bankruptcy in 1933. At one point the grocery store was owned by a Sam Sturn. By the time this photograph was taken, the Sam on the store’s sign was covered, though the name is still present on the awning. This newspaper item might explain Mr. Sturn’s departure from the grocery business.

[“Fire of Sunpicious Origin in Grocery.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 10, 1933. Click for a larger view.]

There are many reasons why someone might toss bricks wrapped in gasoline-soaked rags through a store window. The one that immediately comes to my mind is that the store owner had refused to pay protection money.

As of July 2022, Google Maps shows no. 5714 unoccupied. Siding has covered the second-story windows for at least eleven years.

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More photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives (Pinboard)

Details of the building’s history found via the ever-helpful Brooklyn Newsstand. White Rose was a black tea, no relation to white tea and rosebuds.

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Stella Zawistowksi, surprised me with its doability. 1-D, four letters, “Persian equivalents of 34 Across” led me to you-know-where, three letters, “Title in Tamil.” and from there I began to fill in the right half of the puzzle. Thank you, title. The toughest part of this puzzle: the lower right corner. 53-D, four letters, “What often comes with a new addr.”? Wait, what?

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

6-D, ten letters, “Gooey sammies.” Thank goodness this clue has nothing to do with Oreos.

10-D, six letters, “Its capital has a pointy top.” Lordy.

14-D, four letters, “Battleship call.” Wonderful once you get it, which I didn’t until rereading the clue right now.

17-A, ten letters, “Source of a little juice.” Clever.

20-A, six letters, “What to do before going.” UNZIP won’t fit.

26-D, ten letters, “City with an Eiffel Tower topped with a cowboy hat.” A giveaway, I guess.

29-A, nine letters, “Refreshments that aren't hard to enjoy.” I was thinking JELLOCUPS, but the puzzle has a better answer. Really clever.

41-A, nine letters, “They get steamed every day.” Groan.

46-D, four letters, “’50s TV nickname heard on the Roku Channel.” Television past is contained in television present, as T.S. Eliot might have written. If all television is eternally present, all time is unredeemable.

47-A, four letters, “What’s common to a nail and a whale.” Whale seems pretty arbitrary, only here for the sake of the rhyme.

48-A, letters, “Was heated from within.” That’s one good clue.

55-A, ten letters, “Solitaire variety.” Never heard of it.

59-A, three letters, “Spear phisher’s initial target.” Adding value to a familiar answer.

My favorite clue in this puzzle: 27-D, ten letters, “Is out and about.” I was thinking of flaneurs.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

“Early American”?

In the Atlantic ’s Thursday crossword: 1-D, ten letters, “Early American comedian Ish, whose name comes from a Yiddish expression.” That would be, of course, KABIBBLE. But “early American”? Ish Kabibble (Merwyn Bogue) was born in 1908, flourished in the 1940s, and died in 1994.

AppleScript, defying intelligence

David Sparks, in an episode of the Mac Power Users podcast:

“My test for these AI engines that say they can program is asking them to make an AppleScript, because I’m convinced that AppleScript is the hardest language for a computer to learn how to program. And they routinely fail at it.”

What I wrote after asking ChatGPT to create an AppleScript: “AppleScript seems to defy both artificial and human intelligence.” ChatGPT did much a better job (in six tries) creating Alfred workflows.

Mystery actor

[Click for a larger view.]

It’s her movie debut. If you recognize her, or think you do, leave the name in the comments.

*

I’ll drop a hint: she’s known for film, theater, and television.

*

Oh, well. I’m going to leave the name in the comments before going out to walk for several miles.

More mystery actors
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A recycling quiz

From The Washington Post (gift link). Something I learned: it’s best to leave plastic caps on bottles.

NYT, sheesh

From David Leonhardt’s New York Times newsletter “The Morning.” “She” is Dianne Feinstein:

She has also been suffering from a deterioration in her short-term memory and her ability to hold conversations for more than a year.

Senator Feinstein should, of course, do the right thing by resigning. But sheesh, I think anyone would have difficulty holding conversations for more than a year.

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“One fluke visible”

Steven Millhauser, “Klassik Komix #1,“ in The Barnum Museum (1990).

Can you guess what klassik is getting a komix-treatment?

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