Another indictment

Of you-know-who, on four counts related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Announced just now on MSNBC.

There are six unnamed and unindicted co-conspirators: four attorneys, a former DOJ official, and a political consultant. The attorneys are Kenneth Chesebro, John Eastman, Rudolph Giuliani, and Sidney Powell. The former DOJ official is Jeffrey Clark. The identity of the political consultant is more difficult to figure out.

Here is the indictment. The New York Times has it with commentary (gift link). Paragraph 2:

Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false. But the Defendant repeated and widely disseminated them anyway — to make his knowingly false claims appear legitimate, create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger, and erode public faith in the administration of the election.

One detail, from paragraph 90:

On January 1, the Defendant called the Vice President and berated him because he had learned that the Vice President had opposed a lawsuit seeking a judicial decision that, at the certification, the Vice President had the authority to reject or return votes to the states under the Constitution. The Vice President responded that he thought there was no constitutional basis for such authority and that it was improper. In response, the Defendant told the Vice President, “You’re too honest.”

I’d add: But not honest enough.

“Books, always books”

Television comes to the family of “the Author.” But it’s still a bookish household.

Steven Millhauser, “A Voice in the Night,” in Voices in the Night (2015).

Elaine and I have now read all of Steven Millhauser’s fiction to date. His new book of stories, Disruptions, arrives today.

Related reading
All OCA Steven Millhauser posts (Pinboard)

[Farmer Al Falfa: a cartoon character. The Merry Mailman: A New York-area children’s show. Tootle: a story about a baby locomotive.]

Sold a Story updates

I gave up waiting for follow-up episode(s) to the podcast series Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong. And now I find out that two follow-up episodes appeared in May, “Your Words” and “The Impact.” You can find them via the link above.

Sold a Story might be the most important podcast series I’ve listened to. It explains so much.

Thanks, Rachel.

Related reading
A handful of Sold a Story posts

“Adoration” again

The digital radio station Classic FM has a list: fifteen pieces for anyone beginning to listen to classical music. Coming in at a number ten, Florence Price’s “Adoration”: “Originally composed for church organ, it was arranged for violin and piano by Elaine Fine.”

Elaine has also arranged “Adoration” for viola, cello, flute, clarinet, and tuba (each with piano), six violas, violin soloist and orchestra, string orchestra, and orchestra. A German music publication called Elaine “wohl die Pionierin der weiten Welt der Adoration-Adaptionen” — “probably the pioneer of the wide world of ‘Adoration’ adaptations.” She’s made all her arrangements of this (public domain) composition available at no cost through the IMSLP.

Elaine is always reluctant to toot her own horn, so I am tooting it for her. Toot toot. And now I will return the horn to its case to await new news.

Related reading
A few more “Adoration” posts

Art into words

“The great blue wave curls in from the left, its toppling white crest a mass of foam tentacles that claw the air”: from a terrific Word of Mouth episode, “Audio description: putting art into words.” This episode might be a great resource for anyone thinking about ekphrasis, or just about how to describe.

[The work of art described here: The Great Wave off Kanagawa.]

Pencil sharpeners of the past

In action, from 1886 to 1920.

Thanks to Kevin at harvest.ink.

“Office fritters”?

There comes a time when one throws up one’s hands in the face of one’s handwriting.

Can you guess what I wrote? The answer’s in the comments.

Related reading
All OCA handwriting posts (Pinboard)

Nick’s Diner

[Nick’s Diner, 399–405 Third Avenue, Gowanus, Brooklyn, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

Is it kitty-corner? Catty-corner? Cater-corner? Whichever. Nick’s Diner was diagonally across the intersection from Ralph Bozzo’s restaurant. If you click for the larger view and squint, you can see the diner’s name, along with a claim of “Home Cooking.” No need to squint to see the all-important EAT.

Today the northeast corner of Third Avenue and Sixth Street is the site of the Praxis Third Ave Shelter, providing temporary housing for adult families.

Related reading
More photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives (Pinboard)

[Garner’s Modern English Usage: “The original phrase, in Middle English, was catre-cornered (lit., “four-cornered”) — catre deriving from the Latin quattuor.” And: “Kitty-corner is predominant in the upper half of the continental U.S., catty-corner in the lower half. The form cater-corner, the preferred form in most dictionaries, is less common but not at all rare.”]

Hi and Lois watch

[Hi and Lois, July 29, 2023. Click for a larger view.]

Golf. Golf. Golf. Rake. Rake. Rake. The punchline in today’s strip: “You can’t play golf with a rake!” I somehow begin to suspect that I am not the Hi and Lois target audience.

But that doesn’t explain why there isn’t a single leaf on the ground. Might today’s strip have kept until, say, October?

Related reading
All OCA Hi and Lois posts (Pinboard)

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by Matthew Sewell. For me, it was a Stumper that seemed impossible at first but gave up its secrets in nineteen minutes.¹ I started with 4-D, four letters, “Marcel’s mighty,” 5-D, three letters, “Evidence of unhappiness,” and 16-A, ten letters, “It holds drafts all year.” And then I drew blanks for clue after clue. What finally gave me a genuine start on solving: 48-D, four letters, “Bite on the trail.” Toss in 51-A, four letters, “Regard inappropriately,” and I was on my way.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

2-D, five letters, “Transcend.” A playful clash of diction registers.

7-D, fifteen letters, “Nursery rhyme singers’ evocations.” I love this.

11-D, nine letters, “Summarized, say.” I can’t believe I got it without crosses.

13-A, ten letters, “More than a little.” The answer feels dowdy to me. Do people say that?

15-D, five letters, “Middle name of Breyer’s successor.” I didn’t realize that it’s considered a middle name.

20-D, eight letters, “Stock market purchase.” Groan.

23-A, four letters, “Going quietly.” Going Stumpery.

24-A, twelve letters, “Deals with, after delaying.” Nicely colloquial.

24-D, three letters, “Bert alternative.” Given that the clue is in a Stumper, I thought we were playing Cheese Nicknames.

32-A, fifteen letters, “Excellent reception.” Football? Wi-Fi? I first though that the answer — which is not STANDINGOVATION — is just awkward, but no, it’s tricky.

43-A, five letters, “Legacy of a sort.” I saw what you did there.

55-A, ten letters, “Steepness warning.”I think that steep rules out anything appearing on a road sign.

Clue that most filled me with admiration for its fiendishness: 1-D, five letters, “Scale model.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

¹ For some reason, my Stumper time is often nineteen minutes and change.