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How to improve writing (no. 119) It’s difficult to improve writing when you’re angry.

“Philosophic Guide”

[From Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (dir. Gordon Douglas, 1950). Click for a larger view.]

“You sure we’ve come to the right place?”

It's one of the stranger moments in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye : psychopathic gangster Ralph Cotter (James Cagney) and flunkie Joe “Jinx” Raynor (Steve Brodie) come to Dr. Darius Green’s address for helping in finding the right kind of lawyer. But it turns out that Dr. Green has closed up shop as a sketchy man of medicine. He now heals minds, he says, not bodies.

This visit is reminiscent of the visit to the Tabernacle of the Sun in Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much 1934): there, too, the visitors, Bob Lawrence (Leslie Banks) and his friend (Hugh Wakefield), stand looking at a signboard (a much simpler one) before entering.

You can compare the two scenes via YouTube: this one and that one.

Connecting dots

Artist unknown: Data, information, knowledge, insight, wisdom, conspiracy theory.

Via A.Word.A.Day, whose word today is dot-connect.

How to improve writing (no. 119)

From an article in The Washington Post this morning:

Former president Donald Trump mocked President Biden’s stutter at a campaign rally in Rome, Ga., on Saturday, the latest in a series of insults he has hurled at his rival but one that disability advocates regard as a demeaning form of bullying.

Only disability advocates see it that way? Better:

Former president Donald Trump mocked President Biden’s stutter at a campaign rally in Rome, Ga., on Saturday, the latest in a series of insults that decent human beings regard as bullying.

The oddest thing about the original sentence’s effort to be “objective” is that only one of the many people quoted in the article is known as an advocate for people with disabilities.

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March 12: Simpler:

Former president Donald Trump mocked President Biden’s stutter at a campaign rally in Rome, Ga., on Saturday, in yet another effort to demean his rival.

Related reading
All OCA How to improve writing posts (Pinboard)

[This post is no. 119 in a series dedicated to improving stray bits of public prose.]

Mystery actor

[Click for a much larger view.]

I didn’t know he was in the movie, but I recognized him, even with all the makeup, which makes me think that someone else will recognize him too. Leave your guess(es) in the comments. I’ll drop a hint if one’s needed.

*

A hint: He was successful in business, in both a big city and a small town.

*

Oh well. The answer is now in the comments.

More mystery actors (Collect them all)
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?

Domestic comedy

[Passing by storefronts.]

“Think of all the money we’ve saved on dry cleaning.”

Related reading
All OCA domestic comedy posts (Pinboard)

[That is, we’ve almost never needed it.]

Katie Britt is a dirty no-good rotten liar

Pass it on. Pass it on (Washington Post gift link).

A golden pig

[231 4th Avenue, Gowanus, Brooklyn, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

I enjoyed an outstanding porketta sandwich last week, and it brought to mind somthing I hit upon a few months ago, a tax photograph of a Brooklyn pork store, Suino d’Oro. A little history:

In 1905, an “Italian provision store” that occupied this property had its stores of ham, cheese, and macaroni plundered by burglars. The culprits were later found fighting in a gutter over what had become of their loot: “What did y’ do with that cheese? Where’s all that ham that was left?”

In 1959, a newspaper advertisement has three Suino d’Oro addresses, none of them this one.

As late as 1980, a pork store with this name was sponsoring a local baseball team. There could be a connection. But some quick searching suggests that suino d’oro is common parlance in the world of pork.

Back to that sandwich: why porketta? Wkipedia explains:

In the Upper Midwest porchetta, more often spelled “porketta,” was also introduced by Italian immigrants to the iron ranges of Minnesota and Michigan. Porketta remains a popular local dish in towns such as Hibbing, Minnesota, with distributors such as Fraboni Sausage.

And whaddaya know? Fraboni’s, a third-generation Italian grocery and deli in Madison, Wisconsin, plays a part in the story of our restaurateurs.

Now about that sandwich: it’s Italian pork roast, salsa verde, provolone, spinach, and banana peppers on focaccia.

[Click for a larger view.]

Today, no. 231 is an apartment building encased in scaffolding. Brooklyn Newsstand helped me add some yesterday to this post.

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

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, is one angry puzzle: 4-D, seven letters, “More than sore”; 10-A, three letters, “Expression of hate”; 40-D, seven letters, “More-than-sore manifestation.” Yow. But I didn’t mind. I thought this Sewell puzzle was swell. I did so well. The clue that got things going for me: 6-D, eight letters, “When Troy was founded.”

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

4-D, four letters, “Group advocating for ministries.” Didn’t fool me.

5-D, six letters, “Bluetooth or flash drive.” I had no idea that Bluetooth may be had in this form.

9-D, eight letters, “Fall event promoting mustache-growing.” I had to dig for this one. I’m long done with the growing season.

13-A, five letters, “3-D, e.g.” Delightfully Stumper-y.

16-A, fifteen letters, “Stand in time.” I started thinking about Proust. Not appropriate here. Time is on the move.

17-D, four letters, “WITCH PARKING ONLY, ALL OTHERS WILL BE ______.” A little levity.

20-A, six letters, “Spade accessory.” Didn’t fool me.

23-A, four letters, “‘I love you.’” A bit hilarious.

27-A, six letters, “Timbuktu’s country’s capital.” It pays to listen to a lot of music.

43-A, eight letters, “Bag handler.” Nice defamiliarization.

45-D, six letters, “Ring of Pluto.” This answer made me happy.

54-A, letters, “‘Trust me for now.’” Movie-esque.

My favorite in this puzzle: 35-A, seven letters, “Extra ambition.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

PBS priorities, good grief

When the PBS NewsHour panel began its analysis of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address last night, the first question Geoff Bennett put to Lisa Desjardins, reporting from the House chamber was not about what the president said. It was about the interruptions:

“Lisa, from your perch there, give us a sense of what you saw, especially some of the outbursts we heard throughout the evening.”

Yes, the outbursts, the interruptions, from Marge Greene, an unidentified member of Congress, and an audience member.

And speaking of interruptions, the PBS discussion that followed the Republican response was cut short at 9:59 Central with a promo for yet another pledge-drive spectacular, American Pop Flashback! Great Hits of the ’60s & ’70s, followed by an hour-long show about aging backwards. Priorities, good grief.