Forty

[Drawing by me. Click for a larger view.]

Elaine and I were married forty years ago today. Our son Ben recently told us that he thinks of me as forty and Elaine as thirty-five. Which would mean that when we married, I was a newborn — zero. And Elaine was negative five.

Happy anniversary, Elaine, at all ages.

[I made this drawing with an Apple Pencil and and iPad last year. I’ve altered it to remove my glasses. I’m still not sure how to draw myself minus glasses.]

The New Grown-Ups: “Taxman Salamander”

With AI-generated lyrics!

Related posts
“Cumberland Gap” : “My Heart’s Own Love” : “The Devil’s Nine Questions” : “William Blake’s Dead” : “Lonesome Pine” : “Tom Paine’s Bones” : “You Were on My Mind This Morning” : “The Hills of Isle au Haut” : “Treehopper” : “I’d Jump the Mississippi” : “What Will Become of Me” : “Early” : “When I Stop Dreaming” : The New Grown-Ups at Bandcamp

Animal house

[107 Flatbush Avenue, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

Walk down Flatbush Avenue from (what I’ve dubbed) the Leaning Tower of Brooklyn, and you woul have found The House of Pets, aka Altman’s Long Island Bird Store.

I’ll let this ad speak (at length) for itself:

[Brooklyn Times-Union, May 29, 1933.]

Do click for a larger view of the tax photograph for many choice details. The capped fellows looking at the window make me think Sam (Tom D’Andrea), the cabdriver in Dark Passage (dir. Delmar Daves, 1947) who wants to buy a pair of goldfish for his room: “It adds class to the joint.” Though these guys seem to be contemplating birds. Or maybe puppies. Different scenes attracted crowds at other times:

[“Pig-Tailed Monkey Wrecks Pet Store in Berserk Spell.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 23, 1930.]

[“Snake, Loose in Pet Shop, Crawls into Window with Pups, Kittens.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 29, 1941. Click for a larger view.]

*

October 1: A reader found evidence of further mayhem. Thanks, reader.

[Daily News, May 13, 1951.]

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

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by Stella Zawistowski. I started with 13-D, seven letters, “Ceres’ Greek analog” and began shopping around. It was a tough puzzle.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

2-D, six letters, “Sequenced.” CUEDUP? Nope.

9-D, eight letters, “Bostonian’s rubber bands.” Never heard of the term, but I’m assured that it’s real. When I lived in Boston, I used binder clips, paper clips, and staples to keep things together.

12-D, seven letters, “Term in environmental law.” I was tempted to guess early on but didn’t. Coming next to 13-D, my guess would have helped a lot.

14-A, ten letters, “Certain baker’s dozen.” I’m in.

17-A, ten letters, “Digressive.” The answer needs to be more in the news.

36-D, seven letters, “Ironmonger?” Groan.

37-D, seven letters, “Thundering.” Fun with the parts of speech.

46-A, five letters, “Americas’ ‘mother culture.’” I don’t think I’ve ever seen the answer in a crossword.

47-A, four letters, “Huron, Ohio’s county (no kidding!).” In other words, the Ohio county that the city of Huron is in. Wacky geography.

48-D, five letters, “Where Beowulf begins.” Oddly and some might say ridiculously specific.

49-A, four letters, “Pedal pusher’s apparatus.” I thought I was reading a tricky clue about the piano, but I wasn’t.

55-A, ten letters, “Was all over the place.” A wild and crazy clue.

56-D, three letters, “Unheard howl.” Clever.

My favorite in this puzzle: 18-A, four letters, “Gym ball.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Watch your wallet

Jonathan Last and Mary Trump offer commentary on Donald Trump’s latest grift.

Last’s estimate of the cost of producing the $499 Trump watch: $60. The $100,000 watch: $20,000.

Banky’s ghost

[Sidney James as Banky’s ghost. From Joe MacBeth (dir. Ken Hughes, 1955).]

The movie is available to watch at the usual place for out-of-the-way movies.

The New Grown-Ups: “When I Stop Dreaming”

Related posts
“Cumberland Gap” : “My Heart’s Own Love” : “The Devil’s Nine Questions” : “William Blake’s Dead” : “Lonesome Pine” : “Tom Paine’s Bones” : “You Were on My Mind This Morning” : “The Hills of Isle au Haut” : “Treehopper” : “I’d Jump the Mississippi” : “What Will Become of Me” : “Early” : The New Grown-Ups at Bandcamp

Eric Adams, defending himself

Donald Trump, in one variation on a theme: “They are coming after me because I am fighting for you.”

I hear that same narcissism in Eric Adams’s words: “I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became.” Here’s a man who in 2023 proclaimed,

“I am the symbol of Black manhood in the city, in this country, and what it represents. I’m the mayor of the most powerful city on the globe, and people need to recognize that.”

And now, charged with multiple serious crimes, he’s taking up the Donald Trump cry of victimhood.

The Trump/Adams defense makes me wonder: can narcissistic injury be converted into narcissistic supply?

Criterion Channel, 20% off

Now through Monday, September 30: the Criterion Channel is offering 20% off new annual subscriptions. Use the code FALL20.

The Criterion Channel launched on April 8, 2019. I’ve been a subscriber since the get-go. If every other streaming service in the world were to disappear, I could be happy with the Criterion Channel alone.

Four Corners (fun)

🟡🔵🔵🔵
🔵🔵🔵🔵

🔵🔵🔵🟡
🔵🔵🔵🔵

🔵🔵🔵🔵
🟡🔵🔵🔵

🔵🔵🔵🔵
🔵🔵🔵🟡

If you share your Strands results as a foursome, trying for Four Corners adds an element of tension to the play. The corners need not be in order. Good luck to the person who ends up with the challenge of getting Corner No. 1.

I will cite Annie Black, the bookstore owner (Rebecca Pidgeon) in State and Main (dir. David Mamet, 2000): “If you don’t make it yourself, it ain’t fun — it’s entertainment.”