The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

She was a very prominent aviatrix of the 1930s, second only to Amelia Earhart in her public fame, but as the thirties wore on she became increasingly erratic. Longtime readers of this thread might recall her escapade in late September 1939, where she buzzed the White House and dropped a load of isolationist pamphlets on the lawn. As will be proven during her trial she was used as a direct conduit between the Nazi propaganda office and the America FIrst Committee. If she wasn't real, you'd imagine her to show up any day now as a character in "Dan Dunn."

 

[Harp]

A bit off-track but WBBM news here in Chicago where the World's Greatest Newspaper is,
ran a televised feature on famed Japanese broadcaster Tokyo Rose; whom may have been
a native born American caught in Japan at the onset. She later returned and lived quietly
in Chicago. Good for her.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, Iva Toguri. She was the most prominent of several women broadcasting over Radio Tokyo's shortwave service during the latter portion of the war, and if you listen to her surviving broadcasts, they contain little if any propaganda and a lot of pre-war swing band records.

Mildred "Axis Sally" Gillars, a native of Portland, Maine, on the other hand, was a genuine Nazi.

 

[ChiTownScion]

A bit off-track but WBBM news here in Chicago where the World's Greatest Newspaper is,
ran a televised feature on famed Japanese broadcaster Tokyo Rose; whom may have been
a native born American caught in Japan at the onset. She later returned and lived quietly
in Chicago. Good for her.

Iva Toguri D'Aquino. She ran a shop (imports and such) on Belmont Avenue near Sheffield. A friend of ours handled employee health insurance issues for her. By all accounts, a nice lady.

Gerald Ford issued a full pardon for her in 1977. A lot of fair trial issues in her case. FBI pressure for false testimony from witnesses and such, as the result of heat from the American Legion and Walter Winchell.

 

[LizzieMaine]

In an audacious action described by the press as an "insolent challenge" to Great Britain's sea power, the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gnesienau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen have escaped from Brest and today arrived in safe haven at Heligoland Bight. An authoritative statement from Londont today conceded that, despite everything the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force could do, the three powerful vessels of the German Navy swept thru the Straits of Dover under an "umbrella of aerial protection." It was noted that the Scharnhorst alone was escorted by approximately 200 Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulf fighters using French bases, and that the other vessels were "equally protected."

America today thanked the fighting men of its Navy for their smashing offensive against the Japanese-controlled Marshall and Gilbert Islands by awarding the Distinguished Service Medal to Vice Admiral William P. Halsey Jr, commander of the first U. S. naval offensive of the war. Halsey received the decoration from President Roosevelt as his men told of how they had exacted partial revenge for the attack on Pearl Harbor. "We sure raised hell among them birds," one sailor summed up.

Weary British defense lines were reported to be throwing back intensified Japanese tank, air, and artillery assaults outside the gates of Singapore City. Disproving Japanese claims that the bomb-shattered city had been entered, the British communique told of continued aerial attacks and shelling of the residential districts , and said that fighting continued at two defense strong points three miles west and northwest.

The first American refugees from Singapore and Malaya arrived today in New York, bitterly denouncing the British for the manner in which they conducted the defense of Malaya and for their treatment of Americans. Twenty-eight persons were in the group landing toda, and all had heard Columbia Broadcasting System correspondent Cecil Brown's report on conditions in Malaya. Many confirmed Mr. Brown's statements criticizing the British, with Elliot H. Simpson, secretary of the crude rubber importing firm of M. Rothschild Company of Manhattan, declaring that he will go to Washington to inform American authorities of conditions in the area. "My chief complaint," stated Mr. Simpson, "is that the British ordered the evacuation of British women and children in Penang on December 14th without notifiying the 40 Americans, or any other persons, that they were doing it. If the British lose the war, it will be because of pure and unbelievable carelessness."

Soviet troops have pushed across the border into White Russia, and are continuing their advance toward the west, according to an announcement in the army newspaper Red Star. Today's communique further indicated that many Nazi units in the path of the advance have been annihilated, and others severely crippled. Soviet forces recapturing two more villages on the southern front left an estimated 1000 Nazi dead on the battlefield.

("Whennay puttit t'at way, " observes Joe, "It don' look so bad. Does it?" "R'mains t'be seen," sighs Sally."We're on'y inna foist innin'." )

(Martin's and Namm's, on the other hand, say "it's dough, let's go!")

A campaign to "toughen up" college men for military service is underway at Brooklyn and Queens Colleges, with new physical training and conditioning classes to be prescribed for each male student according to his needs. College administrators expressed the hope that the classes will be made compulsory for all students.

(There's a Loft's there?? WHO KNEW??)

(Tess Gardella, of pure Italian ancestry, was the only member of the original cast of "Show Boat" to appear in blackface, in the role of Queenie opposite Jules Bledsoe's Joe. Her "Aunt Jemima" billing, from her vaudeville and Broadway days, was inspired by the pancake mix logo, but was never authorized by the manufacturers of that product. Contrary to claims made on the internet, Miss Gardella was not the inspiration for the pancake logo -- the trademark was in use six years before she was born.)

(Someday I hope we get to see Mrs. Lichty's side of the argument.)

A 40-year-old upholsterer, discouraged by money problems, doused himself with gasoline, set himself on fire and leaped off the roof of a six-story building in Bensonhurst yesterday. Joseph Orleono of 226 Kings Highway was impaled on a spike of an iron fence in the courtyard of the building at 1675 W. 9th Street, and his body blazed furiously as helpless bystanders watched.

Internal Revenue agents are stopping cars across the borough today to check for the display of Federal Use Tax stamps, required by law since February 1st. An assistant in the Brooklyn office of the Internal Revenue Service stated there will be no formal crackdown on violators until March 15th, but the names and registrations of motorists found today not to be in compliance with the new law are being recorded, and they have been notified that if they fail to obtain the stamps before that date, summonses will be issued for their arrest. Violators of the stamp law face fines of $25 or 30 days in jail.

A Federal jury in Manhattan will today decide whether aviatrix Laura Ingalls is an active agent of Nazi Germany or just a woman with an overactive imagination and a "Mata Hari" complex. Miss Ingalls yesterday testified in her own behalf as the only witness offered by the defense, admitting that she delivered isolationist speeches under the specific instruction of an official of the German Embassy, and that she accepted $400 for her work, but further claimed that she did so "to investigate the Germans and see if they were engaged in subversive activities in this country."

("Adonis Billy Conn?" Hey, Bill, how's your father-in-law?)

(Again I say, EW!)

(Keep calm, now, and remember who you're dealing with.)

(How disillusioning. I thought Mary'd been around.)

(Again with the aeronautics lessons.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Never bite a writer.

"And not only that, I have this really strange cowlick!"

Hey, what if we fix Katie up with Bill Slagg?

"And please don't pile them so close to the furnace."

She'll "look like" a drunk?

Yes, I'm sure they'll all appreciate a nice motivational speech.

Things I never hoped to see: Andy Gump in the shower.

Madame Octave in 1921 was an aspiring opera singer who became inconveniently pregnant by an irresponsible Army officer, and was unwilling to raise his child, so she left him on Walt's doorstep. HEY KIDS, COMICS!

Never should've had that last Awful-Awful.

"Get off of your lazy back?" IS THAT NICE???

 

[Harp]

Ms Ingalls took the stand in her own cause due to a tenuous ridiculous defense,
opening herself to prosecutorial cross when she only need have admitted agency
and listed payment for services contracted within foreign agreement. That she obviously
failed these nominal chores she also failed to task herself with any soul searching questions.
And her counsel should have approached opposite chair for allowance.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

("Whennay puttit t'at way, " observes Joe, "It don' look so bad. Does it?" "R'mains t'be seen," sighs Sally."We're on'y inna foist innin'." )
...

It's all about the aircraft carriers. One is a huge loss. It's why Japan was done after the battles of Midway and the Coral Sea.

...

(Tess Gardella, of pure Italian ancestry, was the only member of the original cast of "Show Boat" to appear in blackface, in the role of Queenie opposite Jules Bledsoe's Joe. Her "Aunt Jemima" billing, from her vaudeville and Broadway days, was inspired by the pancake mix logo, but was never authorized by the manufacturers of that product. Contrary to claims made on the internet, Miss Gardella was not the inspiration for the pancake logo -- the trademark was in use six years before she was born.)
...

Lizzie, are you trying to let the truth get in the way of moral outrage and protest, how 20th century.

The Park Terrace got a nice shout out and, coincidentally, took out a heck of a large ad. Everything is a conflict of interest.

...

A 40-year-old upholsterer, discouraged by money problems, doused himself with gasoline, set himself on fire and leaped off the roof of a six-story building in Bensonhurst yesterday. Joseph Orleono of 226 Kings Highway was impaled on a spike of an iron fence in the courtyard of the building at 1675 W. 9th Street, and his body blazed furiously as helpless bystanders watched.
...

Good God.

...

("Adonis Billy Conn?" Hey, Bill, how's your father-in-law?)
...

"...shark and sub-infested waters."

It's going to be a "different" baseball season.

...

(How disillusioning. I thought Mary'd been around.)
...

No one makes it through life without falling prey to a few cons of some sort or another.

And in the Daily News...

Never bite a writer.
...

The beautiful blonde screaming "Heil Hitler" in a nightclub, leaving with a supposedly Jewish man and then kicking a female columnist in the stomach outside the club might be the most Page Four war-society mashup story we've seen yet. If Debby wasn't a brunette and currently being kidnapped, I'd have my suspicions.

And in the Daily News...
...

Hey, what if we fix Katie up with Bill Slagg?
...

I'm pretty sure we know how Gray votes.

 

[Harp]

It's all about the aircraft carriers. One is a huge loss. It's why Japan was done after the battles of Midway and the Coral Sea.

When I was in grad school a NATO public relations team visited campus for a 'show the flag' panel discussion.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization team was headed by a Royal Air Force Group Captain,
and included three naval officers from West Germany, Italy, and the United States.
The RAF Group Captain proved most impressive but all those men were quite excellent panelists.
However, the topic of national financial contribution came up along with cost effective defense
spending, which led to the recent Falklands War and inevitable comparison between a $3,000,000,000
aircraft carrier and a lousy $40k French exocet missile. The American panelist happened to be a naval
aviator and vehemently insisted that the carrier concept was valid despite introduction of increasingly
sophisticated weaponry. I am of the opinion that such technology altered naval surface warfare
and as such sank all carriers. The British sent two carriers to the Falklands: Hermes and Invincible,
and if either had been sunk a historic chapter would have been writ, analogous to the Merrimack-
Monitor Civil War ironclad slugfest; afterwhich all wooden hulled navies throughout the world were
rendered obsolete. Fortunately, this did not happen, although a Royal Navy vessel was struck
by an Argentine exocet. The point, however had been proved. Until such time as a tragedy renders
the subject closed, the carrier concept survives. Large floating eggshells and beach ostriches,
heads firmly shoved up the flock collective yazoo.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Cops? Extortion? Ohhhhh Mister Ahhhh-men!)

The crackdown on pinball has reached Nassau County, with District Attorney Edward Neary this week announcing an absolute county-wide ban on the possession and operation of the devices. Nassau County Executive Russell J. Sprague today commended Mr. Neary's action, declaring that it should be "commended by every citizen of Nassau County who saw in pinball machines every evil that slot machines harbored and a few more besides." Mr. Sprague noted that the machines are a particular lure to children, with flashing lights and ringing bells holding such attraction for youngsters as to lure them into petty theft in order to obtain the nickels needed for their operation. "We do not expect that every nickel that went into pinball machines will now go into defense stamps," added Mr. Sprague," but at least the money will not line the pockets of some sinister characters who operated these corrupt contraptions."

Aviatrix Laura Ingalls faces eight months to two years in Federal prison, and a fine of $1000 after she was convicted yesterday in Washington D. C. of acting as a paid propagandist for the government of Nazi Germany without registering as a foreign agent as required by law. The diminutive 38-year-old flier was remanded to jail pending sentence, and had no comment as she was led out of the courtroom other than to observe "well, it's Friday the 13th."

A Manhattan clergyman has denied sending love letters to an elderly parishoner in hopes of securing a share of her estate. The Reverend Dr. Henry Darlington, pastor of the Church of the Heavenly Rest declared today before the Appellate Division of the Brooklyn Supreme Court that there was no impropriety in his relationship with Mrs. Anna H. Paton, who died last year at the age of 76, and left the bulk of her $1,300,000 estate to Dr. Darlington and his church. Mrs. Paton's sister in law and her nieces are seeking to overturn the will, and claim to have love letters from Dr. Darlington in their possession as evidence of "undue influence" being brought to bear by the 52-year-old minister against Mrs. Paton.

The President of Brooklyn College has denied allegations that he has exercised racial bias in the hiring of faculty. Answering charges made by City Councilman Clayton Powell Jr, Dr. Harry Gideonse contended that only four Negroes have applied for faculty positions since 1939, and the one who was offered a job at $1400 a year, psychologist Dr. Kenneth Clark, ultimately declined that offer to accept a better-paying position elsewhere.

("Migawd," gapes Joe. "What kin'a woil' we livin' in?" "Sen' 'em ta Corregidor," suggests Sally. "Unless 'at's agains' inneh'nat'nal law...")

("And if you have any left over...")

(Grandparents Today...)

(Poor Billy. No respect from nobody.)

(When Herb gives more notice to the stage show than the movie, it can't be much of a movie.)

(An oil derrick in the middle of Paris? It's worse than we thought.)

("Must be some new style of bills, though. I never knew Benjamin Franklin had a moustache.")

(C'mon, Connie -- beat him up!)

(We'll sneak right up on him! HE'LL NEVER SUSPECT A THING!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

This isn't very Page Four at all.

All right then, we'll settle for Page 7. If you throw in a hamburger.

"Let me tell you about the time I was hiding out in an orphanage during a cholera epidemic..."

That's it, keep whining. You'll remind her of Warbucks!

"Wait, why does it say 'Grocery' on the side?" "All part of Bohack's friendly service! Your room will be in the Little Face Wing -- right over there, next to the pork loins.")

*snif*

Not so fast, remember that hokey truck driver?

Tony and Normandie Sandhurst At Home.

"The Pink Poodle?" S'matter, Shad, Pop cut off your credit?

That's right kid, stick to the rate card.

 

[Fading Fast]

(Cops? Extortion? Ohhhhh Mister Ahhhh-men!)
...

That was a really stupid scheme as, eventually, they had to know they'd get caught.

...

(Poor Billy. No respect from nobody.)
...

Seriously, he won 10 of 12 rounds but it wasn't good enough, especially according to the guest sportswriter, his father-in-law.

...

(When Herb gives more notice to the stage show than the movie, it can't be much of a movie.)
...

It would be hard to think of a more natural 1940s pairing than Carmen Miranda with Olsen and Johnson.

...

(We'll sneak right up on him! HE'LL NEVER SUSPECT A THING!)

"...with their guns spitting leaden death." That overwrought line would never have made it past my eighth-grade English teacher's red pen.

And in the Daily News...
...

All right then, we'll settle for Page 7. If you throw in a hamburger.
...

A hamburger and an update on the nightclubbing, "Heil Hitler" spouting, stomach-kicking blonde.

And in the Daily News...
...

View attachment 402308
That's it, keep whining. You'll remind her of Warbucks!

...

All of Gray's heroes are weak crybabies - think of Warbucks weeping away when they were trapped in the mine. How many times did he give up?

Annie's got more grit in her pinky than any of these guys. And when the going gets really tough, you want Punjab and the Asp...and the rug.

And in the Daily News...
...

"Let me tell you about the time I was hiding out in an orphanage during a cholera epidemic..."
...

Hu Shee, Burma and/or The Dragon Lady have to be making an appearance soon. The Dragon Lady will have the strings to pull and contacts to save them in a second - "go with this convoy and you'll have safe passage to...." Hu Shee would be the one you'd want for a traditional "find our way out of here by overcoming all these obstacles" escape. Burma, well, she is good eye candy.

And in the Daily News...
...

Not so fast, remember that hokey truck driver?
...

I bet Billy Conn could knockout The Thumper.

And in the Daily News...
...

"Wait, why does it say 'Grocery' on the side?" "All part of Bohack's friendly service! Your room will be in the Little Face Wing -- right over there, next to the pork loins.")
...

Dick's detective radar isn't working too well this morning.

 

[Harp]

The Imperial Japanese Navy consumed gasoline; aviation fuel; and oil at such daily rate
that this ration could not be sustained beyond spring 1942 thus necessitating a Dutch East Indies
grab, which demanded the American fleet anchorage Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay be struck first.
The poker faced South Pacific map still showed cards to all shirtfront tablestake players.
Unfortunately the thunder in silence went unheard.

 

[Haversack]

...which led to the recent Falklands War and inevitable comparison between a $3,000,000,000
aircraft carrier and a lousy $40k French exocet missile.

"Two thousand pounds of education
Drops to a ten-rupee jezail"

Arithmetic on the Frontier - Kipling

 

[Harp]

"Two thousand pounds of education
Drops to a ten-rupee jezail"

Arithmetic on the Frontier - Kipling

The Grenada Invasion called the tune on the brass. Both 82nd Abn and lead Ranger element
dropped contested enemy held zone because locus barracks were not hit and due to enemy anti-
aircraft fire; again, enemy battery not hit preliminary, troops jumped combat load at five hundred feet.
Anything less than 650 ft renders reserve chute useless with expected back, leg injury. Brass really screwed up.
Other more recent incidents critical brass will not mention except to remark heads should have rolled
in the sawdust. Cannot understand brass dumbass silly shit strat-tactics.

 

[Fading Fast]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Twelve American Flying Fortresses have attacked enemy shipping in the Macassar area, and have scored a hit on at least one large Japanese ship, the War Department reported late yesterday. Results of the attack were not fully ascertained, the communique stated, but it was possible that a large amount of damage was done since a large fire had been observed in the vicinity of the attack. All of the Army bombers participating the attack returned safely.

In an earlier communique, it was reported that heavy artillery dueling and infantry skirmishing were in progress on the Batan Peninsula, where General Douglas MacArthur was engaged in a heroic defense against greatly superior numbers. Air activity along the entire front, and the movement of Japanese reinforcements, have led observers to predict a sustained Japanese offensive against MacArthur's men in the near future.

Japanese parachute troops invaded Sumatra yesterday from 100 big aerial transports in the opening thrust of a nutcracker drive on Java, key base of the Netherlands East Indies, into which the Allies are believed to be pouring reinforcements. As both sides raced against time, the Japanese invasion armada loosed a full-scale attack on Palembang, great oil and trade center of eastern Sumatra, but alert defense forces mopped up most of the sky-borne invaders so swiftly that the situation was officially described as "not unfavorable."

Reinforced defenders of Burma smashed against Japanese spearheads pushed across the Salween River last night, after British Imperials counterattacking with bayonets checked the main force of the offensive on a front stretching from Martaban to Paan. Superior numbers of Japanese jungle troops thrusting westward along a 20-mile route to Thaton were still a grave threat to defenders of Rangoon, but British troops twice broke out of encirclements in heavy hand-to-hand fighting.

Mayor LaGuardia, former director of the Office of Civilian Defense, advised President Roosevelt in a report issued last night that OCD activities now under the supervision of Mrs. Roosevelt may "eventually have to be transferred to other existing divisions of government." The Mayor, in offering his recommendation, indicated that such a change would consolidate all OCD operations "where they belong, in a separate agency of the Government closely tied in with military and naval forces, and cooperating with local municipal governments." As associate OCD director, Mrs. Roosevelt has had supervision of the division of voluntary participation, set up to "promote activities designed to sustain the national morale, and to stimulate public participation in in various defense undertakings."

An estimated 600,000 men citywide between the ages of 20 and 44 will enroll for the draft today in the nation's second compulsory Selective Service registration effort. All 101 local draft boards in Brooklyn will be open at their designated points today and tomorrow from 7 am to 7 pm. All men born between February 17, 1897 and December 31, 1921 who have not already registered are required under penalty of law to do so now. It is estimated that the drive will expand the number of men available for conscription by 9,000,000.

A court of inquiry to determine the cause of the February 9th fire that wrecked the U. S. S. Lafayette, formerly the luxurious French liner Normandie, has been convened under the orders of Navy Secretary Frank Knox. The court will make a thorough investigation into all circumstances of the fire to determine responsibility for the fire, and for the damage to property and personal injuries resulting from it. The court will deliberate in closed sessions in New York, and information compatible with military security will be released once conclusions are reached.

A long-restricted and originally exclusive residential zone in Flatbush looked forward last night with mingled emotion to prospective building inroads wrought by the march of time. Under a decision issued by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, all restrictions on commercial development within the area bounded by Marlborough, Rugby, and Argyle Roads, and between Cortelyou and Beverly Roads, a tree-lined neighborhood marked by stately private homes, will now be open for the construction of apartment houses, stores, and other commercial structures. The court decision ends a long litigation begun more than forty years ago by homeowners in the neighborhood seeking to prevent encroachment on the area. Magistrate Nicholas Pinto, who resides at 311 Rugby Road, has, in recent years, led that campaign, declaring that the enjoyment and pleasure of occupying those homes would be impaired if the restrictions are lifted. But other homeowners in the section have sought to overturn the restrictions, arguing that the rules work hardship on property owners and on those seeking to expand housing in the neighborhood.

A quarrel between Dr. Allen Roy Dafoe, caretaker of the famed Dionne Quintuplets and the Dionne family has led to his resignation as the official physician of the children, who will turn eight on May 28th. While the official reason for the resignation was given as language difficulties, given that the girls only speak French and Dr. Dafoe cannot understand them, Premier Michael Hepburn of Ontario, in accepting the resignation, acknowledged that relations between the doctor and parents Olivia and Marie Dionne "have not been harmonious" for some time. The Dionne parents reobtained legal custody of the quints last year, but the Province of Ontario remains responsible for their medical care.

("T' docteh sez we tawkin' French, pawww-ley voo!" sings Joe. "T'docteh sez we tawkin' French, pawwwwwww-lee voo!" "T'docteh says we tawkin' French," joins in Sally, "but what he says is a awwful stench! Hink-ey dink-key paw-leee vooooooo!"")

Brooklyn has given the most men to Selective Service of any community in America, according to New York City Selective Service Director Col. Arthur V. McDermott. Himself a Brooklyn man, Col. McDermott notes that Brooklyn's contribution of manpower is not only the largest of any community, but exceeds that of all but four entire states.

The Selective Service files of more than 21,000,000 registrants from 1917-18 who were not called to service for the First World War have been destroyed in order to gain much-needed office space for the conduct of the present war. It required more than 20,000 four-drawer filing cabinets to store these unneeded documents, and their destruction will help to make room for needed office space now and, eventually, for an entirely new War Department building in Washington.

("Peter?" snorts Harold Patrick Reiser. "Better check that passport!")

(Admiral Standley is not likely to be a popular fellow.)

("The past isn't dead. It isn't even past.")

Having major internet problems today -- stand by for the Eagle comics and hopefully the Daily News.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

Mayor LaGuardia, former director of the Office of Civilian Defense, advised President Roosevelt in a report issued last night that OCD activities now under the supervision of Mrs. Roosevelt may "eventually have to be transferred to other existing divisions of government." The Mayor, in offering his recommendation, indicated that such a change would consolidate all OCD operations "where they belong, in a separate agency of the Government closely tied in with military and naval forces, and cooperating with local municipal governments." As associate OCD director, Mrs. Roosevelt has had supervision of the division of voluntary participation, set up to "promote activities designed to sustain the national morale, and to stimulate public participation in in various defense undertakings."
...

"How 'bout you run your city and I'll run my country." - FDR

...

("T' docteh sez we tawkin' French, pawww-ley voo!" sings Joe. "T'docteh sez we tawkin' French, pawwwwwww-lee voo!" "T'docteh says we tawkin' French," joins in Sally, "but what he says is a awwful stench! Hink-ey dink-key paw-leee vooooooo!"")
...

Those two are going a bit crazy from sleep deprivation.

...

("Peter?" snorts Harold Patrick Reiser. "Better check that passport!")
...

To this day, many two-year-old wonder horses become also rans well before the Derby.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And -- at last -- from the Eagle comics...

(If you go by the name "Slingo," there's a pretty good chance you'll come to a bad end.)

(I find this guy's head unsettling, as though his face were a solid waxen mask which at a dramatic moment will be shattered by a single punch revealing the horribly disfigured visage beneath. Oh wait, this isn't Dick Tracy, is it?)

(As always, Kate is far ahead of her time.)

(Well, I certainly wouldn't appreciate someone bringing me just the head of the pig and keeping the rest for themselves. And that's right, Dan. Reach for the clouds!)

(Never buy an umbrella from some guy during a rainstorm.)

(Tarz isn't just defiant, he's DANGEROUSLY defiant!)

 

[Harp]

To this day, many two-year-old wonder horses become also rans well before the Derby.

I really hate to admit it but recent back country track alumni have breezed past major race
qualification befreft of a smidgen' notice to run winning tickets in all big money handles.
Country House in the Kentucky Derby several years ago and Rombauer the other season
in the Preakness. Mea culpa dumbass me had both but Maximum Security was the man,
Rombauer the thief, and Pimlico his track. For a hoss caller the puzzle pieces sometimes
magically fall in place. AND, if you are a track crow but for whatever reasons-reasonable
and unreasonable-ya don't get in and lay down some wampum at the betting window,
even if your remaining disposable sawbucks are The Last of The Mohicans and your card
wins, Monday ain't easy. 2016, thereabouts, nailed the Derby top four led by Nyquist, Exaggerator,
Gun Runner, Mormouth(?) and of course the guys come in flashing cash and thanks for the tip.
Gifted a bottle of Wild Turkey too.

-------

Talk about burning federal record files.... Long time ago when I worked in the Veterans Administration
Chicago Regional Counsel Office got a call from the son of a Chicago WWII veteran needing a favor.
His dad had cancer, inpatient Mayo Clinic, POW some Stalag in Germany and developed ancillary
medical issues while held captive. His doctors wanted his Second World War Army record and also
the VA file. Gone with the wind somewhere. Lost. Could I find them?
Took a coupla days' shoeleather, telephone calls, writ a few I.O.U.S-help me now with red tape,
and I'll be your scissors later-and luck. And unlucky. Tracked it all down to a storage bunker
out in the wilds of Massachusetts. Burned six weeks earler, regular dispose routine.