Boy, things must really be bad out in California: Zelensky just sent them a planeload of stuff to help out — mops, hair dryers, buckets, rocket launchers — Oops — how’d those get in there!!?? Iryna! — not the launchers!!
Let’s hit the ground drooling today — 29D: “Beauty pageant founded in 1959 as a mail-in photo contest.” It’s the same one the dressing room for which Trump bragged about barging into while the contestants were dressing: MISS TEEN USA. (I think that sentence holds together — if not, feel free to rearrange the parts.) Rex’s comment was “Ew, very high creep factor.”
No one from NJ has ever won. Da noive!! Who are these judges? My Zoey turns seven on Friday — she’ll knock ’em dead when she gets there. (And don’t start me on Lianna!) Here’s Zo Zo:
And here are two former contestants: One in the “girl-next-door” category, and one in the “cover girl” camp. Teens! Could you plotz?
Back on earth, there was an extraordinary obit in the NYT today for Adolfo Kaminsky who died in Paris on Monday at age 97. He forged documents as part of an underground cell in France working against the Nazis that saved 10,000 lives, mostly children. His work as a clothes dyer and dry cleaner made him an expert in removing ink. At one point he was asked to produce 900 documents in three days to save 300 children. He stayed awake for two straight days and finished, telling himself: “In one hour I can make 30 blank documents. If I sleep for an hour 30 people will die.” Later in life, he used his skills to help Americans evade the draft in the Vietnam era, an effort close to owl chatter’s draft-dodging heart. In 2016, he told the Times “I saved lives because I can’t deal with unnecessary deaths — I just can’t.”
He came close to being caught once, on the Paris Metro. A policeman asked to inspect his bag, which contained forging tools. Thinking fast, Kaminsky said: “It contains sandwiches — do you want one?” The cop moved on.
In 2010, his daughter Sarah told a story. She had received a bad grade in school and needed her mother to sign it. She faked her mom’s signature. Her mother found out and was angry, but Adolfo laughed and said she should have done a better job: “Can’t you see it’s too small?”
Here’s a shot of some docs he worked on, and then one of Kaminsky with his daughter. A righteous man – may he rest in peace.
I won a teaching award in 2013 and it came with a small stipend. So I blew $200 of it on an autograph of Satchel Paige I had been coveting. It’s gorgeous. He’s in the puzzle today at 33D.
Paige started pitching pro ball in the Negro Leagues with the Chattanooga Black Lookouts in 1926. His brilliance was legendary. Sometimes, he would ask his fielders to sit down and then strike out the sides. He was only able to pitch in the Major Leagues starting at age 42 in 1948 for Cleveland. It is still the oldest debut in MLB history. He pitched his last game at age 59, again the MLB record. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.
Paige’s year of birth ranged anywhere from 1900 to 1908, to hear him tell it. He said: “I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it a hundred times: I’m 44 years old.” But in 1948 Bill Veeck, Indians’ owner, went to Mobile, Alabama, with Paige’s family, to see the actual birth certificate. It said his DOB was July 7, 1906. Veeck later also traveled to Kenya for Obama’s.
Joe DiMaggio said Paige was the best pitcher he ever faced. He threw nothing but fastballs. He was ranked 19th best ballplayer ever, by the Sporting News. A statue of Paige was unveiled in Cooperstown, NY, in 2006. He had seven children with his wife Lahoma.
Many wonderful quotes have been attributed to him, the most famous being: “Don’t look back — something may be gaining on you.”
“Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move.”
“Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.”
Here’s what LMS said about SLOG, clued as “difficult, unfun chore.” “My sloggiest of SLOGs is emptying the dishwasher. I don’t like changing sheets, either, but the payoff is much greater. Spending a few hours in pristine, unwrinkled, clean sheets at the end of the day is so much more enjoyable than spending them in an empty dishwasher.”
There was some grumbling about the use of the word ADULT as a verb! The clue was: “Fulfill mundane but necessary responsibilities, in modern lingo.” LMS confessed to liking it, however:
Rex, I can’t share your hatred of the verb “to ADULT.” Indeed, I think it’s a terrific lexical repurposing that in one simple word encompasses those rites of passage like getting your oil changed, paying for car insurance, changing the ac filter in the ceiling, watching your cholesterol, blah blah. Sure, it implies that being grown up is hard, but being a grown-up *is* hard. If Matt Damon can “science the sh%$ out of this” up on Mars, then my kids can ADULT the sh%$ out of their lives. Which they’re doing beautifully I’m proud to report.”
Let’s close today with an ANSEL Adams photo. He was in the puzzle too.
That’s it for today, folks. I’ll be posting the midterm tomorrow! Try to get a good night’s sleep.
The Wellington Files 