This is the lead paragraph in a story in the NYT today, on p. 15.
“A former NYC police officer [Sara Carpenter] was convicted of several crimes for her role in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, during which, prosecutors said, she pushed against and slapped the arms of police officers, all while yelling and wielding a tambourine.”
Later, the story states:
“Using video that Ms. Carpenter provided and security camera footage from the building, investigators were able to track her through the Capitol. She also voluntarily turned over the tambourine she said she had carried.”
Owl Chatter photographer Phil Peppard was able to capture this exclusive shot. Good job Philly!
Owl Chatter has two “dogs in the hunt,” in tonight’s Oscar ceremonies, although that expression was never more inapt. OC fave Ana de Armas is up for Best Actress (!) for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in Blonde. And Kerry Condon is vying for Best Supporting Actress for her spectacular performance in Banshees. Good luck ladies!! You come back and see us no matter what happens, okay? Slip in the porch door if we’re out — our casa is your casa.
This poem is called First House, and it’s by Connie Wanek. It was in today’s Writer’s Almanac.
We bought a house made of mud and straw.
Thieves stole my sewing machine
and my turquoise ring.
They stole your music, and the needle
you lowered with one steady finger.
To lose these things. I learned.
We had a little girl
and I never let her out of my arms.
Summer nights we sat on a moon-striped
back porch. Later I hung out
laundry in the snow, glorious whites.
Clothespins clung to the wire,
a flock of house finches,
breasts to the sun. Like a needle
we rode the world as it spun,
working our way to the center,
song by song.
Yesterday’s puzzle at 43D was “Coin with a polar bear on its reverse, informally,” and it turned out to be the Canadian $2 coin, a TOONIE. Commenter Stan Combs said, “I always thought the Canadian two-dollar coin should be called the ‘Moonie’ because it has the Queen on one side with a bear behind.”
66D today was “Three sheets to the wind,” and the answer was HIGH AS A KITE. Here’s what pabloinnh said: HIGHASAKITE reminded me of a story W. C. Fields used to tell about his uncle, who was so poor he couldn’t afford a kite, and had to hire one. “I have a picture of him down in front of the saloon, hirin’ a kite,” said Mr. Fields.
I was today years old when I learned the word HATERADE from the puzzle. It’s from “hate” and “Gatorade,” and it’s what you drink to fuel your hatred. “Hey! — no more Haterade for you — you’re going overboard with the negativity!”
With Barbara Bryant’s death on March 3rd in Annie Arbor, MI, there is one less person to count. She was 96. When the first Pres. Bush appointed her to lead the U.S. Census Bureau in 1989, she became the first woman to hold the position.
Bryant had a bug up her ass about everyone getting counted. This is from the NYT obit:
“When the soap opera ‘All My Children’ broadcast an episode in early 1990 in which a character wormed information out of a housekeeper by pretending to be a census taker, Dr. Bryant wrote the show’s creators in protest and asked them to include pro-census messages in future episodes. (They didn’t.)”
Bryant’s technical staff came up with a statistical model to make adjustments to reflect “invisible” populations like the homeless and minority groups. But her GOP bosses opposed them, arguing the adjustments could introduce inaccuracies. Bryant stated:
“In my opinion, not adjusting would be denying that these five million persons exist. That denial would be a greater inaccuracy than any inaccuracies that adjustment may introduce.” When the issue reached the Supreme Court it held against Bryant.
She held the position until Clinton became Prez and is credited with modernizing the Bureau and its approach. When she left, she joined the faculty at UMich (Go Blue!) where she was instrumental in developing the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Dr. Bryant is survived by three children, eight grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and several descendants who avoided being counted.
AMY Poehler popped in today, at 90A. Hi Amy! Big fan. Love this quote of yours:
“Telling me to relax or smile when I’m angry is like bringing a birthday cake into an ape sanctuary. You’re just asking to get your nose and genitals bitten off.”
The Modern Love column today in the NYT Style section is about a little girl’s love for her stuffed animals and what happened when she grew up. It’s beautiful and if you want to read it, it’s here:
Here’s an eggzerpt:
I went into the kitchen and came back with a box of trash bags. She carefully examined each animal, stroked each creature’s matted fur, held them up to her nose and breathed in deeply before putting them into the bag. By the second bag, tears were trickling down her cheeks.
“You don’t have to give them all away,” I said. “You could keep the special ones.”
Her lip quivered. “They’re all special.”
“Then why are you giving them away?”
“Because I don’t know how to play with them anymore.” Her face puckered, and then she said in her typically precocious way, “I know you thought they were just stuffies, but they weren’t. They were my friends. I was never lonely because I had them. They used to come alive, and now they don’t. And nothing I do will bring them back to life. I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true.” She began to sob.
Oh, but I did believe her. Fully.
Having squandered several golden opportunities, the best Israel could hope for heading towards the final innings of its first World Baseball Classic game against Nicaragua was to keep it close. And they did, trailing only 1-0 in the bottom of the 8th.
Mervis opened by grounding out to second, and the sands of hope seemed to be drifting away. But Dickerson singled, and when Lavarnway was hit by a pitch, the Yids were back in business. Goldfarb pinch-ran for Dickerson and soon scampered home when Horwitz singled to left. The game was suddenly tied and the runners advanced to second and third with alert baserunning.
Mendlinger was walked intentionally to load the bases and set up a force play at home. It paid off when Wielansky bounced back to the pitcher and the lead runner was cut down at the plate. There were two down now and the ability to score on an out was gone. Wielansky!! What the f**k!! But Garrett Stubbs stroked a double to give the boychiks in blue a 3-1 lead and it held. Mazel Tov fellas! We face a tough Puerto Rican squad tomorrow, but things have gotten interesting.
Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 