Today’s ‘zzle had the unmitigated gall to reference the Ohio State marching band! Hrummmmph, with a capital Hrum! It was at 23D and the clue was “It dots the “i” in the Ohio State marching band’s spelling of “Ohio.” The answer was SOUSAPHONE. I would have clued it with: What does a Sousa use when it has to make a call? An anonymous post on Rex’s blog compounded the sin by posting the video of the OSU band doing what the clue says it does. I couldn’t just let that pass, but I felt I had to remain civil. So I posted the following, with mitigated gall:
As a rabid Wolverines fan since pouring five years worth of (out-of-state) tuition into UMich (worth every penny), I would have been happy not to see the OSU band, but thanks for stoking the fires as the season is about to begin. BTW, the Michigan fight song, Hail to the Victors, was written by a UMich student, Louis Elbel. According to Wikipedia, Michigan alum and composer Charles D. Kountz said that John Philip Sousa told him that “The Victors” was “one of the nation’s finest military marches and the best original college song” he had ever heard. Go Blue!
Carola posted the following in response (I’m “Liveprof”):
Liveprof – Thank you for the note about Sousa and Michigan. As a native Wisconsinite, I’m a loyal Badger fan, but I think the Michigan fight song is terrific. I never go to football games, but the UW marching band practices in a field near where I live and so I hear every rehearsal – my ears always perk up when Michigan is coming to town. Apart from “On, Wisconsin” it’s the only college tune I know.
And here’s my reply:
Carola. You’re welcome! I’ve always been a sports fan but had no interest in college sports until my son went to UM. We tried to attend one game a year with him in The Big House back then, and I remember the first time their enormous band marched across the field before the game, playing their song. There’s nothing like it. I remember not liking Jim Harbaugh when he coached in the NFL. He seemed like a lunatic. He seems even more like a lunatic now, coaching Michigan, but he’s our lunatic and I love him. I bought my son a Jim Harbaugh bobblehead doll.
I was out visiting Madison WI back in the 80’s — loved it. I remember attending a minor league baseball game: The Madison Muskies. They left town in 1993.
I just got a reminder call from a doc’s office and the person gave her name as Noah but it was a female voice, so I asked her how she spelled it and she said NOA, and that it’s also from the bible — a female Noa. That was new to me. It seems like it should be a popular name in Crossworld but I’ve never seen it.
Apparently, it’s a popular girl’s name in Israel. There is a story in the Bible about the daughters of Zelophehad. He did not have a son so the daughters (Noah, Tirzah, Mahlah, Hoglah and Milcah) went to Moses to ask God for the legal right to inherit their father’s property. God said OK and they became the first women in the ancient world to have legal rights to property ownership, apart from their fathers or husbands. The deal was they had to marry within their tribe so the property wouldn’t pass outside the tribe and they were okay with that. I guess they felt there were enough jerks in the tribe willing to marry them. The important thing was the mutual fund portfolio.
In modern Israel the name when used for women dropped the “h” to soften it. So that’s the story on NOA. Of course, we’ve all seen Zelophehad countless times in crossword puzzles — he’s a veritable Mel Ott.
This story in tomorrow’s Met Diary is by Julia Kell.
Returning from a trip when I was a poor college student living on the Upper West Side, I decided to take mass transit home from the airport.
Boarding a bus for the last leg of the trip home, which in those days was a two-hour ordeal, I struggled my way on, dragging my suitcase and trombone.
A man sitting near the door lost his patience and began to yell at me for holding up the bus. Embarrassment washed over me as I continued to struggle.
Suddenly, I heard a woman a few seats away yell out in a commanding voice. “You leave her alone!” she bellowed.
I soon found a seat.
********
I’m not sure why I love that story so much, but I am sure that I do. Do we each have one of those women in our family — a decency cop? We’re lucky if we do. Brava!
The puzzle was an absolute bear today — halfway through it I thought I’d have to cave in and abandon it. But a few guesses worked and I was able to stagger through it. Of course, when I checked Rex’s blog, he labeled it “Easy.” D’oh!
Here’s a nice example of how hard, but clever, it was: At 56A the clue was “They’re often worn at long public events,” and the answer was FAKE SMILES. Been there, for sure. And how about 37D: “See star?” The answer was PONTIFF, as in The Pope, as in the Holy See. Ouch, right?
At 18A the clue was “Takeoff in pole position, perhaps?” and the answer was STRIPTEASE. Good one! Hold on a sec, I need to enter that into the Dirty Old Man Dept., along with its partner at 26D: “On a streak?” — NAKED.
I didn’t know 30A but I think I should have: The clue was “Model Boyd of London’s ‘Swinging Sixties’ era,” and the answer was PATTIE. Any of you remember Pattie Boyd?
She was a drop-dead gorgeous model who changed the concept of what is beauty along with Jean Shrimpton back in the 60’s. She was cast as a schoolgirl when she was 20 in the first Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night. Long story short — she married George Harrison in 1966. They couldn’t have kids and George didn’t want to adopt. Sadly, they split up in 1974, due in part to George’s many infidelities — his sleeping with Ringo’s wife Maureen was the last straw. Oh, no! Say it ain’t so! The divorce was very amicable, with George and Pattie showing much respect for each other.
Get this! George and Eric Clapton had become best friends and Clapton fell head over heels in love with Pattie. After George and Pattie split, she and Eric married. George and Clapton remained close friends — Harrison called Clapton his “husband-in-law.”
They tried to have kids but failed too, and Clapton had serious drinking and drug problems and was unfaithful, albeit not with Ringo’s wife, and he and Pattie split up too.
Happily, Pattie met Rod Weston in 1991, a real estate developer (not a guitarist) and they’ve been together since — getting married in 2015. Weston said of the marriage: “It’s almost our silver anniversary so we thought we had better get on with it.” Pattie is 79 now. Here she is when she had the world on a string.
Two of my three classes were good yesterday — the third was at 4pm and it was Friday, and they looked like the living dead. I’ve got bad vibes about that group. Good energy in the first two, though, especially the giant law class with 90 students – yikes! The room was packed but eventually attendance will drop by at least a third. Count on it
See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 