The very beautiful MING-NA Wen visits with us today. What a delight! ”Actress Wen of The Mandalorian.” I was only familiar with her voice before — she’s Disney’s Moana.
Ming-Na recently turned 60 — can it be? She’s of Chinese descent and was born in Macau. Her mom and stepdad moved the family first to NYC and then to Pittsburgh, where they opened a Chinese restaurant (which is still in business). Ming-Na earned a degree in theater from Carnegie Mellon.
Her first marriage was a bust, but she married Eric Michael Zee in 1995 and they have two kids and are going strong. Look how beautiful they all are — they brighten up the scene for us today.
Ming-Na’s daughter Michaela is older now and voices Princess Jun in Disney’s animated series Sofia the First. Ming-Na was playing a doctor on ER when she was pregnant with Michaela, and the pregnancy was written into the script. Please, guys, make yourselves at home. I’ll see what’s in the fridge. Phil! We have company!! Where is he??
We can all breathe a little easier today — the Pistoffs tied the all-time NBA single-season consecutive loss record last night at 26. Bravo, gentlemen! This loss was to Brooklyn, 126-115. They pulled to within two in the third period, but Brooklyn ran off a flurry of points and never looked back. Only two other teams have lost 26 straight in one season: the 2010-11 Cavs who were reeling from LeBron’s departure, and the 2013-14 76ers who were trying to lose (to secure a high draft pick).
You may be wondering how their coach has survived these historic drubbings. Well, it’s Monty Williams and he was signed to a six-year contract for $78.5 million in June. He’s currently the highest-paid coach in the NBA. Sheesh.
Williams has known personal tragedy, which probably helps him keep things in perspective: Here he is with 4 of his 5 beautiful children, but their mom was killed in a car crash in 2016 when she was only 44. (Williams has since remarried.) Owl Chatter shares your hopes that she rests in peace, Coach.
At 61A today, the clue was “End of autumn?” It was a trick!! The answer was SILENT N. It set Rex off as follows:
“The only SILENT- answer I really like, or can tolerate, is SILENT E, as that is a thing you learn when you are first learning the basic rules of pronunciation as a child. SILENT N … is not such a thing. Nor is SILENT B (“thumb”). Or SILENT M (“mnemonic”). Or SILENT L (“colonel”). Or SILENT T (which could’ve at least been made relevant today ([Christmas feature?])). But wordlists have every possible SILENT- permutation in them now (probably), so here we are. Any letter can be SILENT if you want it to be (well, F, G, J, Q, V, Y, and Z have not appeared after SILENT … yet).”
[What about invisible letters? Remember Lech Walesa? It was always pronounced with an invisible “N” in there, before the S. But that’s Polish, so I guess all bets are off.]
Here’s Tom Lehrer, courtesy of Rex:
If you’re wondering what the bunch of lunatics who comprise the NYT puzzle department looks like, here you go. This is from an article about them in Vanity Fair.
Or here:
That’s Will Shortz in the brown leather jacket. The young Asian woman on the right is Wyna Liu, who writes the Connections puzzle which I do daily and love. As I mentioned a while ago, I met her at an XW tournament in NYC; she was seated at my table for several puzzles. When I noticed her name tag, I told her how much I enjoy her puzzles and she blushed.
The Tiny Love Story in The Times today is by Becca Kuperschmid:
I can’t help but think of my first love’s coffee order when the barista asks me for mine. My friends tell me to give it time. One day I will forget the little things. I will break free from the pain of remembrance. I will start anew. But I hope I never do. Ingrained in my brain’s many folds are memories of everyone I’ve ever loved. I’d rather remember than forget. She liked her coffee black.
The Modern Love story is by Richard Morgan and it’s about his 93-year-old grandmother. When her faculties started to diminish, he refused to give in to “grayspeak” or “elderspeak” that “treats them less than sages and more like toddlers or pets.” He visited more often, even though she lived in England and he in NY.
“During my visits, I started throwing her curveballs: What did you do with your first-ever paycheck? What did you think about when you were hiding in caves during the war? What was the best invention of your lifetime?
“Her answers: Buying electricity for her parents’ house so she wouldn’t have to scrape candle wax off the stairs. Eating oranges. Running water (with microwaves a close second). More than answers, they were springboards into unexpected conversations.”
He delighted in how funny she became:
One day after I made us coffee, I asked her: “What’s the secret to being successful in your 90s?”
“Just try, dear. So many people are old at 60. They just want to sit all day. You won’t make it to 90 like that. You have to try.”
“Try what?”
“Try walking,” she said. “Try gardening. Try cooking. Trying doesn’t require a lot of trying. Just try a little. Like, with this coffee you’ve made us. I know you tried.”
What a wonderful woman.
Here’s another Tom Lehrer song. You may be familiar with it: it’s about birds, well, poisoning them. If you’re not familiar with it, please have a listen.
It’s in Owl Chatter today because a taxi driver in Japan was arrested and faces up to year in jail or a fine of $7,000 for killing a pigeon. And that ain’t chicken feed.
Under Japan’s wildlife laws, residents may not kill or remove even the peskiest of birds without approval from the local authorities. And drivers are supposed to drive slowly while pigeons cross the road, even against the light. [Pigeons are notorious jaywalkers — ever worse than jays!]
Anyway, so this 50-year-old cabdriver sped up when the light turned green and plowed into a flock of pigeons. Just like that! One was killed. An autopsy was ordered [I’m not kidding] that determined that it died of traumatic shock. Police said the driver said: “Roads belong to humans, so pigeons should have dodged out of the way.” Of course, that’s hardly how the pigeons see it.
Legal experts said that the arrest of the taxi driver appeared to be less about the fate of the single pigeon and more about the social harm caused by the deliberate decision to kill a living creature.
“The driver drove over a pigeon at a high speed,” said Kazuaki Ishii, a lawyer who specializes in animal rights, “which violates the social order that the wildlife protection and management act aims to protect.”
We’re closing tonight by bidding goodbye to Essra Mohawk, who passed away in Nashville two weeks ago at the age of 75. She was born Sandra Hurvitz in Philly, and was a well-respected singer-songwriter in the “flower child” era. Her song “Change of Heart” was recorded by Cyndi Lauper, and “Stronger than the Wind” by Tina Turner. Her second album (Primordial Lovers) was well-received by the critics. She worked with Frank Zappa for a while. She was married three times. She is survived by no immediate family. Here she is young — a pretty face of the 60s. Rest in peace, Essra.
Can’t close so sadly. Here’s a holiday cat pic from Rex today. Hi Theo! Meow.
Merry Xmas Eve everybody!
The Wellington Files 