Archive for June 30th, 2014

Once again, I say: Ha! Ha! And, Ha! yet again!

Monday, June 30th, 2014

From the NYPost:

Why waiters should be replaced with iPads

(Previously. Please note that my linking this is more for my own amusement, and should not be taken as an endorsement of the article; while I think it makes a good point or two, I also think it comes close to suffocating itself in the usual entitled whining that seems to characterize far too many (but not all) New Yorkers.)

Posted in Clippings, Food, Geek | Comments Closed

Obit watch: June 30, 2014.

Monday, June 30th, 2014

There’s an interesting obit in today’s NYT for Michael Brown, who passed away on June 11th at 93.

Brown (no relation, AFAIK) was one of the major figures in the “industrial musical”, which I have touched on previously.

Mr. Brown, whose clients included the J. C. Penney Company, Singer sewing machines and DuPont, was among the genre’s most sought-after creators. His shows — he supplied music, lyrics and direction and often took part as a singer — were known, Mr. Young said, for “their high quality and general buoyancy and fun.”

More:

His most widely seen show was without doubt “Wonderful World of Chemistry.” Presented in the DuPont pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, it was a rare example of an industrial musical open to the public. The show, written, produced and directed by Mr. Brown, was performed at least 40 times a day, by at least eight companies, for months on end.

If that was all Brown had done, this would still be a pretty interesting obit. But there’s another story: Brown and his wife had a good pot of money, and knew an aspiring writer who was living in New York and having trouble balancing her writing and her job.

So for Christmas of 1956, they gave their friend a present:

…an envelope with her name on it in the branches of their tree.
“I opened it and read: ‘You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas.'”

That writer was Harper Lee. And now you know…the rest of the story.

Posted in Books, Music, Obits | Comments Closed

Today’s update from the Department of You’re Not Helping, Idiots!

Monday, June 30th, 2014

Geoffrey Hawk, 44, the owner of a gun business called “In Case of Emergency,” was showing a semiautomatic .380 handgun and accessories to Krysta Gearhart, local TV station WNEP reported.
But there was a round left in the weapon and during the demonstration the would-be customer took a slug in the thigh, raising the question, are gun shows safe?

Another article quotes the vendor as suggesting that someone chambered a live round while his back was turned, running background checks. Which raises some questions:

  • As the linked article points out, why not use a blue gun instead of a real one?
  • If you have to turn your back, why not slip the real gun into your waistband? Or under the table? Or someplace where you have control of it?

But it gets better.

Cedar Park police believe there was no criminal intent involved in the shooting death of a 59-year-old Jarrell man outside of the Austin Gun Show on Saturday.

…

[Redacted]’s son-in-law [Redacted], a Euless resident, was handling a firearm that he had just reloaded when the gun fired, police said.

This took place in the parking lot, not inside the show itself, and took place late in the day. My guess is that Redacted #2 unloaded his gun before going into the show, and was reloading it as they were leaving. Count the Four Rules violations here.

Posted in Clippings, Guns | Comments Closed