Characters

While browsing youtube for interesting videos, I spotted one titled Liz Fraser Screen Legends. I was unfamiliar with her and jotted down her name. According to her bio at Wiki, she was very popular in the UK on the big screen and the telly, well known globally for her appearances as a dumb blonde in four films of the madcap Carry On series. IMDb has 102 titles listed under her name. The last came in 2018, the year of her death at 88. Of course, she worked with many famous actors. For years Peter Sellers, a notorious womanizer, tried to bed her. Most males, including me, would say: “Who could blame him?” Here’s an amusing excerpt about the two from the mirror.co.uk: “… he suddenly unzipped his trousers and exposed himself. ‘You can put that away,’ I said. And he did. We carried on talking as if nothing had happened.” Here’s another quote attributed to her: “I’ve been robbed and attacked, I’ve been in accidents. My first husband was a thief, my second husband died young. Life teaches you about life, acting doesn’t.” In 2012 she published an autobio, Liz Fraser… and other characters. Kudos, madam. And here she is in her heyday:

From the NY Post, edited by yours truly: As residents of the Big Apple know, Big Brother becomes a larger presence each year. In 2017 the city issued only 24 tickets to trucks that were idling. The shakedown artists then hit on a can’t-miss approach. They offered a 25% incentive to citizens who reported the offense. In 2018 1038 summons were issued. Leading the pack of rats, naturally, is a lawyer. I wonder if it will ever get so bad that companies will stop delivering to Manhattan.

The world owes a debt of gratitude to the multitude of characters who bring color to life. A gentleman ran the London Marathon dressed as Big Ben. He was fine until he reached the finish line. The point of his costume kept banging against the top of the chute. He was helped across by the official in the blue jacket in the photo below. His time was 3:54:21. That’s 27 minutes faster than mine in the ’79 NYC marathon — and I wasn’t wearing anything but a T-shirt and shorts. Kudos.

It was a busy day at the floating book shop. My thanks to the gentleman who donated a bunch of books in Russian, many in only fair condition, and to the guy who bought nine of them; and to Marina, who also donated a bunch and insisted on paying for the two she took home; and to Wolf, who selected a John Grisham translation; and to Ira, who chose a pictorial on deserts; and to the woman who opted for a Rachael Ray cookbook; and to the quiet guy who bought a George Michael CD, a Harry Potter DVD, and a fantasy novel; and to the gentleman who purchased Ghetto: The Invention of a Place, the History of an Idea by Mitchell Duneier; and last but not least, Lynn, an avid reader, who took a chance on A Hitch in Twilight. I also had visits from two guys I hadn’t seen in a while — Political Man and Occupy Jack. The first still gets in people’s faces to spout his leftist views — virulently anti-Trump these days — the second is still an endearing character who has always brightened my day.

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