Courtin’ & Sparkin’

RIP actress Betty Lynn, 95, best known for her turn as Thelma Lou, Barney Fife’s girlfriend, in 26 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. She did a lot more, mostly in TV, career spanning 1948-’90. Born in Kansas City, Mo., there are 57 titles under her name at IMDb. She began her career as a teenager performing in both supper clubs and on Broadway. During WWII she toured with the USO as a singer, entertaining troops in China, Burma, India, Africa and other locales. Most Fridays she would greet guests, sign autographs and/or take selfies at The Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, NC, the model for Mayberry, to which she moved late in life. Well done, madam. Thank you.

RIP General Colin Powell, 84, who succumbed to Covid despite being fully vaxxed. He was a class act who probably would have been elected president if he’d run. I had the privileged of meeting his daughter Linda, an actress who knew my friend John in the days he was a member of the Willow Cabin Theater Company. She was really nice. John said her dad was a great guy. He recounted using Army toothpaste during a sleepover. Ten-hut. Thank you, sir.

Headline from nypost.com: “Steal rails: 50 percent spike in NYC thefts sparks surge in subway crime.” Only 50%? Not enough to worry leftists.

Justifiable homicide? From NYP: “Mom fatally shoots man after he refused to kiss her: authorities.” Alcohol was involved.

Headline from newsmax.com: “Vaccine Mandate Backlash Threatens Democrats’ Alliance With Labor Unions.” I’ll believe it when I see it. The swamp, Dems and RINO’s, have been padding the pockets of unions, as well as their own, forever.

Also from NM, article by Brian Freeman: “… Tony Bennett has become the oldest person to release an album of new material, according to Guinness World Records… 95 years and 60 days.” Bravo, goombah.

Headline from foxnews.com: “Bidens caught violating DC mask mandate at posh Georgetown restaurant.” Only the incredibly naïve are surprised. Nor would the following surprise anyone, from an article by Houston Keene: “Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has paid her daughter over $1 million in campaign funds over the years.” The rules don’t apply to the swamp.

This may be the all-time spin move, headline from FN: “Secretary Buttigieg stuns critics by claiming supply chain failure is result of President Biden’s successes.”

A stiff breeze had people complaining about the cold. I was okay even though I’d made the mistake of not adding a couple of thin layers. One can always peel down. It was one of those fluke sessions of the floating book shop where the toil was actually worth it in terms of cash. The highlight came when a young Asian whizzed by on a mechanized skateboard, then backed up and took a look at the display. He bought about 15 works of non-fiction, grossly overcompensated me, shook my hand and thanked me. I couldn’t convince him he was overpaying by two-thirds. I have failed to outgrow the discomfort with money my parents’ arguments about it engendered in me. My thanks to that young man, and to the kind folks who combined to buy seven books in Russian, and to the other young man who got things started in the right direction by selecting a thesaurus, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse and The Teaching of Buddha by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai.

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