CRS & TMG

Headline from newsmax.com: “US Inflation Increases Again, Continues at Record High.” Gee, I wonder why. The upper middle class and up will be minimally affected. For the other half, it’s a new tax… Here’s one that shouldn’t surprise anyone: “Majority of registered Democratic voters now prefer socialism to capitalism, Fox News poll finds.”

I’ve been waiting for Movies!, channel 5–2 on ota in NYC, to run Alvarez Kelly (1966) in prime time. Based on a true incident, it’s one of those flicks that somehow had fallen through the cracks of my viewership. It’s the story of a slick, cynical profiteer, played by the perfectly cast William Holden, who delivers a herd of cattle to the Union Army, then is forced to steal them by Confederates. It never rises to more than above average, although it has interesting moral dilemmas at its center, and features a rousing stampede. Richard Widmark, whose work I admire, co-stars using what may have been the worst southern drawl ever. What stood out, given the current political and social climate, is the moment when an Union officer, played by Patrick O’Neal, is beside himself when slaves will not snitch on their owners. Well dressed, it’s obvious they have not been mistreated. These days, I doubt even the hint that some slaves may have had it good would be allowed unless they would be like the character played by Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained (2012). I found it refreshing. Here are the screen legends in character:

I used the same strategy as yesterday regarding the floating book shop, staying in the shade. I learned two things from Gonzo while he was waiting for the bus, which he missed when he couldn’t find his Metro Card. He said he had CRS, of which I’d never heard — Can’t Remember Shit. I suggested it was perhaps TMG — Too Much Ganja. He laughed and said: “Maybe.” He also waxed nostalgic at how every June the Puerto Rican flag would be planted atop Coney Island’s parachute jump, the climber not using any safety apparatus whatsoever. The ride hasn’t been in operation since the mid ‘60’s. The belief that it was shut down because of a death is apparently a myth, as a Google search turned up nothing on it. It was given landmark status in ’89 and restored in ’91, ’02 and ’13. Here’s what it looks like today:

My thanks to the elderly woman who bought a book Alice returned after reading, The Party Doll by Robert B. Parker; and to the home attendant who purchased Intensity by Dean Koontz and The Cellar by Natasha Preston; and to the gentleman who took home Robert Rauschenberg: Photographs: 1949–1962 by Nicholas Cullinan. Rauschenberg was also a painter and graphic artist. He passed away at 82 in 2008.

Here’s a pic from one of his exhibits:

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