mb palaver

RandomPalaver: Merry Christmas from Middletown, Ohio!

Santa wetting his whistle at Gracie's in Middletown, Ohio.  Who can blame him?

SportsPalaver: After you, Alphonse

A few years ago a colleague referred to a turf battle at work as less of a turf grab and more "after you, Alphonse." I didn't know what he was talking about, but found out it was a reference to this early 20th century comic strip, featuring two bumbling Frenchmen taking politeness to ridiculous levels.  I asked my father if he'd ever heard of it and he said he didn't know the comic strip, but that baseball announcers sometimes refer to two outfielders letting a ball drop between them as an "Alphonse Gaston move."  It made me wonder why no one ever says this when two doubles players let a ball pass between them.  Maybe it's because doubles isn't covered much on TV.  Maybe it's because the Bryan brothers do this less often than I do.  Whatever the reason, this seems like a job for Brad Gilbert, who, along with Patrick McEnroe, is announcing today's US Open men's doubles final between Jamie Murray/John Peers and Nicolas Mahut/Pierre-Hugues Herbert on ESPN3 (aka the Internet)) at noon.  I would be completely disheveled if @bgtennisnation said this.

 

And speaking of Brad Gilbert, I am loving these Voya ads:

 

 

 

 

Photo credit:
"Alphonsegaston" by Opper, Frederick Burr - American Journal Examiner Retrieved from Scoop. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.

RandomPalaver: Get Free Credit Reports Before Year End

Did you know you are entitled to one free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies every year?  If you haven't received one in 2014, now's the time to do so.  I always follow a link from the FTC's website, because there are a lot of scammers out there offering "free" credit reports for a fee.  You can dispute any questionable information on the report directly through the agencies' websites.  For some reason I couldn't get the Experian report to display, but that might have been user error.

 

 

photo:  http://preservationvirginia.org/visit/historic-properties/accomac-debtors-prison

RandomPalaver: Long Beach Island

Long Beach Island, July 17, 2012

 "Did you ever have one of those days where everything you ever loved as a child was under water?"

— Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show," October 31, 2012

RandomPalaver: Da Da Da

Apropos of nothing, I just started whistling this song.  (Who whistles?)  I found the old VW commercial, and it made me happy.  I still have the push-up toy Lynn gave me in the commercial's honor.  I only wish I could find the "Spin City" promo parody with Michael J. Fox.

 

RandomPalaver: The Christmas Story (and Others) from the Mouths of Irish Babes

For a different take on the Christmas story, here it is as told by young Dublin students in 1960, and animated by Brown Bag Films as part of a series of short films called "Give Up Yer Aul Sins."  The first video below is the birth of Jesus, and the second is the annunciation and the birth of John the Baptist.  The first video in the series, itself called "Give Up Yer Aul Sins," on the life and death of John the Baptist , was nominated for a best animated short film Oscar in 2001.  Brown Bag was also behind Grannie O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, nominated for the same award this past year.

Thanks to mysterywriter for introducing me to these videos.  Have a wonderful Christmas all!

 

 

 

RandomPalaver: Jump Rope with a Muslim

My favorite activity at the Rally to Restore Sanity:  Jump rope with a Muslim.

RandomPalaver: Snowy Sunday Morning in Woodley Park

RandomPalaver: Making 80 Look Easy

Today my father (above, in Bayonne, NJ) turns 80, though you'd never know it from the way he still covers a tennis court.  You'd think he was on roller skates.  Happy birthday Dad!

Updated to add color commentary from my dad:

Love that picture because it reminds me of my many happy days as a kid on 11th St. in Bayonne. It was probably taken about 1939. Look how free of cars the street is. All but one of the homes shown were two-family with no garage and very few people there had cars or knew how to drive. Within the next 10 years we had WW II and its aftermath which produced cars everywhere and traffic which made the streets less of a playground. -Dads

RandomPalaver: A Golden Anniversary

This little girl didn't know, while playing piano in her living room in Jersey City in the early '40s, that she'd one day meet this young man, shown here enjoying a beer while serving in the army in Munich in the early '50s.  But they did meet, on a blind date, and later married, 50 years ago today.  They've both been smiling -- and making the rest of us smile -- ever since.  Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!