Extra! Extra!

“Everybody tells me don’t be scared

Act as if you never cared

So I wear a blank expression

To conceal my real impression.”

    “Protection,” Graham Parker

I’ve been on a Graham Parker kick.  After finding the album “Steady Nerves” in my collection, I’ve been playing it and put the CD “Struck By Lightning” on heavy rotation.  I saw Parker at Chicago’s Vic Theater with Terry and Kim Hunt.  He ended with a terrific Sam Cooke medley.

“Modern American Memoirs” contains an excerpt from Russell Baker’s “Growing Up.” A child of the Great Depression, Baker, who succeeded Alistair Cooke and hosted “Masterpiece Theater” for 12 years, decided to become a writer at age 11 because of, in his words, “my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn’t require any.”After his dad died of diabetes complications, five year-old Russell and his mother moved in with an aunt and uncle in Belleville, New Jersey.  Aunt Pat’s favorite expression was “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” and she was a sucker for newsboys shouting, “Extra!  Extra!”  One banner headline was that mobster Dutch Schultz received a rose, a sign that he was a target for assassination.  Pat kept buying subsequent “Extras” expecting details of Schultz’s death, but he lived another five years until gunned down in the palace Chop House in Newark. Delirious, his final cryptic words were, “A boy has never wept nor dashed a thousand kim.”

I still recall special “Extra” editions of the Philadelphia Daily News on sale – often appearing soon after the conclusion of a sporting event.  Virtually the only thing different from previous editions would be the front or back couple pages.

On Doug Achterhof’s suggestion we refinanced our condo mortgage with IU Credit Union at a lower rate, signing what seemed like a hundred documents.  On the way home we picked up a foot-long Philly steak at Subway to split.

On Sports Illustrated’s cover is suicide victim Junior Seau, former star linebacker for the San Diego Chargers.  Programmed not to admit weakness, little wonder he did not confide what troubled him.  There’s also a fascinating story about Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, Kobe’s father, who played for the 76ers in the late 1970s with Julius Erving, Doug Collins, and World B. Free and still coaches in Thailand.

Four-foot, six-inch Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister in HBO’s hit series) is on the cover of Rolling Stone, as is an interview with George R.R. Martin, whose “A Song of Fire and Ice” series inspired “Game of Thrones.”  Martin divided authors into architects and gardeners.  The former plot everything out in advance; the latter have a general outline but nurture characters as they go along.

While Augie from Tech Services installed a new version of Adobe, I read the intro to “The Book of American Diaries.”  Bostonian Arthur Crew Inman was so obsessed with keeping a daily account of news events that for 40 years (before committing suicide) he hardly ever left his apartment and his typed notes totaled about ten million words.  Some keep diaries to stave off loneliness or for self-enlightenment, others to hone their writing skills or because they have big egos.  Some intend the writings to be for their own eyes only; others, me included, write for posterity.

Finding the cafeteria empty at noon, I made my annual pitch for saner summer class time periods, emailing Mark Hoyert: “About 20 years ago the university decided to start scheduling summer classes from 8 to 11, 11:30 to 2:30, 3 to 6, and 6:30 to 9:30.  The rationale was, that way there would be four time periods.  The reality is that, at least in Arts and Sciences, there are almost no late classes ending at 9:30.  Meanwhile, none of the time slots is ideal for either students or instructors.  Few people want to be on campus for 10 hours, so those with two classes almost always take them back to back with only 30 minutes to eat and digest one’s meal and prepare for one’s second class.  Wouldn’t it make much more sense to have classes from 9 to 12, from 1 to 4, and from 5 to 8?  Then people wouldn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn and could have an hour for lunch or a late afternoon snack.  It would even allow instructors a little time to meet with students between classes.  As things are now, the cafeteria is deserted because nobody has time to eat except on the run. And are students and instructors really at their best in three-hour classes with only 30 minutes in between?”  He thought it “a very interesting idea.”

I attended two condo board meeting within 24 hours.  The first dealt with owners who had renters and whether to put limits or restrictions on the practice.  My view prevailed that if there is no problem, why fix it.  The renters live on both sides of us are good people who haven’t caused any problems.  The second meeting dealt with the 15 ash trees threatened by the emerald ash borer.  As I wrote in the minutes, being board secretary: “An inventory conducted by arborist Gina Darnell concluded that five were in poor condition and should be removed, five were in fair condition, and five were in good or excellent condition.  The board voted unanimously to accept a bid by Edwards Tree Service for $1,750 for the purpose of cutting down the five trees in poor condition with the ultimate intention of replacing them.  Two are located near unit 403, and the others are near units 407, 355, and 373.  Leo and Bernie treated the other trees in question, and the board will consider additional options.  There are seven ash trees on the berm between the inner drive and Sand Creek Drive that are the town’s responsibility.  Their policy is to remove all infected trees and not try to save any that are infected, as the options are costly, need to be repeated every year or so, and not guaranteed to work.”

While planting impatiens with Toni we noticed a couple dozen large bumblebees flying near our roof.  They appear to have made holes in the beam similar to what carpenter ants might do and seem to be looking to settle there.  We don’t have flowering plants that would have attracted them, so an exterminator will pay us a visit.

I critiqued two more articles for South Shore Journal editor Chris Young.  One I really enjoyed, “Public Memory in Gary, Indiana,” discussed the monuments honoring autocratic U.S. Steel Board Chairman Elbert H. Gary and “King of Pop” Michael Jackson.  While the Gary statue near city hall is pretty much neglected, swarms of MJ fans visit the tiny Jackson bungalow where the monument is located.

Dave’s East Chicago tennis team lost 3-2 to Whiting in the Sectionals, but his number one singles and doubles teams won their matches after losing their first sets so remain in the state tournament.

I took Tom Wade to pick up Darcey’s car in Hobart that developed electrical problems at virtually the same time that thieves broke into Tom’s by busting a window while he was running along a trail near Cowles Bog within the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  A car next to his was also broken into.  Tom has parked there countless times without incident, but evidently a rash of break-ins have been occurring in various spots near Lake Michigan.  The park service, South Shore railroad, and Town of Porter need to set up a joint task force to trap the bastards causing the trouble.

James and Rebecca have been working on a thousand-piece puzzle featuring Rock ‘n’ Roll entertainers that Dave gave me several years ago.  With Toni’s help the finished the outer edge, and I have begun to take intermittent interest in finding a few pieces.  Yesterday I worked on a section about the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

I was the lone person in the Portage Theater for the matinee showing of Sacha Baron Cohen’s “The Dictator.”  It was outrageous but hilarious, and I expect to see it again, hopefully with an audience.  I told Anne Balay that her older daughter would love it and younger one hate it.  Anne would probably have mixed feelings.

Paul Konerko hit a two-run HR against Jeff Samardzija and “The Shark” beaned him during Paulie’s next at bat.  In the eighth inning Kerry Wood, making his final appearance before retiring, faced one batter, struck him out, and then walked off the field to a standing ovation.