This painting, from 1945, was done by Captain Orville Norman Fisher, who was actually present on that day, 77 years ago, when the Allied troops landed at Normandy. In honor of their sacrifice and their legacy, I’m proud to share that painting today.
This book, which was one of the many lesbian-themed paperbacks of the pulp era, was originally published in 1963. The cover is a photo. Unfortunately, the artist was unknown.
That is probably the worst possible way to try to deliver someone a gun. By the time the gun does arrive at the D.A.’s office, there’s going to be so many tags and fingerprints on it that it’s going to be worthless as evidence.
This issues from 1949. The cover was done by the prolific illustrator, Norman Saunders.
I guess we really got lucky!
This was originally published in 1962, when 1999 was 37 years away and many people probably thought it would be doomsday. Today, it’s been 22 years since doomsday and the world’s still here. This cover was done by Ed Valigursky, whose work has been featured on this site in the past and will be featured again in the future.
That’s one way to pay for college, I guess. The combination of the frat boy smoking a cigarette and that dangerously tight corset combine to make this cover a classic. The artist responsible was Tom Miller.
This book was originally published in 1961. Edwin West was a penname that was used, at the time, by the author Donald Westlake. Using the name Richard Stark, Westlake wrote a series of highly regarded crime novels about a ruthless crook named Parker.
This little fellow, or maybe his relatives since I took this picture two years ago, shows up in our backyard a lot, usually in the middle of the night. On this day, I happened to catch him out in the afternoon and he was so surprised to see me and my camera that he almost fell off of his branch. I’m not going to say that this is a great work of art or that it’s even the best picture that I’ve ever taken but I’ve still always liked it and I felt our neighborhood devourer of tics deserved a chance to welcome all of you to the month of June.
Possums may look fierce and they may hiss but they’re actually harmless and good to have around. They eat tics, do not get rabies, and are not aggressive. Everything you’ve heard about possums playing dead to get out of confrontation is totally true. Don’t try to make a possum into a pet, though. Just let them do their thing.
Hanging Around is probably not the most original name that I could have come up with for this picture but I don’t think the possum would mind.
Not all scene that we love come from the movies. Some of them come from real life!
Behold, from a Cubs/Pirates game, the worst play in the history of baseball!
It’s the top of the third. There’s a runner on second base. There are already two outs. All the Pirates have to do is get one more out and the inning ends. So, what happens? When Javy Baez gets a hit, the shortstop scoops up the ball and throws it to first baseman Will Craig. Instead of simply going back a few steps and stepping on first, Craig runs after Baez, trying to tag him with the ball. This gives the baserunner time to run from second base all the way to home., which he crosses safely because Craig is so busy chases Baez that he doesn’t throw the ball to the catcher in time. The catcher then makes a bad throw of his own that gives Baez time to then make it to the first base and then all the way around to second. (At first, it looked like he might even have been able make it to third.) That’s a run and a double on what should have been an easy out! At the end of the clip, you can see that not even Baez can believe that he’s actually safe on second.
It’s all so amazing that it is easy to overlook that Will Craig is not the only person who made a mistake. If second baseman Adam Frazier had gone over to cover first while Craig inexplicable took off after Baez, he would have been in a position to make the play when the catch threw the ball back to first.
It’s wild moments like this that make me love baseball!
Up until 1947, Major League Baseball was segregated. Though there was no written rule barring blacks from playing on major league teams, there was an agreement among the team owners that no blacks would be signed to a major or minor league contract. Instead, starting in the 1920s, black players could only play for the teams in the Negro League. It was in the Negro Leagues that future greats like Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays got their start. Josh Gibson, who spent his entire career playing in the Negro Leagues, is believed to have hit more home runs in a season than Babe Ruth ever did. For that reason, many baseball fans believe that any MLB records set before 1947 should come with an asterisk included. How can you determine who was the best when many of the best players in the game were never allowed to compete against each other?
The Bingo Longo Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings is a comedy that pays tribute to those players. Billy Dee Williams plays Bingo Longo, a charismatic pitcher who plays in the Negro Leagues but who, frustrated with the money that he’s earning and the owner’s callous attitude towards the players, breaks away and forms his own independent, barnstorming baseball team, the All-Stars Among the players that he recruits are catcher and power hitter Leon Carter (James Earl Jones) and Charlie Snow (Richard Pryor), who is constantly changing his name and lying about his background in an attempt to get signed to the major leagues. Bingo also steals a player named Esquire Joe (Stan Shaw) away from one of the teams that the All-Stars defeat.
Going across the country and playing other teams, the Bingo Longo Traveling All-Stars make a name for themselves as both players and showmen. Though Leon just wants to concentrate on playing the game, Bingo understands that importance of putting on a show for the people in the stands. They start out playing other independent black teams but soon, they’re even playing against amateur white teams. The games against the white teams are tense, as the All-Stars ever know how the people in the stands are going to react when the All-Stars win. The All-Stars usually do win, though. They’re the best and they’re not going to let the people watching forget it.
The Bing Longo Traveling All-Stars is a good film, especially if you’re interested in the history of baseball. It’s an episodic comedy with the emphasis on the various situations that the members of the All-Stars find themselves in as they travel from town to town but there’s also a serious subtext. The All-Stars are proving to a League that refuses to let them play that they are the best. At the same time, no matter how many games they win, the All-Stars still have to deal with living a society that treats them like second-class citizens. Even though they win on the field, they still have a hard time finding a hotel to stay at. It’s a movie that will make you laugh but it also makes you think. Billy Dee Williams is perfect in the role of Bingo Longo and James Earl Jones is the type of player that anyone would want on their team. The Bingo Longo Traveling All-Star & Motor Kings is a good film for both baseball fans and people who have never even heard of the designated hitter rule.
I love vintage postcards. Below are a few that were designed to observe what would eventually become Memorial Day. The majority of these are from the early 1900s, when the day was still known as Decoration Day and was largely used as a time to honor those who lost their lives in their Civil War. These postcards were not only meant to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice but also to remind us that the promise of peace is the best way to honor their memories.
Have a look:
There’s a church nearby that, every Memorial Day and 4th of July, plants little American flags all over the neighborhood. These four flags were placed a few blocks away from my house. On the day that I took the original photograph, the grass was actually very green but, for this picture, I wanted to emphasize the red, white, and blue.
Through the Shattered Lens