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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 6h

has anybody on the interwebs produced a mashup of The Life Of A Showgirl and Death Of A Ladies’ Man?

(A combo of “Wood” and “Don’t Go Home With Your Hard-On” is just hanging out in the ether waiting for some legend to execute it.)

"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 6h

also, FWIW, the only phone numbers I remember right off the top of my head from decades ago are mine; my HS girlfriend’s; and the family cottage in the Finger Lakes.

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 6h

Ma Bell probably seethed silently, but too bad; score one for the little guy.

"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 6h

My paternal grandpa used to place collect calls to my folks as “Clare Sailin.” My folks never had to accept a one.

Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 11h

One thing I remember my family doing: if someone had a long drive, and wanted to let someone else know they got home safe, they'd "buzz" them. Which was calling the number and hanging up after one ring. Let the person know you made it, but didn't incur long distance charges!

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 11h

places I've never heard of: this one

New town every hour @townsusa.bsky.social · 11h

Seconsett Island, Massachusetts
Pop: 17

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seconsett_Island,_Massachusetts

Images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24998110
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53366358
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22882522

picture of Seconsett Island, Massachusetts

"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 11h

brb getting Brew Vs. Blue t-shirts printed up to sell on the corner

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Reposted by "smokey stevenson"

Jacob Pomrenke @buckweaver.bsky.social · 12h

To celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, check out our newest SABR Digital Library book: Native American Major Leaguers tells the story of 40+ players who appeared in the big leagues, plus essays from and about Indigenous people and communities: sabr.org/latest/sabr-...

Native American Major Leaguers, edited by Rob Daugherty and Bill Nowlin

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 12h

I wish the charts had worked this way in 1968 b/c it would be fun to see the order in which the 30 tunes from the White Album arranged themselves. (oh look, "Revolution 9" two spots above "Honey Pie"!)

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 13h

The top 12 of the next Billboard Hot 100 chart = The Life of a Showgirl.
Trying to think what the logical next step from this would be: other artists rush-release songs *about* Taylor Swift's new album and those make the Top 100 also?

Irish Number Ones @irishnumberones.bsky.social · 13h

🗽 In other news from America, a clean sweep of the top 12 for tracks from The Life Of A Showgirl sees Taylor Swift's 'The Fate Of Ophelia' become the new US no. 1 www.billboard.com/lists/taylor...

Taylor Swift Takes Top 12 Spots on Billboard Hot 100, Led by ‘The Fate of Ophelia’

Taylor Swift claims the top 12 songs on the latest Billboard Hot 100, all from her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” led by “The Fate of Ophelia.”

www.billboard.com

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 16h

My Italian-American grandpa from the Bronx. Hard-working, funny, generous to a fault, and beloved. Shown here in his glory after beating the Connecticut State Lottery in 1982.

hefty middle-aged caucasian man in thick glasses smiles as he holds up a check for $32,000 from the Connecticut State Lottery, dated January 1982. photo is poorly taken, as it cuts off the top of the man's head, but his eyes are visible

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 19h

tired: marbits

wired: cereal sprinkles

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 19h

I am also doing this, but from the glamorous basement office.

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 19h

#OTD in 1914, some absolute A-level trolling from Filene's.
With all eyes in Boston on the Braves -- who are one win away from a World Series victory for the ages -- the well-known Hub retailer runs a sale on ... sox!

cheeky ad from the Boston Herald of October 13, 1914. With the Boston Braves one game from a World Series title (they won Game Four that day), retailer Filene's runs a sale on men's silk socks, with a headline, "May We Focus Attention on Sox A Moment?"

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 20h

ah. glad to hear they're still slinging them. They weren't really Cali-level burritos, probably, but by PA Dutch standards they were superb

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 20h

#OTD in 1914, the "Miracle" Boston Braves complete their upset of the favored Philly A's. The Braves won't get back to the Series until 1948 and won't win it again until 1957, by which time the team has deserted Commonwealth Avenue for Milwaukee.
SABR Games: sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

massive banner headline in the Boston Evening Globe of October 13, 1914, reads BRAVES WIN 3-1. Stylized box below -- white text on black box, ringed by American flags - says "They Are Champions of the World." In other news the Germans are occupying Lille

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 20h

one thing I *don't* associate with Dorneyville is Chinese chicken and broccoli, but presumably you can get it someplace. I think there used to be a decent burrito place across from the King George Inn, though

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 20h

home of Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom.

weird stand-up statue of a possessed, angry and vampiric Charlie Brown wearing a vampire's cape and flashing two sharp pointed teeth. this used to be visible, at least around Halloween time, at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Dorneyville, PA (it's been more than 15 years since I took this so maybe he's slinked back to his darkened lair)

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 21h

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 1d

they also have a string group of HS students playing carols in the cafeteria (which is the check-in area) … which is exactly the sort of errand I used to get roped into in HS … and every year I take a small bit of pleasure in seeing them and knowing I’m not a high-school performing flea any more.

"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 1d

this race benefits people who live in the town next door, and it is very much run as a townie event … which makes me wonder sometimes, as an outsider, why I decided to make it an annual tradition.
But it’s well organized, and pleasant enough.

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 1d

Signed up for my other traditional end-of-year 5K, on December 7. This is me doing it in 2023.

Fat Caucasian dude in a blaze yellow windbreaker and dark tights runs along a rain slicked New England road lined with dead leaves and low stone walls. He radiates brute manliness and raw, animal athleticism

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 1d

The earliest TOR powder blues with the solid dark blue lettering are underrated

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 1d

hate the principle, but miss the days when city payrolls had room for multiple censors.
it was the proud mother indeed who had a son at the Port Authority, a son with the Fire Department, and a son with the censor’s office.

100 years ago news @100yearsagonews.bsky.social · 1d

Oct. 12, 1925: The Chicago police chief threatens to arrest the owners of a theater for showing “Her Sister From Paris,” a film starring Constance Talmadge as a dancer named Lola. City censors “think Connie is ‘indecent and immoral’ in the way she does her hot mama stuff.” 1/2

Talmadge and John Gilbert in a scene from “Her Sister From Paris;” she also played Lola’s twin, a frumpy housewife

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 1d

a special nod to those, including Poncho Sampedro, who are content to play rhythm

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 1d

(That sounds like the resolution to a really bent game of Clue: hippie Boz, in Central Park, with a jazzy flute solo)

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