Otterblog

When I was growing up in NY/NJ, we used to track the weather with mob hits. OTTERBLOG Sr.’s theory was that when it got incredibly hot and humid, there would invariably be some outrageous mafia killing in New York or Brooklyn. Right out of the Godfather, blood and pasta across the checkerboard tablecloth, etc. Then the weather would break and it would be much more tolerable. In retrospect, this seems pretty callous, but the idea in one sense was that these killings were unfortunately entertainment for the rest of the world and after a week of temps in the 90s, it was the final straw that broke the weather camel’s back. The tabloid newspapers—the Post and the Daily News—would be all over these stories. In July, there wasn’t much news to compete with it, and readers ate these stories up.

I get the same sense of splendid detachment from our series that is running on the shooting death of Z. Smith Reynolds 75 years ago. It’s a v. good read/summer diversion and if not exactly relevant to most of our lives, is just entertaining and interesting—as well as a nice history lesson on how W-S came to be the place that it is.

Check this out: I’ve been in a long-running debate with several friends about whether the Simpsons movie coming out this month will be worth it. I remain unconvinced. But anyway, on the site for the movie is a v. cool program that allows you to create a Simpsons character that looks like you.