Thursday Thirteen #472

Conserving energy. After a certain segment of our population lost their shit when Mayor Mamdani suggested New Yorkers set their thermostats to 78º, using too much power has somehow become an emblem of "freedom." I think that attitude makes you a selfish neighbor who cares more about faux outrage than about anyone else's comfort, but hey, you do you.

I've got a pair of "power stations" (aka teeny-tiny generators) ready to use but I haven't lost power once yet during the summer heat and storms. I'm grateful, and in that spirit I spun around the internet looking for ... 

13 ways to save electricity

1. Turn off lights when you leave the room.

2. Take shorter showers so you use your water heater less.

3. Don't charge your devices overnight, instead keep an eye on them unplug the charger when your phone or laptop hits 100%.

4. Tumble dry your clothes or, even better, let them air dry.

5. Use ceiling fans to circulate the air conditioned air.

6. Consider installing solar panels, and check to see if your municipality offers rebates for this.

7. When cooking on a stovetop, cover your pans. Lids can minimize heat loss, shorten cooking time and help keep your kitchen cooler.

8. Clean your refrigerator's condenser coils. 

9. Don't overload your freezer, because air needs to circulate through the unit if it's to run efficiently. 

10. Unplug home office equipment you don't use constantly. Example: printers and shredders often use power even when they aren't in use.

11. Draw the blinds and keep them closed all day.

12. Go old school and use battery-operated alarm clocks and radios.

13. Don't be an ass. Set your thermostat to 78º.

How about you? Can you add any I've forgotten? 

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Thursday Thirteen #471

It's stupid hot. The heat index is 100º again. The weathercasters aren't even pretending that it's cooler by The Lake. And so I shall turn to Farmer's Almanac for ways to beat the heat and stay healthy during this heat wave.

1. Check a/c ducts for proper insulation and clean the filters.

2. Consider awnings to manage the amount of sun entering your home. 

3. Keep drapes closed to keep the heat out.

4. Add weather-stripping under your front and back doors to keep the cool in and the heat out.

5. Have a home generator on hand because summer power outages are common.

6. Stay hydrated and drink plenty of water, even if you're not thirsty.

7. Add fruits to your meal because they're high in water content.

8. Avoid alcohol because it will dehydrate you.

9. That goes for caffeine, too. 

10. Never leave pets or children alone in a hot car.

11. Avoid strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest part of the day (generally between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM).

12. Wear loose fitting, light colored clothes.

13. If you feel too hot indoors, try placing a cool, wet washcloth around your neck.

How are you holding up in the heat?

 

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Thursday Thirteen #470

Inspired by my eraser. I have a favorite eraser. It's white. It was a freebie from a vendor back in my working days and it's probably a decade old, yet I treasure it because it removes pencil marks cleanly, no crumbs. The other day, when I thought I'd lost it,* I was legitimately sad. 

This got me thinking about office supplies. I love them. Even though the world is increasingly more digital than paper-based, I still get excited in the office supplies aisle.  

Here are 13 of the most popular items ordered from a nearby Staples store.

1. Compostable packing peanuts

2. Recycled manila file folders

3. Academic year (July 2026 to June 2027) planner

4. Pentel RSVP ballpoint pens

5. Ruled canary yellow notepads

6. Corrugated cardboard file box with lid

7. Sharpie permanent markers

8. BIC Wite Out correction tape

9. Post-It "sign here" message flags

10. Astrobrights colored papers in pink

11. Anti-slip faux leather desk pad 

12. Staples One Touch Stapler (on sale)

13. Self-seal security #10 envelopes

While I appreciate the above 13 workhorses, none of them makes my heart skip a beat the way pencils, erasers and binder clips do.

How about you? Do you like shopping for office supplies?

 

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 *Though where could it have gone? Truly baffling. Glad I found it in the sofa cushions.

 

Thursday Thirteen #469

But not George M. Cohan. When I hear the phrase, "born on the 4th of July," I think of "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Only the songwriter who claimed he was that Yankee Doodle Boy was actually born on the night of July 3, 1878. So he doesn't make my list.

13 Americans born on the 4th of July:

1. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804)

2. Hiram Walker, who gave us good hooch (1816)

3. Stephen Foster (1826) 

4. James Bailey, of Barnum & Bailey (1847)

5. President Calvin Coolidge (1872)

6. Actress Gloria Stuart (1910)

7. Daytime talk show host Virginia Graham (1912) I grew up on her here in Chicago. Was Girl Talk national? 

8. Advice columnist Ann Landers, aka Eppie Lederer (1918)

9. Advice columnist Dear Abby, aka Pauline Lederer, and yes, the twin sister of Ann (1918)

10. Playwright Neil Simon (1927)

11. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (1930)

12. TV personality Geraldo Rivera (1943) 

13. First Daughter Malia Obama (1998)

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Thursday Thirteen #468

Platinum edition. Within the world of classic film nerds, Marilyn Monroe has been all over the place this month in honor of her 100th birthday. I am fascinated not only by Marilyn, but why she endures. Even if you've never seen a Marilyn Monroe movie, you're familiar with her image. Children not yet born will see the picture of Marilyn on the subway grate, her white dress blowing up.

Yet Jean Harlow is not recognized or remembered outside the classic film world. That's not only too bad – because she was luminous and funny – it's confusing because her filmography is of much higher quality than Marilyn's. Marilyn made quite a few high-profile, crappy movies, Harlow did not.

So here are 13 facts about the original Platinum Blonde. 

1. Jean Harlow was born Harlean Harlow Carpenter, but throughout her life, friends and family called her "The Baby." 

2. She dropped out of high school at 16 to marry a very wealthy boy when he turned 21 and came into his inheritance. They moved to Beverly Hills, where she envisioned life as a socialite. But they were very young, with too much time on their hands and too much money. The union lasted less than two years.

3. As her marriage was ending, she helped out a friend who needed a daily ride to work at Fox Studios. Her good looks got her noticed and she was invited for a screen test. At first The Baby refused, but her friend called her "chicken" and bet she wouldn't go through with it. You know what happened. 

4. She was renamed Jean Harlow and today she's #22 on the American Film Institute (AFI) list of greatest film actresses of all time. 

5. She became a star at age 19 in 1930's Hell's Angels, where she uttered the famous line about slipping "into something more comfortable." 

6. She was famous for her curves, her pencil-thin eyebrows and most of all, her platinum hair. While the studio refused to reveal how this white-and-bright shade was achieved, rumor had it that a combination of ammonia, Clorox bleach and soap flakes. Unfortunately, fans tried to do this at home, with predictably disastrous results. 

7. She was among the most profitable stars of the decade, ranking as one of the top box office draws 5 times between 1930 and 1937. She was making $4,000/week at the time of her death. That's $5,000,000/year in today's dollars. (And remember, Jean was making $4,000/week during The Depression. That was the annual income for couples back then.)

8. Jean Harlow made many top quality films, and in 1933, 1936, and 1938, her movies were nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. She was paired with the biggest stars of her time – James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, William Powell and Clark Gable. Though never romantically involved in real life, she and Gable were a great screen team and made six successful films together. She was working with him when she died.

9. Reading about her, I'm struck by how beloved "The Baby" was by those who worked with her. Directors praised her professionalism. Crews found her approachable. With other actresses of the period, especially Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy, she was friendly and not at all competitive. There's little if any gossip/controversy surrounding her professional life. Which I guess balances out the plethora of scandal and tumult in her private life.

10. She and actor William Powell were engaged at the time of her death. He would have been her fourth husband in 10 years. The first was Charles McGrew (see #2). Her third husband was cinematographer Harold Rossen. Naturally so many trips to the altar caused pearl clutching and tsk-ing. But it was her second husband that caused an earthquake of a scandal that reverberates to this day.

11. Her second husband was studio executive Paul Bern. Balding and more than 20 years her senior and, even though they made an odd-looking couple, she adored him. Just two months into their marriage, he was found dead in their home. Nude and shot in the head. It was officially ruled a suicide but, since Jean was one of the biggest stars in the world, rumors abound. Is it true he killed himself because he couldn't perform sexually with The Blonde Bombshell? Was the long-time lover he tossed over for Jean really the one who pulled the trigger? To this day, there is controversy.

12. Jean was the world's premiere sex symbol when she died of kidney failure at the age of 26. While her death seemed sudden to the public, she had been ill for months (though she continued to work). As with Bern, rumors blazed about Harlow's death. Could she have survived but for her mother's adherence to Christian Science and refusal to get Jean medical help? Did all those years of dangerous hair dye damage her kidneys (see #7)? The likely truth is less sensational: Like many in the 1920s, she had scarlet fever as a kid. As a result, she suffered from high blood pressure for the rest of her life and it's not unusual for scarlet fever to damage the kidneys. However, since forensic medicine wasn't that advanced in 1937, it's impossible for us today to know for sure what killed The Blonde Bombshell.

13. When I watch her movies (and I've now seen three), I'm impressed by her way with comedy. She delivers rapid-fire monologues with perfect diction and just the right emphasis. And her walk! She enters every room like a force of nature. Onscreen, she's a sweet, smart, funny dame. I'm just sorry that The Baby didn't find more joy in her own short life.

Here's the lady herself. I look forward to seeing more of her work.

 

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Thursday Thirteen #467

 My typical Target run. There's a Target store just around the corner and up the block. I stop there several times a week. This does not reflect my shopping list. These are the impulse purchases and what I grab when I run out.  Here are the 13 things they tell me I pick up most often.

1. Goldfish Crackers. I do mix it up, however. Sometimes I go with Original, sometimes Flavor Blast, and I've just discovered Pizza flavor. 

2. Raisins. I'm trying to snack on these more often than cookies or the aforementioned crackers. 

 

3. Tuna in a pouch. This is not for me. Last fall, my church opened a pantry on the porch of the rectory. It is available 24/7 for neighbors who are homeless or don't wish to go to the "official" local food pantry, likely because they are undocumented and ICE sucks. I like to leave this because it works whether or not you have your own kitchen. 

 

4. Green beans. This is for the "official" local food pantry. Whereas for my church's porch pantry I go for convenience, I select more nutritious foods for the "official" food pantry, whose clients are able to cook at home. Also, I try to grab something for the food pantry every time I go to Target. That way I can gradually accumulate a bag of non-perishables without noticing any impact on my budget.

 

5. Sweet peas. These are for me. Love 'em.

  

6. Coca Cola. I prefer the 7.5 oz. mini cans.

 

7. Skim milk. In the 52-oz. bottle. If I buy the gallon, I end up pouring milk down the sink and that makes me sad.

 

8. Post Great Grains Banana Nut Crunch. I go through phases with my cereal. I believe I'm transitioning to my Apple Cinnamon Cheerios era.

 

9. 4-oz baby food tub of peas. Again for the food pantry. Since I don't have a car, I like to buy things that are easy for me to both get home from the store and then carry to the donation spot. And maybe I'm trying to inspire a new generation of pea lovers.

 

10. Fragrance-free skin baby wipes. These are for me, but you can see why Target sends me notifications whenever they have "baby stuff" on sale.

 

11. 100% pure canned pumpkin. For my cats. They love it, and it helps keep them regular.

 

12. Nilla Vanilla Wafers. Because I am weak and often tempted by something less nutritious than raisins.

 

13. Batteries. I lumped the AAs (TV remotes) in with the AAAs (shower radio). It would probably be more economical if, instead of packages of 4 or 6, I just bought the big 20+ packs. (Note to self: Add batteries to grocery list.) 

How about you? What do you run out of?

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Thursday Thirteen #466

Birthday Girl. This month classic movie fans are celebrating the centennial of Marilyn Monroe. She remains the most recognizable star Hollywood has ever produced, and is among the most famous American women ever. Today she's known all over the world, identified more for her whispery voice, platinum hair and tragic personal life than her work. 

That's too bad, because she cared about her craft. She completed 29 films in 14 years, though her appearances in the first 4 are blink-and-you'll-miss-her. Of the remaining 25, these are the ones I recommend. She does not have the quality oeuvre of Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwyck, two actresses with whom she shared the screen. But Marilyn did her best with what she was given and was often very good. She made a shit ton of money for an industry that never respected her, and she was always fascinating to watch.

1. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). She was showgirl Lorelei Lee who wore hot pink and believed "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." She's silly and funny as the girl who very wisely plays dumb. BTW, here's another reason to love Ryan Gosling: he used his live performance of "I'm Just Ken" at the 2024 Oscars to pay homage to Marilyn's "Diamonds" number.

2. Some Like It Hot (1959). On a snowy night in Chicago, two musicians witness a certain Valentine's Day mass shooting. To escape the mob, they dress in drag and travel out of town with an all-girl band. Marilyn is luminous as Sugar Kane, the boozy and confused lead singer. They fall in love with her, and you will, too. (The 80s TV show Bosom Buddies owes an awful lot to this movie.)

3. All About Eve (1950). This is the best movie on this list, though it's Bette Davis' show, not Marilyn's. She has a small (two scenes?) but cleverly-written role as Miss Caswell, "an actress and graduate of the Copacabana School of Dramatic Arts." Miss Caswell may be only moderately talented, but she's smart enough to persuade New York's most famous theater critic to mentor her.

4. The Misfits (1961). She's in Reno for a quickie divorce. She unwisely begins a rebound relationship with a much older man, a cowboy played by Clark Gable. Initially they seem to have nothing in common, but it turns out they are both emotionally battered and can give each other hope for the future. At least that's what I think it's about. I've seen it several times – it has an amazing cast and terrific dialog – but it's not one of Arthur Miller's better works. Still, there's such real affection between Marilyn and Gable that I find it touching. (It was the last completed film for both of them.) 

5. Bus Stop (1956). A naive cowboy falls in love at first sight with a showgirl performing at a rural bus stop and decides to make her his wife. She's a painfully bad singer – not quite as awful as Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins, but certainly prettier – yet he stubbornly insists she's "an angel." Often mentioned as Marilyn's own favorite Marilyn movie, she is good as a world-weary woman who longs to see herself as he does. 

6. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953). Three women set out to ... well ... find rich husbands. Hey! It was the 1950s. The thing that elevates this comedy is the camaraderie among the three stars, each gorgeous in her own way. Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and Marilyn could be the precursors of Carrie Bradshaw and her SATC posse. 

7. There's No Business Like Show Business (1954). One of those musicals about a family of performers who believe the show must go on and all those other cliches. The movie is not very good, but Marilyn has two great numbers, "(We're Having a) Heat Wave" and "After You Get What You Want You Don't Want It." Seeing her in gorgeous clothes, dancing well and putting her songs across, you enjoy her work as the untalented showgirl in Bus Stop even more.

8. Niagara (1953). This movie is a curiosity because it's the only time Marilyn plays a completely unsympathetic character. She's Rose, a sexy siren who is so very over her husband and open to all ways out of her unhappy situation. She's unlikable, for sure, but you can't take your eyes off her.

9. Don't Bother to Knock (1952). This one surprised me. Marilyn plays an unhappy girl who gets a gig babysitting a little girl at a hotel where the parents are out-of-town guests. She finds herself attracted to one of the other guests and makes up an alternate identity for herself, pretending that the nice clothes and makeup in the hotel room belong to her, not the little girl's mother. Eventually we realize she's batty. It's a little, low budget movie, barely over an hour long, but Marilyn handles her dramatic part well.

10. Clash by Night (1952). Marilyn has a rather small part in this one, but she's sweet as a young girl in love. Her boyfriend has a big sister (Barbara Stanwyck, the star). Sis is unhappily married with a baby, and Marilyn's character is worried about ending up as unsatisfied as the older woman. 

11. O. Henry's Full House (1952). Marilyn appears in the first of four vignettes. A homeless man is tired of life in the cold and wants to get himself arrested so he can enjoy a bed and three squares. He approaches a pretty young woman on the street and makes a lewd suggestion, assuming she will report him for harassment. Marilyn rather charmingly provides the plot twist.  

12. The Prince and The Showgirl (1957). What a weird ass movie this is. Marilyn was as big a star as she would ever be – at least in life – and this is what she chose to do with her power. She produced the movie, and hired Sir Laurence Olivier as her director and co-star and they have no chemistry whatsoever. The title tells you all you need to know about the plot. And yet, when she's on screen, you can't take your eyes off of her, even when she's sharing a scene with the great Olivier. Part of it is her white dress. It deserved a co-starring credit.

13. The Seven Year Itch (1955). I feel like I had to include this one, even though I do not like it one bit. This is THE MOVIE, the one that made Marilyn a superstar, the one where her white skirt blows up. People not yet born will see that iconic image. I find this film to be a smutty affair, where a married man leers at her for 90 minutes. It's all childish sex jokes, like an episode of Three's Company. Marilyn's character is so completely sexualized she doesn't even have a name! She's The Girl. But here's the thing: you like her. She rises above the slop she's given to do and imbues it with humanity. In that way, I suppose this movie is a microcosm of her enduring appeal.

Happy Birthday, Marilyn! Watching you gives me joy. Sending you love and wishing you peace. 

6/1/26 through 8/4/62

 

 

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Thursday Thirteen #465

One man's trash is likely just junk. I have a 25 year old, 50 lb., completely non-functioning TV. Even if I was strong enough to lift it and hoist it into the dumpster behind my condo building, I wouldn't. It should be recycled. So I'm going to call a junk removal service that promises they will do just that. 

To make the trip worthwhile, I'm going to give the rest of the stuff in my home a good, hard look and see what else can go. After tooling around the internet, here's what I found we most often pay to have hauled away. 

1. Major kitchen appliances. Stoves and refrigerators.

2. Washers and dryers. Like stoves and refrigerators, these things are just too big for most homeowners to dispose of on their own. 

3. Countertop appliances. Non-functioning microwaves, coffee makers, blenders, and toasters. 

4. Home entertainment. TVs and gaming consoles become obsolete quickly.

5. Office equipment. Laptops, printers and scanners.

6. Heavy furniture. File cabinets, armoires, china cabinets.

7. Mattresses. Because of bed bugs, many municipalities have strict rules for disposing of mattresses. Hire a licensed removal service to avoid fines.

8 Glass-heavy items. Mirrors, table lamps, light fixtures and picture frames.

9. Exercise equipment. Treadmills, exercise bikes, etc.

10. Baby stuff. Cribs, playpens, strollers and car seats. 

11. Yard and garden. Patio furniture, grills, bird baths, above ground pools, lawn mowers and snow blowers.

12. Old rugs, carpets and carpet padding. These can be heavier and take up more space than you might think.

13. Debris from big projects. Like dry wall, paint supplies, bag after bag of yard waste.

I've got a lot of crap around here. I just have to get organized and get it together so the junk man can carry it all away.

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Thursday Thirteen #464

 

 

 

Greetings from the dark side. I love Chicagoland. I'm its biggest cheerleader. We have a Great Lake, four seasons, the Cubs, reliable public transportation, broad front lawns, world class theater, museums and restaurants ... I don't know why anyone lives anywhere else.

 

But when things around here get dark, they go inky black. Here are 13 times the Chicagoland area garnered national attention for something other than Michael Jordan. 

 

1. H. H. Holmes. (1890s) America's first serial killer targeted women during Chicago World's Fair in 1893. He was the subject of the best-selling book Devil in the White City. I started to read that book but got too scared.

 

2. The Black Sox Scandal (1919).  Members of the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series. They were paid by bookies to let the Cincinnati Reds win. A national loss of innocence and baseball's original sin. Players can come back from a lot – including alcohol, drugs and domestic violence – but not gambling. The stain is so great that when my grandfather came over from Germany and landed in Chicago more than a decade later, he became our family's first Cubs fan. As Cub fans we've watched as much bad baseball as good, but we've all always trusted that the games were honest. 

 

3. Leopold and Loeb. (1924) Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were two University of Chicago students who killed a 14-year-old boy just to prove they could. They believed they were so brilliant that a) they were entitled to do it and b) they could get away with it. While they were certainly depraved, they were not criminal masterminds. It took the Chicago Police less than 10 days to solve the crime, even with 1920s-era forensics. Legal genius Clarence Darrow famously saved them from the gallows. This case has inspired everyone from Alfred Hitchcock (Rope) to TV's Columbo to Sandra Bullock and Ryan Gosling (Murder by Numbers).

 

4. St. Valentine's Day Massacre. (1929) Seven mobsters were lined up in front of a garage wall and executed by rival gangsters, masquerading as Chicago cops. Now here is where Al Capone differs from Leopold and Loeb (see above). Though it's universally understood that Capone was responsible, no one – not even any low-level members of his gang – went to trial for the murders. They not only left no witnesses, there was no physical evidence to tie the crime back to Al (who was vacationing in Florida at the time). 

 

5. John Dillinger. (1934) John Dillinger became a national folk hero for robbing banks and eluding law enforcement. The FBI gunned him down in front of The Biograph Theater, burnishing J. Edgar Hoover's legend. (Though I find it more than a little disturbing that agents engaged him in a shootout on a city street.)

 

6. Richard Speck. (1966) Oh! The nightmares little me had about Richard Speck! He broke into a dormitory and killed 8 of the 9 student nurses living there. He used a gun to force them into a bedroom where bound and gagged them, taking them one by one to another room to strangle or stab them. He unwittingly left a witness. He was so high he lost track of how many he held captive and how many he killed. Corazon Amurao slid under the bed and stayed perfectly still and silent for hours. I didn't have to look up her name, since I'll never forget her. When morning came, she wriggled out from under the bed and screamed out the window until help arrived. She described Speck in detail to police, including his "Born to Raise Hell" tattoo. During the citywide manhunt, he attempted suicide and she was taken to the hospital to identify him, and that tattoo. She faced him again in court. A new immigrant from the Philippines, she endured terror I can't imagine and behaved courageously, impeccably, to bring him to justice. I know she went back home, where she became a nurse, a wife, and a local politician. I pray she found peace.

 

7. The Democratic National Convention. (1968) This is when the phrase "Daley Cop" was born. Mayor Richard J. Daley (aka "Da Mare" or "King Richard I") was completely freaked out by the notion of protesters disrupting the Convention. So what did he do? Deployed literally tens of thousands of cops and National Guardsmen. Anti-war protesters were roughed up. McCarthy delegates were roughed up. Even CBS correspondent Dan Rather was roughed up. Now I don't mean to imply that the all the protesters were "angels" – that was the phrase: "it's not like they were angels." A lot of what they did was really gross (I remember there was proud public peeing). But what the country saw on TV was police brutality, and it did happen. Way too often. The DNC didn't hold another convention here until 1996. 

 

8. John Wayne Gacy. (1970s) John Wayne Gacy was a contractor who killed at least 33 people. Twenty-nine of his victims were found decomposing in the crawlspace under his home. (Hence the local joke: How's the weather at Gacy's house? 29 below.) Gacy lured young men and some boys still in their teens to his home with whatever it took. Some were promised booze or drugs, others money in exchange for sex, some thought they interviewing for summer construction jobs. Then he raped and killed them. In real time, this case sensitized me to LGBTQ issues. Gacy was able to carry on like this for years because some of the boys were gay runaways disowned by parents who never reported them as missing. Some bodies were identified but never claimed. That's how appalling parents can be when it comes to a child's sexuality. Better dead than gay. Yes, Gacy is the one who killed them and he was a monster. But these parents! How very Christian to deny your child a Christian burial. 

 

9. Patty Columbo. (1976) Patty was a pretty 19-year-old with feathered Farrah hair who seduced an older man and got him to help her kill her parents and her 13-year-old brother so she could inherit all the money. Because she appeared so normal, and the crime took place in a lily white village where brutality just doesn't happen, the nation was riveted. Patty and I are approximately the same age, and my family had a connection to the case – my mother's high school classmate was her public defender. My mom had some very juicy gossip about it that I shant repeat here but Patty was not a nice girl, nor was she especially sorry when not in front of the jury. She is still serving her 200 year sentence. I don't believe in the death penalty, but I'm fine with her staying exactly where she is.

 

10. Helen Brach. (1977) The Brach fortune was built on candy corn, and Helen inherited a ton from her late husband, Frank Brach. When she was in her 60s, she went to The Mayo Clinic for her annual check up but never returned to her mansion. She never got on a plane. She didn't rent a car or take the train. She just POOF! Vanished. No body has ever been found. She had been seduced – sexually and financially – by an unsavory man who got her to invest heavily in race horses that weren't worth anything. After she dumped him, she was never seen again. It's presumed that he disposed of her before she could file charges, but this has never been proven. He did serve time for defrauding her, but no body has been found and no one has been held responsible for her murder. Law & Order corrected that, though. Jack McCoy get a conviction in an episode that tracked very closely with Helen's case. 

 

11. Tylenol. (1982) Every time you wrestle to open your OTC meds, think of Chicago. Somebody tampered with Tylenol capsules and put the bottles back on store shelves throughout the area. Seven people – including a little girl – died of cyanide poisoning. No motive was ever established, no one ever went to trial for these unsolved murders. But you feel the effect of it today. First of all, there are fewer powder-filled capsules and more solid tablets on store shelves. Then there's the packaging. Now boxes are sealed shut and foil has been added to the mouth of each bottle so it's evident if it's been tampered with.

 

12. Jon Burge. (1980s-1990s) A very bad cop. This police commander participated in or approved the torture of suspects that resulted in over 100 false confessions. Men in his custody were beaten, burned with cigarettes and shocked with a cattle prod. I have a personal connection to this case, too. My dear friend John served on a jury that sentenced a man to death for murdering four people one night in 1984. John was raised Catholic and imposing the death sentence weighed heavily on his conscience. Still, he reasoned, the law is the law and the defendant had confessed! Well, guess what: That confession came after hours of torture at the hands of Burge himself, who applied electric shocks to the balls. (Yes, you read that right.) Fortunately Burge was brought to justice and the ten (10!) men put on Death Row by Burge were pardoned. But that trial, and his role in it, really messed with my friend John. Imagine walking around knowing you could have helped put an innocent man to death. John was a victim of Burge's, too. There's such a ripple effect to these stories. PS The phrase "Daley Cop" resurfaced when Burge's bad deeds were revealed in the 1990s, for Richard M. Daley, aka King Richard II, was Mayor at the time.

 

13. Heather Mack. (2014) A teenage girl doesn’t want to wait to control her $1 million trust fund. So she brings her boyfriend, Tommy, along on a vacation with her widowed mother. Destination: Bali. Explanations for what happened next differ, but this is indisputable – Mom's bloody body was stuffed into a suitcase and left in Balinese taxi as Heather and Tommy tried to return to Chicago. The body was discovered before they could board their flight. To make matters juicier, Heather announces she's pregnant. Tommy thinks he's being a stand-up guy by saying he acted alone but no one believes him. Both were tried and sentenced to an Indonesian prison, where Heather's baby was born. This story is ongoing, and if you're interested, just plug her name into the Google Machine or ask the AI of your choice. I'm just so sick of Heather!

How about your town? Do you have a hall of shame?

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

 

Thursday Thirteen #463

 The "I blame J. Edgar Hoover" Edition. According to Goodreads, I am not quite on track to complete 38 books this year. This is in large part due to G-Man, the 900 page biography of J. Edgar Hoover. It took me nearly two months to plow through that 896 page book.

I realize I'm making myself feel bad for not meeting a completely voluntary and ultimately meaningless metric I set for myself, but hey, that's how I roll.

So it's taken me to mid-May, but here are the first 13 books I've read this year. 

1. The Family Holiday by Elizabeth Noble. Fiction

2. Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica. Thriller

 

3. G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage. Biography

 

4. Nobody Heard a Thing by Angela Henry. Thriller

 

5. Silver Spire by Robert Goldsborough. Mystery

 

6. The Last Coincidence by Robert Goldsborough. Mystery

 

7. Kids, Wait Til You Hear This by Liza Minnelli. Autobiography

 

8. Twilight of Camelot: The Short Life and Long Legacy of Patrick Bouvier Kennedy by Steven Levingston. Non-fiction

 

9. The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz. Mystery

 

10. Suitable for Framing by Edna Buchanan. Mystery

 

11. Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell by MC Beaton. Mystery

 

12. A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures by Ben Bradlee. Autobiography

 

13. Conversations with Kennedy by Ben Bradlee. Memoir

How about you? Have you set any reading goals for 2026? If yes, are you on your way to meeting them?

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

Thursday Thirteen #462

More than a singer. At last week's TCM Classic Film Festival, Eddie Muller called Frank Sinatra "the greatest singer of the 20th century." I don't know about that, exactly, but certainly Sinatra was a genius, influential singer. However I'm here to celebrate him as an actor. In the right part, away from the ring-a-ding-ding slickness of his Rat Pack persona, he can be authentic and affecting. Of his more than 50 films, these are my favorite 13.

1. Young at Heart (1954). I've seen this Technicolor musical more times than I can count. Barney Sloan is one of life's losers, but he has natural talent and when he falls in love, he really falls. His vulnerability is breathtaking, and he sings the most heartbreaking version of "Someone to Watch Over Me." 

2. The Joker Is Wild (1957). Based on a true story, Chicago crooner Joe E. Lewis runs afoul of the Mob and pays a hideous price. Even though the movie is in black-and-white, the violence is deeply disturbing. I admit it: I cried the first time I saw it,  I think in large part because Joe is such a likeable guy. Sinatra sings a justifiably famous rendition of "All the Way." 

3. From Here to Eternity (1953). He won his Oscar for Maggio, the skinny, noisy soldier who had more passion than sense. I won't say anything else about this performance in case you haven't seen the movie. I don't want to spoil it for you. But yeah, he was that good.

4. The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Frankie is a talented drummer, an accomplished gambler, and a tragic heroin addict. He wants to stay clean and he wants to do right, but wanting ain't getting. Sinatra is the best thing in a very good movie.

5. Kings Go Forth (1958). As WWII winds to an end, two American soldiers (Sinatra and Tony Curtis) fall in love with the same girl in the South of France. I'm not going to give away the plot twist, but Sinatra is moving as the man who is going to get his heart broken, no matter how this triangle is resolved.

6. The Manchurian Candidate (1962). A sweaty, sad, focused performance as a traumatized veteran. I appreciated this much-acclaimed political thriller, but it's too intense for me and I'll never watch it again.  

7. Pal Joey (1957). Joey is a singer with a lot of attitude, ambition and talent. He's torn between two women – a wealthy red-headed widow who can bankroll his dreams and a naive blonde who can't even take care of herself. Yeah, the plot is predictable, but Sinatra is so good as a heel.

8. The Detective (1968). This is a rather unpleasant movie about a very unpleasant crime. A murder victim was not only bludgeoned to death, he was mutilated. Sinatra plays Joe, the police detective determined to solve the case. The movie is mature, gritty and realistic and Sinatra disappears into the role. We don't always like Joe, but Sinatra makes sure we always understand him.

9. High Society (1956). In this remake of The Philadelphia Story, Sinatra has ridiculously blue-black hair. That aside, he's achingly romantic as he pines for Grace Kelly, and he has a great musical number with Bing Crosby, "What a Swell Party."

10. The First Deadly Sin (1980). Another Sinatra cop cleaning up New York. This detective is nearing the end of his career and he wants to go out a pro. But he's dealing with an insurmountable problem – his wife is in the hospital and he has to accept that she's not coming home. So he's losing the two pillars of his life at the same time. There's vulnerability, tenderness and resignation in Sinatra's final major acting role.

11. Robin & the Seven Hoods (1964). A retelling of the Robin Hood saga, set in Prohibition-era Chicago. Sinatra plays Robbo, a gangster with a heart of gold. It's not a great movie, but Sinatra inhabits it with superstar charisma. And he sings "Chicago." So there's that. 

12. Marriage on the Rocks (1965). Sinatra is kinda cute as he falls into The Generation Gap. He plays a man who spends too much time in his role of provider and not enough as husband and father. His long-suffering wife is sick of it. She feels too young to behave like an old married lady and demands a divorce. Frank is good as a man who is confused because, after following all the rules and doing what's expected, he still gets kicked in the pants.

13. It Happened in Brooklyn (1947). Another Sinatra soldier. He's eager to get home to Brooklyn and the girl he left behind. He brings a friend home with him, a shy and wealthy bachelor, and a love triangle ensues. Sinatra is charming as a silly, clueless young man who is all heart.

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.