My Impromptus column today is headed “Back to 9/11, &c.” The subheading says, “On conspiracy theories, a brave Iranian exile, nuclear power, Fidel Ramos, Bill Russell, Leontyne Price, Luciano Pavarotti, tampons in the men’s room, and more.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa. “Tampons in the men’s room”? Yes. I could not help snapping a photo (which is in my column). A basket of tampons, thoughtfully placed at the sinks.
This men’s room was on a college campus, which is perhaps unsurprising.
Anyway, our Judd Berger said he was reminded of a Mötley Crüe hit, from 1985: “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room.” “Tampons in the Men’s Room” does not have exactly the same ring — but maybe some creative types could make something of it.
Pause for a language note? The dots in “Mötley Crüe” are even stranger than those in “Häagen-Dazs.”
Let’s have some reader mail. In response to my piece yesterday on Marilyn Horne, the legendary singer, a reader writes,
Dear Jay,
. . . I had the privilege of attending a few of her master classes. Now when I hear singers, I ask myself, “What would MH say?”
Another reader writes,
Jay,
. . . My discovery of Marilyn Horne was in college, when I became a convert to classical music and something of an autodidact on the subject, with Harold C. Schonberg’s lives of the great conductors never too far away. I couldn’t resist splurging for the Deutsche Grammophon recording of Carmen, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, and it remains a favorite recording to this day.
Horne sings the title character on that recording.
In recent weeks, I have published various notes on Americanism (the general subject of). A reader writes,
Hi, Jay,
I had let my NR subscription expire so I renewed it today and got caught up on all the great info NR has to offer. When I read what you said about Americanism, I went to my Facebook archives from 5/8/20 to copy and paste something. This takes place in Houghton/Hancock, Mich. Today’s America could use a unifying victory.
Houghton and Hancock are twin cities in the Upper Peninsula. This is what our reader wrote, on the eighth of May, 2020:
Today is the 75th anniversary of V-E Day — victory in Europe, when what was left of the German government surrendered to the Allies. My oldest uncle, Bob, was 8 years old and the family was living in the Houghton/Hancock area when the church bells began to ring and the sirens started to blow. People gathered in the streets to find out what was going on, and when they heard the news, it was as if a big weight had been lifted off the American psyche. Soon the gas coupons would vanish and the victory gardens where the Copper Country Mall is now would not need to be weeded.
Stay in Michigan, for a note on an item I had in a recent column. Jim Harbaugh, by the way, is the coach of the University of Michigan football team, and a former NFL quarterback — and a former U of M quarterback. (And one of my oldest friends. We met in fifth grade.)
Writes a reader,
Jay —
. . . As a dyed-in-the-wool Buckeye — scarlet and gray — it pains me to praise Jim Harbaugh — he was Michigan’s quarterback during my nascent years at THE Ohio State University — but he has been raised in my esteem due to his unabashedly pro-life comments. I agree with you: Let Jim be Jim. And I look forward to beating Michigan by four touchdowns in Columbus in November.
Finally,
Hi, Jay:
Just so you know, the Indiana State Fair will be opening a brand-new air-conditioned Swine Barn! Yes — Hamps, Durocs, and all the others will be basking in air-conditioned Hoosier air. It don’t git no better than that!
I expect to see you at the fair next summer . . .
Hog heaven.
P.S. The heading over this blogpost is an homage to Reader’s Digest, which had a feature called “Life in These United States.”