The Writer's Life 6/4 - You Don't Have Mail

The following items were gleaned from today's NY Post: In a previous column, John Crudele alerted the public to a scam wherein sticky substances are spread on the lid of a mailbox to trap letters, which are then stolen. Readers informed him of two others. Slimeballs are filling out forms to have peoples' mail diverted to a different address so that information can be stolen, and creeps are pouring glue into mailboxes and somehow fishing out bundles of mail at a time. Twice this month I did not receive my weekly DVD from Netflix. I went to the website and reported having mailed back two I'd viewed recently, which they hadn't received. I wonder if thieves are stealing and selling them... In 1958 Hollywood legend Cary Grant, then 53, was prescribed LSD to try to help him figure out his difficulties with women, which he believed stemmed from his relationship with his mom, who was eventually institutionalized. He'd been married twice to that point. He participated in 100 sessions, each lasting five to six hours, receiving a moderate dosage compared to what became fashionable in the '60's. He married twice more, so the results are debatable, but he did leave the doctor $10,000 upon his passing, and in a Look magazine profile he said of the experience: "I learned to accept responsibility for my own actions... At last I'm close to happiness." Given his charismatic screen presence, who would have suspected this?... Bill Maher gives me the creeps. I've never watched his show, though I've read some of the quotes that have come from it, all of which I found pathetic. I hate coming to his defense, especially since I love when the left turns on one of their own, but... Okay, he used the n-word, and he's taking plenty of flak for it. He has apologized. It's time to move on. Will those calling for his firing demand that all the artists who use the n-word in their work also be banned? Yeah, right... Kudos to pro golfer Phil Mickelson, who will forgo this year's U.S. Open, which he has never won, to attend the high school graduation of his daughter. He is about to turn 47. Time is against him. May he win it next year.

There were three notable events in MLB yesterday. Edinson Volquez, 33, of the Miami Marlins threw a no-hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He faced the minimum 27 batters, the two walks he issued erased by double plays. He threw only 98 pitches... Albert Pujols, 37, became the ninth major leaguer to hit at least 600 home runs - and he's done it without a single bust for steroid use... RIP Jimmy Piersall, 87, who had a 17-year career big league career. He batted .272 and socked 104 homers. He won two Gold Gloves and was twice named to the All-Star team. He accomplished all that following a nervous breakdown in 1952, which he detailed in a book, Fear Strikes Out, published in 1955, adapted to the screen in 1957 starring Tony Perkins and Karl Malden. Known as a character, he ran the bases backwards during his 100th home run trot, fittingly as a member of the 1963 amazin' Mets, who lost 111 games. Here he is backing in to home plate:

My thanks to the kind folks who bought wares today at the floating book shop. I had a visit from B.S. Bob, who had a brief meeting with a Hollywood guy about his screenplay, Christmas 1945. The stooge said he won't look at it until its formatted in the industry standard. Bob attended the recent Brooklyn Film Festival and made contact with a young director. Good luck, sir.
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