Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 4/8 - Pranks

Long ago, probably in the early 60's, I remember a group of teenager pranksters lifting a Volkswagen Beetle, which were uncommon at the time, and hiding it in an alley, snickering. Modern pranksters aren't as kind. According to an article at Yahoo News, vandals flipped over a handful of miniature Smart cars parked in two quiet San Francisco neighborhoods on Monday. Officers responding to reports of a loud crash at about one AM found four of the tiny energy-efficient vehicles upside down, on their side or rear. Witnesses told police a group of six to eight people dressed in black hooded sweatshirts gathered around and tipped over at least one car. So-called "Smart tipping" became an issue several years ago in Canada and Amsterdam, where pranksters would lift the two-seaters and plop them onto their sides or dump them into canals. In the Bay Area, a total of three flipped Smart cars, which are five feet shorter than a Beetle, were spotted on Monday within a few blocks of each other. Police are investigating the episode as a felony vandalism case that could bring jail time as well as a fine. While on my morning walk, I saw a young dad loading his infant, who was in a car seat, onto the front seat of one. I know they are made of racing car-like steel and have many air bags, but I'd think twice about putting a baby in one. Here's a pic:

The pranks had me thinking of my favorite of all-time. The legendary John Barrymore, grandfather of Drew, died at sixty of Hollywood excesses. A group of his drinking buddies decided to play a trick on another of their cohorts, Errol Flynn. Raoul Walsh, Bertholdt Brecht, Peter Lorre, W.C. Fields and other cronies, the "Bundy Drive Boys," kidnapped Barrymore's body, bribing an undertaker, to scare the bejesus out of the hard-drinking heartthrob. They sat it in a chair in Flynn's living room, where Barrymore always used to sit. Flynn entered, nodded at Barrymore and strode towards the bar....then froze. Flynn and Paul Heinried said it was true, writer Gene Fowler said it was false. Since it will never be verified or proved bogus, I choose to believe the myth. Here's a pic of Barrymore:

Kudos to Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who has scored 25 or more points in 41 consecutive games, surpassing Michael Jordan's record. It's a great accomplishment, but he is still in pursuit of his first NBA championship, while Jordan has six rings to flash.

Mother Nature cooperated beautifully, halting the rain just before eleven, which led to a nice day for the floating book shop. I had a visit from one of my most loyal customers, Marie, who told me how much she enjoyed viewing Rosemary's Baby (1968) again. I brought back a fond memory. I saw it at a lecture hall at WMU, where films were run on weekends for a token charge. As Mia Farrow approached the bassinet, knife in hand, the room was silent. Suddenly a black girl said: "Kill it, honey." I almost busted a gut suppressing laughter. It had Marie laughing too.
My thanks to the kind folks who made purchases, and to Madeline, who donated six useful books, including two on cooking. A Russian gentleman paid with a two-dollar bill. I hadn't seen one in ages.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx