Sunday Sudoku

Complete the grid so that each row, column, and 3-by-3 framed block contains the letters P A R K B E N C H (only once) RATED DIFFICULT

Rare East Coast Earth Quake Shakes up Washington

-----------NEWS from CPSC-----------
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, www.CPSC.gov
Report an Unsafe Product: http://SaferProducts.gov

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Note: yesterday, with the confusion caused by the earthquake on the East Coast of the US and having certain functions, including the subscription list messages, transferred among various people, we inadvertently sent an email with the subject line "FW: not sure if Rick is online since we all got sent home because of the earthquake" when the subject line should have been "News from CPSC - Two Recalls". The message did come from CPSC and the content of the e-mail (the two recalls) was correct. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.

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Back to School with Benchley

"Although it hardly seems credible, it is almost time to begin packing the kiddies off to school again. Here they have been all summer, the rascals, tracking sand into the dining room, rolling Grandma about, and bringing in little playmates who have been exposed to mumps (when Daddy himself hasn't had mumps yet, and mumps for Daddy would be no fun), and in all kinds of ways cheering up the Old Manse to the point of bursting it asunder.

"...I can remember the time (by pressing my temples very hard and holding my breath) when the opening of school meant simply buying a slate with a sponge tied to it and a box of colored crayons. No one, to my knowledge, ever used a slate and a sponge. They were simply a sentimental survival of an even earlier day which the man in the stationery store forced on children who were going to school. The colored crayons were, of course, for eating.

"But we bought our slates and our sponges and our crayons (sometimes with a ruler for slapping purposes), and then never used them, for the school furnished all the pencils and pads of yellow paper which were necessary. One of the great releases of my grown-up life has been that I don't have to write on a yellow sheet of paper with blue lines ruled on it half an inch apart. I don't like to have to write my lines half an inch apart, and now that I am a great big man, I don't do it. That's one of the advantages of graduating from school."


From "Ding-Dong School Bells" by Robert Benchley, Benchley Lost and Found

Sunday Sudoku

Complete the grid so that each row, column, and 3-by-3 framed block contains the letters P A R K B E N C H (only once) RATED EASY

Sunday Sudoku

Complete the grid so that each row, column, and 3-by-3 framed block contains the letters P A R K B E N C H (only once) RATED EASY

Sunday Sudoku

Complete the grid so that each row, column, and 3-by-3 framed block contains the letters P A R K B E N C H (only once) RATED DIFFICULT

Another RBS Success Story

Robert Benchley Society member and winner of the 2009 RBS Award for Humor Writing, Ed Tasca, has just been declared the Grand Prize Winner for his new screenplay.

Ed’s screenplay, Vinegar and Brown Paper, won the 5th Screenplay Search Screenwriting Competition! The story, comprised of a wilderness battle of man against beast in an attempt to recover his wounded son and a back-story of a family disintegrating because of hidden secrets, is told with virtually no dialogue - a unique feat that makes the most compelling use of cinematic narrative.

Screenplay Search is one of the most respected competitions for screenwriters. The winner of the Screenplay Search Scriptwriting Competition will have his script presented to literary managers, producers and directors, who are looking for top-notch scripts for development and production.

Parkerfest Set for Aug. 21 & 22

This just in from the Dorothy Parker Society:

Sunday, Aug. 21, Noon-5 p.m.
Jazz Age Lawn Party & Festival on Governors Island.
Join us as we have a Sunday afternoon picnic party at one of New York's greatest parks, the one that is located on Governors Island in New York Harbor. Dress up in period 1920s attire. Live music by Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra. A dreamy afternoon rendezvous of live music and dance, instruction in period dances, picnicking, a "best pie" judging competition, a vintage automobile exhibit, and more. The ferry ride to the island is free from Manhattan & Brooklyn. Tickets are available in advance for $7; $10 at the doors (kids under 12 free) buy tickets here.

Monday, Aug. 22, 6 p.m.
Algonquin Round Table Walking Tour
Location: Algonquin Hotel, 59 W. 44th St (bet 5th and 6th Avenues)
Cost: $10

Walk in the footsteps of the Vicious Circle in the only walking tour dedicated to the city's greatest literary friends. See the places where the Round Table lived, worked, played and drank. You'll visit the former homes, theaters and speakeasies associated with Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Franklin P. Adams, Heywood Broun, Edna Ferber, George S. Kaufman and many more. The walk begins and ends in the landmark Algonquin Hotel; it will be shortened to accommodate the evening start and finish time. The walk is led by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, president of the DPS and author of A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York. RSVP here.