Stuff Larry Sez - Meryl Natchez

Who designed that sign?

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

While I was gone, Larry saved a couple of obituaries for me. My favorite was for a man I’d never heard of, Adrian Frutiger. If you’ve ever followed an airport sign at JFK or Charles deGaulle Airports, used the Paris Metro or the London Underground, you’ve seen his exceptionally readable Univers or Frutiger fonts.

Born in Switzerland, he developed more than 40 unique typefaces, including the one at the bottom of checks that can be read by both people and machines. He focused on making the type itself inconspicuous, and his innovation was the square dot over the i in signage fonts, which made it more readable at a distance.

Here’s a quote: Continue reading “Who designed that sign?” →

All Star Larry

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

Last week was a big week for Larry in his softball career in the Creaker league. He was inducted into the Creaker Hall of Fame (based on his contributions to the organization), and he was named to the 2015 All Star Team (based on ability). In his acceptance speech for the former, he noted that he’d been practicing his speech since he was 10 or 12 years old, though he thought it would be given a lot earlier, at Cooperstown. Continue reading “All Star Larry” →

Dual Mandate

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

As a graduate of the Father Guido Sarducci’s 5-minute University, I was really happy that Larry introduced me to the issue of the Fed’s dual mandate in a way I could understand. Greg Mankiw, a Harvard Professor of Economics, has created a video to explain the thorny problem for our Federal Reserve, initially created to keep our currency stable and control inflation. Now, the additional mandate of keeping unemployment low has been added, and Greg explains this in a delightful country western song. Now I’m up to speed on current economics.

King Larry of Raffertitti

Posted on July 7, 2015July 7, 2015 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

Larry’s over-60 softball league, the Creakers, posts write-ups for some of the games. Here is Larry’s from last week, with his well-deserved sobriquet:

“The Creaker Gold erupted in the top of six ….marching players to the mat and scoring runs with nearly every hit, including a second monstrous three-run homer by King Larry of Raffertitti that was nearly identical to one he had hit in his prior at bat. They both soared high and deep and parted the left center and right center fielders like Moses parted the Seas…..the two outfielders showed their numbers for a long time as they raced to the recess of center field and by use of about three relays got the ball back into the infield well after the Gold trio was doing high fives on their way back to the visitor’s dugout. ” Continue reading “King Larry of Raffertitti” →

Theft and recovery

Posted on April 2, 2015April 2, 2015 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

On Tuesday, Larry went to his softball game where his team discovered that someone had used a bolt cutter to break open the equipment shed and stolen the defibrillator and first aid kit. An odd theft.

The Creaker League has a defibrillator at each field, and will now have to store them in one spot, and gather them before each game. Continue reading “Theft and recovery” →

Spring training

Posted on March 7, 2015March 7, 2015 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

Larry has been waiting longingly for the baseball season to start, and today when I went in to his office to discuss breakfast, he was staring mournfully at his computer.

“I can’t figure out what A’s games are going to be on the radio,” he complained.

As there was a twitter site listed for FM 95.7, the channel that hosts the A’s game, I suggested he ask them on Twitter. A few clicks, and we were on his Twitter account and asked the question to @95.7THEGAME. Continue reading “Spring training” →

Bragging

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

Larry had a great softball game yesterday. He hit for the cycle, that means a single, double, triple and home run in one game. He caught everything playable, and had five hits and seven RBI’s. This was his writeup on the Creakers’ web page:

“For the hard fought victory, the major domo big banger award goes to Larry, Mr. BeBop, Basher who hit for the cycle Plus….a crushed homer to deep left, a ringing triple, (2) doubles and a single driving in a bevy of runs.” Continue reading “Bragging” →

Labyrinthine

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Meryl in Labyrinths, Stuff Larry Sez

Just before the rainy days, I managed to finish weeding and replanting the labyrinth for spring. Lots of spinach, sorrel, herbs, and mustard greens remain and self seed each year. And this year some blue honey wart, too. Not to mention my friend’s statue.

And meanwhile, this by Robert Shiller from today’s paper, read to me by Larry, on the labyrinthine world of finance–the path through that is more convoluted:

“Governments…use expanded credit in a desperate effort to placate a dissatisfied electorate. Credit expansion can create housing bubbles and an illusion of wealth for many people, for a while, at least. ‘Let them eat credit.’ “

Encore

Posted on January 23, 2015January 23, 2015 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

This morning Larry was reading about the bribery indictment of New York State Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver–the front page headline in the Times. The lead editorial was “Silver Should Step Down.” Larry’s comment, “He will, for a fee.”

Lots of them out there…

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

This morning at breakfast I was telling Larry about a terrific new book I just finished (more on that later). I mentioned that I had to look up five words when reading it. My favorite was: tertulia, an informal meeting of people to talk about current affairs, arts, etc.

“I have a good vocabulary. It’s unusual for me to have to look up so many words,” I added.

“Well, there’s a lot of them out there,” he responded.

Don’t worry, be happy

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez

When we were in St. Petersburg, we noticed that the people in the street seemed generally depressed. When we talked about this, Larry commented that there was not a lot of opportunity in Russia, “You don’t see people lining up at the borders trying to get in,” was how he put it.

Today, Larry read an article in the paper that posited that acting happy influences people to feel happier. “Maybe we should tell that to the Russians,” he suggested.

Connoisseur of Torture Museums

Posted on September 27, 2014September 28, 2014 by Meryl in Stuff Larry Sez, Travel

Larry and I went to the Peter Paul Fortress, a former military bastion just over the Neva river from the Hermitage. Like every multi-part attraction we visited here, it wasn’t possible to buy one ticket for everything. You pay to get in, and then each little area has its own ticket booth with someone in it selling a small ticket for their attraction. “That’s socialism for you,” Larry commented, “full employment through inefficiency.”

In any case, aside from the very sobering prison, with its lists of the famous and not so famous political prisoners, we had to see the torture museum, with its careful catalog of the ingenious ways people have tortured each other through the centuries. I was surprised to see that the guillotine was in use in France until 1977.

Larry felt it was significantly better than its counterpart in Siena, which we also visited. A few images from the museum follow, but you may want to stop here. They’re not for the faint of heart. Each image has a helpful little blurb like this one, in Russian and in English:

Continue reading “Connoisseur of Torture Museums” →