More Like Crap-titude

The world was happy yesterday with the prospect of President Donald Trump possibly being dead. He hadn't been seen since Tuesday or Wednesday and had nothing on his schedule for this Labor Day weekend. He then apparently went golfing with his grandchildren, returned to rant and rave and conduct policy over social media, and woke up to go golfing again this morning.

If these are actually pictures of him from the last couple of days, he looks terrible. "Quit making jokes. Trump is alive and well!" Is he though? Sure he might be alive--the jury is kind of still out on that--but is he well? If not, that's fine, we the people just need to know. We spent four years speculating on Joe Biden's health so why not spend another four years speculating on Donald Trump's health? It's only fair.

Anyway, someday Donald Trump will die and the majority of people will be happy about it. And he has to sit with that. Sure, he may not care. He may get angry and decide to make policy based off his hatred of people wanting him to be dead. "Wishing someone dead should be as illegal as actually making someone dead!" I feel we should continue to act like President Trump is dead and as a first act of remembrance, the Epstein files should be released. Burn in Hell, you old bastard!

May 31, 1987

Is this a Christmas play (the strip came out in May after all) or is it a generic Sunday School-like play? It's nice to see Marcie and Lucy from Peanuts making a cameo in this Born Loser.

What was the rest of Hattie's line? Sure, she comes out saying "I bring you good tidings" but what's her next line? She actually has to give the tidings.

I can't get over the "I printed out this email from Wilberforce's school..." He printed out an email. He didn't just bring the laptop over or point it out on his phone. He printed out the email. Is he going to put that in Wilberforce's scrapbook with all his other achievements? I'm just kidding, of course. Wilberforce has no other achievements?

I will be the first to admit we need to do something about our educational system. It fails kids routinely and just pushes kids down the line whether or not they are ready. If Wilberforce isn't ready for third grade, then why is he in third grade? Because our system is set up to just pass him along. And no wonder he's not ready, he comes from a man who prints off emails.

If you would like to support me or this website, you can do that here.

Thursday Quickies

March 11, 1966

You should've made sure in the first place, or not used a real gun at all, cuz even blanks could cause damage.

Is the original Lord Covington actor ok? I see he's dripping blood as he's being carried away...

If my boss ever did this to me (the arm on the shoulder, not saying that I suck) I'd quit.

Not That Impressive, Really

October 30, 1965

One thing I find interesting is how many times cartoons, comics, TV shows, movies, basically anything pop culture-related of a certain age go to the William Tell well. It's like quicksand, piranhas, and dynamite. Just made us kids go around thinking someone would want to shoot an apple off our head.

"I got up just before dawn this morning." "Good slap-happy God, why?!?" is a much better response.

At this time of year, dawn is typically around 5:50 AM in Cleveland, Ohio, which is a normal time to wake up if you have to be at work by 8 and you have a normal routine that includes eating breakfast every morning.

Friend of the Friendless

July 8, 1965

Were movie theater seats different back then? I see this joke a lot of heads and hats blocking the screen. Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy is lousy with these jokes. I understand hats but were the seats not true theater seating? I've been in older theaters and the seating seemed fine. I could see the whole screen, subtitles and all.

Veeblefester has no use for friends. Besides, is he losing his temper at work? He shouldn't be friends with his employees anyway. He's the boss.

Brutus Doesn't Want to Go

Veeblefester is well aware that he doesn't need you, Brutus. I think he just keeps you around because he can delegate all the work he doesn't want to do to you for a very low price. He also just keeps you around as some sort of jester or entertainment monkey.

Vivian Patee

Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" McDermott was born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 4, 1860. At the age of 12, the McDermotts moved to the Lawrence, Kansas area where she attended the White School until the age of 16 when she got a job at the Lawrence Tribune. She was employed at the Tribune for a few years until moving to Topeka to work at the state printing office and then to the Topeka Daily Commonwealth. It was in Topeka that she met Claire M. Patee, who managed a traveling theater. They got married in 1884 and she joined him traveling around the country with the theater and soon started appearing on stage as well. It was here that Vivian Patee was born.

ad for the Patee Comedians performing
at the Bowersock Opera House in
Lawrence, Kansas. Sept. 1891.

Clarence M. Patee was born in Ashland, Kansas on May 6, 1857. Claire founded the Manhattan Mercury before becoming involved with the theater, creating his own troupe and performing a variety of plays and musicals. Around the turn of the century, the Patees quickly hopped onto the advent of motion pictures. Claire reportedly helped Thomas Edison with his work on movie projectors and owned one of the first movie theaters in the United States, located in New Jersey and opening in 1898 in Jersey City.

Taking this newfound technology, the Patees returned to Lawrence around 1903 to care for Vivian's stepfather and opened The Nickel, not only the first movie theater in Lawrence but the first one west of the Mississippi River. Patee would later open a theater in Kansas City. The Nickel was located at 708 Massachusetts Street. The location today is home to the Dusty Bookshelf.

The Patee's opened a new theater in 1913, a grand building at 828 Massachusetts Street. The Patees would continue to operate this theater until Clair's death in 1930. It would later be operated by Commonwealth Amusement. Sadly, the building would burn down in 1955 and would be demolished later that year. Part of the new J.C. Penny building (The Antique Mall) and alleyway was built in 1959.

The 1913 Patee Theater

Harlem Renaissance poet, Langston Hughes would spend countless hours in the theaters of Lawrence when he was growing up. He specifically remembers patronizing the Patee until one day he arrived to learn that they put up a sign banning black people from entering their theater. In fact, until Bowersock Theater, now Liberty Hall, opened in 1912, Hughes and the other black residents of Lawrence couldn't enter any of the movie theaters in town.

For most of 1915, Vivian suffered from stomach and bowel ailments that put her in the hospital several times. Vivian passed away on May 24, 1915 in Rosedale Hospital in Kansas City. She was only 54-years-old.

Claire continued working in the theater business. He even published a pamphlet about the movie industry trying to dispel the numerous falsities that permeated about the new industry. Claire passed away in 1930. Along with his wife, he was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence. She had purchased the plot shortly before her death and an elaborate gravestone was installed. The stone mentions her country origins, her time in journalism, and philanthropy but oddly leaves out her time in theater--both performing and entrepreneurship. The epitaph concludes with the journalistic shorthand for the end: "30".

If you would like to support my writing or research, you can buy me a coffee over on Ko-fi.