Pickles by Brian Crane for September 10, 2022

Abe Vigoda

My memory needs all the help it can get. Mnemonics work.

Abe was great in the “Godfather”.

My brain stumps me too…I never know where its going

And what was the name of the rich old man on The Simpsons? Montgomery Frostbite? I’m certain it sounded like a skin discoloration caused by temperature.

In reality, Vigoda was only 54 when Barney Miller premiered, not as old as Fish appeared to be.

Where “works” is used loosely…

I thought she told him to “go fish”, as she didn’t have the answer he asked for.

Sometimes something I want to remember pops right up on a memory detail unimportant or obscure, as if a computer search engine was working efficiently.

Sometimes my mind struggles to latch on, slowly spiraling closer. I visualize phantom fingers flicking through the long drawers of a library card catalog; or little sprites taking small nibbles around the periphery until the memory emerges fully; or like licking a Tootsie Roll Pop to get to the chewy center.

Like the HAL computer, I can feel my memory bank losing efficiency; but not data, because minutes or even hours after a search is initiated the memory bit flashes on my mental screen suddenly. “Oh, yeah. How could I forget that?”

It’s fascinating and distressing at the same time. Bodily decrepitude might be wisdom (per Yeats), but mental decrepitude is a depressing loss of it.

I am surprised that Earl’s mind works at all.

The word Fart too Earl!

Philip K. Fish.

Barney Miller: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072472/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0Fish (Barney Miller spinoff): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075506/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Played by Abe Vigoda.

I’m with Opal! Especially when I get in my car. Who gives these people licenses and what are they thinking driving so close to a trucks bumper at 65 mph.

Vigoda had his own show for awhile called Fish. Ran for 35 episodes. It wasn’t bad. He did it the same time he was on Barney Miller.

I would have bet on “Fart.”

Age has a way of creeping up on us. We really don’t notice until someone reminds to look back.

I have a difficult time remembering names too, Earl. And not because I’m a senior. I’ve always had that problem.

Kind of like the yeti and ice skates. I’ve often wondered about that…

Some peoples brains are wired differently…some have more shorts than others…

Smelly thing that starts with an ‘F’? Oh yeah, it’s a family strip. Which also starts with an ‘F’.

In this old geezer’s case, I often pick the wrong letter.

Yep. One wonders about that brain of Earl’s. He married a hag after all.

Earl is discovering how the brain groups information. There maybe more than one reference to an item. Purpose, sound, context, a trigger for a memory. On the last one, consider how a song can bring up memory of an experience. Happens all the time for me. At this moment, I am recalling the first time I heard James Taylor’s Fire and Rain.

Then there’s his cousin, Funk, great grandson of the co-founder of Funk and Wagnall. You could look it up!

I can never remember how to spell mnemonics.

How ever it works…it works!

Suzuki Goro was my favourite cast member. He used the working name Jack Soo.

I don’t feel so old now that “Barney Miller” was brought up!

Adventures.

Feta? Feces?

at age 92 my brain has turned to bean dip

Many people and things are worthy of intensive study.

Earl is a prime example.

I can be bad with remembering names. We had another tenant in our building whose name was Ralph. I told him that I had a sure fire way of remembering his name. He asked me what it was. I told him that when I see him I think of vomit. Thank goodness he had a sense of humor! :-)

Yes me too.not related to the strip.Not to be redundant here. This will be very brief, missing a lot of information. This year mid May fell fracture lower left hip, left leg muscle effected, 2 different trips with Orthopedics with instructions, on therapy for 3 weeks, they are impressed, my pain level is reducing down, in house therapy is almost over, soon out patient therapy. I am doing better on 8 steps down then up that used to scare me, now going outside with walker not very far. Feels I walked 1/2 mile which only to next driveway. Church I go to too much walking, and on driving not be able to concentrate. November 22 back to Orthopedic I hope better news.

Bonus point for anyone who can tell me Fish’s first name, middle initial and rank. Double bonus if you know his wife’s name. Triple bonus if you can name his daughter and her occupation. All without referencing Wikipedia or IMDB.

When I watch old movies I bring up the movie/cast on IMBd page. That way I can cross check what else the actor was in while I’m at it.

Barney Miller was the funniest show ever. I can watch those episodes over and over and crack up every time

My husband tells me that all the time. It is ADHD. I will recall the answer in the middle of a completely different discussion.

AbbyGonie