By Randy Cohen
Michael Bierly, a 64-year-old Los Angeles lawyer, told the New York Times: “It simply didn’t work. It was cumbersome and painful. I was clumsy–you have to mix things up, and that took me 10 or 15 minutes. By the time I get done, she’s asleep.” What didn’t work? What did Bierly do then?
by noon ET Wednesday to e-mail your answer (NewsQuiz@slate.com).
Responses to Monday’s question (No. 22)–“Old Acquaintance”:
Dead Friday at 88, Ferdinand Porsche–creator of the car that bears his name, and son of the designer of the Volkswagen Beetle–described someone as “simpatico if you knew him personally.” Knew whom?
“The lovely Miss Kaye Ballard.”–Larry Amaros
“Please say it isn’t Adolf Hitler.”–M.G. Lord
“That nice Mr. Hitler. Sweet, generous, never burned a clutch, and not half the anti-Semite Henry Ford was.”–Beth Sherman
“I fear the mirthless real answer is the same as the mirthless joke answer: Hitler. And Pol Pot’s Elmer Fudd is apparently uncanny and just breaks everyone up.”–David Rakoff
Click for more responses.
Randy’s Wrap-Up and Answer Merged With German Efficiency
Yes, yes, of course it was. I believe Porsche praised his pal at the Time magazine 75th anniversary dinner, while sitting between Henry Kissinger and the ghost of Idi Amin. It was yet another event lacking a sense of history extending back more than five minutes. It was yet another reminder that there is no crime that places you beyond rehabilitation as long as you dress nicely and have a way with rack and pinion steering.
No doubt due to the Slate reader’s well-known enthusiasm for high-performance automobiles, there were correct responses from players too numerous to mention. Oh, all right, let’s mention some: Ron Solow, Glenn Farber, Ari Spectorman, Jonathan Ferziger, Michael Wetmore, Aaron Schatz, Fred Bernstein, Erich Van Dussen (with the unsettling Internet service provider naz.edu), Arnon D. Siegel (with the all-volunteer ISP army.mil), Thomas Reynolds, David Martin, Dennis Levandoski, and Gloria Howard.
Disclaimer: All submissions will become the property of Slate and will be published at Slate’s discretion. Slate may publish your name on its site in connection with your submission.
