Smiley Anders for Aug. 9, 2012

More ways to use new technology

Butch Arceneaux, of New Iberia, says my columns concerning communications technology remind him of a note he received from a friend:

“I was visiting my son and daughter-in-law when I asked if I could borrow a newspaper.

“ ‘This is the 21st century, old man,’ my son said. ‘We don’t waste money on newspapers. Here, you can borrow my iPad.’

“I can tell you, that bloody fly never knew what hit
it. …”

Drinking problem

After a mention of the ironic nature of the entrance to the Tennessee State Capitol — a statue of a prohibitionist above the Lem Motlow (of Jack Daniel’s fame) Memorial Tunnel — I heard from Ward Bond about a similar local irony:

“Old-timers have chuckled over the years at the statue on what was originally a water fountain placed in the neutral ground in the third block of North Boulevard by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

“The fountain was to offer an alternative to that which they wished tempered.

“Unbeknownst, it is assumed, to the WTCU, the statue is of Hebe, the cup-bearer who poured and brought wine to the gods.

“Appropriately, the statue has done an about-face in the Town Square renovation, and now offers her libations to the City Club bar.”

Inquiring Minds Dept.

Here’s an answer for Doug Johnson, of Watson:

Yes, Doug, I know Texas hold ’em poker is a feature of the TV sports channels.

But no, I don’t believe it will be an Olympic event any time in the foreseeable future.

Memory Lane

Miriam Juban asks, “Do your readers have any info on Red Rock Cola, bottled in Baton Rouge? I found two bottles, along with Grapette and Squeeze bottles.

“Grapette was sold at the snack station on the ferry that crossed back and forth between Baton Rouge and Port Allen, carrying cars and people.”

Looking for stuff

“I don’t know what it is about the month of August,” says Trish Mann of Cancer Services.

“This is now the third year I have asked for donations of wheelchairs because we have run so low on them in August.” Serviceable wheelchairs can be dropped off at the Cancer Services office, 550 Lobdell Ave., between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call Trish at [phone].

Good Samaritans

Kimberly Broussard, of Carville, thanks two gents who had the ingenuity to retrieve her cellphone battery from a drain:

“At the CVS on Government and Acadian Thruway, I was walking to my car when I dropped my cellphone and the battery fell into a drain.

“Luckily I had a Boy Scout tent in my car, and they used tent rods with a piece of sticky tape on the end to maneuver the battery up out of the drain.

“This took a lot of time, and I thank them for helping a ‘freaking-out’ lady.”

Male call

Baton Rouge’s longest-running stag party (so to speak) will be held Saturday when the 77th annual Catholic High Men’s Club Barbecue is held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the school gym.

All alumni and male friends are invited to the steak-out. Take-outs are available to others (and those of other genders) from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

You can buy tickets at the door or at the take-out, or by calling [phone].

Special People Dept.

• Hilda Delapasse celebrates her 100th birthday Thursday.
• On Thursday Allie Smylie Welch celebrates her 99th birthday.
• Roger Bourg Jr., of Napoleonville, celebrates his 97th birthday Thursday.
• Edith Frazer celebrates her 91st birthday Thursday.
• Calvin and Teenie Bajon celebrate their 61st anniversary Thursday.
• Ken and Shirley Hirschey celebrated their 56th anniversary Monday.

In Mom’s footsteps

Barbara Dugas Cheney says her 3-year-old daughter “sure showed me what a backseat driver I am!

“On our way to the mall, I stopped short at a red light, causing the car to jolt.

“As soon as I jerked, my daughter, in the back seat, hollered ‘Daaaaave!’

“Not sure why she had called my husband’s name, I asked her why she had said what she did.

“ ‘That’s what YOU say when someone stops like that,’ she innocently replied.”

Let’s rephrase that…

Linda “Mimi” Dalferes tells this grandsons story:

“During the drive back home to Houma after a visit to Mimi’s house, from the back seat the 6-year-old made a comment to which the 10-year-old responded, ‘You’re just a know-it-all.’

“Joseph, the younger, protested mightily.

“Charles, who sometimes is keen on showing his superiority, said, ‘I’m 10 years old; I know a lot more than you do —and Mimi really, really, really knows a lot, because she’s a very, very old woman.’

“First I laughed, and then I told him a kinder, gentler way to put that.”

Write Smiley at [e-mail]. He can also be reached by fax at [phone] or mail at P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821.