Public Enemy

You do remember the scene in William Wellman's 1931 film The Public Enemy, where James Cagney plants a grapefruit on Mae Clarke's face?

Here's the scene re-enacted for the current political season.

The Art of Woo Woo

You mean to say you have never heard of woo woo? I first encountered woo woo in Europe, though it wasn't called that there, and what it is called I don't know. But in San Francisco, it is called 'woo woo'. You are driving around a busy neighbourhood, around the block, around the block again, looking for a parking space, and a man, looking like a bum, a homeless person, waves at you, shouts 'woo woo', and leads you to a free parking space. You feel obligated to give him a dollar or two, and for that he promises to watch the car for you, and if you work nearby, to alert you when the meter maids come around, because while free, this is a two hour parking zone. That's woo woo!

Some of these guys are quite good, a newspaper article informs me, and have been at it for years, with their own places of business and steady clientele in the area known as South of Market. Others fight turf wars, especially around popular nightclubs, and many, if not most, are homeless, scraping by, addicted to alcohol or drugs.

Woo woo.