Wise Up (9/28)

Problem-Solving

"¢ Mel Stone of the Chicago Daily News disliked it when other reporters lifted his articles, rewriting them and printing them in their newspapers. He once wrote about food riots in Serbia and mentioned a banner that said, "œEr us siht la Etsll iws nel lum cmeht." According to the Daily News article, this can be translated as "œThe municipality cannot aid." Jim and Dave McMullen lifted the article, rewriting it and publishing it in their "œPost & Mail," including the message on the banner. Mr. Stone gleefully pointed out that if you read the banner backward, it says, "œThe McMullens will steal this FOR sure." Later, he became general manager of the Associated Press of Illinois, for which he wrote an article about a rebel leader in India whose name was Siht El Otspueht. The United Press (which was not associated with United Press International) lifted the article, rewriting it and publishing it. Mr. Stone gleefully pointed out that if you read the rebel's name backwards, it says, "œThe UP stole this."

"¢ Clementine Hunter was a self-taught African-American folk artist who sold her paintings to buy some of the necessities of life such as a stove, refrigerator, freezer, mobile home, secondhand car, radio, and television. Because of a lack of money, she sometimes thinned her paint with turpentine, and she often painted on pieces of board and on plastic milk jugs. Eventually, she became well known as an artist, and celebrity seekers started trying to visit her. She didn't especially enjoy meeting strangers, and when a car of celebrity seekers came by, she would tell them, "Clementine Hunter? She lives just on down the road a piece." After her death, one of her works of art "“ a window shade she had painted "“ sold for $60,000.

"¢ The movie "Field of Dreams" starred Kevin Costner as a man who builds a baseball field in his cornfield. Of course, the movie had to be carefully planned so that the corn would be the right height when the time for filming the scenes in the cornfield came. The corn was planted, and the director filmed the indoor scenes first to allow time for the corn to grow. Unfortunately, because of a drought, it seemed that the corn would not grow after all. However, the creators of the film dammed a creek and irrigated the field, and they even paid $25,000 to truck in water. This was so successful that Mr. Costner sometimes had to walk on hidden platforms in the cornfield because the corn was so high.

"¢ Leonardo da Vinci was a problem-solver in addition to being an artist. In his studies of human anatomy, he dissected human cadavers or parts of human cadavers, although embalming had not been invented yet. In doing this, he had to figure out how to dissect a human eyeball. After all, the inside of an eye is filled with a liquid jelly. Eventually, he discovered that he could harden the eyeball for dissection by coating it with egg white, then boiling it. Leonardo noted that this work was not pleasant "“ "passing the night hours in the company of these corpses, quartered and flayed and horrible to behold."

"¢ When soprano Beverly Sells was set to debut at La Scala, she had a problem with a wardrobe mistress. Ms. Sells had asked for a silver costume, but the costumer brought her a gold lamé costume at each rehearsal. At each rehearsal, the wardrobe mistress promised to have the silver costume ready at the next rehearsal, but she always brought the gold costume instead. Ms. Sells solved the problem by taking scissors and cutting the gold costume in half. The other opera singers cheered her, and she made her debut in a silver costume.

"¢ People who work with patients who have dementia need to be problem-solvers. One patient who suffered from dementia often asked the workers at the nursing home where he lived, "What time does the train leave for Boise? I need to go home to Boise." Reasoning with the man did not work "“ it just made him angry enough to throw things. However, one housekeeper told the man, "Jim, there is no train coming today, but you can stay at our hotel." This answer kept the man calm, although he continued to ask occasionally about the train.

"¢ A 3-year-old boy fumbled while trying to button his coat, so his teacher, a Sister of Notre Dame, asked another, older boy, "Would you please help that little boy?" This was the wrong thing to say, and the little boy was deeply offended. He said, "I am a big boy." Thinking quickly, the Sister came up with exactly the right thing to say: "Will the bigger boy please help the big boy with his coat?" The little "“ uh, big "“ boy smiled.

"¢ Two friends went traveling in a trailer to spend a weekend fishing. They drove to the lake, camped out, then realized that they had forgotten to bring an alarm clock so that they could get up at dawn to start their fishing early. No problem. They tossed a couple of pieces of bread on the roof of the trailer, and at dawn they were awakened by the beaks of birds tapping on the roof of the trailer while they pecked at the bread.

"¢ Uninhibited actress Tallulah Bankhead once ran into a problem at the Café de Paris because she was wearing trousers, and at the time women visiting cabarets were not supposed to wear trousers. She easily and quickly solved the problem. She took off the trousers and walked into the Café de Paris in her underwear.

"¢ In a sketch for 1950s television, comedian Sid Caesar played a mountain climber who gave advice on what to do if the rope broke: "Well, as soon as you see the rope breaking, scream and keep screaming all the way down. That way they'll know where to find your body."

"¢ Sir Henry Irving faced a problem when he wanted to play Napoleon, a short man "“ he was too tall to play him. Sir Henry solved the problem by having the stage props built oversize and by appearing on stage in the company of men who were very tall.