La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
THIS WEEK’S PHONE CALL WITH The Kid Brother began like most others. After brief hellos and a discussion about the weather, I asked, “Did you get any mail this week, Chuck?” “Just my check.”
“Oh, good, you got paid on time! Maybe the mail is back to normal now that the election’s over. So you didn’t get any other mail?”
“Yeah, a card. Lemme go get it.” “I’m back.”
“Do you know who it’s from?”
“I know. I know.”
“Someone you already know?”
“I know. I know.”
“What’s the name?”
“I think it’s two names!”
“Can you read it to me?”
“A-N-N-E M-A-R-I-E….”
“Oh, that’s Anne Marie from Philadelphia.”
“I know. I know. She lives in a good city.”
“I told her you love Philly.”
“It’s been a long time. They got a good team.”
“That’s the first card you’ve received from Anne Marie. What’s on the card?”
“Dolphins!”
“Miami dolphins?” [the football team]
“No! Real dolphins, wise guy!”
“She sent you a card with flamingos a long time ago.”
“Flamingos? I’ll have to look.”
“No, it seems to be lost in the mail.”
“I didn’t check today.”
“Oh, so you may have more mail.”
“Ya never know. I’ll have to check.”
“Well, maybe the flamingo card will come one of these days.”
“Oh, a wise guy, eh?!?”
So, we’ve moved on to The Three Stooges. “Which one are you?” he asked.
“Which Stooge? I’m not sure. Maybe Curly. He didn’t have any hair either.”
“I think you’re Shemp!”
“Gee, thanks! Which one are you?” I asked.
“I’m the one who’s always hittin’ everybody,” he said proudly.
“Of course, you are! You’ve always been Moe.”
“That’s right,” he said, and then he went into character, “Why I oughta…!”
“Did you know that Moe and Shemp were brothers in real life, Curly, too?”
“I know. I know. You knucklehead! I gotta go put this card away. I don’t want it to get ruined.”
The photo at top is The Kid Brother (aka Moe) in front of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia in 1982. Thanks a million, Anne Marie. That was a happy Kid Brother.
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LA LLAMADA DE ESTA SEMANA con El Hermanito comenzó como la mayoría de los demás. Después de unos breves saludos y una discusión sobre el clima, le pregunté: “¿Recibiste algún correo esta semana, Chuck?” “Solo mi nómina”.
“¡Oh, bien, te pagaron a tiempo! Quizás el correo haya vuelto a la normalidad ahora que terminaron las elecciones. ¿Entonces no recibiste ningún otro correo?”
“Sí, una tarjeta. Déjame ir a buscarlo”. “Volví.”
“¿Sabes de quién es?”
“Lo sé. Lo sé.”
“¿Alguien que ya conoces?”
“Lo sé. Lo sé.”
“¿Que es el nombre?”
“¡Son dos nombres, creo!”
“¿Me lo puedes leer?” “A-N-N-E M-A-R-I-E …“
“Oh, ella es Anne Marie de Filadelfia”.
“Lo sé. Lo sé. Vive en una buena ciudad”.
“Le dije que amabas Filadelfia”.
“Ha sido un largo tiempo. Tienen un buen equipo”.
“Esa es la primera tarjeta que recibe de Anne Marie. ¿Qué hay en la tarjeta?”
“¡Delfines!”
“¿Delfines de Miami?” [el equipo de fútbol]
“¡No! ¡Delfines de verdad, tonto!”
“Ella te envió una tarjeta con flamencos hace mucho tiempo”.
“¿Flamencos? Tendré que mirar”.
“No, parece que se perdió en el correo”.
“No revisé hoy”.
“Oh, entonces puede que tengas más correo”.
“Nunca se sabe. Tendré que comprobarlo”.
“Bueno, tal vez la carta de flamencos llegue uno de estos días”.
“Oh, un burlador, ¿eh?!?”
Entonces, pasamos a Los Tres Chiflados. “¿Cual eres tu?” preguntó.
“¿Cúal chiflado? No estoy seguro. Quizás Curly. Él tampoco tenía pelo”.
“¡Creo que eres Shemp!”
“¿Shemp? ¡Vaya, gracias! ¿Cual eres tu?” yo pregunté.
“Yo soy el que siempre golpea a todos”, dijo con orgullo.
“¡Por supuesto que lo eres! Siempre has sido Moe”.
“Eso es correcto”, dijo, y luego entró en el personaje, “¡Por qué yo debería…!”
“¿Sabías que Moe y Shemp eran hermanos en la vida real, también Curly?”
“Lo sé. Lo sé, sabihondo! Tengo que guardar esta tarjeta. No quiero que se arruine.”
La foto en la parte superior es de El Hermanito (también conocido como Moe) frente a la campana de la libertad en Filadelfia en 1982. Un millón de gracias, Anne Marie. Ese fue un Hermanito feliz.
YAYZ! I wonder whatever happened to the flamingo card? and I’d recognize the pix anywhere. I’m glad chuck got his dolphin card.
anne marie:
Maybe the flamingo card will still find its way to him. But he hasn’t received a number of cards sent during the early stages of the pandemic. Then came the US election.
How fun, my brothers are more like Wylie Coyote, and the Tasmanian Devil.
David:
Name a comedy duo or troop from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, and Chuck will lead me into a routine.
Actually I always like Curly the best too! He was the quiet one was he not?
Again, a great routine by you two knuckleheads! lol
Jim:
Curly was the brilliant ad-libber. Many of the most often-quoted lines (like Nyuk nyuk) came from him.
I love the Kid Brother chats!
And because I have the sense of humor of a fifth grader, I thought you were a ‘mo.
Bob:
Wow. A 5th grade sense of humor. You’re too mature for me! Anyway, I was always Larry or Curly to Chuck’s Moe. And I have the scars to prove it. I don’t know why he always thinks I’m Shemp! Maybe he just likes the sound of the name. Oddly, the only characters Chucky readily mentions by name are from the old comedy teams.
Shemp — ha! NO ONE wants to be Shemp.
The mail must be moving slow these days!
Steve:
Exactly. I don’t know why I have to be Shemp. Of course, I also have to be Larry and Curly. Any of the stooges that get hit. The mail had been awful in the first several months of the pandemic. And then the American election created major problems.
So cool that Chuck has a postcard collection that he treasures and keeps safe. And that his big brother has amazing friends who send cards to him. A bright spot in the darkness that is 2020.
Wilma:
You are SO right. Chuck saves everything… except MY collection of baseball cards from the 1950s and 1960s… which would be worth a fortune … but I digress. I’m really grateful for the bright spot!
If I’m honest with myself, I’m more like Larry, but I’d rather be Curly. There was something heroic about Curly.
Kirk:
Curly had a real gift for clowning and comedy. Some of their funniest and most memorable bits are from his ad-libs. (I’m probably more like Larry, too.) Chuck is DEFINITELY Moe!
It’s hard to pick just one favourite Stooge!
Debra:
I was never even a big Stooges fan. I remember watching them before Chuck was born, but I didn’t get hooked until it became a way to keep him entertained. If I had to choose, though, I think it would be Curly.
You two crack me up!!!!!!! If he seems to like these wise crack comedians, I wonder if he would have liked the Honeymooners also??? Ralph Cramden was famous for his Why I oughta..one of these days, one of these days Alice….
Mistress Maddie:
He LOVES Ralph and Ed! I’ve mentioned them a lot over the years. And check out the video at the end of this blog post from my NY trip in 2019: https://movingwithmitchell.com/2019/09/12/hello-ball-hola-pelota/
I just love reading about your conversations with Kid Brother! He’s got a great sense of humor!
Jennifer:
He really does have a great sense of humor. And he picks up on my sarcasm and wise cracks a lot more quickly than does SG. I often have to explain things to SG whereas Chuck would simply look at me and say “You jerk.”
You really have to be on your toes (and sharp thinking) when talking with Kid Brother.
Guess the sheep (in my card) are walking to Brooklyn this week–might be faster than the mail.
I’m still waiting for a package that left NJ two+ weeks ago…it seems to be spending multiple days in a row at distribution silos in NJ and now MD…but never quite making it here. Sigh.
Mary:
The mail became problematic at the start of the pandemic. Then came the election postal corruption. It seems to be getting better, but I wonder if we’ll ever see some of the items sent out during that time. As for the ship, I’m sure they’ll find their way to him. He’ll love them. Also, he doesn’t check his mail all the time… and then he complains to me that my cards haven’t arrived!
enjoy the conversations between you and kid brother.
Parsnip:
I enjoy them even more being able to share them after the fact.
So sweet that people are sending Chuck cards! Postcards? I can’t even find them in St. Louis anymore… which I think is odd!
Judy C:
Wow. You would think there would be a million different postcard photos of the Arch! It IS really kind of people. Sometimes I find just getting stamps a royal pain.
God, I hope I’m not too much of a stooge.
Love,
Janie
Janie:
Well, if you are, it will only make Chuck like you more.
My warped memory came up with this: The three stooges are cooking. One of them reads “Separate two eggs.” Another puts two eggs next to each other on the counter. Then he moves them apart. Smiles all around.
Walt the Fourth:
That was Curly making turkey stuffing! Nyuk nyuk!
Of course! Thanks to your memory, I found it on Youtube. Still just as funny. “Two potatoes, diced.”
Walt the Fourth:
Isn’t YouTube a wonder?!? Chuck has all these on dvd. (Guess who bought them for him?)
Chiflado! My new spanish word! thank you.
Urspo:
It was new to me, as well.