The Simple Pleasures

I was a fan of Spy Magazine. I loved the tone of the articles, snarky before the term itself became an overused part of the modern lexicon. I loved the "Separated at Birth" and "Celebrity Math" features. When my other shipmates on the USS Anzio were reading Sports Illustrated, Guns 'N Ammo, and Field & Stream, I had a dog-eared copy of Spy with me. I also had a copy of Randy Shilts' Conduct Unbecoming on the headboard of my bunk, but that's a story for a later time.

Anyway, I was in a nostalgic mood most of the day and I googled for "The Day the Clown Cried", also known as "the lost Jerry Lewis film", and with good reason. You can read about it here, in an article originally published in Spy. The page also contains the original Drew Friedman artwork that accompanied the article. I had forgotten how talented Friedman was. It's a shockingly funny read, and reminder of what I loved about combining good reporting with great writing.

My other favorite Spy article was one about Chuck Berry, from 1993. From that article, I learned the meaning of the word "corprophilia", and the phrase, "Come give Daddy his lunch" became an ingrained part of my vocabulary.

The beer in the picture? You'll have to read Chicagoist next Wednesday to find out.