I just realized that I blew a same name joke in my Malaka Robert Morrow post. Woe is me, bop. There’s another person of that name: actor Robert (Rob) Morrow. I loved him as the snarky Doc exiled to Alaska in Northern Exposure. Plus, he’s played real life lefty lawyers in Quiz Show (Richard Goodwin) and the new O.J. trial teevee show (Barry Scheck.) It made me feel like I was Schecking my duty as a Shecky to not have Rob Morrow demand of Malaka Morrow: Give Me Back My Name.
That brings me to today’s blast from the past, which works be it Throwback or Pulp Fiction Thursday. It’s time to take a trip in the Adrastos Wayback Machine to March 6, 2006 and a post entitled Mike Hammer Wimps Out. I didn’t miss out on *that* same name joke. I must be getting old or some such shit:
Mon, 06 Mar 2006 06:00. Mike Hammer Wimps Out:
I am of course referring to the NOLA investment banker Mike Hammer who ended his mayoral campaign with a whimper by not even qualifying; instead he endorsed Gorilla Ron Forman. His well-known fictional counterpart Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer is outraged. Regular readers of this blog know that the real albeit fictional Mike Hammer is a recurring visitor to the Adrastos Virtual Cafe and he’s my guest blogger today. Take it away, enraged fictional person:
An Open Letter From Mike Hammer to Mike Hammer: Give Me Back My Name-
Hey Mikey what the hell were ya thinking? I thought you were a stand up guy but now you’ve folded your tent and wanna slink off in the night like a weenie. I never figured you for a wuss who’d be scared off by a guy named Clarence. Imagine that: Clarence Ray Fucking Nagin. Chocolate city, schmocolate city. I was counting on you to slap some sense into C Ray pally. I’m fucking disappointed Mikey, you share my name so I share your shame. Damn, I’m rhymin’ like that preachin’ pol from Chicago now and it’s down to you Mikey boy. Look what you’ve driven me to.
There’s not enough whiskey in the world to drown my sorrows tonight. Not even my Sinatra records can make me feel better. And if the chairman of the board can’t pick a man up slap him around and make him whole again nothin’ can. I’m also blue because Darren McGavin who played me on the tube in the Fifties died last week and I was too busy shaking down drunks for beads on Bourbon Street to go to the funeral. It’s just me and Stacy Keach left now so I gotta be careful. I dunno why an actor who played me has got a girl’s name but he’s a stand up guy in spite of it.
We Mike Hammers gotta stick together and you let me down, pally. It hurts man.I got an idea how you can make this right Mikey boy. Give my back my name. That’s right. It was mine long before you were a bun in the oven or even a glint in your lecherous pa’s eye. Give me back my name. Got a nice ring to it don’t it? My pal Adrastos tells me that there’s a rock song of that name by some combo called Talking Heads. Now except for Elvis I don’t go in for that rock-n-roll crapola; give me Sinatra, Eckstine, Torme, and broads like Ella, Rosie, and Sarah any day. But those Talking Heads they got a point Mikey boy. Give me back my name. I know their singer is a doofus in a big suit but even a dork can make sense some of the time. Tell ya what Mikey boy give me back my name and I’ll leave you be. I won’t even kick your ass for supporting that poser Gorilla Ron. A guy named Mike Hammer should be for the working stiffs and that Gorilla Ron jerk is just a stiff. Here’s my final offer: give me back my name and I’ll go easy on you pally.
Mike Hammer
Back to you Adrastos:
Thanks Mike. Those were lenient terms. Btw, the doofus in the big suit is named David Byrne and he stopped making sense years ago. And Mike I think Adrian Monk coined the perfect term to describe Banker Mike Hammer: he’s a muss; part man and part wuss. Yeah I know, Monk is too tidy for your taste Mike, but you gotta admit he’s one helluva shamus...
Okay, we’re back in 2016 again, which means that Nagin is out of office and in the slammer. The post was written pre-YouTube so I wasn’t able to give Talking Heads the last word: