City that never sleeps; What up?

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

     I'm working on "say cheese" and "watch the birdie."  A surprising number
of books don't have these phrases--which seem to exist from 1930 (OED) and
1901 (Partridge has it as "watch the dicky bird"), respectively.  Neither
shows up in the Making of America database (1800s)

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CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS

     Several cities (New York, Chicago, et al.)  have claimed the title of
"the city that never sleeps."  The controversy is keeping me awake at night.
     I checked a few databases (for movie titles, see www.imdb.com):

1924--THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS, a film directed by Jame Cruze.
1928--WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS, a film starring Lon Chaney.
1928--"When the City Sleeps," a poem, FORUM, pg. 489.
1953--CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS, a film starring Gig Young and Edward Arnold,
with location shooting in Chicago.
1956--WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS, a film starring Dana Andrews and Ida Lupino.
1958--WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS, a song recorded by Polly Bergen.
1966--THE CITY NEVER SLEEPS AT NIGHT, a Lee Hazelwood song recorded by Nancy
Sinatra.
1983--THIS CITY NEVER SLEEPS, a song recorded by the Eurythmics.
1984--WELCOME TO SALA, THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS, a recording with music
from the city in Java, Indonesia.
1986--SOWETO NEVER SLEEPS, a recording.

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WHAT UP?

     Saturday Night Live opened its season last night.  Most of the sketches
were retread situations with old, established characters.  The only slang
phrase that was pushed appeared to be "What Up?" in the Morning Latte sketch.

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BROOKLYN BRIDGE WALTZ

     David Shulman (researching Steve Brodie and the Brooklyn Bridge) noticed
this in Nancy Groce's NEW YORK: SONGS OF THE CITY (1999; see previous
postings about this book), pg. 182, col. 3:

Brooklyn Bridge Waltz: Musical Burlesque [m. A Nam Foh (A. Hoffman) 1875],
pg. 163.

    How can the "Brooklyn Bridge Waltz" be in 1875, when the Brooklyn Bridge
opened in 1883?  Shulman pointed out that "A Nam Foh" may be "A. Hoffman"
backwards.
    I checked the American Memory database--which has copyrighted songs from
1870-1885.  This song isn't there, nor is there anything by A. Hoffman.
Could it be 1885, or another date?

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TOP TEN REASONS IT'S NOT BEEN A GOOD WEEK
#6--ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES

"Come on, Hill, quit worrying about the Puerto Ricans and pay attention here.
 You want to lose the etymologist vote?"
--Cecil Adams, THE STRAIGHT DOPE, Sept. 22-28, 1999

    O. K., so he didn't know.
    Last November, I didn't vote.  The absentee ballots were delayed because
of a Yankee Stadium referendum.  I wrote to all of my elected representatives
and told them that I wanted to vote, but couldn't.
    No one responded!
    I later got "form" mail from my elected representatives, so I instructed
them to take me off their mailing lists.
    This week, I got a form letter from my state senator.  "VISIT SENATOR
GOODMAN'S NEW WEBSITE" it says--again.
    Also this week, I got a form letter from my congresswoman.  "If you have
a problem with the federal government or know of a way to increase government
efficiency, please don't hesitate--contact my office!"