This authentic blue Columbia blazer (circa 1966) is available for purchase at East Hill Antiques in Ithaca -- where other items that catch the eye of the passerby include buttons urging voters to cast their ballot for FDR (East Hill Plaza; 607-273-7733; ask for Kyllikki, winner of the most unusual name award for August). I couldn't help trying on the jacket, and it was too small, though it mght have fit me in my freshman year at college. But seeing the familar insignia I thought of Columbia and my time there and the meme that entered my brain unbidden was the unversity's fight song, "Roar, Lion, Roar," which begins "Roar, Lion, roar, / And wake the echoes of the Hudson Valley. / Fight on for victory ever more." And then comes a line ending with "Knickerbocker Valley." But I forget the rest and all I recall is the parody of the song that circulated in the 1960s: "While the sons of bitches in the alley / sing Columbia, Columbia: / it if has hair we'll eat it, / raw, Lion, raw. / For Alma Mater is a [expletive deleted] whore." But memory is not always dependable. -- DL
