News of the Week: Great Beaches, Typewriter Art, and Can You Be Rude to Your Robot Assistant?

Sand and Surf

I’m not a beach person. The sun (ugh), the heat (eek), the blistering sand (ouch), and the large crowds (#*$%!) all make me want to stay inside.

But I do live in a big beach town. In fact, I’m typing this just a short walk from Good Harbor, one of the beaches mentioned on Travel & Leisure’s list of the 25 best beaches in the U.S.

Well Hello, Dolly

Dolly Parton asked not to be considered for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but she’s in it anyway (and she says she will accept it gracefully). Other 2022 performer inductees are Lionel Richie, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Eminem, and Carly Simon. The ceremony will be held on November 5.

This Man and His Son Have Read All 27,000 Marvel Comics

Uploaded to YouTube by CBS Sunday Morning.

Tech Talk

Hey, let’s check in with Miss Manners. She handles all sorts of etiquette questions: table manners, why you should send handwritten notes, what to do at parties and weddings, being courteous to robot assistants.

Wait, what?

This week someone wrote in to ask what they should do if they are no longer able, because of some sort of tech glitch or software change, to say “thank you” to her voice-controlled assistant (I assume it’s Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri) to shut off an alert , though the assistant still says “you’re welcome.”

I use Siri but I never say thank you when it (she) completes a task for me. I’m not going to thank my refrigerator for making my food cold either.

Tom Hanks, in Periods and Commas

Hanks, the world’s most famous typewriter collector, is just one of the people drawn by 25-year-old British artist James Cook using a typewriter. They’re called “typictions” (for “typed depictions”). It takes him about 15 to 20 hours to make each one, and the results are rather astounding. It’s a lot harder than typing “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” (Hey, he should draw a picture of that.)

Of course, Tom Hanks being Tom Hanks, he wrote a nice letter to Cook thanking him for the picture.

Headline of the Week

“Canada Now Willing to Punish Crimes Committed on the Moon”

RIP Naomi Judd, David Birney, Neal Adams, Norman Mineta, Joanna Barnes, Klaus Schulze, Jerry Ver Dorn, Ric Parnell, and Don Rubin

Naomi Judd was half of the popular country duo The Judds (with daughter Wynonna). She died on Saturday at the age of 76, and The Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame the next night.

David Birney was a veteran stage and screen actor who starred in the ’70s CBS show Bridget Loves Bernie and later NBC’s Serpico and St. Elsewhere. He died last week at the age of 83.

Neal Adams was a giant in the comics field who reinvigorated the Batman character and fought for the rights of comic book artists and writers. He died last week at the age of 80.

Norman Mineta was secretary of commerce under President Clinton and transportation secretary under President George W. Bush. He died Tuesday at the age of 90.

Joanna Barnes appeared in movies like The Parent Trap, Auntie Mame, Spartacus, The War Wagon, and Tarzan, The Ape Man and was a regular on the TV shows The Trials of O’Brien, 21 Beacon Street, and What’s My Line? She was also a novelist and TV host and reviewed books for The Los Angeles Times. She died last week at the age of 87.

Klaus Schulze was a pioneer in electronic music. In addition to releasing several solo albums (he released a 50-CD set in 2000), he was a former member of Tangerine Dream. He died Tuesday at the age of 74.

Jerry Ver Dorn had a long career in soap operas, playing Ross Marler on Guiding Light and Clint Buchanan on One Life to Live. He died Sunday at the age of 72.

Ric Parnell was the drummer for the movie and real-life band Spinal Tap. He died Sunday at the age of 70.

Don Rubin was one of the great puzzle-makers, creating the popular The Real Puzzle, cited as “one of the greatest puzzles of all-time,” for The Real Paper and later The Boston Phoenix and syndication. He died earlier this month at the age of 77.

This Week in History

Alan Shepard Becomes First American in Space (May 5, 1961)

It was aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft, as part of the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission.

The Hindenburg Explodes (May 6, 1937)

The incident occurred while the German airship was trying to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey — 35 of the 97 passengers and crew were killed, along with one member of the ground crew.

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Smith-Corona Ad (May 3, 1958)

You could buy one of these to create your own typewriter art (just make sure there’s an actual typewriter inside the case).

Kentucky Derby Recipes

The 148th running of The Kentucky Derby takes place Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on NBC — the actual race is at 6:57 but apparently there’s a 4-1/2 hour pre-game show — so I thought I’d link to some recipes for the event (and no, none of them involve horses).

We have to, of course, start with the classic Southern drink for the race, so here’s Emeril Lagasse’s Mint Julep. Taste of Home has an Easy Pimiento Cheese recipe, Country Living has a Benedictine Spread, and Southern Living has these Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwiches. And for dessert, try Food & Wine’s Chocolate Pecan Pie with Bourbon.

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

Free Comic Book Day (May 7)

This would be a good day to start reading all of the Marvel comics (or DC, if that’s your preference).

Mother’s Day (May 8)

There’s a special place in Hell reserved for people who send a text or Facebook message to wish their mom a Happy Mother’s Day instead of calling or visiting (and that place is Facebook, actually).

Featured image: Shutterstock