News of the Week: Florida Blobs, Popular Dogs, and How to Make a Perfect Martini

Random Notes

If that blob of seaweed heading to Florida really is twice the width of the United States, maybe Disney could solidify it some way and build a new theme park on it, to get away from the political controversy down there.

It’s that time of year when I switch from drinking hot tea to something cold for the summer months. I know people who drink hot drinks during the summer but I’ve never understood that.

Every time a Wheel of Fortune contestant says during the interview portion of the show “my lovely wife of 10 years,” I think, wow, that’s pretty young to be married.

Hey Tommy Hilfiger: I like your leather belts but I shouldn’t almost slice my hand trying to get the plastic logo off of the buckle.

One of the great things about being my age is that you’re set in your ways and you know what you like and what you don’t like. It’s very comforting.

If you need another reason to avoid Twitter, there’s this.

The New Most Popular Dog Breed in the U.S. Is …

… the French Bulldog? How did that happen? It beat out the Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever, which are usually more popular.

The least popular dogs are the English Foxhound, the Norwegian Lundehund, the Sloughi, and whatever that dog from Cujo was.

Peanuts Drawing on Antiques Roadshow

We’ve had a lot of Charles Schulz news here lately, and I’m not trying to turn this into a “Charles Schulz every week” column, but here’s something else I saw the other day: An Antiques Roadshow “dog and cats” episode had a woman who brought in an original Peanuts strip that Schulz had given her father back in 1965. How much is it worth now? Take a look:

Uploaded to YouTube by Antiques Roadshow PBS

Lawsuit #1: Norman Rockwell Paintings in White House

Here’s something that will be of interest to Post readers. Family members of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s press secretary say that Norman Rockwell drawings that they owned were stolen years ago and loaned to the White House to hide them from the rest of the family! It’s a complex case that sounds like it would make for a great episode of Perry Mason.

Lawsuit #2: Are Boneless Wings Really Wings?

This doesn’t sound as important as the above case, but a man in Chicago has filed a class-action lawsuit claiming that the “boneless wings” served at Buffalo Wild Wings are not “wings” at all.

Quote of the Week

“My cats are gonna hate me.”

– The Price is Right contestant after losing a game

RIP Lance Reddick, Jim Gordon, Willis Reed, Stuart Hodes, Peter Hardy, Peter Werner, and Gloria Dea

Lance Reddick was a prolific actor who appeared in such TV shows as The Wire, Bosch, Fringe, Lost, Oz, and Law & Order: SVU. On the big screen he was in the John Wick films (the latest of which comes out today), Godzilla vs. Kong, and Jonah Hex. He also did voice work for cartoons and video games. He died last week at the age of 60.

Jim Gordon played drums on several classic songs, including the Eric Clapton/Derek and the Dominos hit “Layla,” Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight at the Oasis,” and the Mason Williams instrumental hit “Classical Gas.” He also played on such well-known albums as The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic, and Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Schmilsson. He also played with Frank Zappa, Traffic, Alice Cooper, and many others. He died last week at the age of 77.

Willis Reed helped the New York Knicks win two championships in the 1970s. He’s a member of the Hall of Fame and his jersey number was the first to be retired by the Knicks. He died this week at the age of 80.

Stuart Hodes was an acclaimed dancer who performed with Martha Graham for years and then went on to be a choreographer and teacher. He was still performing into his 90’s. He died last week at the age of 98.

Peter Hardy was an Australian actor who starred in such shows as McLeod’s Daughters and Neighbours and the movie Chopper. He died last weekend at the age of 66.

Peter Werner won an Oscar for directing the 1976 short film In the Region of Ice and also directed episodes of Moonlighting, Justified, Medium, Ghost Whisperer, and Law & Order: SVU, as well as the terrific made-for-TV film Aunt Mary. He died Tuesday at the age of 76.

Gloria Dea was the first magician to perform in Las Vegas, in the 1940s. As an actress she appeared in Plan 9 from Outer Space, An American in Paris, Singin’ in the Rain, and other films. She died Saturday at the age of 100.

This Week in History

Grover Cleveland Born (March 18, 1837)

He’s still the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms in the White House and the only one to get married while in office.

Beatles’ First Album, Please Please Me, Released (March 22, 1963)

Many Beatles songs are classics of course, but it’s amazing that one single debut album can contain songs like “I Saw Her Standing There,” Please Please Me,” “Love Me Do,” “P.S. I Love You,” “Do You Want to Know a Secret,” and “Twist and Shout.”

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: “New Dog in Town” (March 21, 1953)

There are no French Bulldogs in this Stevan Dohanos illustration.

Today is National Cocktail Day

If you plan it correctly, every day can be a cocktail day!

Here’s how to make a Classic Martini (with gin, because that’s the way I like them), and here’s how to make a Gibson. You’ve probably never heard of a Paper Plane, but give it a shot. And everyone who makes cocktails should know how to make an Aviation, a Negroni, and a Manhattan.

And, yes, there’s one called the French Bulldog and one called a Snoopy.

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

Feast of the Annunciation (March 25)

I couldn’t have given you a definition of this day before I read Wikipedia’s, which says it “commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he informed her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, Son of God.”

World Backup Day (March 31)

This is the day to backup all of your important computer files (but really, you should be doing that more than one day a year).