News of the Week: Random Notes, Worst Halloween Candy, and Can You Finish Reading This Without Checking Your Email?

In the news for the week ending October 20, 2023, are library fines, Hot Tamales, apple desserts, an inept criminal, and more.

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Random Notes

The Olympics are bringing back baseball, softball, and flag football for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, and we’ll see breakdancing at the Olympics in Paris in 2024. I’m waiting for them to add Wordle.

X (formerly known as Twitter, which is apparently a line everyone has to add when you talk about the site) is going to start charging new users $1 a year, supposedly to help stop bots (there are other ways to do this). I say you take that $1 and buy something else. Anything else. Maybe a candy bar, a lottery ticket, a stamp to mail a letter to someone.

Does anyone know why the contestants on Let’s Make a Deal now have to hold a microphone since moving to the new studio?

Why is it hard to find The Dick Van Dyke Show on TV yet According to Jim is on four times every day?

Have you noticed that most mouthwash is now alcohol-free?

Underrated: taking a nap, going to the movies alone, wearing socks that don’t match.

Autumn has the best scents: maple syrup, apple pies baking, burning leaves, new school supplies.

A very close second? Winter: pine trees, cinnamon, hot cocoa, a crackling fireplace.

Oh, I know what you can do with the $1 you’re saving by not joining X (formerly known as Twitter). Put it towards a subscription to The Saturday Evening Post!

Trick or Treat

Every year, CandyStore.com does an analysis of the most popular Halloween candy in each state.

If you’re in New Hampshire, you like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (the most popular candy in the survey, for obvious reasons). Georgia likes Jolly Ranchers, and people in New Jersey go for Tootsie Pops. Hot Tamales are more popular than I thought, coming in first, second, or third in many states.

The worst? For another year it’s Circus Peanuts. Who eats these things? They’re like orange-colored styrofoam.

Candy Corn came in second worst nationally, which tells you just how bad Circus Peanuts are.

By the way, if you run out of candy on Halloween night and can’t make it to the store, notify the M&Ms Halloween Rescue Squad and they’ll have treats at your house in an hour.

Library Book Returned 90 Years Late

I’ve done stories like this before, but I do them because they fascinate me. A book was returned to the Larchmont Public Library after almost nine decades. The fine is 20 cents a day … but this library (thankfully) has a maximum fine of only $5.00.

I did some digging into the person who originally borrowed the book (which was returned by his stepdaughter). His name was James Ellis and he was an advertising executive in New York City. His agency helped bring shows like The Milton Berle Show and Your Show of Shows to television. He died in 1978.

Driven to Distraction

First off, I’d like to thank you for making it this far into the column without checking your email or clicking over to a YouTube video.

But honestly, how many times have you checked your phone today? I bet you’d be surprised. CBS Sunday Morning correspondent David Pogue talked to experts (and people addicted to their phones) about our dwindling attention spans.

Uploaded to YouTube by CBS Sunday Morning

Headline of the Week

“Wanted Florida Man Tried to Throw Cops Off with ‘I Don’t Live Here’ Sign”

RIP Burt Young, Suzanne Somers, Piper Laurie, Dwight Twilley, Mark Goddard, Louise Glück, Carla Bley, Lara Parker, Joanna Merlin, Andy Bean, and Rudolph Isley

Burt Young played Paulie in the Rocky movies. He also appeared in Chinatown, The Killer Elite, Convoy, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Back to School, The Gambler, and Once Upon a Time in America. On TV he appeared on M*A*S*H, Columbo, Miami Vice, The Sopranos, and many other shows. He died last week at the age of 83.

Suzanne Somers was probably best known for her role as Chrissy on Three’s Company. She also had regular roles on Step by Step and She’s the Sheriff, appeared on the big screen in American Graffiti and Serial Mom, and was a longtime spokesperson for the Thighmaster exercise device. She died Sunday at the age of 76.

Piper Laurie starred in such movies as The Hustler, Carrie, Children of a Lesser God, and Tim, appeared on such shows as Twin Peaks, Naked City, Playhouse 90, ER, and MacGyver, and also appeared on Broadway. She died Saturday at the age of 91.

Dwight Twilley was a pop/rock singer known for such hits as “I’m on Fire” and “Girls.” He died this week at the age of 72.

Mark Goddard played Don West on Lost in Space and had regular roles on The Detectives and Johnny Ringo. He later became a teacher. He died last week at the age of 87.

Louise Glück was a Nobel- and Pulitzer-winning poet. She died last week at the age of 80.

Carla Bley was an acclaimed jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. She died Tuesday at the age of 87.

Lara Parker played Angelique on Dark Shadows. She appeared in such movies as Race with the Devil and TV shows like The Rockford Files, Remington Steele, Hawaii Five-0, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker. She died last week at the age of 84.

Joanna Merlin was Tzeitel in the original Broadway cast of Fiddler on the Roof and was a casting director for several musicals as well. She appeared in such films as The Ten Commandments and All That Jazz and TV shows like Law and Order: SVU, Naked City, The Defenders, and The Good Wife. She died Sunday at the age of 92.

Andy Bean won 11 championships on the PGA Tour. He died Saturday at the age of 70.

Rudolph Isley was a member of The Isley Brothers, known for such songs as “This Old Heart of Mine,” ”Groove with You,” and “I Wanna Be With You.” He died last week at the age of 84.

This Week in History

Bartman’s Baseball Mistake (October 14, 2003)

During Game 6 of the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field, overzealous Cubs fan Steve Bartman reached over to grab a fly ball that outfielder Moisés Alou was about to catch. The umpire ruled it wasn’t fan interference. The Cubs went on to lose the game (and then lost Game 7 too).

Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre” (October 20, 1973)

This was the night during the Watergate scandal the president asked Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, causing Richardson and eventually others to resign.

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: “Boy and Apples” (October 15, 1910)

This is one of 38 covers that Robert Robinson did for the magazine. He died in 1952.

October Is National Apple Month

This may be controversial to say, but I believe that apples are the best fruits if you’re making a dessert. Sorry, but blueberries and strawberries and prunes just aren’t the same. Are you seriously going to make a prune pie instead of an apple pie?

I like Curtis Stone’s Spiced Apple Pie or this Caramel Apple Pie from The Pioneer Woman. Or if you want to make something with apples that isn’t a pie, how about these Apple Pancakes from Smitten Kitchen, this Maple-Apple Upside Down Cake from Food & Wine, or these Apple Peanut Butter Cookies from Taste of Home. The Applesauce Cake from Cooking Classy looks pretty great too.

(Oh, all right, here’s a recipe for a Prune Pie, if you must. Let me know how it is.)

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

National Mole Day (October 23)

It’s not what you think.

World Series Starts (October 27)

The first game airs on Fox at 8 p.m. ET. This means the postseason will extend into November. That’s not right.

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Comments

  1. Bob, a friend of mine is a writer who has interviewed actress/writer Lara Parker and he agrees that she was indeed gracious and lovely. (And she could play crazy like nobody’s business!)

  2. On the candy, I agree that Reese’s are the best. However as those behind it my votes fo the Hershey’s Almond Bar, Mr. Goodbar, and Goo Goo Clusters of any variety.

  3. I not only re-upped my subscription to the Saturday Evening Post, as suggested. I did it for 2 years. Keep up the great work!

  4. (continued)

    She was so lovely, beautiful, gracious and down to earth. All of the DS stars were. I wish the 1991 series with Ben Cross and Barbara Steele hadn’t been cancelled. I spoke with Matthew Hall who was one of the writers of the new series who lit up when I suggested the idea of incorporating the stars of the original series (in new roles) into the new series. No wonder. He planned on doing exactly that along the way, and most of the stars were on board, including Lara Parker.

    It’s a shame that super ugly creep of all creeps, Tim Burton along with his (and Disney’s) whore of choice Johnny Depp, made a destroyed film in 2012 using the show’s name. No wonder Jon Frid passed away right before the film opened then bombed. Not unlike James MacArthur who passed away after the destroyed 2010 show calling itself Hawaii 5-0 debuted. Still, there are morons out there whom I’m sure love it.

    Lara was the ultimate scene-stealing, spell-casting, trouble making witch of all time: 1795 Angelique, 1968 Cassandra (Angelique in the present), Vampire Angelique 1968 (as punishment), 1897, 1970. 1840 all wonderful. All from a show that started in 1966, like the only real Batman, and Star Trek. The year when everything aligned.

    Love Piper Laurie too. Her role and significance in the fantastic (’76) Carrie is often overlooked. That’s sooo wrong. It’s like overlooking Pino Donaggio’s incredible music score for the film. Rudolph Isley, amazing. Love the Isley Brothers.

    Bob, do me a favor. Send a copy of the prune pie recipe to Tim Burton posthaste, please. Thanks in advance.

  5. It’s very frustrating not to be able to find a favorite TV show online, anywhere at all. I’m having that problem with Barnaby Jones now. I’ve owned the DVD’s for the whole 1973-’80 series since 2009, but am (too) used to watching the computer. In your case, probably mine also, both shows will be back at some point. If it was ‘The New Dick Van Dyke Show’ then you’d have cause to worry.

    I saw the report about the overdue library book from 1933 on World News Tonight earlier this week. The librarian was very sweet and overjoyed to have it back. The report about dwindling attention spans was very interesting and not surprising. Mostly sad.

    Losing Suzanne Somers definitely is. I loved her as an entertainer, but even more as an author, learning a lot from her books. The mind-body connection, fixing adrenal burnout from stress, positive visualization, hypnotherapy, healing crystals and much more. My sister though feels Suzanne was a ‘New Age’ b.s.-er, and me for being into it. That’s fine, she’s entitled to her feelings.

    Suzanne’s fantastic, and needs no defending. I wish I could have gotten to meet her. She’d have been so happy just hearing how my bonding with horses has been such positive antidote to toxic modern life. It’s just been too hot this week.

    I did get to meet Lara Parker quite a few times at DS conventions between the 80’s and 2010’s, and one in early 2020 before everything shut down. She was an author too, writing books based on Angelique, and continued Dark Shadows into the present day via audio tapes in the 2010’s up to fairly recently.

  6. Me (in conversation with gourmet chef): I love circus peanuts!

    Chef: Oh, no! Don’t say that! Why?

    Me: I don’t know. That fake banana flavoring? The bizarre texture? Maybe they’re so bad they’re good.

    Chef (after a long, horrified pause): It doesn’t work that way with food!

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