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

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.