News of the Week: Seance Kits, Gen Z Can’t Type, and October is National “Cooky” Month

Random Thoughts

When October comes around, weather forecasters always seem surprised/sad about the cooler temperatures. Thursday the high temp is only going to be around 60, sorry to say! Yes, 60 degrees. My God, it’s practically Ice Station Zebra.

When you’re making a list of Britain’s heroes, don’t forget the smokers.

Many citizens are worried that a new civil war is coming. And I think at this point we can all agree it’s pretty much inevitable. I’m talking, of course, about the war between tennis players and pickleball players.

Were you thinking about getting drunk and holding a seance this Halloween? Then get the Sam Adams At-Home Seance Kit. To help you contact the spirit of the real Sam Adams, it comes with hops to make beer, two glasses, candles, instructions on how to hold a seance, and even a vial of dirt from Adams’s hometown of Boston. It’s only $18.03 (the year Adams died).

You know those Spirit Halloween pop-up shops that appear this time every year? Come next month those stores will change into Spirit Christmas stores. Which is good for the malls, which seem to be getting emptier and emptier these days.

Maybe they’ll have stores for other holidays. I’m looking forward to Spirit Arbor Day.

Have you ever used a Caper Cart? They’re a shopping cart from Instacart that select supermarkets have been using. They’re coming to more stores. They have cameras, scales, and sensors that can tell what items you’ve placed in your cart. Now they’re launching a new game where shoppers, when they place an item in the cart, can get a notification that there’s a second item in another part of the store they can get for a discount. There are maps to help guide you.

I think they’re trying to turn shopping into a game, to keep people in stores longer to buy more products. But sometimes I just want to grab some Ritz crackers and toothpaste and get out of the store quickly. I don’t always need a discount, and I certainly don’t need electronic maps and QR codes.

Merriam-Webster Adds New Food Words

And those words include “street corn,” “burrata,” “smashburger,” and “cheffy,” which is defined as “a characteristic of or befitting a professional chef.” Though if you’re a professional chef I would hope you’d be embarrassed to use that word.

What Should You Do with a Stranger’s Grocery List?

The Grocery List Collection has been around for over 20 years, but somehow I’ve missed it. It’s a site that collects grocery lists that people have found. There’s also a book!

I don’t think people will ever stop writing out grocery lists by hand, even if supermarket carts have artificial intelligence and retinal scans.

Typewriters on PBS

I’m always on the lookout for a “typewriters are making a comeback” story, and the PBS News Hour has a good one.

Uploaded to YouTube by PBS NewsHour

Meanwhile, Gen Z is great at using computers, but they can’t type.

Headline of the Week

“Copyrightus Infringio! Public Library Ends Harry Potter-Themed Child Literacy Program After Legal Threat from Warner Brothers”

RIP Ethel Kennedy, Cissy Houston, Nicholas Pryor, Robert Coover, Ron Hale, Lore Segal, Bob Yerkes, Luis Tiant, and Allan Blye

Ethel Kennedy was the matriarch of the Kennedy family. She died yesterday at the age of 96.

Cissy Houston was the mother of Whitney Houston and a singer herself. She won Grammys for the albums Face to Face and He Leadeth Me. She also provided backup vocals on “(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin, “On Broadway” by the Drifters, “Brown-Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison, and Dionne Warwick’s “Walk on By,” among other songs. She died Monday at the age of 91.

Nicholas Pryor had a long career, appearing in such films as Risky Business, Less Than Zero, Damien: Omen II, and Airplane. On TV he had regular roles on several soap operas (The Nurses, Another World, The Brighter Day, The Secret Storm, Another World, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing), and appeared in many sitcoms and dramas. He also appeared on Broadway. He died Monday at the age of 89.

Robert Coover was the writer of such experimental, postmodern novels as The Babysitter, The Political Burning, Huck Out West, and the short story collection Pricksongs and Descants. He also taught several writers who later became famous themselves. He died Saturday at the age of 92.

Ron Hale played Dr. Roger Coleridge on Ryan’s Hope for 14 years and Mike Corbin on General Hospital for 15. He also appeared in All the President’s Men. He died in August at the age of 78.

Lore Segal went from being one of the many Jewish children sent to England by train from Vienna during World War II to being an acclaimed writer of novels like Other People’s Houses, Lucinella, Shakespeare’s Kitchen, and Her First American, as well as memoirs, essays, and the short story collection Ladies’ Lunch. She was also a writer for The New Yorker. She died Monday at the age of 96, just hours after the New York Times published a feature about her final days.

Bob Yerkes was one of the top stuntmen in Hollywood for decades. He was Boba Fett in Return of the Jedi and doubled Christopher Lloyd when Doc slid down the wire in Back to the Future. He also did stunts in Trapeze, the Airport films, The Towering Inferno, and Poltergeist, and trained celebrities for the Circus of the Stars specials. He died last week at the age of 92.

Luis Tiant, known as “El Tiante,” was a popular pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in the 1970s and early ’80s. He died this week at the age of 83.

Allan Blye wrote for such TV shows as The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Sonny and Cher Hour, The Andy Williams Show, Van Dyke & Company, and many specials, including the Super Dave Osborne shows. He also played Captain Blye on the early episodes of MisteRogers (later Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood). He died last week at the age of 87.

This Week in History

Chester A. Arthur Born (October 5, 1829)

He was “The Dude President.”

Fox Becomes Fourth Broadcast Network (October 9, 1986)

The first show that aired was The Late Show with Joan Rivers, a talk show with a really interesting history. Rivers left guest hosting duties on The Tonight Show (and was never forgiven by Johnny Carson) to host her own show and only lasted until 1987, when she was fired by Fox after disagreements with the network. She was replaced with different hosts, including Suzanne Somers and Richard Belzer. Frank Zappa (!) was supposed to guest host but was fired and replaced with Arsenio Hall.

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Betty Crocker Ginger Cake and Cooky Mix (October 11, 1952)

Yes, “cooky” was once a popular spelling of the word.

October Is National Cookie Month

If you can’t make out the above recipe for Gingerbread Drop Cookies, here you go:

To 1 pkg. GingerCake Mix, gradually add 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Mix until smooth. Chill. Drop by spoonfuls on greased cooky sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes in quick moderate oven (375°).

I’m going to assume that the mix in the ad is the same as the Gingerbread Cake and Cookie Mix that Betty Crocker currently sells, though if it isn’t there’s a slightly different recipe for the cookies at that link you can try.

If gingerbread isn’t your thing, here are recipes for Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, Easy Sugar Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies, and Glazed Maple Leaf Cookies.

And every time I mention National Cookie Month I have to link to the recipe for Norman Rockwell’s Oatmeal Cookies. For obvious reasons.

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

Columbus Day (October 14)

Some now call it Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Canadian Thanksgiving (October 14)

Oh, those Canadians, with their Thanksgiving before Halloween.

Dictionary Day (October 16)

I just checked and Merriam-Webster says it’s okay to use “cooky.”