News of the Week: New Books, the Disappearance of James Bond, and a Super Bowl Prediction

Read This!

Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow. As you can probably tell from the title, this is the sequel to Turow’s Presumed Innocent.

My Darling Boy by John Dufresne. A novel described as “the story of Olney, whose beloved son Cully collapses into addiction and vanishes into the chaotic netherworld of southern Florida. Aided by his terminally ill girlfriend and the colorful inhabitants of a local motel – including a doomsday prepper, an ex-nun, a pair of blind twins with an acute sense of smell, and a devoutly Catholic social worker – Olney sets out to save his son.”

Sweet Nothings: Confessions of a Candy Lover by Sarah Perry. A collection of micro-essays about candy: the good, the great, and the awful, with some history and philosophy too (all organized by candy color).

The Sirens’ Call by Chris Hayes. I’m happy to see so many books now about the dangers of social media and how it destroys our attention and, well, life in general.

Food For Thought by Alton Brown. The Food Network host/cook/scientist brings us this collection of essays on his personal life, culture, and of course food.

Libraries Are Being Overrun with AI Books

None of the books above were written by artificial intelligence, but there are thousands and thousands of such books being “written” all the time, and too many of them are making their way to your local library.

Will James Bond Ever Return?

No Time to Die, the last 007 adventure, is not a very good movie. The best you can say about it is it’s better than the one that preceded it, Spectre. But it ended with (spoiler alert) the death of Bond, surely one of the top ten stupidest film decisions in history. It was especially doltish since, like all Bond films, the credits promised that “James Bond Will Return.” But how? He died! Will he be found alive? Will they just start over with a new actor (probably, but then why kill off the character?).

Air Mail has the full story on why it’s going to take years for the next film to be made. They haven’t found an actor yet, no script has been written, and the producers are in a never-ending battle with Amazon, which owns the rights to 007 but doesn’t have creative control.

Earth, 2032

I don’t want to alarm you needlessly, but NASA says that a large asteroid has a better than 1 percent chance of hitting the Earth in 2032, three days before Christmas!

The asteroid, with the catchy name 2024 YR4, is the size of a football field.

I hope the next Bond movie comes out before then.

Quote of the Week

“There’s nothing harder to understand than other people’s children”

– June Cleaver, to husband Ward, on Leave it to Beaver

RIP Dick Button, John Erwin, Fay Vincent, Barry Goldberg, Iris Cummings Critchell, and Brian Murphy

Dick Button won two Olympic gold medals in figure skating and then went on to become the top skating TV commentator. He died last week at the age of 95.

John Erwin played Teddy on the 1950s Western series Rawhide but was better known as the voice of Morris the Cat in 9-LIves commercials in the 1960s and ’70s and the voice of He-Man on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He died in December at the age of 88.

Fay Vincent was the commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1989 to 1992. He died Saturday at the age of 86.

Barry Goldberg played keyboards for Bob Dylan when Dylan famously went electric at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival. He also played on albums by The Byrds, Steve Miller, The Ramones, and Leonard Cohen, and on the Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels hit “Devil With a Blue Dress On.” He died last week at the age of 83.

Iris Cummings Critchell was the last known survivor of the American team that participated in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. She later became an aviator. She died last week at the age of 104.

Brian Murphy played Mr. Roper on Man About the House, the British sitcom that was adapted for American audiences as Three’s Company. He died Sunday at the age of 92.

This Week in History

Sears, Roebuck and Company Opens First Store (February 2, 1925)

It was at the North Lawndale Sears, Roebuck and Company Complex outside of Chicago. Before the store opened, they had a mail order catalog.

At one point there were over 3,000 Sears stores. Only eight remain.

Ronald Reagan Born (February 6, 1911)

The 40th president appeared on the cover of the Post many times, including the June 4, 1966, issue, the April 1974 issue, and the March 1982 issue.

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Carling Black Label Beer (February 6, 1960)

A lot of beer will be consumed this Sunday because ….

It’s Super Bowl Sunday!

Here are some appetizers, snacks, and more for the big game.

Cheddar, Beer, and Mustard Pull-Apart Bread from The Smitten Kitchen

Salted Caramel Pretzel Blondies, also from The Smitten Kitchen

Comforting Chili from Curtis Stone

Chicken Bacon Ranch Dip from The Pioneer Woman

Tailgate Party Mix from Chex

And here are 12 recipes from Allrecipes that celebrate the foods of the two teams playing —  Philadelphia and Kansas City — including the Philly Cheesesteak and the Kansas City Burnt Ends Sandwich.

Prediction from a guy who knows absolutely nothing about football: Eagles 34, Chiefs 30.

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

Freelance Writers Appreciation Week (February 9-15)

Of course I have to mention this.

National Ferris Wheel Day (February 14)

It’s celebrated on this day because that’s the birthday of inventor George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. He died of typhoid fever at the age of 37.