Random Thoughts
A British etiquette expert says that we’ve been eating bananas wrong. You’re supposed to eat them with a knife and fork! Right. And you’re supposed to eat mashed potatoes through a straw.
Dr. Demento is ending his radio show after 55 years. In related news, Dr. Demento was still doing his radio show. (Seriously, that’s a great run and congrats to him.)
What has happened to Parade? I’m talking about their online headlines. “Rock Legend, 80, Pulls Out of Residency and Reveals He’s Not Feeling Well.” The story is about Rod Stewart. Why not just say his name? He’s pretty famous!
Last week my dental hygienist asked me how my teeth were doing. I said fine, how are yours doing? She said that in all her years no patient had ever asked her that before.
France is going to ban smoking in public spaces starting on July 1. But that’s what France is known for! The Eiffel Tower, great bread, and smoking. This is like Boston banning swearing by drivers in traffic.
If a frozen dinner has edamame in it, I don’t buy it. Enough with the edamame!
More from Parade: “Hollywood Icon, 95, Doing ‘Good’ One Year After Tragedy.” YOU CAN SAY IT’S CLINT EASTWOOD.
They’re Back!
With AI infecting just about everything these days, including education, college teachers are actually going back to using blue books.
As I’ve always said, if you have a digital problem, look to analog for the answer.
What About Bob?
It’s that time of year when we find out if we made the list of hurricane names.
This year’s names: Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dexter, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van, and Wendy.
I can never make the list again. Bob was retired after a storm with that name hit New England in 1991. Not sure about the status of Robert.
We Now Know Where the Cleavers Lived on Leave it to Beaver
There have always been two mysteries concerning the classic sitcom. One, what exactly did Ward do for work? And two, what state was the town of Mayfield in? I think we finally have an answer to the latter.
We know that Ward is from Shaker Heights, Ohio, and in another episode he talks about how his father told him which house in Mayfield got the first electric lights, and there’s no reason he would know that if Mayfield wasn’t in the same state as Shaker Heights.
But the real proof came from actor Tony Dow. In 2018 he posted on his Instagram page a picture of a prop check from the 1980s Still the Beaver/New Leave it to Beaver revival show, and the check clearly says Mayfield, Ohio (scroll down to the December 16 post that shows a picture of the check and click on the pic).
Of course, the original show never said which state Mayfield was in and often had contradictory information, such as having California license plates when the show made clear it wasn’t in California. And maybe the prop department of the new show was just having a little fun, knowing that the original never mentioned any state. But an actual prop that shows Ohio as the state is good enough proof for me.
Now, about Ward’s job…
RIP Loretta Swit, Alf Clausen, Robert Jarvik, Valerie Mahaffey, John Brenkus, Peter Kwong, Jonathan Joss, and Ena Hartman
Loretta Swit was best known for her Emmy-winning role as Hot Lips Houlihan on M*A*S*H. She appeared on many other shows (including the pilot of Cagney & Lacey, where she played Cagney) and films like S.O.B. and Freebie and the Bean. She died last week at the age of 87.
Alf Clausen did music for such shows as The Simpsons, Moonlighting, and ALF, along with films like Airplane II: The Sequel, Splash, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He died last week at the age of 84.
Robert Jarvik designed the first artificial heart. He died last week at the age of 79.
You know Valerie Mahaffey even if you don’t know the name. She was a regular on such shows as Northern Exposure, Desperate Housewives, and Young Sheldon, and appeared on The West Wing, Seinfeld, ER, The Doctors, and tons of other shows and films. She died last week at the age of 71.
John Brenkus was the host of the Emmy-winning ESPN show Sports Science. He died last week at the age of 54.
Shigeo Nagashima was such a huge baseball star in Japan he was nicknamed “Mr. Baseball.” He died Tuesday at the age of 89.
Peter Kwong appeared in Big Trouble in Little China and The Golden Child as well as TV shows like Wonder Woman, MacGyver, and JAG. He died last week at the age of 73.
Jonathan Joss was the voice of John Redcorn on King of the Hill and appeared on Ray Donovan, Parks and Recreation, Tulsa King, and other shows. He died Saturday at the age of 59.
Ena Hartman played Katy on the Burt Reynolds show Dan August and appeared on Columbo, Star Trek, Dragnet, and other shows. Films she appeared in include Airport, Terminal Island, and Our Man Flint. She died in April at the age of 93.
This Week in History
Jefferson Davis Born (June 3, 1808)
Many believe the Civil War ended when the Confederate President was captured in Georgia. But the last battle took place two days later, a thousand miles away.
“Casey at the Bat” First Published (June 3, 1888)
The poem was published in the San Francisco Examiner. The author was Ernest Thayer, but he used the name “Phin.”
Some interesting trivia: The poem was popularized by vaudeville performer DeWolf Hopper, who would often perform it live on stage. Hopper was the father of Perry Mason star William Hopper.
This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Heinz Cider Vinegar (June 6, 1942)
I think I see a bowl of fruit salad there, which is good because …
June Is National Fruit Salad Month
Take some of the cider vinegar (actually, apple cider vinegar, not sure if there’s a difference) and make this Classic Fruit Salad from A Gourmet Food Blog. Allrecipes has a Perfect Summer Fruit Salad, and here’s a Fruit Salad with Honey Mayonnaise from The Saturday Evening Post Antioxidant Cookbook.
Fruit salad is something I never have, but I need to remedy that. When I was a kid I ate it a lot, but it was always the canned “fruit cocktail” variety, from Del Monte or Libby’s. I liked them but there was always too much liquid.
Next Week’s Holidays and Events
Tony Awards (June 8)
It airs on CBS at 8 p.m. ET. Here are the nominees.
National Ballpoint Pen Day (June 10)
All writers have their favorite pen. Mine is the Uni-ball Jetstream (my second favorite is the Parker Jotter).
U.S. Open Golf Championships (June 12-15)
It’s being played at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. USA Network will have coverage on Thursday and Friday, and NBC takes over on Saturday and Sunday.
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Comments
I can see eating bananas with a fork if they’re already cut up and on a plate, or part of a fruit salad you discuss below. And what about Bob, indeed?! Loretta Swit was a favorite. Ironically, just days earlier, I watched her 1975 film, ‘Race With the Devil’. She had to work with real snakes. Even defanged and safe, it was terrifying. I totally understand!
Bob, great column this week. I don’t know how many blue books I used between junior college and my Masters Degree at the University of Kansas. I bet it would number over 100 though. I’m retired now but I substitute teach at a high school level technical school. The column raised one question in my mind: How do you read student handwriting these days? When my students sign in for daily class, I have trouble reading most of the signatures let alone any written work. They are simply not teaching cursive writing anymore in elementary schools to a great extent. So while I applaud the return of blue books to the college testing scene, I’m glad I’m not the one who will do the reading and grading. A quick comment on the fruit salad topic. I like you Bob ate mostly the canned variety growing up. My siblings and I would fight over who got the one or two cherries packed in every can. Ditto your comment on too much juice or syrup in the can. Enjoyed the Leave it to Beaver trivia too!