Random Notes
If I ever win the lottery, remind me to save and invest the money.
Every time I put down an ant trap, a mouse comes in overnight and takes it away. What are they doing with them?
I love prescription medication commercials that say “Tell your doctor what medications you’re taking.” Shouldn’t my doctor know that already?
Could you eat an entire meal at a restaurant without your phone? That’s what you have to do at the new eatery Hush Harbor in Washington, D.C., which doesn’t allow cell phones. They will supply you with letter-writing materials and board games though!
Life advice: Try not to be the type of person who would go on a reality show.
Kids, what if I told you that in the 1960s and ’70s, companies embedded vinyl records on the back of cereal boxes? It’s true!
If I put down mouse traps, will a larger animal come into the house overnight and take those?
Mass. Appeal
Why do things have to change?
Massachusetts is currently in the process of picking a new state flag and a new state seal. The old ones were perfectly fine but I guess they’re no longer appropriate for modern times. Or something.
Unfortunately, the finalists are TERRIBLE. The seals are passable, I guess, but the state flag choices are a mayflower (the flower, not the ship), a mountain with a gold star on top, and a circle of turkey feathers.
Writer Matt Taibbi thinks the state should run with the turkey idea but maybe in a Norman Rockwell direction.
Some people have joked that the new flag should be the colors of Dunkin’ Donuts, and compared to the finalists that might not be a bad idea.
Peak Profanity
I have a theory that everyone swears. They may not do it all the time and they may even pick the mildest of curse words. But everyone from the ages of 9 to 90 does it.
The New York Times thinks so too. The writer, Mark Edmundson, grew up in the 1950s and ’60s when cursing was relatively rare. And the people that swore were almost always guys (only never in front of a parent, teacher, or cop). But it’s everywhere now, from homes to schools and on television. I’m still sometimes shocked by what the basic cable channels can get away with now.
We try our hardest to leave out certain words in the pages of the Post, and if you leave a comment, please try to control yourself as well.
Headline of the Week
“Cheating Scandal Rocks World Stone Skimming Championships”
RIP Robert Redford, Bobby Hart, Patricia Crowley, Thomas Perry, Marilyn Hagerty, and Ricky Hatton
Robert Redford starred in many classic films, including All the President’s Men, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, The Sting, Three Days of the Condor, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Candidate, and many other movies and TV episodes. He was also a director, helming Ordinary People (for which he won an Oscar), Quiz Show, and A River Runs Through It. He died Tuesday at the age of 89.
Here’s the Post’s Bill Newcott on Redford’s career.
Bobby Hart was half of the music duo Boyce & Hart. They not only recorded their own music, they wrote and produced songs for The Monkees, including “Last Train to Clarksville” and the theme song to the show. They also wrote “(I’m Not Your” Steppin’ Stone,” “Come a Little Bit Closer,” and the theme song to Days of Our Lives (!). He died last week at the age of 86.
Here’s Boyce & Hart on a classic episode of I Dream of Jeannie (they also made an appearance on Bewitched around the same time).
Uploaded to YouTube by Willy Gilligan
Patricia Crowley starred in the TV series Please Don’t Eat the Daisies and played Mary Scanlon on Port Charles. She appeared in dozens of other TV shows and films. She died Sunday at the age of 91.
Thomas Perry was a writer of bestselling thriller and suspense novels. He died Monday at the age of 78.
Marilyn Hagerty achieved fame at the age of 85 when her newspaper restaurant review of Olive Garden went viral. She was championed by Anthony Bourdain, and he even published a collection of her columns, titled Grand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews. She died Tuesday at the age of 99.
Ricky Hatton was the former world boxing champion. He died Sunday at the age of 46.
This Week in History
William Howard Taft Born (September 15, 1857)
Here’s how Taft’s bid for a second term made for a chaotic 1912 election.
Lots of TV Shows Debuted! (September 15, 1965)
This was a big day for the debuts of classic shows. Lost in Space, Green Acres, I Spy, The Big Valley, and Gidget all started on this day in 1965.
It was actually a big week for debuts. Other shows that launched this week in 1965: I Dream of Jeannie, Hogan’s Heroes, F Troop, The Dean Martin Show, and The Wild, Wild West.
This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Del Monte Fruits and Veggies (September 16, 1950)
That woman has a lot of hands.
September Is National Fruits and Veggies Month
You can use your own hands to make these recipes with those fruits and veggies.
Smitten Kitchen has Broccoli Parmesan Fritters and a Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad. Jellojoy has a Jello Fruit Cake, while Martha Stewart has Boiled Asparagus. The Pioneer Woman has a recipe for something called Melting Potatoes, and Allrecipes has Copycat Cracker Barrel Fried Apples. Iowa Girl Eats has this Marinated Vegetable Salad, Love & Lemons has Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Dance Around the Kitchen has Banana Pudding.
All these recipes sound $%&*! great!
Next Week’s Holidays and Events
Fall Begins (September 22)
If you’re keeping track, it happens at 2:19 p.m. ET. (It also starts at that time even if you’re not keeping track.)
National Punctuation Day (September 24)
This, is, the, day to celebrate? periods, Commas; Exclamation “points” and other … forms of punctuation!!!!
Ryder Cup (September 26-28)
The annual U.S. vs. Europe golf event takes place at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. Here’s the broadcast schedule.
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Comments
I think I vaguely recall phonograph records from cereal boxes of long ago. But I do remember a few months after the Apollo 11 moon mission, National Geographic magazine had an issue which contained therein a detachable flexi-disc vinyl record, “Sounds of the Space Age”. It played pretty well, considering some of the astronaut communication transmissions in the early ages of space exploration were sometimes grainy & difficult to understand.
I didn’t know Robert Redford had done any more acting after he retired from that to direct! And a buddy of mine in College got one of those records, not on a cereal box but in an issue of MAD Magazine! (This was a whole back; Redford hadn’t started directing yet at the time!)
Gee Jr- I’m glad us “radical leftist scumbags aren’t the only ones who denigrate people and call people names
Why change a state flag? To me when states do this it only shows cowardice by bowing down to pressures from small groups and erases history which a lot of these nuts want.
Those cereal box records weren’t too good, but they were fun. I had the one by the Monkees for awhile, but don’t know what happened to it. I’m sorry your state feels they have to change the flag at all. In my unfortunately (also) blue state Governor Newscum intentionally let Pacific Palisades burn to the ground, like Lahaina Maui 2 years ago.
The profanity problem being so widespread and pervasive can largely be blamed on the proliferation of it in films and rap music. Many of the the so-called ‘leaders’ in Washington, D.C. that aren’t bright, but are infantile, use it a lot. The ghettoization of America is a big factor too, and foul-mouthed comedians. That’s not the entire answer, but a good one nonetheless.
Bill Newcott’s look at Robert Redford’s film career is excellent. Patricia Crowley was great. She had that special magic so many of the actresses born in the ’30s had. Bobby Hart was VERY talented. My own favorite was ‘I’ll Blow You a Kiss in the Wind’ sung by Serena in a ’70 episode of ‘Bewitched’. The 4:00 version on You Tube also features Boyce and Hart.
It seems the ugliest, smelliest loser skunk’s late-night “talk show” has been suspended indefinitely by it’s equally horrible parent company, and the crying demonic creep will be back on his knees again. What a terrible, position to be in. So degrading, so familiar, so appropriate. Maybe he can get a podcast with De Niro as his main guest where they can scream and throw things together for hours in endless fits of rage, every day.
I knew that, Bob!
Thanks for your articles; I always enjoy them. I’m 54 and have only used a cuss word once in my life, when I was little and didn’t know it was cussing. I don’t say that to brag, just to say it’s still possible to go through life without using offensive language.
Thanks Mark!
Hi Bob. I think you meant to say Del Monte fruits and vegetables instead of Dole (who cans mostly pineapple, papaya s and other fruits) in the ad from the SEP that you featured. Not a big deal. Just thought I would bring it to your attention.
Mr. Mayor: Obviously when I said “annual” I meant “every two years.”
The Ryder Cup is played every 2 years on the odd numbered years.