Is Your Name on the List?
The 2026 hurricane name list has been released.
This year’s winners (?) are Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Leah, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicki, and Wilfrid.
I guess if you’re a “nana” in your family you can say that it refers to you.
Is it an “honor” to have your name on the hurricane list or something you don’t want to be associated with? It probably depends on how devastating the damage is.
Why Is Everything So Stupid?
I didn’t even realize that this was a thing, but publishers are “updating” older books with modern references.
For example, the 2006 young adult novel Pretty Little Liars had a reference to the reality show Fear Factor. But apparently nobody thinks that kids and adults can handle such a “dated” reference so they’ve replaced it with Instagram and Billie Eilish.
Why do books have to change from what they originally said? How far can we take this? If a book written in the 1950s mentions President Eisenhower, will a future edition of that book have to update it with whoever will be president when the new version comes out? Will the books being changed have to be changed yet again in 20 or 30 years when these references are dated?
By the way, to show how pointless this all is, Fear Factor is back on TV now.
The worst part about this is that many of the authors of these books are actually okay with it! The new version of Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret has a cover that shows the main character texting. Get it? She’s talking to God.
In other books, they’ve taken out references to VCRs, tape decks, and phone books. And people wonder why younger people today have no knowledge/interest in the past. The publishers and agents and authors think that books should be “time-agnostic,” which is insane. What’s next, editing films and TV shows to take out the “dated” buildings and actors and music?
Honestly, writing your book using AI would be less embarrassing than this.
I can’t wait until they update The Great Gatsby. They can have Gatsby vaping and Nick Carraway doomscrolling and trying to find a place to charge his phone.
Horror of Dracula
1958’s Horror of Dracula is one of the best vampire movies. It has the best Van Helsing (Peter Cushing), the best Dracula (Christopher Lee – sorry Bela Lugosi), and one of the most exciting endings to a monster movie. This Halloween a full-restored 4K version will be released on Blu-ray and will also be in theaters.
The restoration includes three minutes of footage that was found decades later and hasn’t been seen by the public in over 65 years.
Headline of the Week
“French Museum Reports Theft of Arty Banana”
RIP Peabo Bryson, Claude Lemieux, Bob Horner, Raymond Berry, Charles Cioffi, Marcia Lucas, Jay Daniel, Judith Barnard, and Caitlin O’Heaney
Peabo Bryson sang such classic Disney songs as “A Whole New World” (a duet with Regina Belle) and “Beauty and the Beast” (with Celine Dion), as well as “If Ever You’re in My Arms Again,” “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” (with Roberta Flack), and the theme song to One Life to Live. He died Tuesday at the age of 75.
If Ever You’re in My Arms Again (Uploaded to YouTube by Peabo Bryson – Topic)
Claude Lemieux won four Stanley Cups as part of three teams: The Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, and Colorado Avalanche. He died last week at the age of 60.
Bob Horner was the Atlanta Braves third baseman who once hit four home runs in one game. He died last week at the age of 68.
Raymond Berry was a Hall of Fame receiver for the Baltimore Colts and later a coach that led the New England Patriots to their first Super Bowl. He died last week at the age of 93.
Charles Cioffi was a recognizable character actor. He’s the FBI agent who assigns Scully to work with Mulder on The X-Files. He also appeared on Assignment: Vienna, The Practice, and many soap operas, and was in such films as Shaft, Klute, Time After Time, and All the Right Moves. He died last week at the age of 90.
Marcia Lucas was a film editor who had a big influence on the films of her husband George Lucas, including Star Wars (for which she shared an Oscar) and American Graffiti. She also edited Taxi Driver, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and New York, New York. She died last week at the age of 80.
Jay Daniel produced such TV shows as Roseanne, Cybill, and Moonlighting. He died last week at the age of 82.
With her husband Michael Fain, Judith Barnard wrote under the name Judith Michael and penned several bestselling novels, such as Deceptions. She died last month at the age of 94.
Caitlin O’Heaney starred in TV shows like Tales of the Gold Monkey and The Charmings as well as the horror movie He Knows You’re Alone. She died last month at the age of 73.
This Week in History
Marilyn Monroe Born (June 1, 1926)
The Post’s Pete Martin wrote a revealing profile of Monroe for the May 5 and 12, 1956, issues. For a more recent appreciation of the actress, here’s the Self-Styled Siren.
Elvis Presley Sings “Hound Dog” on The Milton Berle Show (June 5, 1956)
Interestingly, he sang it (and danced controversially) on the show a couple of weeks before he recorded the album version we all know.
Elvis Presley Sings ‘Hound Dog’ on The Milton Berle Show (June 5, 1956) (Uploaded to YouTube by Random Chet)
This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Massachusetts Mutual (June 2, 1951)
It’s graduation season. Perhaps your son or daughter needs some advice?
National Lemon Month
Let’s start with the most obvious lemon recipe, Homemade Lemonade, from The Pioneer Woman.
Then we can try Curtis Stone’s Spaghetti with Garlic, Lemon, Kale, and Parmesan. Food.com has a Lemon Risotto, Salt & Lavender has Easy Lemon Chicken, Food52 has these Lemony Broccoli and Mozzarella Sandwiches, and Sally’s Baking has a Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream.
Sally also has a recipe for Lemon Bars, which I like, but as is the case with Malted Milk Balls, I can only eat one before they get to be too much.
Next Week’s Holidays and Events
D-Day (June 6)
The timing of the invasion depended a lot on the weather, which is the plot of the new movie Pressure.
French Open Finals (June 6 and 7)
The women’s final airs Saturday at 9 a.m. ET and the men’s final is Sunday at the same time. Both air on TNT, TruTV, and HBO Max.
Tony Awards (June 7)
The 79th ceremony airs on CBS at 8 p.m.
FIFA World Cup Begins (June 11)
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Comments
As a high school substitute teacher I can attest firsthand the students are not as bright as they once were referring to “Everyone is So Stupid.” They have to be spoon-fed information. They do not know how to look up anything unless it can be found on their “stupid” cell phones. And then once they might find an answer, you cannot trust it coming from a reliable source.
I don’t think “Everything So Stupid” but publishers “updating” older books with modern references absolutely is. What’s next? Johnny Tremain on a moped? King Arthur with tanks?
Why is everything so stupid? I’ve been asking that question for over 30 years now. I don’t claim to have the answer, but must say the death of any/all creativity, combined with complete laziness, greed, the rejection of beauty, and the elevation of the gross and ugly above everything else.
The fact that many of the authors of books being ‘updated’ are okay with it means they’re bring well paid. When the mid-2020’s updated version gets old (which it will) it will be done again. It’s related to the subscription mentality of planned obsolescence where we will own nothing, with the younger generation’s being led like lambs to the slaughter never knowing any differently.