News of the Week: Space Emojis, Biweekly vs. Bimonthly, and 75 Years of I Love Lucy

Random Thoughts

Ah, fall: the changing of the leaves, the drinking and eating of pumpkin spice, and the time of year when we say “Hey, I don’t remember leaving that in my coat last spring!”

Here it is the middle of October and I haven’t given one thought about the new fall TV season, if that’s even a big thing anymore.

I always guess who the murderer is on Murder, She Wrote. Of course, it helps that I’ve seen each episode 11 times.

I rarely use Alexa, but when I do, it’s never for any big, important questions. It’s usually something like, “Alexa, who played the mother on the 1960s series Please Don’t Eat the Daisies?”

They’ve invented an AI-powered mind-reading baseball cap. We’re getting further and further away from what it means to be human.

If you send me an email, please don’t use any emojis. I don’t have a smartphone so I read all of my emails on a laptop, and if it’s not a smiley face, the emoji is too small to even figure out (maybe this happens on a smartphone too, I don’t know). I’ll look at it and think, what is that? A bullhorn? Party streamer? Two hands praying? A slice of pizza? A man’s face with a hand on it?

Speaking of emojis, there’s even a giant one in space.

This is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen online.

Pat Crowley! Pat Crowley played the mother on Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.

The Peanut Butter Cup Lawsuit

Two years ago, I told you about the lawsuit involving the packaging for Reese’s Halloween pumpkins. Two people in Florida were upset that the delicious pumpkin-shaped peanut butter cups didn’t have the carved smiles shown on the front of the package. A judge dismissed the lawsuit, but Hershey’s has added a disclaimer to the packages anyway. It says “Carving Not on Actual Product.” It used to say “Decorating Suggestion.”

Apparently, they also don’t contain any real pumpkin! I’m outraged.

Goodbye Mama

I feel like this is partly my fault.

When I was a kid, I ate a good amount of Celeste pizza. But I haven’t eaten it since…I want to say, the George H.W. Bush administration? Now the pizza is being discontinued.

Headline of the Week

“Experts Agree: Nobody Knows What ‘Bimonthly’ or ‘Biweekly’ Means”

RIP Mike Ditka, RJ Mitte, Margaret Hamilton, Bernie Orenstein, and Jim Knipfel

Mike Ditka was a popular football player and coach, winning Super Bowls with the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys. He was also a Hall of Famer, TV pitchman, and actor. He died last week at the age of 86.

RJ Mitte played Walter White Jr. on Breaking Bad. Both Mitte and the character had cerebral palsy. He died Monday at the age of 34.

Margaret Hamilton was the first female computer programmer to work on the Apollo space missions at MIT and was in charge of the team that wrote the software. She died last month at the age of 90.

Bernie Orenstein produced and wrote for such shows as Kate & Allie, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, That Girl, Sanford & Son, What’s Happening!!, and E/R (the sitcom, not the drama, though both starred George Clooney). He died last month at the age of 95.

Jim Knipfel wrote the popular “Slackjaw” column for Philadelphia’s Welcomat and the New York Press. It was later turned into a memoir. He wrote many other non-fiction books and novels, and his work appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Village Voice, New York Daily News, and other publications. He died last week at the age of 61.

This Week in History

I Love Lucy Premieres (October 15, 1951)

In 1953, the Post sent photographer Sid Avery to Hollywood for a story about TV shows, and one of the sets he visited was the set of I Love Lucy. In this video, his son Ron shows some of the pictures his father took and gives some background on the photos (the photos were never published in the Post but have run in various exhibitions and in books).

Uploaded to YouTube by mptv Images

The Walt Disney Company Founded (October 16, 1923)

The original name was Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: “Stoking the Furnace” by J.C. Leyendecker (October 15, 1938)

It’s starting to get cold.

October Is National Pasta Month

Here’s a recipe for Veggie Lasagna from Curtis Stone, and here’s a recipe for Creamy Garlic Pasta from Allrecipes.

Martha Stewart has this One-Pot Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon, Taste of Home has Penne alla Vodka, Country Living has Classic Stuffed Shells, and Bon Appétit has the Best Mac and Cheese.

But wait, there’s more! The New York Times has a recipe for Angel Hair Pasta, Serious Eats has Cacio e Pepe, and Guy Fieri has something he calls Weird Spaghetti, which sounds like his variation on the classic Cincinnati Chili, which is made with spaghetti or noodles.

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

Head of the Charles Regatta (October 16-18)

It’s supposed to be around 50 degrees and windy in Boston this weekend, so I hope the rowers brought their parkas.

NBA Season Starts (October 20)

Here’s the full schedule for every team.

TV Talk Show Host Day (October 23)

If you’re going to celebrate, make sure you honor people like Johnny Carson (the day is on this date because it’s his birthday), Steve Allen, and David Letterman, and not Jerry Springer or Morton Downey Jr.