News of the Week: Landline Love, Radioactive Shrimp, and We’re Off to See the (Edited) Wizard

Are Landlines Back?

I hope so!

Of course, I don’t think they are. Not in a big, mainstream way, anyway. People love their smartphones, and phone companies are now stopping the installation/maintenance of landline phones. And if the infrastructure isn’t there, at some point nobody will have a landline (though there are workarounds for the old lines if you use a landline through your internet).

But it’s great to see that some people are using them again!

People are beginning to understand that being connected to your smartphone all day, every day, is bad for you (and not just bad for kids). Older people remember how great it was to have a device that was just for making phone calls, and younger people are finding out about landline phones and are intrigued by them.

There are actual benefits to using a landline – for example, they never have to be charged and they do one thing and one thing only, without the distraction of the web – and I still say that I’ve never had a smartphone conversation that is as clear and reliable as a landline. They may not be smartphones, but they are smart phones.

Could Print Come Back Too?

Hey, if landlines can come back, why not print? The Onion brought back their print edition, and it’s doing well.

Radioactive Shrimp?

Three lots of frozen shrimp sold at Walmart have been recalled because they may be radioactive. PLEASE DO NOT EAT THE SHRIMP. It won’t give you superpowers, it won’t make you “Shrimp Man,” and Marvel isn’t going to make a big-budget movie about your adventures.

(However, Radioactive Shrimp would be a great name for a band.)

You Can’t Spell “Wizard” Without an “A” and an “I”

Now A.I. is even making the showing of a classic movie controversial.

The Wizard of Oz is currently playing at Sphere in Las Vegas, and some people aren’t happy with what’s being done to it. With the help of A.I., the movie has been changed to accommodate the giant screens at the venue. And while the results look somewhat incredible (in particular the tornado scene), many fans are upset that they’ve changed it too much.

Like a lot of A.I., the faces don’t quite look right in some scenes, and the entire look of the film has been changed, drastically altering what original director Victor Fleming envisioned. They’ve also inserted into scenes characters that weren’t there in the first place. Oh, and to add insult to injury, they’ve edited the film. It was originally 102 minutes, but this new version is only 75 minutes. Hopefully they didn’t cut out the songs.

Tickets are $104.

Killer Cats?

I haven’t read Garfield in a long time, so I’m not sure if he still hates Mondays and still eats lasagna. But I’m pretty sure that in one of the comic strips this week he killed a kid.

Headline of the Week

“Squirrel Honored with Topps Card After Interrupting Yankees Game”

RIP James Dobson, Ron Turcotte, Jerry Adler, Michael Antunes, David Ketchum, and John Cruickshank

James Dobson was the influential and controversial leader of the religious right who started Focus on the Family. He died last week at the age of 89.

Ron Turcotte rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973. He died last week at the age of 84.

Jerry Adler started out behind the scenes on many famous Broadway productions but then went on to a long acting career himself, in such shows as The Sopranos, The Good Wife, Rescue Me, Northern Exposure, Mad About You, and The West Wing. He died Saturday at the age of 96.

Michael Antunes was the saxophone player for John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, known for their hit “On the Dark Side,” from the film Eddie and the Cruisers. He died last week at the age of 85.

Uploaded to YouTube by John Cafferty – Topic

David Ketchum was a character actor who had many roles on TV and in movies over the years, most notably as Agent 13 on Get Smart. He also wrote for many TV shows. He died earlier this month at the age of 97.

John Cruickshank was the last surviving recipient of the Victoria Cross from World War II. He died earlier this month at the age of 105.

This Week in History

Hurricane Katrina (August 23-31, 2005)

The Category 5 storm killed 1,392 people, and damages were estimated to be around $125 billion.

Scientific American Debuts (August 28, 1845)

It’s the oldest continuously-published magazine in the United States. It’s not the oldest in general, however. That belongs to another publication we all know and love.

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: The Wizard of Oz (August 26, 1939)

People were as amazed by Technicolor as they are by A.I.

September Is National Chicken Month

Taste of Home has a recipe for Coca-Cola Chicken, and Curtis Stone has one for a Chicken Pot Pie with Fennel Salad. Stone also has a recipe for Chicken and Artichokes.

The Pioneer Woman? She has recipes for Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos, Hot Honey Chicken, and a Marry Me Chicken Pasta.

The Lemon Apron has this Shrimp and Chicken Scampi. Just make sure you don’t use radioactive shrimp.

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

Labor Day (September 1)

A man named Maguire started the federal holiday… but which Maguire?

NFL Season Begins (September 4)

The first game of the season airs on NBC at 7 p.m. ET and features the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.