What If the New Year Began Three Months Earlier?
There are a lot of people who believe the new year should start in the fall and not in January. After all, it’s when things start anew: Kids are back in school, vacations are over, and people get back into the swing of work; the weather turns from hot and humid to cool, and there’s just an overall feeling of a fresh start and a refocus to the fall.
I was thinking of this after reading The Wall Street Journal’s piece about a related trend called “The October Theory,” where young people on social media discuss the benefits of fall being the best time to set new goals, change their lives, and to basically do all of the things that a lot of people do in January. The October people think they’ll have an advantage, getting a three-month head start on resolutions and changes.
I love the fall too and have always looked at Labor Day as the starting point for changes and new energy. But I don’t think the new year should start in October. January makes more sense to me, when the holidays are over and New Year’s is January 1. There’s a difference between when your “new life” begins and the “new year” begins. Unless the pro-fall movement wants to move New Year’s Day to October too?
That would really mess up the companies that make calendars and planners.
At Least Nobody Picked Circus Peanuts
My favorite Halloween candy – well, favorite candy even if it’s not Halloween – is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
That’s the top choice of a lot of people, according to this map that shows the most popular Halloween candy in each state. It’s data from Instacart, but there are other companies that use other methods and their results are different (though the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is always at or near the top).
Also popular: M&Ms (both regular and peanut), Snickers, Twix, and for some reason Sour Patch Kids, which I will never believe is the most popular Halloween treat here in Massachusetts.
But we can be thankful we’re not Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Kansas. They chose candy corn.
“Rhapsody in Blue” at 100
The Post’s Andy Hollandbeck was already on this back in February with a terrific story about the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” But last weekend CBS Sunday Morning had a good piece by David Pogue.
Uploaded to YouTube by CBS Sunday Morning
Rubik’s Cube: Now Even More Frustrating!
This incredibly small Rubik’s Cube – 1000 times smaller than the regular puzzle – answers the question, what if you had to solve a Rubik’s Cube but could only use a pair of tweezers?
On the bright side, it only costs $5,320.00
RIP Fernando Valenzuela, Jack Jones, Ron Ely, Philip Zimbardo, Michael Newman, Lynda Obst, Sherry Coben, Ward Christensen, Mimi Hines, Paul Di’Anno, and John Kinsel Sr.
Fernando Valenzuela was the popular Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who won the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards in 1981. He died Tuesday at the age of 63.
Jack Jones was probably best known for singing the theme song to The Love Boat, but he had a long career as a singer of American standards, including such songs as “Wives and Lovers,” “Lollipops and Roses,” and “The Impossible Dream.” He died Wednesday at the age of 86.
Ron Ely was the star of two 1960s series, Tarzan and The Aquanauts, as well as the 1987 reboot of Sea Hunt. He also appeared on Father Knows Best, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Superboy, and in the film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze. He died this week at the age of 86.
Philip Zimbardo was the psychologist who ran the infamous Stanford prison experiment. He died last week at the age of 91.
Michael Newman was the real-life lifeguard who played Newmie on Baywatch. He was also a firefighter while filming the show and continued the job when the show was canceled. He died Sunday at the age of 68.
Lynda Obst produced such movies as Sleepless in Seattle, Flashdance, and Adventures in Babysitting, as well as the TV shows Hot in Cleveland and The Hot Zone. She also wrote two popular books about Hollywood: Hello, He Lied & Other Tales from the Hollywood Trenches and Sleepless in Hollywood. She died Tuesday at the age of 74.
Sherry Coben was the creator of the comedy series Kate & Allie. She died last week at the age of 71.
Ward Christensen was one of the co-creators – with Randy Suess – of the computer bulletin board system (BBS), the online community and forums people used before the web. He died last week at the age of 78.
Mimi Hines replaced Barbra Streisand on Broadway in Funny Girl. She went on to perform in many more musicals. She died Monday at the age of 91.
Paul Di’Anno was the original lead singer for Iron Maiden. He died Monday at the age of 66.
John Kinsel Sr. was one of the Navajo code talkers during World War II. He died Saturday at the age of 107.
This Week in History
First Appearance of The Smurfs (October 23, 1958)
The little blue characters made their debut in the Belgian magazine Spirou.
“Black Thursday” (October 24, 1929)
The Great Wall Street Crash of 1929 was so bad it had both a Black Thursday and a Black Tuesday.
This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Cracker Jack (October 22, 1955)
This ad serves two purposes. The first is for Halloween (obviously), and the second is for baseball’s World Series (“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack …”). It starts tonight at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
I don’t know anything about baseball anymore but I know enough to root against the Yankees.
Saturday Is National Pumpkin Day
I saw a news report the other day about a pumpkin spice car wash. They’re putting pumpkin spice in the soap and water so your car smells like fall. It’s a limited-time thing and it’s for charity so I guess that’s good. After the story the news producer said they should do the same thing on Thanksgiving, with turkey and gravy smells, and I’m thinking this could be a regular holiday event. A pine scent for Christmas, maybe ham for Easter?
Anyway, back to pumpkin. Here are seven recipes that use pumpkin in one form or another.
Pumpkin Spice Latte from The Pioneer Woman
Pumpkin Soup from Bobby Flay
Turkey Pumpkin Chili from Tamatha Crist
Pumpkin Hard Cider Cheese Dip from Food Network
Pumpkin Lovers Lasagna from Rachael Ray
Pumpkin Bread with Cranberries from Ellie Krieger
Pumpkin Pie from America’s Test Kitchen
If you can’t make it to that car wash you can always leave one of these dishes in your car overnight.
Next Week’s Holidays and Events
Mother-in-Law Day (October 27)
This is one holiday you don’t want to forget.
Mischief Night/Cabbage Night (October 30)
The name probably varies, depending on where you live, but I think the activities should be extended to Halloween night itself. Give out cabbage to the kids. Kids love cabbage!
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Comments
I say move New Year’s to the Spring.
If the new year was changed to ACTUALLY start on October 1st, it would cost untold trillions in problems waaay too many to even get started on here. I did watch ‘The October Theory’ enclosed here, and there is some validity to the idea, along with what you mentioned. There are things though we can do as individuals, independent of the calendar otherwise, to be already be up and running in our goals ahead of the actual new year. I like that idea.
Something that CAN be done, and should have been decades ago, is ending daylight savings time and the havoc wreaked twice yearly as a result. The government has been saying for all these years it will end the practice, meaning it never will. Nothing is ever done for the common good of the people, but we can always hope!
In fact I asked VP Harris if she could sign legislation ending it, if she’s elected. “A very good question Bob, thank you for asking! So, as you know, there’s a lot more to be done regarding this nuisance that needs to be done, that has not been done, that needs TO be done. Do you see what I’m saying on this?” “Of course I do.”
As far as the Halloween candy goes, none bought. No kids have ever come into my condo complex. California’s the only state where Nestle’s Crunch is the most popular per the link. I had no idea. Thank you for the Sunday Morning feature on “Rhapsody in Blue” turning 100. I recommend everyone watch it here, AND read Andy Hollandbeck’s wonderful POST feature. He had us in the ‘Big 100’ loop about it months before anyone else.
It’s just so wrong that 1929 is synonymous with ‘The Crash’, but it is. Interesting too, that halfway through THIS decade, the ’20s (to most people) still mean the 1920s. For a decade that ended so badly, the good outweighs the bad in most people’s collective memory. By that, I mean even friends born in the 90’s. After then? I don’t know.
Love the artwork in that ’55 Cracker Jack ad. Just inside the door, it reminds us to buy it by the case. It looks like this lady did, and is loving every minute of it. Why wouldn’t she? These four kids have all opened their boxes even before leaving her porch!