Last week, I stopped by Walmart after work to pick up a few groceries. It was just getting dark as I left the store and started loading up my car. Blackbirds, grackles, I guess, were flying into the parking lot with speed, like they had all been invited to a party and were encouraged to be on time. Suddenly more grackles were entering my space, and all the spaces around me. As I finished loading, a bit of broccoli had fallen out of a sack, so I threw it over to the birds. Peace offering. They thought it was great until discovering it was actually broccoli. Ahh, I had rice cakes in one of my sacks, so I opened a package, broke up a couple, and threw pieces to the birds, all the time thinking heavily about the movie, The Birds, which was partly inspired by true events of a mass bird attack in California in August 1961. Townspeople awoke to a scene straight out of a scary movie. Seabirds dive-bombing homes, crashing into cars, and spewing half-digested anchovies on their lawns. Alfred Hitchcock heard about it and used the idea for his movie which was already in progress. As it turned out, the real cause of the birds’ behavior was toxic algae, but how was I to know that when I was standing in the middle of the Walmart parking lot, with a broken rice cake in my hand?
Italian actor, sex symbol, photojournalist, and icon, Gina Lollobrigida, is going to run for the Senate in her country’s elections next month, standing as the candidate for the Sovereign and Popular Italy Party in the city of Latina. This will happen just weeks after celebrating her 95th birthday. “I was just tired of hearing politicians arguing with each other without ever getting to the point,” she offered. “I will fight for the people to decide, from health to justice. Italy is in bad shape. I want to do something good and positive.”
My kids loved the children’s author (over 150 books) and illustrator, Maurice Sendak. Who has not experienced the magic of reading Where the Wild Things Are to a 6-year-old? It is a classic that entertains both the reader and the listener. One day my Boston son called while walking to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which he frequents often. (That is the museum that had thirteen works of art stolen in 1990. Guards had admitted two men posing as police officers responding to a disturbance call, the thieves tied the guards up and looted the museum over the next hour. The case is unsolved; no arrests have been made and no works have been recovered. The stolen works have been valued at hundreds of millions of dollars by the FBI and art dealers. It is my understanding that the museum is still offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the art’s recovery, the largest bounty ever offered by a private institution.) How well I depart from the subject at hand. Anyway, Gage was on his way to see, “Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet” because it seems that Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) was also an avid fan of music and had a successful ‘second act’ as a set and costume designer for opera and ballet. I know you don’t want to travel to Boston, but you can pull it up. It’s pretty fabulous. GarnerMuseum.org
Former Brazoswood High School pitcher and graduate, Blake Perry, is heading to Bluefield State University in West Virginia to continue playing baseball, and in the process, obtain his master’s degree in business administration. Way to go Blake. Everyone is enormously proud.
Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman is denying allegations from two women who have accused him of sexually abusing them when they were minors in the 1970s. One of the women is described as the daughter of an adviser and manager to Foreman, while the second woman is the daughter of a boxer who trained with him. Foreman says, “I will work with my lawyers to fully and truthfully, expose my accusers’ scheme and defend myself in court. I don’t pick fights, but I don’t run away from them either.”
Mickey Mantle’s first baseball card, Commerce Comet’s 1952 Topps trading card in mint-condition, just sold for $12.6 million to an anonymous collector following a month-long auction. The price surpassed the card’s pre-sale estimate to make it the most valuable piece of sports memorabilia ever sold. The 1952 Mantle is one of the most coveted baseball cards of all time, often referred to as his rookie card.
Thoughts: Why do we have to wear seat belts, but the garbage collector hangs off the back of the truck?
Listen up: The Elizabethan Madrigal Feast is back, November 25, 26, 27. December 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, & 11. The Center for the Arts and Sciences. 979-265-7661 for information. Be sure to get your tickets for Steel Magnolias at Brazosport Center Stages for September 9,10,15,16 17 at 7:30 and 11 & 18 at 2:30. Remember Truvy’s beauty shop where all the ladies come to have their hair done. Brazosport Center for the Arts and Sciences. Tickets: www.bcfas.org. Do not wait. The first ever AP African American studies will be offered in some high schools this fall. Brazoria County Day is scheduled for Tuesday, February 28, 2023. This will be the 50th Anniversary of the very first Brazoria County Day in 1973. The first Hard Rock Café opened its doors in 1971.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have written, produced and will star in a film about Nike’s quest to sign Michael Jordan. Damon will play executive Sonny Vaccaro (who actually signed Jordan), with Affleck as Phil Knight (co-founder of Nike). Affleck will also direct the film. Remember when the two of them did Good Will Hunting? They are a good team.
According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, having a baby is pretty expensive now. Average cost of childbirth in the US is about $18,865 under large insurance plans, with insurance picking up the majority, leaving about $2,854. C-section births are a whopping average $26,280 with out-of-pocket expense at about $3,200. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that for children born in 2015, a family will spend on average $233,610 by the time that child is 17 years old, then you have to add college after that. I just moved my daughter (and the majority of my bank account) to graduate school. I believe they may be right.
Two of Paul Newman’s daughters are suing the Newman’s Own Foundation, a philanthropic endeavor founded by their late father, alleging that the charity has gone against their late father’s wishes by not giving enough funds to charitable organizations of their choosing. Newman granted the foundation rights to his name, image, and likeness – but not unconditionally. The one condition was that the foundation allocate $400,000 each year to each of his “Daughters’ Foundations.” “But mere days after his death, those Mr. Newman had entrusted with the stewardship of his legacy turned on him, made thinly-veiled threats of disinheritance to his daughters, and leveraged their control over his estate to set the stage for disenfranchisement of his family,” the suit reads. The daughters also say Newman’s will was changed about six months before his death, and Murphy and Forrester admitted that Newman did not remember the events of that day. “Mr. Newman’s wife and daughters were all shocked when his will was read to them because it was different in many important respects from what Mr. Newman and his advisors had explained to them and others many times over the years,” the suit reads.
Oscar Mayer is selling its first-ever hot dog popsicle. Yes, you heard me right. A hot dog flavored ice pop. It was described by some as a gelato-based treat with a lasting wiener aftertaste, which actually sounds better than ice pop. It even comes with a smear of what looks like mustard squeezed down the side, but surely not. The Weinermobile has been redecorated with cold dog written on the side – Oh, I’d love to be an Oscar Mayer wiener. That is what I’d truly like to be. ‘Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener, everyone would be in love with me. Maybe…
The international community is standing by helpless as we worry about the outcome of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine. The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The world may be sleepwalking into a major disaster … even a nuclear war.”
My son was in Houston for a couple of weeks while he worked on a friend’s show at The Rec Room Theatre in Houston. I was excited just to give him multiple hugs because I do really miss him and our beer tastings. He doesn’t exactly come here to see me, I’m just an obligation attached to the trip, but I understand that and was thrilled to take him to the airport when he left to go back to Boston. I met him in the Heights at Truth Barbeque (#3 Best BBQ Joint in Texas according to Texas Monthly, but still not as good as Brian’s) and stood in line for about thirty minutes before we joyously amused ourselves with a ‘moist’ sauce-free brisket plate with sides of Brussel sprouts cooked to perfection, green beans still a little crunchy, and the most yummy corn pudding. We ended the meal with a huge piece of the most beautiful Tres Leches with one inch plus meringue on top, that literally melted on our tongues. It would have fed 4 people on a normal day. Then we headed to buy undershirts, stopped at Sonic and enjoyed a Dr. Pepper float, because we could. What a day! It is always hard to say good-bye, but he is happy and having a great time at school.
Miniature cattle aka Pasture Puppies aka Backyard Cows. I just read an article about these little guys. Cute, but not lap-cute. They are more pet-like than a cow, but still get to be around 800 pounds or more, which is, yes, quite a bit less than a mature real cow that gets to about 1,400 pounds. Their popularity has grown because of social media (of course), but they still require all the care of regular sized cattle; vaccinations, deworming and about two acres of land per animal, just less feed. Some people raise them for beef and milk, and for agricultural tax exemptions, as people do with bees. Hmmm. I did not know that. Pull up a picture. They are cute.
The Wireless Alliance is a company that recovers cell phones, smart phones, tablets, and other consumer recyclables. The Gulf Coast Bird Observatory is collecting these items to keep them out of landfills as well as raise money for conservation efforts. If you have old technology such as a phone, charger, tablet, or other accessories, please consider taking it to GCBO, or drop off at The Source Weekly office in LJ. We’ll make sure that they receive the items. Do your part for the birds and the bees.
My uncle died recently, and I was suddenly made aware of the cost of obituaries. My relatives have lived in Hot Springs Arkansas, but my aunt needed to run his obituary in the Waco paper where he had grown up and attended high school. It was over $600 for one obituary for a single day. She decided not to run the obit at all and just called most of his friends. What a shame, because people want to know when someone is not with us anymore, and they want to read their life story. Not everyone has social media, which some people depend on for all their information (right and wrong). I will remind you that The Source Weekly will place an announcement on the life story of your loved one for the same cost of any space we sell. That means a whole ¼ page space with a picture/s can be put on the pages of this paper for as little as $100. Less than that if you want a smaller space. Consider this information the next time you or your family has need of it.
My kids were worried about the fact that I misplace my phone all the time. An Apple watch took care of that problem with me now having the ability to touch my watch, and it beeps my phone. I might add, it is genuinely nice to have. I feel like Dick Tracy. Recently, a Tesla owner got tired of losing his car keys, so he had his Tesla key chip implanted onto the back of his hand for easy accessibility. Wait, it gets better. He implanted his house key on the other hand. He says, “I’m a huge tech nerd. I work in technology. You can’t lose your hand, so you always have a way of getting in your car.” I say, hasn’t he ever heard of The Fugitive? It can happen. Have a fabulous day and stay tuned next week so I can tell you all I know about the benefits of body fat. Yep, I just pulled up the article. Hmmm. I have never seen the words benefit and body fat in the same sentence. 😊
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
