Very Interesting….

Here’s a collection of articles that I found to be quite interesting (and worthy of comment), and yet ones that are unlikely to fit into a themed post:

• Garfield is Not Meant To Be Funny. We’re all familiar with the lasgane-eating cat. We read the script, and scratch our heads. Some of us even find Garfield minus Garfield to be funnier.  Turns out there is a reason. Garfield was never meant to be funny; it was specifically designed to be marketable.  That is, Garfield was designed to be able to create plush toys, trite sayings, kitchen magnets, T-shirts, and such — not to be a funny strip.
• Judaism Isn’t Cheap. The LA Times has an interesting op-ed today on the high cost of Judaism. This isn’t even talking about the cost of living Judaism — kosher food and the like. Rather, it refers to the high cost of Jewish community services, the high cost of synagogue membership. It posits that this is one reason behind declining synagogue membership. I know that at our large synagogue in the ‘burbs, membership dues are high, there are regular additional appeals because dues don’t cover all, and accounting errors lead to additional assessments … plus all the various fundraisers and events that have their fees. If you’re not lucky enough to be middle-class, what do you do. You join with dues assistance, which then makes things even worse for the rest of the congregation. There are some answers, but they take, so to speak, a leap of faith and assumption of a certain amount of risk. They take making synagogues be more than dues for service, rather a relationship you want to support. It’s not an easy question.
• Dealing with ADHD. We have taken in a cousin who is dealing with ADHD. This is something new to us, and is leading us to be more attentive to the various posts that go around on the subject. Recently, a FB friend brought to light this wonderful ADHD survival guide. I think it has some really good tips that we are going to try.
• You Are What You Drink. Coke Zero is rebranding itself as Coke Zero Sugar. Why? The new name is intended to make clearer that the drink has no calories, and a new recipe is intended to make the drink taste more like regular Coke. The company isn’t specifying what it’s changing aside from saying it tweaked the “blend of flavors.” It says the drink will use the same artificial sweeteners. Mainly, they are making it look more, and taste more, like Coke. Why? Because “Diet Coke” doesn’t taste like Coke (remember, Diet Coke replaced Tab, which was saccharine based). The push behind Coke Zero comes as people continue moving away from Diet Coke in the United States. Coca-Cola in the past has blamed the declines on concerns over the aspartame used in the drink, though the ingredient is also used in Coke Zero, which has enjoyed growth globally. Note that last bit: aspartame is used in Coke Zero. That’s why I don’t drink it. I either drink water or plain black tea. With respect to that, alas, Starbucks is closing down all Teavana locations. Starbuck has never had a commitment to tea. Note that both Peets and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf have also been reducing their tea selections, likely because there’s no profit in tea as people don’t doctor it as much as coffee to make it drinkable, and thus they can’t charge the extra $$$. Let’s hope David’s Tea stays around.
• Dealing with Dementia. Unfortunately, many of us are having to deal with the mental decline of our aging parents. We get diagnoses of cognitive impairment, and often leave it at that. But it turns out that the type of dementia is important to know, for it can impact the approach to treatment. So, for me, this article was interesting simply because of all the dementia we’re dealing with these days.