It’s the first Saturday of 2015, and you know what that means: It’s time for the first news chum of 2015. Here are some articles that I found of interest over the last week:
- Alright. Draw. Police departments across the US have been in the news of late because of how they treat minorities and other citizens. Here’s an interesting article along that vein: Recently, a mentee of Ralph Backshi (i.e., a cartoonist) found herself arrested and under detection in the Los Angeles County jail system. So she did what any good cartoonist would do: she drew about the situation whenever she could. It makes a fascinating commentary on how we treat those arrested — even before they go to trial.
- A Generational Mark. As the year ended, some generational figures passed away. For some, the marker was Christine Cavanaugh, the voice of Chuckie on Rugrats. My daughter grew up on Rugrats, so this is a generational mark. For others, it was Donna Douglas, the actor who played Ellie Mae on The Beverly Hillbillies. For me, Douglas’ passing raises a different question: Are there other actresses today whose claim to fame was a nine-season sitcom from 30 years ago who would be as fondly remembered?
- Something In The Music. A few musical items of note. The first is something that boggles the mind: Mac Sabbath – A Black Sabbath cover band that performs dressed as characters from McDonaldland. Yes, you read that right: Ronald McDonald, the Hamburgler, Grimace playing hard rock. The next is the death of Little Jimmy Dickens, the oldest member of the Grand Old Opry. What caught my eye here is the following line in the obit: “He is credited with introducing rhinestone suits to country music around 1950, taking a suggestion from Los Angeles clothing designer Nudie.” Wow. Lastly, we have the death of the piano store. In the days before recorded music, every house — if they wanted music — had a piano. Recorded music came in, and pianos became (a) more expensive, and (b) replaceable with cheap keyboards. The result: no one buys new pianos anymore.
- Killing Autoplay Videos. In the most useful tip of the week category: How to Stop Autoplay Videos. This has made my news browsing so much faster and easier.
- Reform Judaism and Russian Jews. Here’s an interesting Judaism related articles: it appears that one group that is rapidly flocking to Reform Judaism are Russian Jews. I remember when German Jews came into Reform and changed the religion in various ways; it will be interesting to see the changes this brings.
- Intellectual Property Disputes. It appears an intellectual property dispute may hit Yosemite. Specifically, Delaware North, the company that operates all the lodging and concessions in Yosemite, is stating that it will take all the trademarked placenames such as Ahwanee and Curry Villiage with them if they don’t win the contract, unless the US Government ponies up $51 million dollars. Observers think this is a form of poison pill threat as the National Park Service is putting the contracts out to bid. Veiled threat, or are we going to see major changes in names at Yosemite. Speaking of history, here’s an article on the Arroyo Seco Parkway at 70.
