Sunday Rituals

It started around 1968. And for many years thereafter, my Sunday rites consisted of purchasing the paper(s), getting comfy, lots of coffee, Ella on the component sound system, and reading the NY Times and whatever paper had the best funnies. In my New York days, that was the Daily News.

During my years in Boston, it was the Boston Globe. And here? Well, the practice fell away. I always seemed to be working on Sundays, and I just can't bring myself to part with something like $10.00 for the Times. Now, when I get a Sunday off, I read news and etc. on the Internet. It's not the same. Considering the Internet's popularity, I have to wonder why the Entertainment reporting is so bad. There's hardly a look at what's coming up in the next week, month, or season. There is no real  news at all from the worlds of Philharmonias, live Theatres, concerts, opera houses, danse, cabaret, photography, museum shows & etc.  Even the advertising is too narrowed to be of any interest. I want to see fashions, what is being worn in Paris, Madrid, Rome, London, Buenos Aires. I want to know what the new electronic toys are. I want photos or headlines and well written articles that draw me into stories I would otherwise pass by. I miss turning on the tv in time to catch Charles Kuralt's On the Road segments. I want to read material written by authors who happen to know something of what they write.

This morning's gleanings include a story about an outfit making commericals for dogs: included are high pitched whistles and other sounds which would get a dog's attention. It worked for Pavlov. If your best beast came running to watch a commerical, might that get you to buy that product? It worked for Pavlov. This new feature is brought to you by those fine folks at Nestles Purina. Ah, yes the friendly Swiss company that brought us milk chocolate candies, canned milk, and Infant Formula has grown a bit. Here's a few of the company's current better known holdings (they have over 6,000 brands) : Nescafe, Perrier, Nesquik, Carnation, Haagen Dazs, Skinny Cow, Cheerios, Gerber, Power Bar, Buitoni, etc. Nestle also holds significant shares of General Mills, and Coca-Cola.

This reminds me, another story in the news detailed a study of how global warming will affect coca production. An average 2 degree change will end the crop in West Africa, which supplies half of the world's coca beans. Chocolate would became a mouth tingle of the wealthy. I was getting extremely concerned until I read that the soonest this would be a real problem is 2050. Whew! That was close.

Just now I'm having one of those warm glowing moments when nostalgia suddenly beats one over the head. Charles Kuralt! God I loved those "On the Road" segments. They were often stories. Stories about us. The Oregon Trail, or maybe it'd be snow geese. He'd let the camera focus on the geese, we'd hear only the sounds of nature. His stories of people who succeeded, or failed miserably, were told without agenda. Small town festivals. Making sugar cane into molasses. He celebrated America. Its people, its deeds. Its a kind of view we don't get anymore.

That reminds me, tonight on 60 minutes, Andy Rooney takes exit from a long career. And, on PBS the new (3 part?) documentary by Ken Burns begins. Its focus : the Depression.  Hopefully he's gotten tired of using that civil war soundtrack and uses song of the period. We'll see.