Despite what it thinks, Cumberland Farms has never reached the cultural icon status achieved by other local firms in New England, like Dunkies or LL Bean, etc. But last decade the Westborough-based convenience-store chain did produce one of the all-time worst TV commercials in history, starring David Hasselhoff, and it long-ago ran an ad campaign with jingles written by Brad Delp (scroll down) of later Boston band fame, and it recently partnered up on some promotional campaign with rapper Sammy Adams, who I never heard of until a few hours ago. So I guess all of this elevates Cumberland Farms, aka Cumbys, to a level worth reporting here that its U.K. owner, EG Group, which is half owned by a U.K private equity firm (of course), has filed to take Cumberland Farms public, in case you missed the news that broke just prior to the Fourth holiday. … The BBJ and Convenience Store News have more details.
Btw — I guess CF and Dunkies don’t have enough ‘classic aesthetic’ to make this august list.
Politicizing the nation’s 250th Anniversary one day. Politicizing the World Cup the next. What else can he spoil this week? The annual Girl Scout Cookie sale ended in April. So it will have to be something else.
Just over 30 years ago, a friend of mine gave me a copy of James Reston’s “Deadline: A Memoir” as a birthday gift. I proceeded to set aside the famed NYT journalist’s 500-page account of his life and career, figuring I’d read it sooner or later. At the time, I had no idea “later” meant taking more than three decades to finally flip it open and start reading. Which is surprising because I’ve long loved the memoirs of other World War II-era and beyond journalists, such as Teddy White’s classic “In Search of History” and William Shirer’s “Berlin Diary.” Their tales of covering long-ago historic events and figures inspired me as a young journalist – and still inspire me. Maybe I was just burnt out on journalist memories when I got “Deadline.” No matter. I finally did read the memoir of the now deceased Reston, finishing it just recently, and what an enjoyable trip through history.
The book is indeed a memoir of the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist’s career that spanned the mid-1930s to the late 1980s. As a young correspondent based in London, Reston covered the rise of Nazism in Germany and later the Battle of Britain. As a more seasoned journalist based in Washington during and after the war, Reston covered the tragic start of the Cold War, the rise and fall of McCarthyism, and presidents from FDR to George H. W. Bush.
But what I really liked about the book is Reston’s mini-essay profiles of famous historic and journalistic figures that he covered and interacted with over the decades – Walter Lippman, Arthur Krock, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Dean Acheson, John Foster Dulles, Adlai Stevenson, the Kennedys, Henry Kissinger. His chapters on Dwight Eisenhower, LBJ, Nixon and Jimmy Carter are particularly insightful.
Reston, who served as a a reporter, Washington bureau chief, executive editor and columnist at the Times over the years, also provides chapters on “Yalta and The Times,” “The Oppenheimer Case,” “The Reporters of Vietnam” and even his family’s purchase of the Vineyard Gazette on Martha’s Vineyard. Reston obviously had his share of faults that aren’t outlined in the book (such as criticism by some that he was too close to the manipulative Henry Kissinger), but those faults were few and far between as far as I can tell.
Can you recommend a book published 35 years ago? Sure. Why not? As I said, Reston’s book is ultimately an enjoyable trip through history – and a delayed trip through history for yours truly. … As for my old friend who gave me the book, he sadly passed away a while back. But I can still see his kind B-day inscription to me, handwritten on the inside, and all I can say is: Jim, wherever you are, thank you. I finally finished the book.
Usually, these types of joke April Fool’s/whatever commemorative newspapers fall flat on their faces for one reason: they’re not very funny. But you can tell the Globe editors had fun with their 250thCommemorative “July 4, 1776” edition this morning, reporting the “Freshest News Occurrences of this Glorious Day, Humbly Deliver’ed. Or, How the Globe might have looked if it and the Internet existed in 1776 (they did not).” … The best part: the Globe gently poking fun of itself via imaginary soft-news features from 1776 that look suspiciously like shameless click-bait stories you might read in the paper today (or any media site today, for that matter), such as highlighting the local “Patriot Starting Lineup” at the Continental Congress, providing a handy list of where to find “strong drink” on this most Glorious Day, reporting that the “Smallpox inoculation ban’” has been lifted in Boston, hosting a debate over “What’s Faneuil for? Soaring speeches or the sale of trinkets?” Etc. etc. …
One thing missing: a Sports Section, perhaps covering quoits, cards and lacrosse leagues? Maybe next year.
Update — Breaking contemporary news from The Onion: “Joey Chestnut Recalls Being Cut From His High School’s Varsity Hot Dog Eating Team”
As bad as the Jaylen Brown-Paul George trade looks on the surface, there’s something telling me that it was the right move under the circumstances, that the two-stars Brown-Tatum match wasn’t working and that something needed to change. I wish that change included trading Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo. But that deal wasn’t meant to be. … I get Dan Shaughnessy, Gary Washburn, Zack Kram and Sam Quinn’s harsh criticisms of the trade. Jaylen Brown for 36-year-old Paul George and a slew of draft picks? That’s all they could get? But Hardwood Houdini’s Ben Handler is on to something when he writes:
It’s sad to see it go down like this, but it’s also exciting in a sense. It’s a new day in Boston. The Jays era is over. Now it’s just the Jayson Tatum era. And maybe that’s the way it should have been all along
Now if we can only get rid of Stubborn Joe. He’s the real problem. I get depressed at the thought of another of his 3-point bombs-away seasons. But Brad is sticking with him… A Hub Blog reader on the Brown trade:
– Damn (and I was all in on the Giannis swap)
– Brown didn’t request a trade?
– The 76ers kicked our ass in the playoffs without Brown and with Paul George… though we didn’t have Mitchell Robinson.
– Adding two late 30s guys and a big man with injury history says WIN NOW for new ownership.
– Cue the full-page Boston Globe farewell ad. Or save the $ and put it on Instagram?
His supporters will try to change the subject, perhaps yet again to Hunter Biden’s pathetic get-rich-quick schemes. But they know this is bad. Really bad. … And nearly half the money came from an investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates. …
Update – 7.2.26 – The WSJ is comparing the Trump family’s brazen money grab to Tammany Hall boss George Washington Plunkitt’s “honest graft” approach to government.
Update II — 7.3.26 — Because they know this is bad. From the NYT: “MAGA Base Stays Quiet After Trump Reports Billions in Personal Gains” … Btw: When you include his family’s non-crypto schemes (mining deals, timely VC investments etc), the total haul comes out to $2.2 billion.
I loved the original headline (see above) on Thomas Edsall’s latest piece at the NYT, but they’ve since changed it. Too bad. The original one perfectly summed up the DSA Party, whose membership is overwhelmingly made up of college-grad professionals completely out of touch with working-class people they say they represent, as Edsall notes and shows. … Sociology and gender-studies majors of the world, unite!
Fyi – I’m thinking of starting a regular feature on Hub Blog: ‘Red Menace Rising Update,’ focusing on everything socialist, socialist, socialist, from overreactions to socialists to hypocrisy of socialists. It’s so exciting!
In the end, I didn’t wait to stream it. Instead, at the invitation of a friend, I saw ‘Pressure’ yesterday at the classic Dedham Community Theatre. My verdict: thumbs up. The Atlantic’s David Sims had it right: it’s hard to instill real tension in a D-Day story that’s been told many times before, but director Anthony Maras managed to pull it off in ‘Pressure,’ via the tale of a meteorologist’s weather forecast, of all things. … Brendan Fraser as Eisenhower? It took some getting used to it, I admit. But he gives a surprisingly good performance. Andrew Scott (of Ripley fame) was typically excellent as Captain James Stagg, the meteorologist. … The movie has its share of flaws (among them frequent corniness), but it’s definitely a solid “dad-bait” flick, perfect for Father’s Day. It’s playing today at Dedham Community Theatre at 12 and 4:30. … Btw: There were more than a few buffoonish characters in the movie who reminded me of know-it-all Pete Hegseth (see below), but I won’t get into that here.
Hub Blog 