Rick Canale

Happy 85th Birthday, Otis Williams 🎊🥳🥳 "My Girl" is the song that pops in my head whenever I think of generational music. It's rare to meet someone who hasn't heard or doesn't know this song. Temptations then, Temptations now, Temptations Forever!

A late nap in the bookshop for my small helper after picking up a couple hundred new books today, cleaning, pricing, labeling. Hope to have everything listed on the website by tomorrow.

Philip Seymour Hoffman left an estimated $35 million. His will left nothing directly to his three children, and the IRS was expected to take about $15 million of it. He signed the will on October 7, 2004, when he had only one child, his son Cooper. He never updated it. Two daughters, Tallulah and Willa, came later. Everything went to Mimi O'Donnell, the mother of all three kids. The will called her his "friend and companion." They were never married. That one detail is what cost so much. A husband can leave his wife any amount free of federal estate tax. A partner gets no such break. Estate lawyers estimated the bill at around $15 million. He was warned. In Manhattan Surrogate's Court filings, his accountant said Hoffman rejected a trust for the kids again and again, as recently as the year before he died. He "did not want his children to be considered 'trust fund' kids." His lawyer said the same: Hoffman "did not like the idea of setting up a trust for his children." He trusted Mimi to take care of them. The will had one more wish. He wanted Cooper raised in or near Manhattan, Chicago or San Francisco, and if not, to visit them at least twice a year, so he would see culture, arts and architecture. He died of an overdose in February 2014. He was 46. In the video below, Hoffman explains that he wants people to work for a personal stake, not just a job: "I think you get the best work that way." The case for Philip: he wanted his kids to grow up working, not waiting for a check, and he left it all to the woman raising them. The case against: by refusing to marry or sign one trust, he handed the IRS a fortune that could have been theirs. Was it a father protecting his kids from money, or a father who let the IRS take their share?

#RedSox SP Sonny Gray’s mutual option for 2027 was declined, per the MLBPA Gray, 36, will be a free-agent

I am speechless. Thomas Aquinas College just dropped a study on the rigor of the new SAT. It compares the 1980/87 test with 2026. The findings should terrify every parent and teacher... Vocabulary has collapsed. Old SAT: 70.6% of questions tested vocab. New SAT: 15%. The old test forced students to know a wide range of words through analogies, antonyms, and sentence completions. The new test abandoned that. Most vocab questions now just ask students to fill in one blank from context. Reading passages also got radically shorter (average ~97 words vs 300–340). The new test uses short expository passages and hands you the necessary background knowledge inside the text. The older tests leaned much more heavily on argumentative and persuasive writing, assumed far more historical, scientific, and cultural knowledge, and penalized students who lacked it. This is a redefinition of what "college readiness" means. If you believe that kids should develop rigorous vocabulary, be capable of sustained reading, and possess background knowledge, I have bad news for you. The SAT no longer measures these. If you want a future where children can actually read difficult texts and construct complex arguments, the SAT must be replaced now. This cannot go on.

Not trying to change your vote, just trying to get you to vote and hope common sense does the rest. 🗳🇺🇸

Internet users have raised over $120,000 for the Red Baron worker who went viral after an influencer started harassing him. The man has been identified as ‘Walt Z’ from Michigan and he is thankful for the support. “Walt Z out of Michigan sends a heartfelt thankyou, and is absolutely blown away by how much people have cared over this,” the GoFundMe organizer said. “They are requesting privacy, and GoFundMe is taking the lead in transferring all of this to him. You're all Rockstars, and it shows.” Glad to see this man is being taken care of. GoFundMe link is below.

He’s still here. He’s got a fan club. Including us.