What is behind the delay in McDonald’s plan to roll out their healthier cooking oil? They won’t comment on a new target date for switching all their restaurants to the new oil. Their brief words on the matter merely state that their main concern is to focus on customer satisfaction and product quality. A new chairman and chief executive started in mid-January, so perhaps altered goals are forthcoming from the golden arches. Emphasizing the unhealthy nature of their food may not be the best approach. A clever marketing plan will get Americans eating anything. Perhaps a frequent-eater plan that includes a health club membership? Or, eat 100 burgers, get a free treadmill!

Steinway celebrates its 150th anniversary on Wednesday. This Newsday article on the company was excerpted in many local newspapers. The full version includes more details on the manufacturing flaws that a few people quibble over. But there is no question that the Steinway is still the, well, the Steinway of pianos. Unless you want a Bösendorfer of course, which is celebrating its 175 year.

Update on that diamond theft: the stolen jewels, gold and securities have been valued at $100 million. The carefully executed plan was marred by a discarded bag found on the side of the road. The bag contained documents that led authorities to suspect an Italian jeweller who had rented offices in the building and carefully observed all the security procedures necessary to gain access to the vaults. Four people have been arrested. (thanks to Steve of snarkout for reminding me to check in on this)

Note to self: Before using sea salt body scrub, verify that all papercuts are completely healed.

Broadway musicians, members of Local 802 – American Federation of Musicians, have pushed back their strike date to midnight Thursday. Their contract negotiations with The League of American Theatres and Producers have centered on the stipulations regarding the minimum number of musicians that must be hired for a Broadway musical. Show producers have sometimes cleverly worked around the minimums, counting actors who play instruments on stage to get around having to pay a musician who is not needed. The League finds the minimums ridiculous and restrictive. The musicians are trying to save dwindling jobs as electronic reproductions get ever closer to sounding “live.” Talk of using completely electronic music in shows if the musicians do strike is perhaps the realization of the union’s worst fears. The League also is petitioning to eliminate music copyists from the union, preferring to hire them as independent contractors. Music copyists have the often thankless job of transcribing the composer’s score and ongoing edits to new playable scores.

Your recycled plastic grocery bags may be part of someone’s new deck. Trex is a decking material “made primarily with recycled plastic grocery bags, reclaimed pallet wrap and about half waste wood.” It’s been rapidly gaining popularity the past few years. The material doesn’t need to be painted or sealed (but it can be), works with the usual wood fastenings (nails, screws), and can even be bent for interesting effects.

Whenever Mr. Rogers showed a film to his TV audience he would hold up a little film container saying that he’d brought something to show us. Then he’d put the container into a little opening in the side of the wall and the film would magically start running. Now of course there was post-production to edit the actual film into the show, but when you’re four you don’t know about these things. I was savvy enough, however, to decide that there must be something “real” going on in that wall to allow him to stick a film canister in and have the movie come on like magic. So I had a scenario worked out in my head that behind the wall was a guy who would take the film out of the canister and run it into a projector so I could see it on my TV. And then when the film was over the guy would have to quickly put the film back in the canister so Mr. Rogers could take it out of the wall again. It never really dawned on me that this film trick was as make-believe as the land where all those fake puppets and the purple panda were. Mr. Rogers clearly delineated what was real and what was make believe. He would show us how he played the trolley noises on his piano. He showed us the puppets used in the land of make-believe and how he did the voices. Sesame Street, which makes no such distinctions, is pure escapism, educational as it is. Mister Rogers, in some ways, prepared his viewers for his death better than any other children’s characters because he wasn’t a character. He was genuine.

Rob Cockerham, ever-prolifically-funny, gave titles to the California quarter selections.

I look forward to Wednesdays because it is “food day!” in the newspapers I read. But I was taken aback when I opened up “the merc” yesterday to see a lengthy feature article on instant ramen. Don’t get me wrong, I love instant noodles of all configurations. I’ve had instant udon and instant thai noodles this week for dinner (hey, I’ve been busy). But doctoring instant ramen into a meal is second nature to me, and I didn’t want precious food article space taken up by praise for starch and powdered flavorings in a plastic packet. I need the food pages to be inspirational. I don’t need to be told that I can add vegetables and meat to my instant noodles to make a meal. I don’t want to know how many times the earth can be circled by the number of ramen packages sold per year. This attitude makes me worse than a foodie snob — I’m a foodie writing snob. Save me from myself, please!

Check out the new plates on Ned’s WRX. Any idea what Apple product he works on? He also supported arts education and local arts programming by selecting the Wayne Thiebaud designed CAC special plate.