Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Andrew Tobias: Two Sonnets And An Investment Strategy
I feel particularly good supporting the DNC now that Tom Perez runs it. (President Obama considered him one of his very most effective Cabinet secretaries.) And now that Raffi Krikorian is Tom's CTO. (Ex-head of global infrastructure for Twitter, wooed away by Uber to lead the team that delivered their self-driving car, he is a tech super star - the kind we never had before.)
Paul Krugman: Melting Snowballs and the Winter of Debt (NY Times Blog)
The policy obsession that took over Washington now looks even worse.
Helaine Olen: The wall isn't an emergency, but federal workers' plight is rapidly becoming one (Washington Post)
President Trump spoke for about nine minutes Tuesday night, failing to make the case that the need for a wall at the Mexican border with the United States is an emergency. At the same time, as Democrats pointed out, he did not once mention the emergency caused by his intransigence: the financial crisis hitting the roughly 800,000 federal workers and contractors who are going unpaid as a result of the partial shutdown of the federal government.
Helaine Olen: Age discrimination is more common than you think. Why aren't we doing anything about it? (Washington Post)
The most common age to file for Social Security is 62. Why? Well, many of these people are not downscaling their professional lives or exiting the workforce entirely because they want to do so.
Kat Rosenfield: The Millions Will Live on, But the Indie Book Blog Is Dead (Vulture)
That outsider status might have ended last week, when Magee announced that the Millions had been acquired by the trade paper Publishers Weekly. And while the site's new editor, Adam Boretz, a former Millions staffer himself, says there are no plans to change the site - "The Millions that you've known and loved will continue to be the Millions that you've known and loved" - there's a consensus among readers, writers, publishers, and critics that something has ended. If not the Millions itself, then perhaps the culture and era that sustained it: an online Wild West full of hungry readers and exuberant writers still young and innocent enough not to mind working for (almost) free.
Sam Hockley-Smith: Lana Del Rey Is Writing More Candidly Than Ever (Vulture)
It is easy to project onto Lana Del Rey. She is not exactly forthcoming, but she's not a complete cipher either. Most of us can empathize, or directly relate to her in some capacity. We know what her politics are. We know how she feels about Azealia Banks. Through her music, we know that she views the world through a prism of nostalgia and dread. She writes songs that present her as old beyond her years. As someone who has really lived a life. Yet each new album, and to some extent, each new song she releases reframes our understanding of how she sees the world.
Christopher Mathias: White Supremacist Rep. Steve King Gets A Primary Challenger (Huffington Post)
Iowa state Sen. Randy Feenstra will try to unseat the congressman.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
The Hasidim loved Israel. Rabbi Yohanan of Rachmistrivska once owned a bottle of wine that had been bottled in Israel, but he declined to drink the wine, "I do not know whether I will like this particular bottle of wine. Since I do not want, heaven forbid, to disparage something that comes from Eretz Israel, I would rather not drink the bottle." Rabbi Avraham Hazan immigrated to Eretz Israel from Uman, and each year he would travel to Uman to celebrate Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New York). He always took a bottle of Israeli wine with him, and he always made sure it lasted him until he returned to Israel. Whenever he drank wine, he drank wine bottled from outside of Israel, but he put just a little of the Israeli wine in the glass so that the wine would have some of the sanctity of Eretz Israel.
Tenor Jussi Bjoerling and conductor Nils Grevilius enjoyed having a drink together-and another drink, and another, and on and on. During one debauch, they traveled together to Stockholm, where to take a break from their drinking, they decided to go to the opera house and see whatever was being performed. They got to their seats and waited and waited, and were about to leave and get some more drinks when the opera house general manager came on stage and announced that that evening's performance was being canceled because "tenor Jussi Bjoerling and conductor Nils Grevilius are missing." A very surprised Mr. Bjoerling and Mr. Grevilius stood up and announced, "We're here! We're here!"
Kingsley Amis had much experience with drinking way too much, and if any man was an expert on hangovers, he was. One of the things his excessive experience with excessive drinking taught him was to "not take an alkalizing agent such as bicarbonate of soda" when he had a hangover. One dreadful morning he took some bicarbonate of soda, which he chased with some hair of the dog: vodka. His companion decided to do an experiment: "Let's see what's happening in your stomach." The companion poured what was left of the vodka into what was left of the bicarbonate of soda. Mr. Amis writes, "The mixture turned black and gave off smoke."
One of Frank Sinatra's gifts to Sammy Davis, Jr., was an enormous gold Cartier watch. When Sammy knew that he was dying, he told his kids about the watch, "It goes with me." As he had requested, he was buried with that memento of a great friendship. (As happens to many friends, Sammy and Frank sometimes got angry at each other. Once, Sammy got outrageously drunk and cursed Frank, who ignored the outburst. The next day, Sammy went to Frank to apologize, but Frank simply told him, "Look, we've all done exactly what you did last night, but if you can't handle it, don't do it. Now, what exactly are we going to do today?"
The family of William Warren Woollcott, the older brother of famous drama critic Alexander Woollcott, was at times unconventional. During the time of Prohibition, when alcoholic beverages were forbidden, Billy Woollcott made his own beer. On special occasions, he would bring up an extra bottle and let his very young daughters have a little beer along with the adults. This beer was a special treat to them. Of course, their father was a good parent. He would sometimes tell his two youngest daughters, "Drink your milk. The one who doesn't finish her milk won't get any beer tonight."
Russian bass Fyodor Chaliapin enjoyed nights out on the town, and often the next morning his throat was totally unsuited for singing. By the time the curtain rose that evening, he was able to hit high and middle notes, but not the soft notes. Still, he was known for his pianissimo notes, even after a night of drinking. How did he do it? He opened his mouth, concentrated, and raised his hand as if guiding very low notes toward the heavens. Through his considerable acting ability, he was able to convince the audience that they were hearing very soft notes although he was making absolutely no sound.
As usual, the dancers of the Robert Joffrey Ballet arrived on time for a performance at Greensboro, North Carolina. Not as usual, the crew of the Robert Joffrey Ballet went to Greensboro, South Carolina, instead. However, the show went on, and en route to their next performance, the dancers celebrated by filling the water cooler not with water, but with champagne.
Harpo Marx once visited W.C. Fields, who showed him around his home. The pool table had a cushion because on nights when he couldn't sleep in bed he would sleep on the pool table, and his cellar was stocked with hundreds of cases of different kinds of alcohol because, Mr. Fields explained, "Never can be sure Prohibition won't come back, my boy."
A very popular tonic for women in the 1800s was Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Tonic for Female Problems. No wonder it was popular - it was 18 percent alcohol!
Ethel Barrymore's father, Maurice, enjoyed drinking to excess, and he once stated, "Staggering is a sign of strength. Weak men are carried home."
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Current Events
OMG - Cruz!
I finally actually looked at a little of the film footage of Dotard at his photo-op in Texas. And OF COURSE, Ted "everybody hates you" Cruz's ugly mug is there. Only not the usual ugly vampire visage, he evidently now has glued a DEAD CAT on his face!
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Selected Readings
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Kinda cloudy - rain may be in the future.
'Masked Singer' Pineapple
Tommy Chong
Fox's oddball, already-smash-hit celebrity singing game show "The Masked Singer" returned Wednesday, revealing at the end of its second episode that the identity of one of its famous contestants - who performed Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" disguised from head to toe in an elaborate anthropomorphic Pineapple costume - was none other than comedic legend Tommy Chong.
After three rounds of sing-offs in which studio audience members voted to determine the results, Alien lost to Rabbit, Pineapple lost to Raven, and Poodle lost to Bee. Next, it was time for panelists Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke to choose which member of the losing trio was the "weakest performer," who would then be eliminated and unmasked. And that ended up being poor Pineapple.
Then came the fun part: the reveal of Pineapple's true identity.
After much debate among the panelists, with Thicke guessing Sugar Ray Leonard, McCarthy picking Chong, Jeong landing on Jimmy Buffett and Scherzinger saying Kid Rock, host Nick Cannon revealed the answer to their second "whosungit mystery" (his pun, not ours), by having Chong remove his mask, confirming McCarthy's guess.
Earlier in the episode, a short segment featuring the Pineapple washing a car gave us a few clues as to who the masked singer really was, including: 1) he's a pineapple because they are "fun, tropical and go well with ham," 2) he went through some "dark times" and beat a "life-threatening disease," 3) he's an "OG" who has decided to "take things as they come," 4) he's been in the public eye for decades, but has "always dreamed of being a singer," 5) he's got some attachment to Michigan and 6) some reference to "pipe dreams" and a lot of smoke in the scene made the panelists think he "definitely smoked weed."
Tommy Chong
Lost 'Bruce McMouse Show' Film
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney's never-before-seen film, The Bruce McMouse Show, will play in select theaters around the world January 21st. The fabled project is a concert film crossed with an animated feature that centers around McCartney and Wings meeting Bruce McMouse, an animated mouse impresario. A teaser for the film is available to watch, and screenings will be held in 11 theaters across the U.S. A complete list of participating theaters, as well as ticket information, is available on the Bruce McMouse website.
The Bruce McMouse Show boasts footage from Wings' 1972 European tour filmed during four shows in the Netherlands and Germany. After watching the footage, McCartney decided to blend it with a previous idea he had about a family of mice, and he worked with animator Eric Wylam to bring the McMouse family to life. Production on the film, however, took several years, and by the time The Bruce McMouse Show was finished in 1977, Wings' line-up and musical direction had changed to such an extent that the decision was made to shelve the film.
The Bruce McMouse Show opens with Wings performing "Big Barn Bed," after which the camera travels through the stage into an animated world where the McMouse family lives. While Bruce McMouse shares stories from his past with his family, his son runs in and informs him that Wings are currently playing right above them. Bruce decides that the band needs his help as a producer, and as the concert continues, a host of animated mice flock to the stadium to enjoy the show.
The Bruce McMouse Show features voice-over work from McCartney, Linda McCartney, Deryck Guyler, Pat Coombs and Derek Nimmo. Barry Chattington directed the film.
Paul McCartney
Sing-Alongs to Hit 750 Theaters
'Bohemian Rhapsody'
The producers of Bohemian Rhapsody want you to sing "We Are the Champions" right along with them. They're re-releasing the film this week as a special "sing-along" cut in 750 locations around the United States and Canada, as well as the regular version in 550 additional cinemas. The announcement follows the film's wins at the Golden Globes for Best Picture (Drama) and Best Actor (Drama), for Rami Malek's portrayal of Freddie Mercury.
The film's studio, Twentieth Century Fox, didn't explain exactly how a sing-along version would work, though the concept has already been a hit with audiences in South Korea. In November, ABC News reported that moviegoers had been enjoying a sort of karaoke version of the film. "The audience was singing, clapping and stamping their feet as if we were at a concert," Kim Jeong-hwa, a college graduate who had attended two Bohemian Rhapsody sing-alongs, told the network. "The biggest difference from a regular screening and a sing-along is that they have English song lyrics instead of Korean subtitles, which makes it easy for us to follow along."
An assistant marketing manager for Fox Korea, Chae Ji Su, told ABC News that the special screenings were an experiment. "At first, the Bohemian Rhapsody sing-along session was planned as a short-term event, but thanks to the ardent support of fans, it was added to the official screening schedule," Chae said. At the time, the network reported that the film had earned more than $17 million in the country's box office.
It's also become a runaway success in the United States. It recently became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time, despite pre-release controversy over the firing of director Bryan Singer, a filmmaker beleaguered with accusations of sexual misconduct who reportedly clashed with Malek. The filmmaker was not thanked at the Golden Globes.
'Bohemian Rhapsody'
Martin Scorsese Set To Direct Documentary
Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue
It's official: Martin Scorsese will be directing a long-rumored documentary on Bob Dylan's iconic "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour for Netflix. Variety reports that the film, entitled Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, will hopefully hit the streaming service sometime in 2019.
Netflix confirms that Dylan himself spoke in front of the camera for the film - a rarity for the legendary but reclusive songwriter. Variety also reports that a number of alumni from the period have been interviewed over the last few years as part of the production. Jeff Rosen, Dylan's longtime manager who also participated in Scorsese's 2005 film No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, conducted the majority of the interviews himself.
Unlike No Direction Home, which centered on the songwriter's 1965-1966 electric era turning point, Rolling Thunder Revue is said to be less of a straightforward narrative. "There's a reason the word 'story' appears in the title," a source hinted to Variety.
Scorsese is currently wrapping Netflix's The Irishman, a feature-length drama set to star Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino, as well as include roles from Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale, and Action Bronson.
Dylan's latest album came in 2016 with Fallen Angels. For a deeper dive into Dylan's most influential works, the debut season of the CPN podcast The Opus (hosted by Paula Meija) does a comprehensive interrogation into his 1975 classic Blood on the Tracks.
Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue
Warming Faster Than Expected
Oceans
The oceans are warming faster than previously estimated, setting a new temperature record in 2018 in a trend that is damaging marine life, scientists said on Thursday.
New measurements, aided by an international network of 3,900 floats deployed in the oceans since 2000, showed more warming since 1971 than calculated by the latest U.N. assessment of climate change in 2013, they said.
And "observational records of ocean heat content show that ocean warming is accelerating," the authors in China and the United States wrote in the journal Science of ocean waters down to 2,000 meters (6,600 ft).
Man-made greenhouse gas emissions are warming the atmosphere, according to the overwhelming majority of climate scientists, and a large part of the heat gets absorbed by the oceans. That in turn is forcing fish to flee to cooler waters.
Almost 200 nations plan to phase out fossil fuels this century under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit warming. U.S. President Donald Trump, who wants to promote U.S. fossil fuels, plans to pull out of the pact in 2020.
Oceans
Spas, Escort Services, Hotels and Massage Parlours
China
Chinese authorities have granted preliminary approval for dozens of Trump-branded businesses, expanding his commercial empire and raising further conflicts of interest, say lawyers.
The 38 trademarks include new hotels, spas, escort and concierge services, massage parlors, personal security services and insurance, according to public documents.
The President's lawyers applied for the trademarks in April last year, at the same time the then Presidential candidate Trump was accusing China of "ripping off" the US and deliberately manipulating its currency to its own advantage.
If there is no objection, the trademarks will be formally registered after 90 days.
Norm Eisen, who served as chief ethics lawyer for former President Barack Obama, told The Independent that the initial registration of a long-denied Trump trademark "certainly seems to run afoul of the foreign emoluments clause" of the US Constitution.
China
Top 20
Global Concert Tours
The Top 20 Global Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows Worldwide. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers. Week of January 9, 2019:
1. Taylor Swift; $7,673,190; $120.85.
2. Jay-Z / Beyoncι; $6,669,348; $131.01.
3. Ed Sheeran; $4,976,955; $91.45.
4. U2; $4,976,018; $132.29.
5. Drake; $4,110,051; $116.63.
6. Bruno Mars; $3,689,616; $144.66.
7. Eagles; $3,518,043; $176.21.
8. Roger Waters; $2,990,435; $72.99.
9. Elton John; $2,739,991; $134.21.
10. "Springsteen On Broadway" ; $2,115,984; $509.06.
11. Metallica; $2,102,667; $127.46.
12. Phil Collins; $2,092,876; $150.65.
13. Journey / Def Leppard; $1,894,930; $107.58.
14. Justin Timberlake; $1,894,294; $118.17.
15. Fleetwood Mac; $1,686,299; $131.75.
16. Maroon 5; $1,448,643; $104.39.
17. Luis Miguel; $1,405,130; $106.69.
18. Sam Smith; $1,372,229; $98.40.
19. Luke Bryan; $1,278,730; $75.96.
20. Marc Anthony; $1,271,766; $102.29.
Global Concert Tours
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