Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Connie Schultz: Many Catholic Women Refuse the Notion of Never (Creators Syndicate)
Some of the strongest women I know are Catholics who disagree with their church but refuse to give up on it.
Mike Barrett: Leading Geneticist: Human Intelligence is Slowly Declining (Natural Society)
Interestingly, one particular ingredient ubiquitous in processed foods and sugary beverages across the globe -high fructose corn syrup - has been tied to reduced IQ.
Michael Moss: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food (New York Times Magazine)
A chemist by training with a doctoral degree in food science, Behnke became Pillsbury's chief technical officer in 1979 and was instrumental in creating a long line of hit products, including microwaveable popcorn. He deeply admired Pillsbury but in recent years had grown troubled by pictures of obese children suffering from diabetes and the earliest signs of hypertension and heart disease.
Alan Henry: "How to Conduct Scientific Research On the Internet (Without Getting Duped)" (Lifehacker)
You know how to tell if something controversial is actually true, but what if you want to read up on something without stumbling into half-truths and pseudoscience? Here's how to use the internet as a powerful research tool without being led astray.
Michael Cragg: "Petula Clark: 'John Lennon gave me some advice that I can't repeat'" (Guardian)
Petula Clark first appeared on the radio in 1942. Yet here she is, 70-odd years later, answering questions about Lana del Rey and sharks.
Bill Gibron: The 10 Greatest Oscar Blunders (PopMatters)
While the list could go on forever, and accommodate everyone's personal favorite and/or fiasco, the fact remains that the Academy Awards are one of the better bodies of recognition out there. After all, it could be a lot worse - it could be the Grammys. And don't go harping about the old studio system. This overview is confining its critique to the '60s through '00s. As a result, this is far from definitive. Instead, it's just an example of AMPAS's fairly consistent brain farts.
Tom Danehy: If you're updating your "Danehy on Sports" scorecard: rodeo good, soccer bad (Tucson Weekly)
Like all good Americans, I'm not a soccer fan, but doggone it, you've got to give credit where it's due.
Steve Kolenberg: The 5 Most Secretly Badass Countries (Cracked)
#5. Switzerland Is One Big Explosive Booby Trap
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David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
BadtotheboneBob
Big Fish
Reader Question
Chestnuts
Marty:
So if the almond is a drupe, is the chestnut one too? When I was a child, we had a chestnut tree (or was it a black chestnut tree) in the yard, and I have fairly vivid memories of breaking open the prickly things that had the chestnut inside. (We had wonderful pecan trees too--never a shortage of nuts but lots of time spent gathering them to keep others from poaching. My grandmother, who lived next to us, had all the beautiful flowers you could imagine--her sister, across town, THOUGHT her garden was as lovely as Nanny's!)
Linda >^..^<
We're all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
I don't know if a chestnut is a drupe? Anybody?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Some sun, still cold (for these parts).
The Oscars are this Sunday (02/24), so how about a little contest to see who can predict the most winners?
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Director
Best Picture
Best Documentary Feature
Here's a complete list of all the nominees
Bonus/Tie-Breaker Question:
The Oscars plan to honor the James Bond franchise. Rumor has it 5 of the 6 actors who portrayed the iconic character will be in attendance. Which actor will NOT be there?
Sean Connery
George Lazenby
Roger Moore
Timothy Dalton
Pierce Brosnan
Daniel Craig
No prizes - just bragging rights.
Send your predictions to Marty by 11pm (pst) Saturday, 23 February.
Governor Signs Online Gambling Bill
Nevada
Gov. Brian Sandoval signed legislation Thursday legalizing online gambling in Nevada, capping a dizzying day at the Legislature as lawmakers passed the bill through the Assembly and Senate as an emergency measure.
Nevada wanted to beat New Jersey, its East Coast casino rival, to the online gambling punch. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie previously vetoed an online wagering bill but has indicated he may sign an amended version next week.
Sandoval and Nevada legislative leaders said it was important for Nevada to remain at the forefront of gambling regulation.
Sandoval, a former chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission added, "This bill is critical to our state's economy and ensures that we will continue to be the gold standard for gaming regulation."
He praised legislators for their swift action and commended Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, a Democrat from Las Vegas, for shepherding the bill.
Nevada
'Born To Run' House For Sale
Bruce Springsteen
The Asbury Park Press reports the two-bedroom cottage in Long Branch, N.J., where Bruce Springsteen wrote the classic rock anthem "Born To Run" is for sale.
Real estate agent Susan McLaughlin says tourists stop by the house "all the time."
The five-room residence has three owners. If a buyer thinks the asking price is too steep, there's another option: McLaughlin tells the newspaper that two of the owners would consider keeping their shares and selling only a one-third stake. A price for that hasn't been set.
Springsteen rented the cottage in 1974 and '75 when he wrote the music for his seminal "Born To Run" album, which features the title song, plus "Jungleland" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out."
Bruce Springsteen
"Vulcan" Has Lead
Pluto
"Star Trek" star William Shatner and tens of thousands of the show's fans are leading a charge to name one of Pluto's newly discovered moons after the character Spock's home planet.
Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk on the Starship Enterprise on the program launched in 1966, proposed the name earlier this month in response to an appeal from scientists for help in choosing the names of two newly discovered Pluto moons.
Vulcan is among 21 names in the running in an online poll organized by the California-based SETI Institute, whose team of astronomers discovered the moons.
Shatner, who starred along with Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed the Vulcan science officer Spock on the long-running TV sci-fi show, rallied support for Vulcan on Wednesday on his Twitter account, writing: "We are approaching 120K votes for Vulcan on PlutoRocks.com! Have you voted today?"
Pluto
Leaving Morning Show
Soledad O'Brien
CNN's Soledad O'Brien won't immediately be leaving CNN even though her job as morning show host is ending.
New CNN boss Jeff Zucker said Thursday that he has reached a deal to help fund a production company for O'Brien, who will be making three documentaries for CNN and host this year's "Black in America" documentary. Zucker is developing a new morning show around Chris Cuomo and Erin Burnett.
O'Brien said the deal will let her do what she wants to do most, confronting difficult topics and telling underreported stories. She'll also have the opportunity to own her work and the production company is able to sell material to outlets other than CNN.
Her new company, Starfish Media Group, will also develop theatrical and scripted television projects.
Soledad O'Brien
Blocks Access To NBC.com
Facebook
Facebook Inc has blocked users from accessing the NBC.com website following reports that the site is infected with a computer virus.
Facebook users were told "This link has been reported as abusive" on Thursday when they attempted to access the NBC.com website.
Several security bloggers warned on Thursday that the site was infected with malicious software, advising computer users to avoid the site.
Facebook
No Meat-Free Concert In Los Angeles
Morrissey
British vegetarian rock singer Morrissey's concert in Los Angeles next week will be a little more meaty than the former Smiths frontman had initially hoped.
The longtime animal rights activist said earlier this week he had urged the Staples Center arena to close the concessions of fast-food chain McDonald's and to halt the sale of meat by other outlets at the venue for his March 1 performance there.
Morrissey's representatives said in a statement on Monday that Staples Center had agreed to the request, and they added it would the first time that all vendors within and around the Los Angeles venue would be 100 percent vegetarian.
But Staples Center arena operator Anschutz Entertainment Group, or AEG, said on Thursday that meat would still be on menus.
The animal rights pressure group PETA recently named Staples Center as the most vegetarian-friendly venue in professional basketball. The National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers play their home games at the arena.
Morrissey
Re-Ups As 'Meet the Press' Host
David Gregory
David Gregory (R-Shameless) has re-upped as host of "Meet the Press."
NBC News shared no details, but described the new deal as "a long-term commitment."
The 42-year-old Gregory began as host of the Sunday morning public-affairs program in December 2008, succeeding the late Tim Russert.
Gregory is only the 10th permanent host of "Meet the Press," which premiered in 1947 and continues as the longest-running program on network television.
David Gregory
Brits Claim Possession
Koh-i-Noor Diamond
British Prime Minister David Cameron says a giant diamond his country forced India to hand over in the colonial era that was set in a royal crown will not be returned.
Speaking on the third and final day of a visit to India aimed at drumming up trade and investment, Cameron ruled out handing back the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond, now on display in the Tower of London. The diamond had been set in the crown of the current Queen Elizabeth's late mother.
One of the world's largest diamonds, some Indians - including independence leader Mahatma Gandhi's grandson - have demanded its return to atone for Britain's colonial past.
Britain's then colonial governor-general of India arranged for the huge diamond to be presented to Queen Victoria in 1850.
If Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William, who is second in line to the throne, eventually becomes queen consort she will don the crown holding the diamond on official occasions.
Koh-i-Noor Diamond
Feuds, Fiefdoms, Betrayals
Vatican't
If evidence was ever needed that the next pope must urgently overhaul the powerful Vatican bureaucracy called the Curia, the scandal over Pope Benedict XVI's private papers is Exhibit A.
The pope's own butler stole sensitive internal letters to the pontiff and passed them off to a journalist, who then published them in a blockbuster book. The butler did it, he admitted himself, to expose the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican's frescoed halls that he believed was hidden from Benedict by those who were supposed to serve him.
And if that original sin weren't enough, the content of the leaks confirmed that the next pope has a very messy house to clean up. The letters and memos exposed petty wrangling, corruption and cronyism at the highest levels of the Catholic Church. The dirt ranged from the awarding of Vatican contracts to a plot, purportedly orchestrated by senior Vatican officials, to out a prominent Catholic newspaper editor as gay.
Ordinary Catholics might not think that dysfunction in the Apostolic Palace has any effect on their lives, but it does: The Curia makes decisions on everything from bishop appointments to church closings to marriage annulments and the disciplining of pedophile priests. Papal politics plays into the prayers the faithful say at Mass since missal translations are decided by committee in Rome. Donations the faithful make each year for the pope are held by a Vatican bank whose lack of financial transparency has fueled bitter internal debate.
And so after 35 years under two "scholar" popes who paid scant attention to the internal governance of the Catholic Church, a chorus is growing that the next pontiff must have a solid track record managing a complicated bureaucracy. Cardinals who will vote in next month's conclave are openly talking about the need for reform, particularly given the dysfunction exposed by the scandal.
Vatican't
Counting Broadband
Nielsen
The company that measures television viewership said Thursday it will soon begin counting people who watch programming through broadband in addition to the traditional broadcast or cable hook-up.
Nielsen's move is a significant step toward recognizing a world where the definition of TV viewing is swiftly changing and toward satisfying clients concerned that the company isn't keeping up with those changes. Separately, Nielsen is developing ways to track content on tablets and mobile phones.
For many years, roughly 99 percent of homes in the U.S. had televisions that received service through broadcast, cable or satellite signals.
Now the number of homes without such service is 4.2 percent - and growing each year. About three-quarters of those homes still have TVs, however, and their owners watch programming through game consoles or services like Netflix and Amazon. Starting September, Nielsen will have meters that can monitor viewership in those homes, said Brian Fuhrer, a senior vice president at Nielsen.
Nielsen
Top 20
Concert Tours
The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
1. (2) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; $1,349,861; $91.48.
2. (3) Justin Bieber; $1,232,436; $73.72.
3. (4) Neil Young & Crazy Horse; $971,057; $96.38.
4. (5) Dave Matthews Band; $967,758; $73.76.
5. (6) The Who; $863,784; $85.57.
6. (7) Leonard Cohen; $835,785; $100.33.
7. (9) Rush; $723,749; $80.99.
8. (NEW) Zac Brown Band; $654,765; $60.28.
9. (10) Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $568,771; $51.47.
10. (11) Carrie Underwood; $550,438; $58.38.
11. (13) Jeff Dunham; $337,635; $52.93.
12. (12) Eric Church; $302,523; $40.34.
13. (14) Bassnectar; $217,660; $40.26.
14. (15) The Moody Blues; $160,360; $68.27.
15. (16) Wiz Khalifa; $157,791; $39.65.
16. (17) The Monkees; $134,414; $62.93.
17. (18) "So You Think You Can Dance"; $133,785; $58.23.
18. (New) "The Story Tour" / Mark Hall / Jeremy Camp; $133,526; $31.11.
19. (19) Mannheim Steamroller; $131,621; $57.78.
20. (New) 3 Doors Down / Daughtry; $127,008; $46.19.
Concert Tours
In Memory
Morris "Magic Slim" Holt
Magic Slim, a contemporary of blues greats Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf who helped shape the sound of Chicago's electric blues, has died at age 75.
His manager Marty Salzman says Slim died shortly after midnight Thursday at a Philadelphia hospital. Salzman says Slim had health problems that worsened while he was on tour several weeks ago in Pennsylvania.
Magic Slim and the Teardrops performed Chicago-style electric blues, led by his singing and guitar playing, and were regulars on the music festival circuit.
Slim's given name was Morris Holt. The Mississippi native established himself in Chicago's thriving blues community in the 1950s but more recently lived in Lincoln, Neb.
Morris "Magic Slim" Holt
In Memory
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers, an influential singer-songwriter who co-founded the band Soft Machine, has died in France, his record label said Thursday. He was 68.
Ayers was an important figure in the British psychedelic movement spearheaded by the Beatles in the late 1960s. He did not achieve sustained commercial success, but his work is treasured by musicians and many fans.
Jack McLean, assistant to the managing director of Lo-Max Records in London, said Thursday that Ayers' body had been discovered in his bed at his home in the medieval village Montolieu in the south of France.
"We believe he died Feb. 18 of natural causes and was found two days later," McLean said. "He hadn't been ill, but he lived a rock 'n' roll lifestyle and everything that comes with that."
Ayers, who was raised partly in Malaysia, moved to Canterbury on his return to England and formed Soft Machine in 1966 with drummer and singer Robert Wyatt. They took the name from a novel by beat generation author William Burroughs.
The band was part of the "Canterbury scene" - a group of bands known for a pastoral approach to music that combined elements of jazz, folk and rock music.
Soft Machine and Pink Floyd both enjoyed wide followings for their imaginative and experimental take on psychedelia. They were also known for their free-form, jazz-influenced live improvisations.
Ayers also had a lengthy solo career and made many collaborative records, working with Syd Barrett, Brian Eno, Nico and others. He released "The Unfairground" in 2007, ending a lengthy hiatus with an album that was critically acclaimed.
The record company said Ayers is survived by three daughters and a sister.
Kevin Ayers
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