Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Subways Pay (New York Times)
Here's an interesting new working paper: Subways, Strikes, and Slowdowns. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an ungated version. But here's the summary: the author argues that mass transit has a significant impact in reducing traffic congestion, even when it carries only a small fraction of commuters. Why? Because commuters who take mass transit are, very disproportionately, people who would otherwise be driving on the most congested routes. So even the small number of people taken off the roads has a surprisingly large effect in reducing travel delays.
[Rachel] Maddowblog.msnbc.com
A Tweet from Rachael P., "If Scalia is concerned about kids being raised in a "single sex" home, perhaps divorce should be outlawed too."
Mark Morford: Your Evolution is Totally Gay (SF Gate)
Out of the cheap woodwork they come, these swiftly "evolving" politicians, racing as fast as they can to get with the foregone program and support gay marriage ASAP because they see the writing on the Supreme Court wall, which is the same as the writing on the bathroom wall, which is the same as what appears in every poll and survey and sample across the civilized, intelligent, non-Republican world.
Steve Benen: The 'greatest health care system the world has ever known' (maddowblog.msnbc.com)
Consider this health care "lottery" in Nashville, and tell me (a) how the most prosperous nation on the planet tolerates such conditions; and (b) how this in any way resembles the "greatest health care system the world has ever known."
Reality check: Being a doctor doesn't guarantee 'big bucks' anymore (Guardian)
I love my job as a doctor, but it came at a hefty price with many years of training, long hours and large student debt.
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett: Five of the worst movie sex scenes (Guardian)
The sex scene is a dying breed. From bra-on Hollywood gloss to overused dairy products, here are five of the least erotic.
Tim Hopkins Obituary (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
Timothy Wayne "Tim" Hopkins, 54, went to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and Dale Earnhardt to contribute his building and painting expertise to the constructing of many heavenly mansions on Saturday, March 23, 2013, in Memphis.
Nathan W. Pyle: NYC Basic Tips and Techniques
Educational GIFs.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Bojan Suggests
Half And Half
Thanks, Bojan!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Willie Nelson
Hi!
Willie Nelson on same-sex marriage: "I'd never marry a man I didn't like."
Willie Nelson on same-sex marriage
PLUS: Custom downloadable Human Rights Campaign avatars.
Diana
Thanks, Diana!
Coincidentally (cough, cough), my pal Barb sent this picture today:
Synchronicity?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Bit of a marine layer morning, sunny afternoon.
Ohhhhh - it's cheese ravioli night at Aunt Vivian's.
Retiring In 2014
Barbara Walters
Pioneering journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to co-anchor a U.S. evening news program, plans to retire in May 2014 after more than five decades as a prominent figure on U.S. television, a source familiar with her plans said on Thursday.
Walters, 83, is expected to announce her retirement to viewers herself in the coming weeks, the source said.
ABC will broadcast a series of specials and tributes to Walters in the weeks before her exit, the source added.
She got her start in television journalism in 1961 as a writer on NBC's "Today," a show she would later become the first woman to co-host.
Barbara Walters
Staged Sit-In
Michelle Shocked
Alternative folk and rock singer Michelle Shocked is staging a sit-in outside one of several nightclubs that canceled her show after she made an anti-gay slur.
Shocked's show scheduled for Thursday evening at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz had been canceled, along with several others, after the singer's slur at a San Francisco concert more than a week ago.
She appeared outside Moe's Alley wearing tape across her mouth that read "Silenced By Fear."
When asked a question, Shocked shook her head vigorously and pointed to a sign inviting people to pick up a Sharpie marker and write on the white disposable safety suit she was wearing.
Bands Beaver Fever and Frootie Flavors were warming up, and club owner Bill Welch said the evening would be about playing music and celebrating diversity.
Michelle Shocked
Pens Pink Floyd Radio Drama
Tom Stoppard
He wrote a play called "Rock 'n' Roll," and now Tom Stoppard is returning to the topic with a radio drama inspired by Pink Floyd.
The play marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the band's "Dark Side of the Moon."
The BBC said Thursday it is "a fantastical and psychedelic story based on themes from the seminal album."
Stoppard's play "Dark Side" is due for broadcast on BBC radio in August, with a cast including Bill Nighy and Rufus Sewell.
Tom Stoppard
Archival Material To Auction
William Faulkner
Letters, an unpublished short story and William Faulkner's Nobel Prize medal could sell for more than $2 million when archival materials of the author are sold at auction in June, Sotheby's said on Thursday.
Faulkner, whose books include "The Sound and the Fury" and "Sartoris," is considered one of the most important American authors of the 20th century. A native of Mississippi, he set much of his work in the American South and often in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County.
Faulkner's Nobel medal and diploma, and the hand-written draft of his 1950 Nobel acceptance speech, are being auctioned as one lot with a pre-sale estimate of more than $500,000. It is expected to be the highlight of the June 11 sale in New York.
The auction will include 16 personal letters with drawings and 10 signed postcards that Faulkner sent from Paris to his family in which he describes his early impressions of the city. They are expected to fetch up to $350,000.
William Faulkner
No More Late-Night Hosting
George Lopez
Amid rumors of another "Tonight" show shake-up, comedian George Lopez says he has no desire to return to the late-night talk show scene.
Lopez said he had a great two-year run as a late-night talk show host. But, he said, "I'm out of that thing."
"I know all those guys. They're all good guys, but that's a tough job. There are a lot of tough jobs in TV. That could be one of the toughest, hosting a show every night," Lopez said Wednesday night.
Lopez's comments in Sioux Falls before taking the stage for a stand-up show benefiting the Brennan Rock & Roll Academy come after amid fresh turbulence in the late-night talk show business after word leaked last week that "Late Night" host Jimmy Fallon will unseat Jay Leno as the new host of NBC's "Tonight." The network has not confirmed the rumor.
George Lopez
Baby News
Lincoln Bell Shepard
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are new parents of a baby girl.
The engaged actors took to Twitter Thursday to announce the arrival of their daughter, Lincoln Bell Shepard.
Bell, who stars on Showtime's "House of Lies," tweeted that her "new roommate poops her pants and doesn't pay rent." She closed with, "welcome baby Lincoln."
Bell is 32 and Shepard is 38. The couple have been engaged since 2009.
Lincoln Bell Shepard
Hospital News
Charlie Daniels
A representative for Charlie Daniels says the 76-year-old country singer is recovering after having a pacemaker implanted Thursday.
Daniels was diagnosed Monday with "a mild case of pneumonia." Tests at a Nashville, Tenn.-area hospital revealed that he needed a pacemaker to regulate his heart rate. He's scheduled to be released Friday.
Daniels said in a statement that he's feeling better and looking forward to spending Easter with his family.
His Saturday and Sunday performances at Middle Tennessee State University have been canceled. Concerts with his band on April 5 in Englewood, N.J., and April 6 in Newark, Ohio, have been canceled and will be rescheduled. His tour will resume April 11 in Lynchburg, Va.
Charlie Daniels
45-Day Porn Film Moratorium
Camarillo
The Camarillo City Council has instituted a 45-day moratorium on production of pornographic movies, as it decides how to handle a recent rush of film permit requests.
Officials did not disclose the number of permits recently requested but Assistant City Attorney Don Davis tells the Ventura County Star the amount is "unusual" for the city.
Davis says the council will look at drafting regulations to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the community.
The newspaper says officials believe adult film studios may be looking to expand to other areas of Southern California, after the passage of a measure last year requiring condom use during porn filming within cities in Los Angeles County.
Camarillo
Will Go To Prison
Sanjay Dutt
Breaking down repeatedly, popular Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt said Thursday he will serve his prison sentence for a 1993 weapons conviction in a case linked to the deadliest terror attack in Indian history.
Dutt broke his silence a week after the Supreme Court sentenced him to five years in prison for illegal possession of weapons supplied by Muslim mafia bosses in Mumbai who were linked to the 1993 terror attack that killed 257 people.
"I respect the Supreme Court's verdict. I have not applied for any pardon," an emotional Dutt told reporters at a news conference held outside his home in Mumbai, India's entertainment capital and home to Bollywood, India's prolific Hindi film industry.
Dutt broke down repeatedly while reading out a statement and hugged his sister, Priya Dutt, who is a Congress party lawmaker from Mumbai.
Dutt, 53, had appealed an original conviction on the charge of possessing an automatic rifle and a pistol that were supplied to him by men subsequently convicted in a series of bombings that hit Mumbai. A separate charge of conspiring to commit a terrorist act was never proven and he was only convicted of the weapons charge.
Sanjay Dutt
Love Crime Shows
Faith-Based Audiences
"Criminal Minds" star Kirsten Vangsness topped a list on Thursday of the most appealing TV actors among faith-based audiences, while Sandra Bullock was the most popular movie star among that group.
Actors on the popular crime shows "NCIS" and "CSI" also fared well in the 2013 rankings of the most appealing celebrities by survey respondents who said they attend regular services at their house of worship.
The findings, released by E-Poll Market Research, were based on surveys of 1,100 Americans aged 13 and older who were asked to rank more than 40 attributes as well as their awareness of celebrities.
James Earl Jones, Sean Connery and Morgan Freeman, who has played God or God-like figures several times, rounded out the top four movie stars.
"NCIS" actress Cote de Pablo ranked second among TV actors, followed by 91-year-old "Hot in Cleveland" actress Betty White and "NCIS" stars Sean Murray and Pauley Perrette.
Faith-Based Audiences
FX Network To Launch
FXX
FX is spinning off a new cable network aimed at young adult viewers.
Launching Sept. 2, FXX will join big brother FX along with the movie-oriented FXM. All three networks will share the same sensibility, FX Networks president John Landgraf said in making Thursday's announcement. It's a mindset summed up by the brand's new tagline, "Fearless."
The lineup for FXX will consist of original series, movies and acquired series targeting adults 18 to 34, a slightly younger demographic than the 18-to-49 audience FX attracts, Landgraf said. FXX will initially be available in 74 million TV homes.
The new channel will be anchored by the comedies "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "The League," two veteran series that until now have originated on FX. In addition, "The League" and "Legit" will move to FXX, as well as the FX late-night series "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell," which will expand to a five-nights-per-week schedule.
FXX
Cost Least At Costco
Prescription Drugs
Some of the most popular prescription drugs that recently became available in generic form are sold at the lowest prices at Costco and at the highest prices at CVS Caremark, according to an analysis by Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports conducted its analysis by using "secret shoppers" who called more than 200 pharmacies throughout the United States to get retail prices, without using insurance, on a month's supply of five blockbuster drugs that have recently become available as generics.
The drugs were diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone); antidepressant Lexapro (escitalopram); cholesterol fighter Lipitor (atorvastatin); blood thinner Plavix (clopidogrel); and asthma drug Singulair (montelukast).
There was a difference of $749 between the highest and lowest priced stores.
For example, one month's supply of generic Lipitor costs $17 at Costco, Consumer Reports' secret shoppers found. The same drug cost $150 at CVS. Rite Aid and Target had similarly high prices.
Prescription Drugs
Old Farm Whiskey
John W. Saunders
A man accused of drinking $102,000 worth of vintage whiskey says he's innocent.
TribLIVE.com reports that nine cases of the rare booze were discovered when the historic J.P. Brennan mansion in Scottdale, Pa., was renovated and turned into South Broadway Manor Bed and Breakfast. The owner of the B&B, Patricia Hill, hired John W. Saunders as caretaker. She later discovered that bottles in four of the nine cases had been emptied and is accusing Saunders of drinking them and putting the bottles back.
Saunders called the charges "totally false" outside the courtroom where he was set to face a preliminary hearing. "Yuck! That stuff had floaters in it and all kind of stuff inside the bottles. ... I don't think it would even be safe to drink."
TribLIVE.com explains that the Old Farm whiskey was distilled in 1912, bottled five years later and then forgotten. And it reports that "based on an appraisal of four full bottles by Bonhams, a renowned auction house in New York City, police estimated the value of the 52 bottles at $102,400."
While Saunders is adamant about his innocence, Scottdale police Chief Barry Pritts said the thief left a DNA sample on the lips of the empty bottles that matched a previous sample taken from Saunders, according to TribLIVE.com. Saunders told police the whiskey evaporated. He believes the mansion owners are "looking for money." He estimated the whiskey's actual value is "about $10 a bottle" rather than more than $1,900 each.
John W. Saunders
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. (New) Bon Jovi; $1,754,085; $96.75.
2. (1) George Strait; $1,424,279; $83.61.
3. (2) Cirque du Soleil - "Amaluna"; $1,336,015; $79.81.
4. (3) Justin Bieber; $1,085,510; $71.67.
5. (6) Ricardo Arjona; $840,988; $84.16.
6. (5) The Who; $829,815; $96.27.
7. (7) Cirque du Soleil - "Quidam"; $822,867; $57.37.
8. (9) Muse; $592,979; $57.07.
9. (10) Zac Brown Band; $585,200; $50.53.
10. (11) Carrie Underwood; $498,572; $58.23.
11. (12) Eric Church; $372,602; $48.15.
12. (New) Kid Rock; $370,548; $52.30.
13. (13) Jeff Dunham; $341,832; $48.10.
14. (14) Robin Williams; $189,964; $90.66.
15. (15) Shinedown / Three Days Grace; $189,907; $38.91.
16. (16) Chris Tomlin; $171,547; $27.83.
17. (17) "Winter Jam" / Tobymac; $154,250; $12.21.
18. (18) Mannheim Steamroller; $143,821; $57.68.
19. (19) Ron White; $137,119; $51.08.
20. (20) 3 Doors Down / Daughtry; $130,749; $40.91.
Concert Tours
In Memory
Robert Zildjian
Robert "RZ" Zildjian, founder of the Sabian Inc. musical cymbal manufacturing company, has died. He was 89.
Sabian announced Zildjian's death on its website Thursday. The firm was closed until Monday and the company announcement had no details about his death.
Zildjian founded Sabian in 1981 after a legal battle with his brother, Armand, over their inheritance of the family business, Avedis Zildjian Co., a major cymbal maker. The companies remain competitors.
The family's U.S. business was founded in the Boston area in 1928 by their father, Armenian immigrant Avedis Zildjian, and a great-uncle. The rock 'n' roll era brought an expanding demand for its percussion products.
RZ Zildjian began working for his father as a teenager and set up a subsidiary, AZCO, in Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1968.
Robert Zildjian
In Memory
Don Payne
Don Payne, an Emmy-winning writer and producer for "The Simpsons" who also wrote the hit movie "Thor," has died. He was 48.
His friend and former writing partner, John Frink, tells the Los Angeles Times that Payne had bone cancer and died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home.
Payne shared four Emmys won by "The Simpsons."
He also wrote the 2006 Uma Thurman comedy "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" and 2007's "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."
Don Payne
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