• Retired professor Sanford Pinsker helped play a notable practical joke on a science teacher. The teacher had set up an experiment to teach his students about electricity. In the experiment, the professor was supposed to throw a switch to complete an electrical circuit, which would result in the ringing of a bell. Unfortunately for the teacher, one of his students stationed himself by the electrical outlet and amused himself by unplugging the circuit. Of course, when the teacher threw the switch to complete the circuit and ring the bell, nothing happened. That’s when Sanford said that the bell didn’t ring because the teacher hadn’t said “abracadabra.” The teacher said, “That’s ridiculous,” but when Sanford said “abracadabra,” then threw the switch, the bell rang. (The other student had plugged in the circuit again.) This happened a few more times, with the teacher throwing the switch and the bell not ringing, and with Sanford saying “abracadabra,” throwing the switch, and ringing the bell. Finally, the teacher said, “abracadabra,” then threw the switch — and the bell rang.
• When he was a kid, Chicago Bear Walter Payton joined the Boy Scouts. On Walter’s first camping trip, Scoutmaster Jim Walker told the kids a ghost story about a man who had been decapitated but who still put in an appearance whenever a bunch of kids were around making a lot of noise. (Hearing this, the kids grew quiet.) Later that night, after Mr. Walker had supposedly gone home, a figure in a sheet showed up. Panicking, the kids started shooting their .22s into the bushes. The figure — Mr. Walker, of course — started shouting, “Stop shooting!” Fortunately, they did, and Mr. Walker was not hurt. But later, as an adult, Mr. Payton felt bad when he thought about the headline that might have appeared in the newspapers: “BLACK SCOUT LEADER SLAIN BY SCOUTS. BODY FOUND COVERED WITH WHITE POWDER AND WRAPPED IN SHEET.”
• Young children tend to believe whatever you tell them. Quaker humorist Tom Mullen once showed his children the place where he had been born. The house had long been torn down, and at the location where the house had stood was an intersection with a flashing yellow light, so Mr. Mullen told his children that the flashing yellow light had been placed there in his honor. Afterward, whenever his children saw an intersection with a flashing yellow light, they asked, “Who was born there?”
• In high school, author Beth Lisick had a truly original boyfriend. He could pass gas whenever he wanted, and for Christmas one year he gave her a toilet seat. Beth was quite original, too. After seeing a few too many catfights on the TV series Dynasty, Beth and her best friend, Amy, used to fake catfights in public places, rolling on the ground and pretending to kick each other and pull each other’s hair until somebody stopped the “fight.”
Problem-Solving
• After Fanny Kemble married an American slave-owner in the days before the Civil War, she was shocked by the conditions that the slaves were forced to endure. The “infirmary” for sick slaves was filthy because the white men running the plantation wanted to be sure that it was more “pleasant” to work in the fields than to be in the infirmary. (Ms. Kemble used her own labor to clean up the infirmary and take care of the sick slaves.) In addition, because the mothers had to work in the fields, their infants were often entrusted to the care of very small children — some of these babysitters were almost babies themselves, being only four or five years old. As you would expect, the infants and small children were often very dirty. To keep the children clean, Ms. Kemble instituted a system of wages. To each owner of a clean face, she gave a penny. And if the infant the child was caring for also had a clean face, the child would get another penny. Very quickly, whenever she was surrounded by slave children, she was surrounded by slave children with clean faces.
This traditional folk song that became a classic of British pop music spent three weeks at the top of the US pop singles chart in September, 1964. What is the title of this trans-Atlantic hit about a life gone wrong in New Orleans?
"The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans; many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate. The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by the British rock band the Animals, was a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and also in the US and France. As a traditional folk song recorded by an electric rock band, it has been described as the "first folk rock hit".
"House of the Rising Sun" was a trans-Atlantic hit: after reaching the top of the UK pop singles chart in July 1964, it topped the US pop singles chart two months later, on September 5, 1964, where it stayed for three weeks, and became the first British Invasion number one unconnected with the Beatles It was the group's breakthrough hit in both countries and became their signature song. The song was also a hit in Ireland twice, peaking at No. 10 upon its initial release in 1964 and later reaching a brand new peak of No. 5 when reissued in 1982.
Source
Mark. was first, and correct, with:
The House of the Rising Sun.
Billy in Cypress U.S.A. said:
"The House of the Rising Sun"
Alan J answered:
The House of the Rising Sun.
Randall wrote:
House of the Rising Sun
Jon L replied:
I'll bet it all on House of the Rising Sun
Stephen F responded:
The House of the Rising Sun
mj wrote:
Never seemed to fit NOLA
Well, at least not until the NOLA of Anne Rice. The melody for House of
the Rising Sun was kinda spooky.
Cal in Vermont said:
Gotta be "House Of The Rising Sun". A fascinating cover of the song was done by "The Cambodian Space Project" in Khmer. Google it up!
Dave responded:
House of the Rising Sun. Performed by The Animals. First US #1 single of the British invasion that wasn’t performed by The Beatles. Recorded in one take (previously The Animals been playing it at live shows), with a running time of 4:29 the song was considered too long for US radio so an edited version of 2:58 was released as the single. Interestingly, the song didn’t make it on one of their albums until the 1966 The Best of The Animals. In 1966 the band reformed (with some different members), changed direction to psychedelia and became Eric Burden and The Animals, although the new version didn’t duplicate the success of the rhythm and blues based original lineup.
Mac Mac replied:
House of the Rising Sun
Roy, an old libtard, staying distant in Tyler, TX wrote:
That's gotta be House of the Rising Sun, by the Animals, and it's been the ruin of many a poor boy!
zorch said:
House of the Rising Sun, by the Animals.
Leo in Boise answered:
The House of the Rising Sun
John I from Hawai`i says,
House of the Rising Sun
Daniel in The City replied:
House of the Rising Sun
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
The House of the Rising Sun
Deborah, the Master Gardener wrote:
I’m pretty sure it’s “House of the Rising Sun,” which I know is sung by Eric Burden and the Animals. Earworm time!
Dave in Tucson said:
The song is House of the Rising Sun as performed by Eric Burdon & The Animals.
Michelle in AZ answered:
House of the Rising Sun\
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame replied:
The answer is "The House of the Rising Sun," by the Animals.
George M. responded:
Marty, I had a sense in this regard, so I checked to verify, and the song is question is "House of the Rising Sun", as performed by Eric Burdon and the Animals - who, BTW, were from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
Joe S (We resisted, we voted, we won. Get over it) said:
"House of the Rising Sun." I'm really tired getting ready for bed.
Rosemary in Columbus took the day off.
Jacqueline took the day off.
DJ Useo took the day off.
David of Moon Valley took the day off.
Tony DeN took the day off.
Bob from Mechanicsburg, Pa took the day off.
Roy the (now retired) hoghed took the day off.
Doug in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took the day off.
Ed K took the day off.
Gary K took the day off.
Gateway Mike took the day off.
Stephen aus Oz (& peppy tech, too) took the day off.
Kevin K. in Washington DC, Where Republicans cannot see sedition clearly, even now, took the day off.
-pgw took the day off.
Kenn B took the day off.
Micki took the day off.
Angelo D took the day off.
Harry M. took the day off.
Saskplanner took the day off.
Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
MarilynofTC took the day off.
Paul of Seattle took the day off.
Brian S. took the day off.
Gene took the day off.
Tony K. took the day off.
Noel S. took the day off.
James of Alhambra took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Some technical stuff happened but it seems to be resolved. I hope.
Tonight, Friday:
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'MacGyver', followed by a FRESH'Magnum PU', then a FRESH'Blue Bloods'.
On a RERUNStephen Colbert (from 4/5/21) are April 9, John Cena, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
On a RERUNJames Corden, OBE, (from 2/11/21) are Mila Kunis and Robin Thicke.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'The Blacklist', followed by 'Dateline'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Demi Lovato and Alan Kim.
On a RERUNSeth Meyers (from 3/22/21) are Ken Jeong, Eddie Izzard, Griff, and Ash Soan.
On a RERUNLilly Singh (from 3/26/21) is Melinda Gates.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Shark Tank', followed by '20/20'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 3/31/21) are Jamie Foxx, Lauren Graham, and AJR.
The CW offers a RERUN'Whose Line Is It Anyway?', followed by another RERUN'Whose Line Is It Anyway?', then a FRESH'Penn & Teller: FU'.
Faux fills the night with a FRESH'WWE Friday Night SmackDown'.
MY recycles an old 'L&O: CI', followed by another old 'L&O: CI'.
AMC offers the movie 'Divergent', followed by the movie 'Salt', then the movie 'Now You See Me'.
BBC -
[6:00AM - 11:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
[12:00PM - 3:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
[4:00PM] THE FIFTH ELEMENT
[7:00PM] ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE
[8:58PM] ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS
[11:00PM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW
[12:00AM] ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE
[1:58AM] ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS
[4:00AM] PLANET EARTH: A CELEBRATION
[5:00AM] PLANET EARTH: WILD WEST (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has the movie 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days', followed by the movie 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days', again.
Comedy Central has an hour of old 'The Office', followed by 3 hours of 'Schitt's Creek', then a FRESH'Doing The Most With Phoebe Robinson', followed by another FRESH'Doing The Most With Phoebe Robinson'.
FX has the movie 'Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation', followed by the movie 'How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'.
History has 'The UnXplained', another 'The UnXplained', followed by a FRESH'The UnXplained', and another 'The UnXplained'.
IFC -
[6:00am] Another 48 HRS.
[8:15am] The Bad News Bears
[10:45am] Up In Smoke
[12:45pm] Blues Brothers 2000
[3:30pm] The Blues Brothers
[6:30pm] Twins
[9:00pm] 48 HRS.
[11:15pm] Another 48 HRS.
[1:30am] 48 HRS.
[3:45am] Twins (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:00am - 12:30pm] the andy griffith show
[1:00pm - 1:00am] law & order
[2:00am] columbo
[4:15am] columbo (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Transformers: The Last Knight', followed by a FRESH'Wynonna Earp', then the movie 'How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'.
Actress Elizabeth Perkins, who played adult Josh’s love interest in the 1988 classic Big, appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen Wednesday, where she spoke about Robert De Niro originally being cast in the role that Tom Hanks made famous.
“Robert De Niro was actually cast in the role of Josh in the movie Big.” Perkins revealed to an astonished Cohen. But, she added, “It fell apart because he had a scheduling conflict, and then they went to Tom Hanks. It’s like a totally different movie in my brain with Robert De Niro.”
De Niro was so close to playing the part that when Perkins auditioned for her role, she auditioned with De Niro. While Hanks brought a certain playfulness to the character, had De Niro stuck with the role, Big would have been a much different movie.
“He was more moody. It was more of a — a little more of a horror movie. Robert De Niro wandering around the streets of New York,” Perkins said. “What Tom Hanks brought to it was so much lighter.”
The COVID-19 pandemic did a pretty good job showing which musicians, celebrities, friends, and family members believe in science and which prefer conspiracy theories. But on the scale that tops out around Van Morrison, Ted Nugent is in a league of his own.
Long known as the rock ‘n roll’s uncle whom you wouldn’t want to be stuck next to at the Thanksgiving table, the guitar legend and borderline right-wing extremist hit the conspiracy-friendly forum of Facebook Live (and originally transcribed by Blabbermouth) yesterday to ponder one of the hardest questions for those who don’t have a basic knowledge of science or recent etymology: “Why were there no shutdowns for COVID-1 through -18?”
“I would ask you — because I’m addicted to truth, logic and common sense, and my common sense meter would demand the answer to — why weren’t we shut down for COVID-1 through -18?” Nugent asked, while wearing a robe that looks like it could be from the Joe Exotic collection. “There was a COVID-1, and there was a COVID-2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9, -10, -11, -12, -13, -14, -15, -16, -17, -18 [Narrator: there wasn’t]. COVID-1 through -18 didn’t shut anything down, but whoa, COVID-19, even though it’s 99.8 percent survivable. Why didn’t we shut down for the AIDS epidemic or the flu or the Spanish Flu or the bird flu or the West Nile flu or influenza every year?”
In addition to being clueless about both the naming of COVID-19 and the historical impact of plagues like the Spanish Flu, Nugent also recited one of his favorite passages of the conspiracy theorist playbook by doubting the actual death toll from the disease.
“They claim 500,000 people have died from COVID-19,” Nugent said. “Bullshit. I believe that medical examiners in all 50 states have gone ‘I put down on the death certificate that he died of asphyxiation, but they made me put COVID.’ ‘Well, this guy was stabbed to death, but they made me put down COVID.’ ‘This guy was run over by a tandem gravel truck doing a four-wheel drift and the crows be pecking at your flesh, but they made me put down COVID-19.'”
National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre acknowledged in court Wednesday that he did not inform most of the NRA's board before he pushed the gun organization into bankruptcy protection in January. LaPierre also conceded he should have disclosed his several free trips on a 108-foot luxury yacht owned by David McKenzie, a Hollywood producer closely tied to four vendors the NRA paid $100 million in recent years, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The NRA is facing off in bankruptcy court against New York Attorney General Letitia James and the gun group's largest creditor, estranged longtime advertising firm Ackerman McQueen. James filed a broad lawsuit against the NRA last summer, seeking its dissolution over alleged self-dealing by LaPierre and other top NRA executives, plus other financial malfeasance. New York and Ackerman McQueen are trying to block the NRA's Chapter 11 filing.
The New York attorney general and the NRA both basically seem to agree that the NRA is financially solvent, and that it has filed for bankruptcy — pausing the New York lawsuit and other litigation — to avoid scrutiny from New York authorities. Whether the NRA can cloak itself in bankruptcy protection and reincorporate in Texas from New York, where it chartered as a nonprofit in 1871, will be up to Judge Harlin Hale in Dallas. Hale on Wednesday called this "the most important motion I've ever heard as a judge."
LaPierre said in a deposition filed over the weekend that he and his family took refuge in the Bahamas, on McKenzie's yacht and at a resort the producer paid for, several times between 2013 and 2018 due to threats he received after mass shootings in Parlkand, Florida, and Newtown, Connecticut. The yacht, Illusions, "was offered as a security retreat where we could be safe and feel safe," LaPierre said. "This was the one place that I hope could feel safe, where I remember getting there going, 'Thank God I'm safe, nobody can get me here.'"
Under questioning, LaPierre said he neither paid to use the yacht nor reported it on financial disclosure forms, as required. He also conceded that his security director did not assess the security of the yacht or do background checks on its cook and other staff. LaPierre also cited security concerns when trying to have Ackerman McQueen buy him a $6 million mansion in a gated Dallas suburb in 2018 and when he treated his house for mosquitoes, The Washington Post reports.
Spain blocked the auction of a 17th-century Biblical oil painting in Madrid on Thursday on suspicion it could be a lost masterpiece by the Renaissance artist Caravaggio.
Entitled "Coronation with Thorns", the canvas shows Jesus just before his crucifixion and was set to have been sold off later on Thursday at the Ansorena auction house.
Attributed in the catalogue to "the entourage of (Spanish artist) Jose de Ribera", it was marked with an opening price of 1,500 euros ($1,800).
But just hours before it went under the hammer, Culture Minister Jose Manuel Rodriguez Uribes said the painting had been declared "not for export... on suspicion it may be a Caravaggio".
"We are going to see if it is indeed a Caravaggio," he told reporters, saying the decision to withdraw the canvas from auction was made "within hours".
Alarmed by a rise in online anti-Semitism during the pandemic, coupled with studies indicating younger generations lack even basic knowledge of the Nazi genocide, Holocaust survivors are taking to social media to share their experiences of how hate speech paved the way for mass murder.
With short video messages recounting their stories, participants in the #ItStartedWithWords campaign hope to educate people about how the Nazis embarked on an insidious campaign to dehumanize and marginalize Jews — years before death camps were established to carry out murder on an industrial scale.
Six individual videos and a compilation were being released Thursday over Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, followed by one video per week. The posts include a link to a webpage with more testimonies and teaching materials.
“There aren’t too many of us going out and speaking anymore, we’re few in numbers but our voices are heard,” Sidney Zoltak, an 89-year-old survivor from Poland, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Montreal.
The campaign, launched to coincide with Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, was organized by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which negotiates compensation for victims. It is backed by many organizations, including the United Nations.
Archaeologists hailed Thursday the discovery of "the largest" ancient city found in Egypt, buried under sand for millenia, which experts said was one of the most important finds since unearthing Tutankhamun's tomb.
Famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of the "lost golden city", saying the site was uncovered near Luxor, home of the legendary Valley of the Kings.
Items of jewellery such as rings have been unearthed, along with coloured pottery vessels, scarab beetle amulets and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep III.
The team began excavations in September 2020, between the temples of Ramses III and Amenhotep III near Luxor, some 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of the capital Cairo.
After seven months of excavations, several neighbourhoods have been uncovered, including a bakery complete with ovens and storage pottery, as well as administrative and residential districts.
The latest measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide show that humanity has broken another grim record of the climate crisis. On average, March had 50 percent more carbon dioxide in the air than before the Industrial Revolution.
Despite lower emissions in 2020, the increase is remarkable. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the air varies month by month, peaking around May. Last May, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography measured 417.1 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in the air. Crossing for the first time 417 ppm threshold equivalent to a 50 percent increase compared to the average value between 1750 and 1800.
Now, March 2021 has crossed that even further, recording on average 417.14 ppm for the month. The human-released carbon dioxide is on course to peak at 419.5 ± 0.6 ppm in May as was predicted a few months ago. This will continue the huge increase in the average concentration that has been witnessed in previous years. The Met Office predicts that the level of CO2 will be around 2.29 ppm higher in 2021?than in 2020.
"Even during the COVID-19 pandemic we have still been emitting CO2 and this is increasing the amount of the greenhouse gas held in the atmosphere. Since pre-industrial times we have increased CO2 in the atmosphere by about 50 percent and this has led to 1.2°C global warming. If we are to meet the Paris Agreement and keep global warming well below 2°C we have our work cut out for us. Rapid and substantial CO2 emissions reductions are needed to avoid the worst climate change impacts," Dr Andrew King, a Climate Researcher from the University of Melbourne not involved in the measurement, said in a statement.
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is measured daily, with a variation much greater than it is seen in month-to-month and year-to-year measurements. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have reported the first-ever daily measurement above 420 ppm. On April 3 this year, the CO2 concentration at their measuring station was 421.21 ppm.
Genetic sequencing of human remains dating back 45,000 years has revealed a previously unknown migration into Europe and showed intermixing with Neanderthals in that period was more common than previously thought.
The research is based on analysis of several ancient human remains - including a whole tooth and bone fragments - found in a cave in Bulgaria last year.
Genetic sequencing found the remains came from individuals who were more closely linked to present-day populations in East Asia and the Americas than populations in Europe.
"This indicates that they belonged to a modern human migration into Europe that was not previously known from the genetic record," the research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, said.
It also "provides evidence that there was at least some continuity between the earliest modern humans in Europe and later people in Eurasia", the study added.
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better, amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican hypocrites?
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
