from Bruce
Anecdotes
Music
• In 1929, Yehudi Menhuin made his debut at Carnegie Hall, where he played the violin brilliantly. In the audience were Mischa Elman, who was a violinist like Mr. Menhuin, and Alexander Brailowsky, a pianist. As Mr. Menhuin awed the audience with his virtuoso performance, Mr. Elman turned to Mr. Brailowsky and said, “Don’t you think it’s hot in here?” Mr. Brailowsky replied, “Not for pianists.”
• Early in his career, American dance pioneer Ted Shawn toured with a show that used local musicians to provide accompaniment for the dances. At one town, the local trombone player was so bad that the conductor pointed to him, then said, “Out!” The trombone player replied, “I’m mayor of this town. Either I play or there won’t be any show.”
• Writer Charles MacArthur once attended a party given by music critic Samuel Chotzinoff, who invited many of the world’s best classical musicians and asked them to perform. Mr. Chotzinoff became angry because many of his guests preferred to listen to Mr. MacArthur tell anecdotes in the kitchen instead of listening to the classical music.
• Hans von Bülow once made a notable joke and criticism when he appeared as pianist after a woman vocalist had poorly sung a solo. He sat down at the piano and warmed up by playing a passage from the finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony—the entrance of the baritone singing, “O brothers, no longer these sad tones!”
• Addison Mizner once snuck away from a musical entertainment at a party in order to play pinochle with his host in another room. His hostess, Mrs. E.T. Stotesbury, tracked him down and complained, “You sneak away when Rachmaninoff is playing!” Mr. Mizner replied, “I thought it was the piano tuner.”
• Ben Dorcy, a band boy who has worked with some of the most famous celebrities in country music, once was asked, “How do you get started in this business?” He replied, “There ain’t but one way. You start at the bottom and go right to the top. Don’t mess with that in-between sh*t.”
• Opera singer Enrico Caruso’s brother, Giovanni, once became so angry at their mother that he removed a straw hat she was wearing and bit a piece out of its brim.
Opera
• Colonel James H. Mapleson (1830-1901) once had to change the bill of an opera performance seven times in New York before he could find an opera that was playable. Originally, he had scheduled William Tell, but he had to cancel that because his prima donna fell ill. Next, he scheduled Lucia di Lammermoor; unfortunately, soprano Laura Zagury then informed him that she had never sung the role Colonel Mapleson wanted her to sing. Therefore, he changed the opera to Aida—but was informed that another prima donna had fallen ill. He then decided to schedule Rigoletto, but one of his principal singers told him that she was not prepared to sing her part. Next, Colonel Mapleson scheduled Les Huguenots, but discovered that one of his singers, believing that she would not called upon to sing that night, had taken some medicine that rendered her unable to perform. Colonel Mapleson then scheduled La Favorita, which was performed.
• Marietta Alboni (1823-1894), a contralto, once heard of a plot by some Italian patriots to have her hissed off the opera stage simply because she had been singing in foreign countries to foreigners. She learned that the conspirators were meeting at a certain tavern, so she put on men’s clothing, went to the tavern, and while pretending to be a man, joined the conspirators. They gave the new conspirator a whistle and said that it should be blown at a certain point in the performance, which would signal to everyone that the hissing should begin. After Ms. Alboni made her entrance on stage that night, wearing the whistle on a chain around her neck, a couple of conspirators began to hiss without waiting for the signal. Ms. Alboni walked to the front of the stage, held up the whistle, then said, “Gentlemen, are you not a little before your time?” Recognizing that they had been tricked, but being good sports, the conspirators gave her an ovation.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: “Oscuros Deseo” [“Dark Desire”]
Single: This is a one-track single.
Artist: Los Zippers
Artist Location: Puerto Rico [Rich Port]
Info: “A mixture of punk, pop and a lot of sugar. To move the feet while an alien invasion occurs.”
Price: Name Your Price (Includes FREE) for one-track single
Genre: Pop Punk
Links:
“Oscuros Deseo”
Los Zippers on Bandcamp
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
davidbrucebooks: EDUCATE YOURSELF - Free PDFs
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Stephen Suggests
John Fetterman
Just like me in good ole Polk County
"You learn to keep your views to yourself"
New Venture
Michael Egan
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Ukraine
Other Links:
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
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Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Small storm brought a bit of rain after sundown.
Authors Guild
Banned Books Club
The Authors Guild is launching a Banned Books Club, the latest initiative from the literary world in response to the nationwide wave of censorship and restrictions over the past year.
Through a partnership with the book club app Fable, the Authors Guild will each month for the next year highlight a fiction or nonfiction work that has been pulled from a classroom or school library and facilitate a discussion with the author. The first selection for the online club ( authorsguild.org/bannedbooksclub ) is David Levithan’s young adult novel “Two Boys Kissing.”
“Our goal is to give both students and adults the chance to read and learn more about the books being banned in their districts and elsewhere and provide the rare opportunity to engage on the platform with the authors of those works,” Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, said in a statement Thursday.
Levithan, a prize-winning author who also runs a young adult imprint at Scholastic, said in a statement that the new club would be “a great forum to discuss not only why these books are being challenged, but how to support the kids who are disenfranchised by such challenges.”
The Guild, founded in 1912, is comprised of more than 10,000 published authors.
Banned Books Club
Shutting Down
CNN+
CNN is shutting down its CNN+ streaming service less than a month after its launch, a spectacular flameout for a venture that had attracted stars like Chris Wallace and Alison Roman and was seen as a way to attract a new generation of news consumers.
It had started March 29, shortly before CNN was taken over by new corporate parents. The new leaders of Warner Bros. Discovery quickly let it be known they considered CNN+ an ill-conceived idea.
The subscription-based service will be shut down at the end of April. Executives said some CNN+ programming and employees will be absorbed into the television network and website but there will be layoffs. The head of CNN+, Andrew Morse, is leaving the company.
In a Thursday town hall, executives also said that the service’s inability to show live breaking news was a crucial failing. Because of contracts with cable and satellite companies, CNN+ could not stream the CNN television network.
CNN+
Dorothy's Dress To Auction
‘The Wizard of Oz'
You won't have to go somewhere over the rainbow to get a piece of Hollywood history — but you may have to shell out some big bucks for it.
One of only four dresses worn by Dorothy in the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz" is going on the auction block.
The blue and white gingham dress, along with the white blouse, was worn by Judy Garland during the scene where Dorothy faces the Wicked Witch of the West in the witch's castle.
The dress was gifted to Catholic University in Washington, D.C. in 1973, but went missing in the 1980s. It was discovered once again in 2021, and proceeds from the sale will benefit the school's drama department.
The dress can be viewed at Bonhams New York from April 23-29 before going to Los Angeles, where it will be sold. Bonhams said that it is estimated the dress will sell for anywhere between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
‘The Wizard of Oz'
Production Suspended
‘Being Mortal’
Following the news that production was suspended on the Searchlight film Being Mortal, sources tell Deadline the suspension had to do with a complaint made against star Bill Murray for inappropriate behavior.
It is unknown at this time what Murray’s involvement in the project will be going forward as the investigation remains active. Insiders add that Aziz Ansari — who is starring, writing and making his directorial debut on the film alongside his partner Youree Henley — was not a part of the complaint, nor was co-star Seth Rogen.
The complaint was filed last week, production was halted on Monday, and a decision ultimately was made to suspend production going forward as the investigation continues and next steps are decided on. Cast and crew were told about the production being suspended last night in a letter sent out by the studio.
The film is based on Atul Gawande’s nonfiction book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Principal photography had started March 28, and sources say it was halfway through before the production halted this week. The plan was to release the film in 2023. It is unknown at this time if the suspension will affect the release.
‘Being Mortal’
Tough Talk
Jan. 6
A New York Times report published Thursday offers new details of a familiar storyline: Republicans who privately criticized Donald Trump Individual #1 after the Jan. 6 insurrection ultimately shying away from a public confrontation for fear of riling up or alienating his supporters.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who reportedly pushed Trump to call off the attack on the Capitol as it was happening, told Republicans in the days following the attack that he planned to tell Trump to resign, according to the new book This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future. “I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign,” McCarthy told colleagues he’d tell the president.
McCarthy’s comments came in the days following the attack, including on Jan. 10, as Congress debated impeaching Trump the unindicted conspirator a second time. McCarthy also reportedly told Republicans that Trump “inciting people” to riot days earlier was “atrocious and totally wrong,” and that “nobody can defend that and nobody should defend it.”
McCarthy wasn’t the only Republican leader who wanted Trump the traitor out of office. “The Democrats are going to take care of the son of a bitch for us,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reportedly told two advisers on Jan. 11, referring to the upcoming impeachment vote in the House. McConnell also allegedly told them he expected the Senate to convict Trump. “If this isn’t impeachable, I don’t know what is,” he said.
It was all talk, though.
Jan. 6
Body Fat
Alcohol
Drinking beer and spirits is linked to elevated levels of visceral fat – the harmful type of fat that is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and other health complications – whereas drinking wine shows no such association with levels of this harmful fat and may even be protective against it, depending on the type of wine consumed.
In fact, we found that drinking red wine is linked to having lower levels of visceral fat. These are some of the key takeaways of a new study that my colleagues and I recently published in the Obesity Science & Practice journal.
Although white wine consumption did not influence levels of visceral fat, our study did show that drinking white wine in moderation might offer its own unique health benefit for older adults: denser bones.
We found higher bone mineral density among older adults who drank white wine in moderation in our study. And we did not find this same link between beer or red wine consumption and bone mineral density.
Our study relied on a large-scale longitudinal database called the UK Biobank. We assessed 1,869 white adults ranging in age from 40 to 79 years who reported demographic, alcohol, dietary and lifestyle factors via a touchscreen questionnaire.
Alcohol
New Type Of Star Explosion
Micronova
Astronomers have detected a previously unknown type of stellar explosion called a micronova involving thermonuclear blasts at the polar regions of a type of burned-out star called a white dwarf after it has siphoned material from a companion star.
The researchers said on Wednesday a micronova is by far the least powerful type of star explosions now known - less energetic than a blast called a nova in which a white dwarf's entire surface blows up and tiny compared to a supernova that occurs during the death throes of some giant stars.
Micronovae are observed from Earth as bursts of light lasting about 10 hours. They were documented on three white dwarfs - one 1,680 light years away from Earth, one 3,720 light years away and one 4,900 light years away. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).
"The discovery was an unexpected surprise. It goes to show just how dynamic the universe is. These events are fast and sporadic. Finding them requires looking at the right place at the right time," said astronomer Simone Scaringi of Durham University in England, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
Micronova
Canada Moves To Alaska
Wood Bison
Dozens of Canada's wood bison, who live in northern Alberta and are North America's largest land animals, have been moved to Alaska to establish conservation herds to ensure their long-term survival, the Canadian government said.
Canada has listed the wood bison as a threatened species since 2003. The population has been declining across their range and are at risk of becoming endangered, extirpated, or extinct if nothing is done to protect them, according to the Canadian government's website.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced on Thursday that 40 wood bison from Elk Island National Park in Alberta were safely translocated to Alaska. Wood bison have dark brown coats with long shaggy fur on their shoulders along with large humps on their backs.
Wood bison, larger than plains bison, once ranged the boreal regions of northwestern Canada and interior Alaska. In the early 1800s, the population may have been 168,000 in Canada, according to the Canadian government.
The Alaska wood bison restoration project had established a wild wood bison population in western Alaska in 2015, which is currently estimated at over 100.
Wood Bison
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