from Bruce
Anecdotes
Children
• Children’s book illustrator Floyd Cooper has a son named Dwayne. When Dwayne was very small, he was very talented at rolling over, so Mr. Cooper thought, “Great! We don’t need a pet!”
• Identical triplets David, Donny, and Darren are very close. When they were babies, they wouldn’t fall asleep until they were placed so close together that they were touching.
• When Lisa, actor Jack Gilford’s daughter, was a little girl, she signed a statement that said, “I am having a happy childhood.”
Christmas
• As a child, Trina Schart Hyman, an illustrator of children’s books, believed in fairies. So did her kid sister, Karleen. When Karleen started asking for a real fairy, Trina decided to give her one. She bought a celluloid doll, glued some of her mother’s long red-gold hair to it, and painted big, blue eyes on it. She also glued the wings of a Monarch butterfly to the doll’s shoulders. In addition, she started writing letters from the fairy and left them on Karleen’s pillow. The first letter said, “My name is Kloraine, and I am a lost fairy. I am trying to find my way to your house.” Karleen believed the letter and spoke in whispers the day she received it. She was also very happy to wake up one day and find Kloraine on her night table. Later, another lost fairy named Lacey joined the family, and the two girls and the two fairies had many wonderful adventures together. Long after Trina and Karleen stopped believing in fairies, Kloraine and Lacey stayed in the family. Each December, they appeared as ornaments on the family Christmas tree.
• Ben, a young nephew of lesbian humorist Ellen Orleans, wanted a Barbie for Christmas, but not for his birthday, because he didn’t want the other kids to see what he was getting. Ms. Orleans was a little surprised by the request, and she asked her sister-in-law about it. As it happened, the sister-in-law didn’t particularly like her son’s desire in toys, but only because she regards Barbie as a sexist toy. Ms. Orleans ended up buying her nephew a Barbie with two outfits: a white satin dress and a cowboy outfit — the cowboy outfit had actually been created for Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken. She sent it to her nephew in a box marked “Private! For Ben Only!” She also enclosed this note: “Remember, Ben, in real life women do not have permanently arched feet.” Later, she received a note from her sister-in-law about the gift: “Great minds think alike. I bought Ben a Dancin’ Barbie. He’s in heaven.”
• When Alyene Porter was a little girl growing up early in the 20th century, a man named Brother Mahoney in her church had a distinctive and chronic case of the sniffles: He would make one big sniffle, pause, then make three small sniffles in a row. There was never any variation in his sniffling. On Christmas Eve, little Alyene was getting ready to talk to Santa Claus at the church when she heard Santa give a sniffle that sounded just like the sniffle of Brother Mahoney. To make sure, she listened closely: one big sniffle, pause, then three small sniffles in a row. Shocked and disappointed, she ran crying to her mother, who explained that anyone can be Santa Claus as long as they like children and spread joy at Christmas. That night, Alyene’s parents woke her so she could be Santa and help fill the Christmas stockings while her siblings slept.
• On the live TV program The Garry Moore Show, Mr. Moore decided to see what kind of Christmas gifts young children really prefer. Therefore, he filled the stage with gifts ranging from very expensive to very inexpensive, then he brought two eight-year-olds — a boy and a girl — out on stage and invited them to choose one gift for their very own. The boy chose a sled, even though he lived in Florida. When Mr. Moore asked the boy if he had ever seen it snowing in Florida, he replied, “No, but this year I’m hoping it will.” The little girl walked past a very expensive dollhouse with working lights and instead chose an inexpensive stuffed doll. Later, she explained, “I picked my doll because she looked so lonely.”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Jazz Man"
Album: FIRE ON THE FLOOR
Artist: Beth Hart
Artist Location: California
Record Company: Mascot Label Group
Record Company Location: Netherlands
Info:
“At 47 – and proud of it – Beth is basking in a golden period of time. The success of 2016’s FIRE ON THE FLOOR album has garnered yet more critical acclaim, growing sales and sold-out shows at iconic venues from the Ryman Auditorium to the Royal Albert Hall (scene of last year’s triumphant live DVD). But as the singer reminds us, her life has always moved in cycles – ‘things get good then go to crap, get good then go to crap’ – and it’s in these extremes that many of her best songs are born. ‘A lot of subjects are covered on WAR IN MY MIND,’ she reflects. ‘I’ve always tried to seek the truth on every record I’ve done. But on this album, I’m even closer to vulnerability and openness about my life, about love, addiction, my bipolar, my dad, my sister ….”
Price: €1 (EURO) for track: €7 (EURO) for 12-track album
Genre: Blues
Links:
FIRE ON THE FLOOR
Beth Hart on Bandcamp
Mascot Label Group
Beth Hart on YouTube
Beth Hart Official Website
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
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Photographic Proof That Mother Nature Takes Magic Mushrooms
New Venture
Michael Egan
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
Overcast & gray - looked like rain, but, again, no rain.
Audiences Prefer
Hollywood
Increasingly diverse audiences in the U.S. prefer diverse film content.
That's the conclusion of UCLA’s latest annual Hollywood Diversity Report, released Thursday. The 2021 report, subtitled "Pandemic in Progress," pointed to people of color accounting for more than 40 percent of the U.S. population and increasingly driving attendance at the multiplex and movie viewership for dominant streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
"In 2020, people of color accounted for the majority of opening weekend, domestic box office for six of the top 10 films (ranked by global box office) and half of the box office for a seventh top 10 film," the UCLA report stated. Similarly, households of color punched above their weight when it came to movie viewership for eight of the top 10 films released on streaming platforms in 2020.
"Hollywood would benefit greatly from embracing 2020’s revelations about the bottom-line possibilities associated with major advances on the diversity front," the report urged. At the same time, movie viewership comparisons for the past two years are complicated by the pandemic having led the major studios to delay theatrical releases for a slew of tentpole titles into 2021 and beyond.
The UCLA report said the top 10 movies released in 2020 that appealed to diverse audiences included Bad Boys for Life, which had over half of its cast comprising minority actors and earned $426.5 million at the box office, while Christopher Nolan's Tenet and Sonic the Hedgehog each had between 31 percent and 40 percent of people of color in the cast.
Hollywood
Surprise Return To ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’
Richard Lewis
Comedian Richard Lewis made a surprise return to the set of pal Larry David’s HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm today, delighting fans and colleagues with the announcement that he’ll appear in one episode of the comedy show.
“Great news for me!,” Lewis tweeted, with a photo of himself, in his familiar black garb, on set. “Although I’m still recovering from three surgeries and missing Season 11 of Curb, LD called me and asked if there was any chance if I felt strong enough to do one episode! I am and here I’m on the set to shoot it. I’m so grateful.”
Lewis and David had previously said that Lewis would not be returning to play his fictionalized self on Season 11 due to the comedian’s health problems. Lewis himself broke the news in January, tweeting, “What a ride, LD! I love you, buddy. Tragically, these past 18 months I’ve endured a back and two shoulder surgeries and not able to be in #curbyourenthusiasm for season 11. I’ll be watching…”
Today’s surprise return, however temporary, was greeted with cheers and well wishes. J.B. Smoove, who plays Larry’s pal and housemate Leon on Curb, wrote, “Hey Bud!! Wish I was working today! You look great!! Love ya!!”
Actor Michael McKean tweeted a simple, “You got this, milord.”
Richard Lewis
Isn't Public Figure
Dr. Luke
In a setback not only for pop star Kesha Rose Sebert but also for many news organizations that took her side in a huge libel battle, a New York appeals court has ruled that Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald is not a public figure.
Dr. Luke, a onetime guitarist on Saturday Night Live, is one of the most successful song producers of the early 21st century, having worked on hits for Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus and many, many others. He owns a big publishing company, but these days, he's perhaps best known for Kesha's allegation that he gave her drugs and then raped her.
That's a false smear, claims Dr. Luke, pursuing Kesha in a case that's been hotly litigated since 2014.
On Thursday, New York's appellate court affirmed Dr. Luke's summary judgment advantages, including the determination that he wasn't a public figure.
The ruling that someone as famous as Dr. Luke didn't qualify as a public figure was concerning to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press which, along with news organizations like The Daily Beast, Dow Jones, New York Public Radio, and others, filed an amicus brief in Kesha's favor. That's because public figures need to show actual malice (i.e., knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth) to prevail while a private figure only need demonstrate the speaker's negligence. (The libel standards in New York have recently shifted, but more on that in a moment.)
Dr. Luke
Rare Essay Includes Writing Tips
Raymond Chandler
Philip Marlowe, the most self-reliant of fictional detectives, had no boss and no one to boss around. His creator, Raymond Chandler, needed some help.
“Advice to a Secretary,” a rarely seen essay published this week in the spring issue of the literary quarterly The Strand Magazine, is a wry set of instructions for his assistant in the 1950s, Juanita Messick. For Chandler, who had little family beyond his wife and few close friends, work was personal. His tone with Messick varied from indulgent employer to hapless spouse.
“Assert your personal rights at all times. You are a human being. You will not always feel well. You will be tired and want to lie down. Say so. Do it. You will get nervous; you will want to go out for a while. Say so, and do it. If you get to work late, don’t apologize. Just give a simple explanation of why, even if it is a silly explanation. You may have had a flat tire. You may have overslept. You may have been drunk. We are both just people.”
“I am only exacting in the sense that I want things right. I am not exacting in the sense that I expect human beings to subordinate their own lives to my whims. If you should ever feel that I am acting that way, for God’s sake tell me so.”
The essay was discovered, like a missing clue, in a shoebox at the University of Oxford’s Bodleian library. Strand managing editor Andrew Gulli, who has published obscure works by Chandler (“Notes To An Employer”), William Faulkner, John Steinbeck and many others, was anxious to show Chandler in a more personal and light-hearted way.
Raymond Chandler
A Way With Words
Mondaire Jones
As lawmakers in the House of Representatives prepared to vote for a second time to make Washington DC the nation’s 51st state, Democratic congressman Mondaire Jones fired back at Republicans who have criticised the effort.
“I have had enough of my colleagues’ racist insinuations that somehow the people of Washington DC are incapable or unworthy of our democracy,” the New York lawmaker told the House of Representatives on Thursday. Mr Jones objected to remarks from Republican Senator Tom Cotton (R-Racist) who said statehood would prevent the nation’s capital from being a “well-rounded working class state”.
“I had no idea there were so many syllables in the word ‘white’,” said Mr Jones, who is Black.
He also shot back at US Rep Jody Hice, who said DC would be the only state “without an airport, without a car dealership, without a capital city and without a landfill” in his argument against statehood.
“With all the racist trash my colleagues have brought to this debate. I can see why my colleagues are worried about a place to put it,” Mr Jones said.
Mondaire Jones
Prototypes To Auction
US Dollar Coins
A piece of copper that was struck by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia in 1794 and was a prototype for the fledgling nation’s money will go up for auction Friday.
Businessman and Texas Rangers co-chairman Bob Simpson owns the item, which is known as the “No Stars Flowing Hair Dollar.”
While it closely resembles silver dollars that were later minted in Philadelphia, it gets its name because it is missing stars.
Heritage Auctions estimates the prototype will sell for between $350,000 and $500,000 when it goes on the block online in Dallas on Friday.
Known as a pattern, the front features the flowing hair portrait of Liberty and the date 1794, while the reverse side shows a small eagle on a rock within a wreath. Similar starless examples are part of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection.
US Dollar Coins
Hold Grudges
Dolphins
Dolphins hold grudges, scientists have discovered, as they will only help those that have come to their aid in the past.
The marine mammals, believed to be one of the most intelligent animals, form social groups and friendships based on a history of co-operative behaviour which is similar to humans, according to University of Bristol researchers.
If a dolphin helps a fellow group member when it is in danger, that comrade is likely to return the favour, they found. This goodwill extends to dolphins that have helped a fellow group member.
However, if a dolphin shirks its responsibility and swims away, and the dolphin in danger survives to remember the incident, they will not help that negligent member in the future - suggesting they hold a grudge.
The findings are based on 30 years of observations of Bottlenose dolphins living in Shark Bay, Western Australia.
Dolphins
Ancient Hoard Revealed
Iron Age Warriors
A metal detectorist scouring an ancient hillfort has uncovered "one of the biggest Iron Age weapon hoards in western Germany," according to archaeologists at the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL).
The hoard contains more than 150 objects, including deliberately bent weapons, such as 40 spearhead and lancehead tips, swords and fragments of shield bosses (round structures at the center of a shield); tools; belt hooks; horse gear; three silver coins; bronze jewelry; and one fibula, or lower leg bone, Manuel Zeiler, an archaeologist at LWL, told Live Science.
"The arsenal is the largest in [the German state of] North Rhine-Westphalia and also links the [state's region of] Sauerland with complex processes in Iron Age Europe," Michael Baales, an LWL archaeologist and head of the Olpe branch in North Rhine-Westphalia, said in a translated statement, released March 31.
Moreover, the damaged weapons — which ancient people would have purposefully destroyed by bending them — shed light on how victorious Iron Age warriors treated the losing side's arsenal, Baales said.
Researchers have known about a possible hoard at the Iron Age hillfort for several decades. In the 1950s, while workers were constructing a pavilion, "two swords wrapped in two spearheads and two lanceheads were discovered by chance," Zeiler said. The swords were bent, and their tips had been purposefully deformed, he noted. But it wasn't until 2013 that archaeologists did a more thorough excavation at this spot to discover the full context of the archaeology there, Zeiler said. From 2018 through 2020, metal detectorist and local history researcher Matthias Dickhaus, who worked with the LWL and the town of Schmallenberg, searched the site for additional metal artifacts.
Iron Age Warriors
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