Recommended Reading
from Bruce
PRESSING QUESTIONS FOR OUR CENTURY: A Talk With AC Grayling (edge.org)
Science is the greatest achievement of human history so far. I say that as a huge admirer of the Renaissance and Renaissance art, music and literature, but the world-transforming power of science and the tremendous insights that we've gained show that this is an enterprise, a wonderful collective enterprise, that is a great achievement of humanity. How are we going to make more people party to that? That's a pressing question for our century.
Tom Danehy: Tom takes on animal rights, zombies and misplaced commas (tucsonweekly.com)
Also known as the vampire fish of Brazil, the translucent candiru is shaped like, and is about the size of, a toothpick. It is one of the few creatures in the world that survives on a diet consisting of nothing but blood.
Garrison Keillor: In new reality, strangeness amplified to absurd level (chicagotribune.com)
I am a poor wayfaring stranger traveling through this world of woe, but it's OK, I am well paid for the woe and I enjoy watching my fellow wayfarers, the road guys, the men who fly from town to town, talking on their cell phones, hustling software and industrial carpeting, advising companies on branding issues, guys with pagers, laptops, BlackBerries and voices like drill bits.
The birthday present (guardian.co.uk)
When her husband turned 40, Charla Muller offered him guaranteed sex every night for a whole year. Could they manage it? By Stuart Jeffries.
A Gaythering Storm (funnyordie.com)
There is a storm being caused by gay marriage and we are all in serious trouble.
Nancy Durrant: Comedian David Hoyle is no drag (timesonline.co.uk)
With scary make-up, savage wit and no showtunes,the comedian David Hoyle takes his audiences right to the edge.
'The Song Is You,' by Arthur Phillips: A review by Heller McAlpin
Is that the author you hear chortling with pleasure in the background of The Song Is You?Arthur Phillips' delight in his latest compulsively playful novel is almost audible -- and certainly contagious.
Steve Knopper: Surviving members of the Grateful Dead have buried their differences for tour (Newsday)
In order to play improvisational rock music on stage for hours at a time, it turns out, the musicians actually have to get along. Which was a problem for the surviving members of the Grateful Dead during their 2004 tour, ...
David Medsker: A Chat with Dave Wakeling, The English Beat singer (bullz-eye.com)
When you make an idiot of yourself in public, and everyone is expecting you to do well...you actually learn some lessons about your own life, about who you are, and where you are, and how you move on from here.
Michelle Pfeiffer: 'I never had a big game plan' (guardian.co.uk)
Michelle Pfeiffer is back, as a scheming courtesan in a movie made by the "Dangerous Liaisons" team. She talks fame, family and her early 'clueless' years with Geoffrey Macnab.
John Anderson: Robert De Niro's film festival returns for eighth season (Newsday)
In 2002, Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal and Rosenthal's husband, real estate developer Craig Hatkoff, started the Tribeca Film Festival with the idea of resuscitating their downtown Manhattan neighborhood after 9-11.
The Weekly Poll
The 'Fantasy Island' Edition
Time out! I'm callin' a 'time out' from reality this week... No politics. No Economics. No wing-nuts. No war... Let's engage in a little reverie, shall we? C'mon! It'll be fun!
Given that you had the time and wherewithal to go anywhere you'd wish for a dream vacation, where would go to and what would you do once there?
Send your response, and a (short) reason why, to
Intense young surgeon, Ben Casey, practiced at what hospital?
Who created the old TV series Adventures In Paradise?
nailed it with:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Thick marine layer that didn't quite burn off - and more than 30° cooler than earlier in the week.
Wins Cervantes Prize
Juan Marse
Spanish novelist Juan Marse, known for his depictions of hardships in the aftermath of Spain's 1936-39 Civil War, on Thursday received the Cervantes prize, the top literary prize in the Spanish-speaking world.
Marse, 76, bowed his head as King Juan Carlos handed him the medallion at a ceremony in Alcala de Henares, the birthplace of 16th century writer Miguel de Cervantes, Spain's greatest literary figure and the author of "Don Quixote."
Marse, a Catalan who writes in Spanish, is one of Spain's best-known and most respected novelists.
Juan Marse
12 Renewals
ABC
There's no suspense for producers of 12 ABC prime-time series. The network on Thursday renewed them for next fall's schedule.
Most are no surprises. They include "Dancing With the Stars," "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost." There were some thoughts that "Ugly Betty" was on the bubble, but it's on for another season.
Other series to get renewals are "America's Funniest Home Videos," "The Bachelor," "Brothers & Sisters," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Private Practice," "Supernanny" and "Wife Swap."
That leaves many shows that will have to wait until next month to learn their fate, including Christina Applegate's "Samantha Who?" and all of ABC's midseason series.
ABC
New Orleans Rebuilding Project
Dan Aykroyd
Add Dan Aykroyd's name to the list of celebrities helping New Orleans rebuild neighborhoods devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
The actor on Wednesday toured an area where developers plan to build homes for police officers, firefighters and other "first responders" on 21 storm-battered properties in the Gentilly neighborhood. Aykroyd has lent his time and money to the Blue Line Foundation, one of the project's developers.
The "Saturday Night Live" alumnus and star of "The Blues Brothers" said building affordable homes for public safety workers is key to New Orleans' recovery.
Dan Aykroyd
Hospital News
Leno
Jay Leno checked into a hospital with an undisclosed illness Thursday and canceled the taping of the "Tonight" show, but was doing well and planned to return next week, his publicist and NBC said.
Leno left his office at NBC's studios about midday and checked himself into a hospital for observation, said his publicist, Dick Guttman. He would not identify what ailed Leno, but characterized it as "mild" and said the comedian continued to work Thursday, making phone calls and writing jokes.
Leno, who turns 59 on Tuesday, will leave the "Tonight" show May 29 after 17 years. But he will continue on NBC, with a Monday-through-Friday program, starting in the fall.
Leno
Upper Crust
Economic Woes
Paul McCartney, Elton John and Mick Jagger have lost large chunks of their personal fortunes during the economic crisis over the last year, according to a rich list published on Friday.
Along with many of the world's richest people, their wealth has been eroded by sharp falls in the value of property, shares and other investments, the annual survey for the Sunday Times newspaper said.
Elton John's personal wealth fell by more than a quarter to 175 million pounds from 235 million pounds last year.
Former Beatle McCartney saw 60 million pounds wiped off his fortune, a 12 percent decline on last year.
Jagger, lead singer of the Rolling Stones, fared even worse. His wealth slipped by 16 percent to 190 million pounds.
Economic Woes
House Fire
Jimmy Dean
The Grammy survived, as did the pictures autographed by Elvis Presley and several presidents. Even Jimmy Dean's gold record for his spoken word sensation, "Big Bad John," was scooped up before a devastating fire gutted the entertainer's riverfront estate in Virginia.
But the lanky singer's signature boots and cowboy hats were all lost in the Monday fire that his wife, Donna Meade Dean, estimates could total in the millions. The fire's cause is not known, but it is believed to be accidental.
Shaken but unharmed, the Deans fled their home high above the James River just south of Richmond in rural Virginia. Three firefighters had minor injuries and caretaker Stefan Gunn was burned on both arms and hands when he dashed several times into the burning home to retrieve mementoes collected from Dean's half-century career.
Saved was Jim Henson's Muppet Rowlf, created for Dean's '60s-era show, and Civil War relics, but lost were a grand piano and custom-made hats and boots and a grandfather clock. Still unaccounted: His beloved mother Ruth's accordion.
Jimmy Dean
Supplement Made Incorrectly
U.S. Polo Open
Unable to legally bring a supplement into the U.S. to make their horses more resilient, a Venezuelan polo team used another way to get ready for a champion match: Have a pharmacy mix up the concoction.
What happened next, though, was disastrous. The chemicals were mixed wrong, and 21 horses given the brew died in rapid succession, some collapsing just before taking the field in a championship polo match. The others fell soon after, one by one, shocking a well-heeled crowd gathered to watch the U.S. Open at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington.
The Lechuza polo team had hoped to get a compound similar to a name-brand supplement used safely around the world to help horses with exhaustion but hasn't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Veterinarians commonly turn to compounding pharmacies for medications that can't be found on shelves, but the dispensaries can only recreate unapproved drugs in limited circumstances.
A Florida pharmacy that mixed the medication said Thursday that an internal review found "the strength of an ingredient in the medication was incorrect." Jennifer Beckett, chief operating officer for Franck's Pharmacy in Ocala, Fla., would not say whether the incorrect amount was specified in the order that came from a Florida veterinarian.
While Biodyl isn't approved in the U.S., the supplement made in France by Duluth, Ga.-based animal pharmaceutical firm Merial Ltd. is widely used abroad. The president of the Agentine Equine Veterinarian Association, Fernando Ruiz, said the supplement is commonly used on horses that compete there, and he's not aware of any deaths.
U.S. Polo Open
British Police
Jedi
A police officer in Scotland has confessed to following the Jedi faith beloved of Star Wars film fans, respected policing analysis group Jane's reported Thursday.
Pam Fleming, a 45-year-old beat officer in Glasgow for Strathclyde Police, said that she thought all police officers "should be Jedis," when interviewed by Jane's Police Review.
Fleming said she knew of other Jedis in Strathclyde Police -- the force apparently has eight in total.
According to Britain's Office for National Statistics, a total of 390,000 people in England and Wales listed their religion as Jedi in the most recent census in 2001. Scotland has a reported 14,000 followers.
Jedi
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of April 13-19. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.95 million homes, 5.66 million viewers.
2. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.93 million homes, 5.98 million viewers.
3. "In Plain Sight" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.86 million homes, 5.11 million viewers.
4. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.79 million homes, 5.2 million viewers.
5. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.7 million homes, 5.78 million viewers.
6. "Penguins of Madagascar" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.49 million homes, 4.89 million viewers.
7. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.48 million homes, 4.57 million viewers.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.47 million homes, 4.89 million viewers.
9. "Hannah Montana" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.41 million homes, 4.81 million viewers.
10. "NCIS" (Monday, 7 p.m.), USA, 3.4 million homes, 4.54 million viewers.
11. "Penguins of Madagascar" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.28 million homes, 4.8 million viewers.
12. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.25 million homes, 4.49 million viewers.
13. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.18 million homes, 4.72 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Friday, 8:30 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.13 million homes, 4.87 million viewers.
15. "NCIS" (Thursday, 7 p.m.), USA, 3.04 million homes, 3.97 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Ken Annakin
Ken Annakin, the British-born director whose credits included the World War II epics "Battle of the Bulge" and "The Longest Day" and the family classic "Swiss Family Robinson," has died. He was 94.
Annakin dabbled in many genres, from action comedies and family fare to crime drama and swashbuckling romance. He was best-known for his war sagas, 1965's "Battle of the Bulge" with Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Robert Shaw and Telly Savalas and 1962's "The Longest Day," which he co-directed with Andrew Marton and Bernhard Wicki.
Annakin's other films include "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines," whose screenplay earned him an Academy Award nomination, and the similarly titled action comedy "Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies." He also directed "Call of the Wild," a 1972 adaptation of Jack London's adventure; the 1957 crime thriller "Across the Bridge"; and the 1982 musical romance "The Pirate Movie".
Probably his most-beloved film was 1960's "Swiss Family Robinson," one of a series of family adventures Annakin made for Walt Disney Pictures starting in the 1950s. The film starred John Mills and Dorothy McGuire as parents of a family battling pirates and struggling to survive after they are shipwrecked on an island.
Born Aug. 10, 1914, in Beverley, Yorkshire, England, Annakin traveled in his youth to Australia, New Zealand and the United States, then sold insurance, cars and advertising back in England.
During World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force as a flight mechanic but was injured during the London Blitz. He worked as a camera operator for a company making RAF training films and documentaries, later directing war propaganda films himself.
Annakin got his start as a feature filmmaker with 1947's "Holiday Camp," about the working-class Huggett family, whom he also featured in three other films over the next few years.
Besides his daughter, Deborah, Annakin is survived by his wife, Pauline, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Ken Annakin
George Lucas named the character "Anakin Skywalker" (Star Wars (1977) after him.
Source: IMDb
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