Recommended Reading
from Bruce
10 Free Ways to Add Culture to Your Life Via the Internet (internetserviceproviders.org)
Many of the classics are available free of charge on the larger media sites but there are a couple of sites committed to providing the best of classical literature free of charge: Gutenberg.org and ReadPrint.com.
Stabilize the Debt
An Online Exercise in Hard Choices.
Aditya Chakrabortty: Angry academics can't answer my criticism that there's too little analysis of our current crisis (Guardian)
Discussion of the economic crisis must be made democratic - and economists have a role to play in that.
Froma Harrop: Throwing American Tradition in the Cultural Mixmaster (Creators Syndicate)
The overnight rating for the Kentucky Derby telecast has slipped again, hitting a six-year low. This was despite NBC's best efforts to fill the hours with such celebrities as "Two and a Half Men" star Ashton Kutcher and Debra Messing from "Smash." Or was it because of them? A romantic 138-year tradition grown from the bluegrass soil and Southern gentility becomes a blob of homogenized commercial promotion.
Don Tow: Israel remembers Chinese diplomat who rescued Jews (Spero News)
A Chinese diplomat, inspired by Christian teachings, defied his superiors to give visas to Jews who otherwise would have been exterminated.
Stephen Moss: "56 Up: 'It's like having another family'" (Guardian)
It began as a one-off look at how the class system defined the hopes and aspirations of British children. Now, almost half a century later, the Up series has evolved into one of the world's great documentary projects. But how have these films affected the lives they follow?
Randall Roberts: Adam Yauch was a Beastie Boy tamed by age, wisdom (Los Angeles Times)
Most fans of the Beastie Boys' early hits know Adam Yauch, or MCA as he was known, for a few choice boasts, like "I got more juice than Picasso's got paint" (from the 1986 song "The New Style"). Despite the group's early reputation as party animals, however, peace, mindfulness and positive energy were subjects the rapper wanted to represent in his work.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Auditions (Athens News)
Early in her career, Moravian soprano Maria Jeritza auditioned for the director of the Vienna Volksoper, Rainer Simons. Halfway through her first song, Micaeli's aria from "Carmen," he shouted, "Stop! That's enough!" Ms. Jeritza complained that he hadn't allowed her to even finish one song, but he explained, "I didn't need any more - I'm engaging you."
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
answered:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, but a bit cooler.
27 Marathons In 27 Days For Mandela
Eddie Izzard
British comedian, actor and endurance runner Eddie Izzard says he will run 27 marathons in honor of Nelson Mandela, who was jailed 27 years by apartheid governments before being released to help usher in South Africa's democracy.
Izzard spoke of his plan Thursday on the sidelines of a reception for donors at Mandela's foundation and archives in Johannesburg.
He says he will run the marathons in 27 consecutive days in South Africa along routes he will map out himself at sites around the country linked to Mandela's personal history.
In 2009, Izzard ran 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers) in seven weeks across Britain for charity.
Eddie Izzard
Under Scrutiny From The Defenders of Pedophiles
Girl Scouts
Long a lightning rod for conservative criticism, the Girl Scouts of the USA are now facing their highest-level challenge yet: An official inquiry by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (R-Wrong Side Of History, Again).
At issue are concerns about program materials that some Catholics find offensive, as well as assertions that the Scouts associate with other groups espousing stances that conflict with church teaching. The Scouts, who have numerous parish-sponsored troops, deny many of the claims and defend their alliances.
The inquiry coincides with the Scouts' 100th anniversary celebrations and follows a chain of other controversies.
Earlier this year, legislators in Indiana and Alaska publicly called the Scouts into question, and the organization was berated in a series aired by a Catholic broadcast network. Last year, the Scouts angered some conservatives by accepting into a Colorado troop a 7-year-old transgender child who was born a boy but was being raised as a girl.
Girl Scouts
Fox Cancels
'Alcatraz'
Fox has kicked off its renewals, giving a second season to Touch and canceling freshman dramas Alcatraz and Bones spinoff The Finder after one season.
From Heroes creator Tim Kring and marking 24 star Kiefer Sutherland's return to series television, the drama Touch previewed in January after American Idol, drawing a 3.9 in the demo and 12 million viewers.
r>
Despite a pedigree including J.J. Abrams, freshman drama Alcatraz -- about San Francisco's infamous prison and its mysteous former inmates -- will not move forward. The Monday series, despite an impressive launch in January (3.3 in the demo and 10 million total viewers), the serial drama starring Sarah Jones and Lost's Jorge Garcia tumbled considerably during its 10-week run, ending with a fraction of its initial viewership: 1.5 in the demo and 4.7 million viewers. For its part, Fox will remain in business with Abrams, having recently greenlit Fringe for a fifth and final season
Fox has previously renewed American Dad, Bones, The Cleveland Show, Fringe, Glee, Kitchen Nightmares, New Girl, Raising Hope and The Simpsons.
'Alcatraz'
Moving To TBS
'Cougar Town'
"Cougar Town" is about to get a new address.
The ABC sitcom, a cult favorite but never a ratings blockbuster on broadcast television, will be moving to cable's TBS, the network said Thursday.
TBS has ordered a fourth season of the sitcom, which was facing cancellation by ABC. New episodes are scheduled to begin airing early next year. In addition, TBS has acquired rights to repeat the show's first three seasons of 61 episodes originally seen on ABC.
'Cougar Town'
Court Rules In Sculpture Appeal
Kevin Costner
The South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that actor Kevin Costner did not breach a contract with an artist he commissioned to produce bronze sculptures of bison and American Indians.
The Hollywood superstar paid Peggy Detmers $300,000 to make the sculptures in the 1990s for a resort he planned in South Dakota's Black Hills. The resort was never built, and he instead placed the sculptures at his Tatanka attraction near Deadwood.
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's ruling that the alternative placement did not constitute a breach of contract.
Costner filmed much of his Academy-Award-winning movie "Dances with Wolves" in South Dakota.
Kevin Costner
Military Class Suspended
Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley
A course for U.S. military officers has been teaching that America's enemy is Islam in general, not just terrorists, and suggested that the country might ultimately have to obliterate the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina without regard for civilian deaths, following World War II precedents of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima or the allied firebombing of Dresden.
The Pentagon suspended the course in late April when a student objected to the material. The FBI also changed some agent training last year after discovering that it, too, was critical of Islam.
The teaching in the military course was counter to repeated assertions by U.S. officials over the last decade that the U.S. is at war against Islamic extremists - not the religion.
"They hate everything you stand for and will never coexist with you, unless you submit," the instructor, Army. Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley, said in a presentation last July for the course at Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va. The college, for professional military members, teaches midlevel officers and government civilians on subjects related to planning and executing war.
Dooley also presumed, for the purposes of his theoretical war plan, that the Geneva Conventions that set standards of armed conflict, are "no longer relevant."
Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley
Parents At Odds
Reese Witherspoon
Actress Reese Witherspoon's mother has filed a petition of annulment to wipe out her husband's recent second marriage.
Mary Elizabeth Witherspoon says in court documents filed May 8 in Nashville that her husband John Drake Witherspoon has taken a second wife who may be taking advantage of his mental condition.
The couple has been separated since 1996, but remains married and still attends family functions together, including their daughter's March 2011 marriage.
The filing alleges John Witherspoon's new wife Tricianne Taylor has tried to take out loans as Mrs. John Witherspoon, lives in his condo, has had him sign a new will and drives a vehicle without permission from a family corporation run by Reese Witherspoon.
Reese Witherspoon
Giving Up Swiss Citizenship
Mrs. Bachmann
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Queen Of Denial) is giving up her citizenship in Switzerland.
The Minnesota Republican said Thursday she sent a letter to the Swiss Consulate asking for withdrawal of her Swiss citizenship. She said she wanted to make clear she is 100 percent committed to the United States.
A Bachmann spokeswoman said earlier this week that Bachmann had been eligible for Swiss citizenship because her husband Marcus was of Swiss descent, and the family recently went through the process as a family because some children wanted to do it. Bachmann quickly issued a statement Wednesday saying her dual citizenship had been automatic upon her marriage in 1978.
Bachmann is seeking re-election in Minnesota's 6th District after an unsuccessful run for president.
Mrs. Bachmann
A-List Status Isn't Enough To Drive Sales
Perfume
To witness the odd power of celebrities at the fragrance counter, look no further than two of today's top women's perfume stars: One is a teenage boy. The other, deceased.
Justin Bieber's women's perfume Someday is one of the top sellers in department and specialty stores, and White Diamonds, the scent launched 20 years ago by the late Elizabeth Taylor, tops in big box stores.
But for every Bieber, there seems like there's an A-lister who fails to garner buzz when it comes to fragrance. Jennifer Aniston, anyone?
The most successful celebrities to splash their name across a fragrance bottle speak typically to a niche audience, often one that's an older or younger consumer.
"The ones that do well have a strong following with a strong core audience," explains Karen Grant, beauty industry analyst at market research firm The NPD Group. "Liz Taylor has almost a cult following, and Bieber is the same thing. He's all about tweens and the moms getting it for the tweens."
Perfume
Doesn't End in 2012
New Mayan Calendar
Archeologists have unearthed what they say is the oldest known version of the Mayan calendar and one that doesn't "end" with the Earth's destruction later this year. Yeah, you're welcome.
According to The Washington Post's Brian Vastag, researchers excavating the "lost" city of Xultún in present-day Guatemala discovered new astronomical tables carved into the wall of a "1200-year-old residential building." Much like the Maya codices that conspiracy theorists say predict an end-of-the-world date in December 2012, the tables chart planetary movements, moon and star patterns, and can predict the positions of celestial bodies thousands of years into the past and the future.
Numerous doomsday predictions are based on the claim that previously known codieces, like the famous Dresden Codex, chart the entire length of human history, but mysteriously stop on December 21, 2012 as if the Mayans knew that would be the last day humans would be around. However, the archeologists say that these the newly discovered tables - which pre-date the oldest known codex by as much as 500 years - span over 7,000 years of time, stretching far beyond of present age. So, you can breathe a little easier, though the news will come as a big shock to the tourism industry in Belize
If you still need something to panic about, Tulane University's Marc Zender, who led the expedition, says that the Mayan calendar still begins a new "long cycle" in 2012, but compares he compares to an "odometer on a car rolling over from 99,999 miles to zero: "You go, 'Yay,' but the car just doesn't disappear." Oh, really? Well, we'll see about that.
New Mayan Calendar
Unveils New Willow Watercolor
Van Gogh Museum
A young Vincent van Gogh was so struck by a dead willow leaning "lonely and melancholy" over a pond near The Hague that he knew at once he had to paint it.
"I'm going to attack it tomorrow morning," he wrote to his brother Theo on July 26, 1882.
The Van Gogh Museum unveiled the painting Thursday, the first addition in five years to its world-famous collection of works by the postimpressionist master.
At a time when the artist was still honing his skills in perspective, anatomy and proportion using pen and pencil sketches, the watercolor was a bolt from the blue, although its muted tones are still a far cry from the exuberant and colorful oil paintings that characterized Van Gogh's later works.
Van Gogh Museum
Finds Signed Picasso Print
Zachary Bodish
An unemployed Ohio man was browsing at his local thrift store for items he could restore and resell when he spotted a Picasso poster with the word "Exposition" written across the front, some French words, and the image of a warped round face. He handed over $14.14 for what he saw as a nice commercial print.
Some Internet searches later - and a closer look at markings on the lower right area - and he sold what's believed to be a signed Picasso print for $7,000 to a private buyer who wants to remain anonymous.
"A pretty darn good return," said Zachary Bodish of Columbus with a chuckle. "Can't get that at the bank."
The 46-year-old Bodish, who was an event and volunteer coordinator at a museum for six years, originally turned to the Internet and a personal blog to write about his neat find from early March. Bodish had been supplementing his income with buying and reselling restored furniture, and he suddenly realized he may have hit jackpot.
His online search led him to the print's history as an exhibition advertisement. And he began to look closely at some very faded red writing on the lower right area, which he originally thought were random pencil marks from the thrift store.
Zachary Bodish
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. (1) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; $2,031,105; $91.27.
2. (2) Cirque du Soleil - "Michael Jackson: The Immortal"; $1,915,906; $113.56.
3. (3) Elton John; $1,295,560; $115.62.
4. (4) Jason Aldean; $618,519; $44.47.
5. (6) Brad Paisley; $585,355; $52.37.
6. (5) The Black Keys; $568,057; $47.00.
7. (7) Lady Antebellum; $530,551; $49.67.
8. (8) Blake Shelton; $363,435; $47.73.
9. (9) Miranda Lambert; $360,254; $43.66.
10. (10) Jeff Dunham; $304,321; $44.87.
11. (11) Eric Church; $279,016; $35.42.
12. (New) Yanni; $204,180; $60.06.
13. (12) Kelly Clarkson; $192,509; $54.21.
14. (16) Rain - A Tribute To The Beatles; $173,253; $51.05.
15. (14) "Gigantour" / Megadeth; $173,067; $49.28.
16. (13) "Mythbusters"; $159,242; $51.54.
17. (15) Rise Against; $156,215; $33.68.
18. (17) Peter Frampton; $131,036; $64.55.
19. (19) "Winter Jam" / Skillet; $128,725; $11.18.
20. (18) The Moody Blues; $128,409; $60.15.
Concert Tours
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
