from Bruce
Anecdotes
Death
• Nicholas Green, a seven-year-old boy from Bodega Bay, California, was shot in the head by highway robbers in Italy; two days later, he died. His parents, Reg and Maggie, donated his organs to seven Italians and saved or vastly improved their lives. This led to an awareness of the importance of organ donation, and many, many people are alive or are living better lives because so many people heard of Nicholas Green and decided to donate their organs. His parents call this the “Nicholas Effect.” His father even wrote a book titled The Nicholas Effect: A Young Boy’s Gift to the World. In a 1999 online chat, Reg explained why he and his wife made the decision to donate Nicholas’s organs: “When we looked at Nicholas, he didn’t look like a sleeping child. We knew he was dead and therefore didn’t need that body anymore. But he’d been in perfect health, so that body can help other people, and as it turned out it was seven very sick people.” He added, “We can’t remember ever having heard a conversation about organ donation, but when we saw Nicholas that day, it seemed perfectly obvious to us that this was the right thing to do. His future had been taken away from him. It seemed even more important than ever that that future should be given to someone else. In fact, all seven of those Italian recipients are now back in the mainstream of life.” Reg and Meg have met all of the people to whom their son’s organs were donated. Reg said, “All of them are living normal lives. One woman had never seen her baby’s face clearly but now has regained her sight. The two children who had spent hours a day, three days a week, hooked up to dialysis machines are now perfectly normal youngsters. The boy who got Nicholas’s heart had previously had six operations on his own heart and all had failed. Now he’s like any normal boy. The woman who got Nicholas’s pancreas cells was a diabetic and had been repeatedly in comas. She was completely dependent on others. The last time I saw her, she was living alone for the first time. And then there was the 19-year-old girl who received Nicholas’s liver, and she [had been] going to die, and the family had gathered to say goodbye. But with the new liver, she came back to good health, was married, and last year had a baby. It was a boy, and they have called him Nicholas.” Organ donation helps to reveal the “unity of mankind,” Reg said, pointing out, “When organs are donated, you do not know who will receive them. White men are walking around with black women’s hearts in them. Anglos are breathing with Mexican lungs. American children are being saved by the organs of Italians and vice versa in all of those cases. The differences between us as human beings are trifling compared to what we have in common.”
• Harry Cohn, the head of Columbia Pictures, was Jewish, but his wife says that he converted to Christianity on his deathbed. His friend the comedian Danny Thomas was known for being religious, so Mrs. Cohn telephoned him to see if he was willing to read the prayers at her husband’s funeral. She explained, “I don’t want to have a rabbi, and I don’t want to insult his family by having a priest.” Mr. Thomas is a nice guy, but he knew that Mr. Cohn was Jewish, and he wondered whether a Christian like himself should read the prayers. Mrs. Cohn said, “Let me tell you something, When Harry was dying, he said, ‘Jesus, help me!’ I’m a Christian, as you know, and I’m sure he was turning to Jesus in his final moments.” Mr. Thomas was still skeptical, and he asked, “Are you sure he wasn’t just exclaiming, ‘Jesus Christ,’ like we all do in tense moments?” Mrs. Cohn replied, “I knew him a little better than you. I shared his bed, and I’m telling you he said, ‘Jesus, help me.’ So I went and got a glass of water, sprinkled it on him, and I said, ‘I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.’ Now, will you please say the prayers over him at the grave site?” Mr. Thomas agreed, but he consulted a wise man, Monsignor Concannon, the pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. The good Monsignor gave him the funeral book, and told him, “Wherever it says ‘Jesus Christ,’ you substitute the word ‘Lord’ — meaning the Lord God of us all. That way, you will not offend anyone.” Mr. Thomas did exactly that, and he recited the Twenty-third Psalm, and no one was offended. Yes, Monsignor Concannon is a wise man.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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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
Track: "Hit the Beach"
Album: WAVE WALK’N: A TRIBUTE TO THE SURF RAIDERS
Artist: Surfer Joe
Artist Location: Livorno, Italy
Record Company: Green Cookie Records
Record Company Location: Thessaloniki, Greece
Info:
“Surfer Joe has been involved in surf music since the middle of the 90s, building up his name worldwide as musician and organiser or events, and he is currently the most active artist in the scene. His reputation and frenetic touring activity gained Surfer Joe the title of ‘international surf music ambassador.’
“Surfer Joe represents the true, authentic side of surf music, carrying on the legacy of the original Californian bands of the early 60s with their sound and energy, but of course showcasing his own style. The compositions of Surfer Joe are generally very melodic, appealing to attentive listeners, but also easily recognisable, memorable and accessible to any kind of audience, so that someone defined his records as ‘instant classics.’”
Price: €1 (EURO) for track; €12 (EURO) for 18-track album by various artists
Genre: Surf.
Links:
WAVE WALK’N: A TRIBUTE TO THE SURF RAIDERS
Green Cookie Records
Surfer Joe on Bandcamp
Surfer Joe on YouTube
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Recommended
Recommended Reading
Edgar Whan: “Growing Up is a Waste of Time, So Relax and Enjoy the Next Four or Five Years of Your Life: Advice for First-Year Students”
***
Ukraine
Russian Tanks Go to Die in Ukraine
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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
Gas up to $5.63/gal (cash) at the no-name station.
Break Out the Stonehenge Set
Spinal Tap
Heavy metal’s original satirical demigods Spinal Tap will reunite with director Rob Reiner for a sequel to their 1984 classic, This Is Spinal Tap.
Along with Reiner returning as director — and as the in-film documentarian, Marty DiBergi — Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest will reprise their roles as band members David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel. No word yet on which actor (or actors) will be lined up to fill the perennially doomed role of Spinal Tap’s drummer.
Exact plot details for the sequel weren’t given, though Reiner, McKean, Shearer, and Guest will concoct the story together. Reiner did, however, offer a little hint as to what may be in store.
“When it was announced that Spinal Tap would reunite for one final concert, Marty DeBergi saw this as a chance to make things right with the band who viewed This is Spinal Tap as a hatchet job,” Reiner quipped in a statement. “So he left his position as visiting adjunct teacher’s assistant at the Ed Wood School of Cinematic Arts in pursuit of film history.”
Spinal Tap
Secret Final Netflix Stand-Up Special
Norm Macdonald
One of modern comedy’s greatest talents made one final stand-up special before he passed away — and it’s been kept a secret, until now.
Norm Macdonald, who died last September at the age of 61, privately shot an unreleased one-hour stand-up special.
The acclaimed Saturday Night Live actor-comedian known for his deadpan delivery was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 but kept his illness private. He was working on new material for a Netflix special when he had to go into the hospital in the summer of 2020.
“His test results were not good, so during the heart of COVID-19 pandemic and literally the night before going in for a procedure, he wanted to get this on tape just in case — as he put it — things went south,” Lori Jo Hoekstra, Macdonald’s longtime producing partner, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It was his intention to have a special to share if something happened.”
The result was a stand-up special shot in Macdonald’s living room. The actor filmed the entire hour in a single take. “He looks great and the material’s fantastic,” Hoekstra says.
Norm Macdonald
Canceled
NBC
NBC has completed its renewals, new series pickups and cancellations ahead of Monday’s upfront presentation to Madison Avenue ad buyers.
The network on Thursday canceled second-year comedies Kenan and Mr. Mayor as well as freshman drama The Endgame. Additionally, the network’s last remaining comedy pilot, Hungry — which underwent recasting with Modern Family’s Ariel Winter stepping in for lead Demi Lovato — has been passed over.
Drama The Endgame, one of broadcast’s worst-reviewed rookie shows of the season, launched in February and finished its run May 2 with little fanfare. The drama starred Morena Baccarin and hailed from exec producer Julie Plec (the Vampire Diaries franchise). Like Kenan and Mr. Mayor, the series averaged a 0.4 in the 18-49 demo.
The trio of cancellations comes at the same time that NBC renewed comedies Young Rock (for a third season) and Grand Crew (for its second). Both shows join previously renewed dramas The Blacklist, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, New Amsterdam, LaBrea, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Law & Order: SVU and comedy American Auto. Rookie shows joining the schedule are Quantum Leap, Nightcourt and Lopez vs. Lopez.
NBC
Illegal Bear Kill
‘The Bear Whisperer’
A man who stars on a TV show called “The Bear Whisperer” has been accused of illegally killing a black bear in Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park and lying about where it was killed.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed misdemeanor charges last Friday against Harvey Neil Anthony of Maine and Nature Productions Inc. Anthony goes by the name of Blaine Anthony in the television series he also produces, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Hunting is prohibited in the park, which is at the edge of the Kenai Peninsula. Black bears, brown bears, mountain goats and moose are among the wildlife found in the park.
Prosecutors alleged that Anthony and Nature Productions Inc. used footage from hunting trips in 2015 and 2017 in episodes of the show, “including footage of two black bear kills within the Kenai Fjords National Park.”
‘The Bear Whisperer’
Feds Investigating
Classified Documents
Federal prosecutors have launched a grand jury investigation into whether the trove of classified White House documents that wound up in Mar-a-Lago were tampered with, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
The National Archives discovered in January that (the) former President Donald Trump took boxes of official documents to Palm Beach upon leaving the White House. Some of those boxes were clearly labeled as classified, raising questions about whether Trump the unindicted conspirator may have violated the Presidential Records Act. The discovery was made as the Archives were retrieving the material after it was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee.
Trump A spokesperson Taylor Budowich responded on Thursday by bashing the investigation as political. “(the former) President Trump consistently handled all documents in accordance with applicable law and regulations,” he said. “Belated attempts to second-guess that clear fact are politically motivated and misguided.”
It would be putting it lightly to say there’s suspicion over whether the material was mishandled. The Washington Post reported in January that some of the documents delivered to the committee had been torn apart and taped back together. The Post later reported that the president regularly ripped up official documents throughout his time in office. “He didn’t want a record of anything,” a former senior Trump crooked official told the Post. “He never stopped ripping things up. Do you really think Trump is going to care about the Records Act? Come on.”
Classified Documents
Scientists Grow Plants
Lunar Dirt
For the first time, scientists have grown plants in soil from the moon collected by NASA’s Apollo astronauts.
Researchers had no idea if anything would sprout in the harsh moon dirt and wanted to see if it could be used to grow food by the next generation of lunar explorers. The results stunned them.
“Holy cow. Plants actually grow in lunar stuff. Are you kidding me?” said Robert Ferl of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Ferl and his colleagues planted thale cress in moon soil returned by Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and other moonwalkers. The good news: All of the seeds sprouted.
The downside was that after the first week, the coarseness and other properties of the lunar soil stressed the small, flowering weeds so much that they grew more slowly than seedlings planted in fake moon dirt from Earth. Most of the moon plants ended up stunted.
Lunar Dirt
Glimmer of Activity
Human Eyes
Scientists have momentarily restored a faint twinkle of life to dying cells in the human eye.
In order to better understand the way nerve cells succumb to a lack of oxygen, a team of US researchers measured activity in mouse and human retinal cells soon after their death.
Amazingly, with a few tweaks to the tissue's environment, they were able to revive the cells' ability to communicate hours later.
When stimulated by light, the postmortem retinas were shown to emit specific electrical signals, known as b-waves.
It's the first time deceased human donor eyes have ever responded to light in this way, and it has some experts questioning the irreversible nature of death in the central nervous system.
Human Eyes
Diverse Dolls
Barbie
Barbie's new doll with hearing aids was created to further expand the Fashionistas line to reflect people with disabilities such as hearing loss, and to accurately portray the hearing aids, the company tapped leading educational audiologist and hearing loss advocate Dr. Jen Richardson.
Richardson shared in a statement that she felt "honored" to have worked with Barbie for the release of its doll with behind-the-ear hearing aids. "As an educational audiologist with over 18 years of experience working in hearing loss advocacy, it’s inspiring those who experience hearing loss reflected in a doll. I'm beyond thrilled for my young patients to see and play with a doll who looks like them.”
Two years ago, Barbie was also praised for introducing its first doll with vitiligo which ended up being one of its best Fashionistas sellers in the U.S. that year. This year, the brand is expanding to include a Ken doll with vitiligo to allow for more storytelling and reach an even wider community of children.
Other amazing additions include Ken options with short hair and new dolls with different body types. These dolls will accompany other successful launches such as a doll with a wheelchair and a Black doll with a beautiful afro hairstyle.
Barbie
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