from Bruce
Anecdotes
Good Deeds
• Late in her life, dancer Josephine Baker fell on hard times and lost her home. Coming to the rescue was Grace Kelly, aka Princess Grace of Monaco. She offered Ms. Baker an apartment in Monaco, and Ms. Baker was based there for the rest of her life. (Fortunately, Ms. Baker died only after a triumphant return to Paris with a gala benefit titled Josephine for Monaco’s Red Cross.)
• Tenor Enrico Caruso was capable of great kindness. He once saw a beggar shivering outside his hotel, so he gave him his fur-lined coat. Mr. Caruso owned many clothes, so many that people asked why he had such a large wardrobe. To such inquiries, he replied, “Two reasons. First reason, I like. Second reason, other people like. Also, I give to people who ask.”
• As a missionary to coal miners, Vincent van Gogh gave away his good clothing to the poor and dressed in shabby clothing. One day, a baker’s wife with whom he had boarded saw him and asked why he had given away his good clothing. Mr. van Gogh replied, “I am a friend of the poor like Jesus was.” Not impressed, the baker’s wife told him, “You are no longer normal.”
• During the Holocaust, Oskar Schindler saved over 1,000 Jews who worked for him. After the war was over, he said, “I knew the people who worked for me. When you know people, you have to behave towards them like human beings.” When he died, he was buried, as he had requested, in a Catholic cemetery in Jerusalem.
Happiness
• According to biblical law, if a farmer forgets any sheaves of grain and leaves them in the field at harvest time, the farmer cannot gather them. Instead, they must be left to be gathered by the poor and by strangers. In the Tosephta Pe-ah 3:18 is the story of a man who once forgot some sheaves of grain and left them in the field. When he remembered the sheaves, he was very happy and ordered his son, “Go and sacrifice a bull as a burnt offering, and another bull as a peace offering.” His son asked why he was so happy fulfilling the commandment regarding the forgotten sheaves — even happier than when fulfilling all the other commandments. The father replied, “The All-Present One gave us all the other commandments of the Torah, so that we obey them intentionally. But this is a commandment that we can fulfill only unwittingly. For if we had intentionally left that measure of wheat on the field, we would have been unable to observe this particular commandment.”
• Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk could be blunt when he felt that bluntness was needed. A miser once asked him, “Do you think that I shall enjoy the world to come?” Rabbi Mendel replied, “You do not enjoy this world for which you have toiled. How can you expect to enjoy the world to come for which you have done nothing?”
Heaven and Hell
• A homophobe once said to lesbian comedian Judy Carter, “All homosexuals are going to hell.” She replied, “So, people like Michelangelo; Leonardo da Vinci; James I of England, who commissioned the King James translation of the Bible; Mary, Queen of Scotland, England, and Ireland; and my homosexual brothers and sisters with the gifts of compassion, faith, love, and understanding are going to hell. And people who judge, hate, kill, and despise are going to heaven. Help me on this one … where do I want to go?”
• Occasionally, politicians are given introductions that make them appear to be saints. Brooks Hays once said to one such introducer: “If you do not go to heaven for charity, you will certainly go somewhere else for exaggeration or downright prevarication.” Of another such introducer, Mr. Hays said, “I hope that the Lord will forgive this man even as He does heathens, atheists, used-car salesmen, and fishermen.”
• A man died and went to the Pearly Gates, where he demanded to be let in to Heaven. The angel at the Gates asked what he had done for his fellow man on earth, and the man said that on four separate occasions he had given a quarter to a beggar. The angel asked St. Peter what should be done with the man. St. Peter replied, “Give him his dollar back and tell him to go to Hell.”
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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: "Be Myself"
Album: QUEEN OF THE PILL (2019)
Artist: The Jackets
Artist Location: Switzerland
Info:
“Simply put, QUEEN OF THE PILL is a fun album. But, if you stick with it long enough to peel back the layers, you’ll discover there’s more to the songs than the buzzing guitars and charming vocals and backing harmonies. Such as the deceptively titled ‘Be Myself’ where Brutsche sings ‘I don’t wanna be myself, I don’t wanna be myself.’ There’s a nice tug of war between confident and vulnerable that gives these 10 songs more substance than you might glean on the first listen. While there’s a certain darkness to some of the songs, dawn remains on the horizon.” – J. Kevin Lynch, THE VOID REPORT
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Samuel Schmidiger
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Chris Rosales
Lead Vocals, Guitar, Songwriter – Jackie Brutsche
Price: 1 CHF (Swiss Franc) for track; 8 CHF (Swiss Franc) for 11-track album
8 CHF is about $10 USD
Genre: Rock.
Links:
QUEEN OF THE PILL (2019)
The Jackets on Bandcamp
The Jackets on YouTube
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
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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
Tonight, the little intruder came in through the spiffy new cat door - tried to scurry off with a loaf of bread from the pantry, but gave himself away when he started raccoon-cursing because the bread got stuck in the spiffy new cat door, that has since been disabled.
Exits Late-Night
Conan O’Brien
Conan O’Brien brought his 28-year career in late-night television to a close with a sweet list of thank yous, bringing an end to his linear small-screen career that has consisted of over 4,000 hours of TV.
Much like his final episode of The Tonight Show, he brought on Will Ferrell, via Zoom, as well as Jack Black as his final in-studio guest for his eponymous TBS show.
The hour-long finale started with a bang with his old friend Homer Simpson.
For his final thought before he moves over to HBO Max for a new, as-yet-undefined show, he said, “I’ve devoted all of my adult life to pursuing this phantom intersection between smart and stupid. There’s a lot of people that believe that the two can’t co-exist but I will tell you that when [they] come together, it’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”
Conan O’Brien
12th Governors Awards Honors
Oscars
The Academy Awards will present Elaine May, Samuel L. Jackson and Liv Ullmann with honorary Oscars and Danny Glover with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 12th Governors Awards in January.
The film academy announced the honorary awards Thursday. Once a regular feature of the Academy Awards telecast, the honorary Oscars will be doled out in a separate, untelevised ceremony on January 15 in Los Angeles.
“Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers,” said David Rubin, academy president. “Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his dedication to recognizing our shared humanity on and off the screen.”
The honorary awards are given to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the academy. None of the recipients have previously received an Academy Award.
Glover hasn’t been nominated by the academy. The 74-year-old actor has starred in “The Color Purple,” “To Sleep With Anger,” “A Rage in Harlem” and the “Lethal Weapon” series. He has also been a tireless activist in his native San Francisco, a Civil Rights advocate, a UN Goodwill Ambassador and a father-figure to a new generation of filmmakers, appearing in recent films like “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” and “Sorry to Bother You.”
Oscars
Extended Opry Invitation
Dolly Parton
Country singer Carly Pearce, who started her career at 16 as a performer at Dollywood‘s Country Crossroads, got the surprise of a lifetime when Dolly Parton broke the news to her that she’d been invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Carly Pearce first broke through in 2017 when her song ‘Every Little Thing’ reached the top of the Billboard Country Airplay chart. On June 17, she was invited to the Grand Ole Opry under the guise that she would be filming a promotional video for Dollywood.
While explaining her earliest memory of Dollywood as a five-year-old, Parton enters stage right to congratulate Pearce on her success since her days as a performer at the Pigeon Forge park and break the big news.
When Dolly asks how she managed to perform at the Grand Ole Opry 80 times, she responded she was just trying to, “follow in your [Dolly’s] footsteps.”
“Well, I came here today to tell you you are now an official member of the Grand Ole Opry,” Parton said as Pearce cries tears of joy.
Dolly Parton
Streets Renamed
Isley Brothers
Through the flag twirlers and the gospel choir and the seemingly endless proclamations from local officials, Ernie Isley was able to reduce to one word the honor of having streets named after him and his famous family in the suburban towns where they once lived: “Wow.”
“It’s a ‘wow’ moment,” he exclaimed. “This is a spectacular culmination of a lot of dreams and a lot of prayers.”
Teaneck and Englewood, suburbs a few miles across the Hudson River from New York City, held dual ceremonies Thursday to honor the Isley Brothers, the legendary group that scored hits with songs including “Shout,” “Twist and Shout,” “It’s Your Thing,” “That Lady” and “Fight The Power.”
Ron Isley lived in Teaneck and Ernie lived in neighboring Englewood during the group’s heyday in the 1960s. Another brother, Rudolph, lived in Irvington, about 12 miles (19. kilometers) south of Teaneck. The brothers helped put Teaneck on the map when they launched the T-Neck record label, known to generations of music fans for the distinctive orange dust jacket on its 45 rpm records.
It was a local music fan, Teaneck resident Ira Buckman, who hit upon the idea of renaming part of Van Arsdale Street as Isley Brothers Way two years ago. He was inspired by watching a rerun of the movie “Animal House,” which features the Isley Brothers’ “Shout.”
Isley Brothers
£50 Note Enters Circulation
Alan Turing
The Bank of England's newly-designed £50 note featuring the portrait of Alan Turing has entered circulation.
The release date coincides with what would have been the computer pioneer and wartime codebreaker's birthday.
It means the Bank's entire collection of currently-printed banknotes is made of plastic for the first time.
Paper £50 and £20 notes will no longer be accepted in shops from October next year, although post offices will still accept them.
The old, paper £50 banknotes - first issued in 2011 - are no longer being produced, and will be withdrawn by the end of September next year. They feature steam engine pioneers James Watt and Matthew Boulton.
Alan Turing
Fabled Gold
Pennsylvania
An FBI agent applied for a federal warrant in 2018 to seize a cache of gold that he said had been “stolen during the Civil War” while en route to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, and was “now concealed in an underground cave” in northwestern Pennsylvania, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
The newly unsealed affidavit confirms previous reporting by The Associated Press that the federal government had been looking for a legendary cache of gold at the site, which the agency had long refused to confirm. In any case, the agency said, the dig came up empty.
The AP and The Philadelphia Inquirer petitioned a federal judge to unseal the case. Federal prosecutors did not oppose the request, and the judge agreed, paving the way for Thursday’s release of documents.
Archer told the judge he needed a seizure warrant because he feared that if the federal government sought permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources to excavate the site, the state would claim the gold for itself.
The FBI had long refused to explain exactly why it went digging on state-owned land in Elk County in March 2018, saying only in written statements over the years that agents were there for a court-authorized excavation of “what evidence suggested may have been a cultural heritage site.”
Pennsylvania
Prevention Video
Gun Violence
A gun violence prevention group has released videos in which they trick famous pro-gun figures into addressing a sea of empty chairs, representing children and teenagers who were shot and killed before they could graduate from high school.
Change the Ref, a gun safety organization founded by Patricia and Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was murdered in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, released the videos Wednesday.
As drone videos show sweeps of thousands of empty white seats, overlaid audio from 911 calls brings in the terrified voices of students trapped in schools while bullets are flying.
Speaking to the empty chairs in the first video is NRA board member David Keene, who was the pro-gun group's president from 2011 to 2013.
Keene invokes the Virginian founding father, namesake of the fake James Madison Academy he thinks he's addressing, to ask that the graduating students uphold the second amendment that Madison is credited with authoring.
The Lost Class 1/3
The Lost Class 2/3
The Lost Class 3/3
Gun Violence
‘Exorcism’ In The Lumbler Aisle
Pennsylvania
Monday started off fairly normal for the Dickson City Police Department.
But in the middle of the afternoon, officers responded to a Home Depot for a rather peculiar — some might say scary — call. The two-sentence report from the police station left a community craving for more details.
“3:26pm Commerce Blvd. @ Home Depot for disorderly people having an exorcism in the lumber aisle for the dead trees. They were escorted out of the building,” the police department wrote in its daily list on Facebook of calls it responded to the previous day.
The police department did not provide further information regarding the incident and did not respond to a message from McClatchy News.
But in speaking with WBRE, officers said the people were exhibiting “bad behavior” in the hardware and home improvement store. The so-called exorcists were not charged, the TV station reported.
Pennsylvania
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