Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Carl Sferrazza Anthony: "Eunice Kennedy Shriver: Human Style" (huffingtonpost.com)
Part of Mrs. Shriver's public appeal was her personal authenticity. I often thought of another humanitarian in a hurry -- Eleanor Roosevelt -- whenever I ran into Mrs. Shriver.
David Pogue: 'Take Back the Beep' Campaign (nytimes.com)
Over the past week, in The New York Times and on my blog, I've been ranting about one particularly blatant money-grab by American cellphone carriers: the mandatory 15-second voicemail instructions.
Daniel Gross: Who Won the Recession? (slate.com)
McDonald's.
RICHARD ROEPER: Why didn't Blackhawks' Patrick Kane just tip Buffalo cabdriver and let it go? (suntimes.com)
Alleged attack leaves Hawks with a migraine.
"When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage" by M V Badgett: A review by Sal Renshaw
Amid the intense controversy still surrounding same-sex marriage in the U.S., M.V. Lee Badgett speaks in a refreshingly tempered voice. Drawing on European precedents, particularly in the Netherlands and Denmark, her research tells us what many of us already knew: The skies don't fall when gay couples attain the right to marry, and heterosexual marriage doesn't lose its luster.
"A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition" by Ernest Hemingway: A review by Steve Paul
In the last paragraph of the possible last chapter of the last book Ernest Hemingway struggled to finish before taking his own life, the great writer reiterates that he had mined the remises, or storage places "of my memory and of my heart. Even if the one has been tampered with and the other does not exist."
Jonathan Yardley: Pride. Prejudice. Perfection (washingtonpost.com)
Eight of the most famous words in Jane Austen's masterpiece, "Pride and Prejudice," are to be found toward the end of the novel's third chapter. The five Bennet girls and their mother have just returned from a ball at Netherfield, a nearby estate, and find their father still awake and reading in his study. This is scarcely a surprise, for, as Austen so deftly puts it, "With a book he was regardless of time."
"The Wolverton Bible" by Basil Wolverton: A review by Spencer Dew
One of Basil Wolverton's most gripping pieces is a portrait of seven terrified faces -- mouths agape, eyes wide -- crowded into a panel with a stark black background. The caption, in such small print and so far below that it does not distract from the wordless power of this image, is a citation from the gospel of Luke: "Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world..." Indeed, the following pages detail horrors surreal and familiar.
Alison Flood: The library books nobody wants to borrow (guardian.co.uk)
A website revealing the worst books on library shelves has become a surprise hit.
Dominic Maxwell: Janeane Garofalo at Gilded Balloon (imesonline.co.uk)
Garofalo has an angle on her outsiderdom, an inspiring impatience for the inadequacy of the labels we stick on ourselves.
Dave Marcus: Jazzman Teddy Charles returns after a break from an illustrious career (Newsday)
Weeds choke the yard of the small house in the Long Island town of Riverhead. An abandoned sailboat sits out front. Dogs bark forlornly from the back.
John Keilman: Technology like Pandora limits exposure to different media (Chicago Tribune)
I was a mile away from finishing a tough run, desperate for a musical jolt to push me to the finish, when my iPod pulled a dirty trick on me.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Mercy, Me' Edition
Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten, sentenced to Life in prison for her role in the LaBianca murders, is eligible to apply for parole later this month. She has been denied parole 17 times. Many people, including film maker John Waters (
John Waters: Leslie Van Houten: A Friendship, Part 1 of 5 ), are advocating for her release. She reportedly has been a model prisoner completing all available prison programs and assisting other inmates with these programs. She has earned two college degrees and has maintained a clean disciplinary record. She has accepted full responsibility for her actions...
Should Van Houten be paroled?
Send your response to
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
We have an out-of-town funeral, so Saturday's page will be late - very late.
NOLA Mayor?
Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt told NBC's "Today" show on Thursday that he has seen the "Brad Pitt for Mayor" T-shirts that many New Orleans residents have been sporting for at least two months.
But when asked if he has considered running, Pitt said, "I don't have a chance."
Pitt is right, at least as far as the next mayoral election is concerned. He and partner, Angelina Jolie, bought a home in 2007.
To be eligible, mayoral candidates must have be residents of New Orleans for at least five years before the date of the election. The mayoral primary is Feb. 6, 2010.
Brad Pitt
Redesigned Penny
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln got a present Thursday for his 200th birthday - or, technically, 319 million presents.
The U.S. Mint released a redesigned penny to mark the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. The Mint plans to start out by producing 319 million of the new coins.
The front of the redesigned penny is the familiar image of Lincoln in profile. The back shows him delivering a speech outside Illinois' Old State Capitol, where he served as a legislator, delivered a famous speech on slavery and ran his transition office after being elected president.
This is the third of four new pennies honoring Lincoln this year. His birthday was Feb. 12, but the event is being celebrated all year long.
Abraham Lincoln
LA Approves $30M Loan
Cirque du Soleil
The Los Angeles City Council has approved a tentative plan to lend US$30 million in federal money to a company that wants to retrofit the Kodak Theatre for Cirque du Soleil performances.
The CIM Group, which owns the mall complex that houses the theatre, has pledged with its partners to create at least 850 jobs in exchange for the loan.
Council members approved the plan, but Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the federal government must still approve the plan.
CIM Group owns the Hollywood & Highland mall complex but leases the centre's Kodak Theatre from the city.
Cirque du Soleil
Pakistani Reporter Detained
Rahman Bunairee
U.S. officials are holding for undisclosed reasons a Pakistani journalist who works for an American media outlet.
Rahman Bunairee, a reporter with Voice of America who has been targeted by Taliban militants, was detained Sunday at Washington Dulles International Airport by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency's spokeswoman, Kelly Nantel, said she could not say why Bunairee is being detained because of confidentiality laws.
Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan bombed Bunairee's home on July 8, according to a July 9 story on Voice of America's Web site. He was not home during the attack, but he told the news outlet that no one in the home was injured.
Bob Dietz with the Committee to Protect Journalists met with Bunairee in Pakistan last month. Dietz said Bunairee was coming to the U.S. to take a one-year position with Voice of America. Dietz was told Bunairee had a valid U.S. visa.
Rahman Bunairee
Claims Memorabilia Stolen
Henry Vaccaro
A New Jersey businessman is alleging that part of his collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia was stolen from a Nevada storage facility and auctioned without his knowledge.
Henry Vaccaro filed a police report July 31 saying his rented storage space was burglarized and valuable Jackson items were missing, North Las Vegas police said Thursday. The auction was staged on July 26, about one month after the pop star died in a rented Beverly Hills mansion.
Vaccaro of Asbury Park, N.J., told investigators he last saw the items in storage at Southern Nevada Movers in North Las Vegas more than two years ago - on May 30, 2007, police Sgt. Tim Bedwell said.
Mario Trabado, owner of Clark County Public Auction, said he had auctioned Jackson items bought legally less than a month earlier from a private collector. He declined to identify the collector but said it was not Vaccaro.
Henry Vaccaro
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Aug. 3-9. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), USA, 5.35 million homes, 7.59 million viewers.
2. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 5.15 million homes, 6.97 million viewers.
3. Movie: "ICarly Movie: Shelby Marx" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 4.97 million homes, 7.86 million viewers.
4. "Royal Pains" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 4.81 million homes, 6.68 million viewers.
5. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.82 million homes, 4.82 million viewers.
6. "Monk" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.56 million homes, 5.13 million viewers.
7. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.55 million homes, 5.19 million viewers.
7. "NCIS" (Thursday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.55 million homes, 4.9 million viewers.
9. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.46 million homes, 5.01 million viewers.
10. Baseball: Boston vs. N.Y. Yankees (Sunday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 3.42 million homes, 4.69 million viewers.
11. "Wizards of Waverly Place" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.4 million homes, 5 million viewers.
12. Movie: "ICarly Movie: Shelby Marx" (Sunday, 11 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.34 million homes, 4.81 million viewers.
13. "In Plain Sight" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.3 million homes, 4.43 million viewers.
14. "Suite Life on Deck" (Friday, 8:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.28 million homes, 4.88 million viewers.
15. "ICarly" (Saturday, 9 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.23 million homes, 4.86 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Les Paul
Les Paul, the guitar virtuoso and inventor who revolutionized music and created rock 'n' roll as surely as Elvis Presley and the Beatles by developing the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording, died Thursday at age 94.
Known for his lightning-fast riffs, Paul performed with some of early pop's biggest names and produced a slew of hits, many with wife Mary Ford. But it was his inventive streak that made him universally revered by guitar gods as their original ancestor and earned his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the most important forces in popular music.
Paul, who died in White Plains, N.Y., of complications from pneumonia, was a tireless tinkerer, whose quest for a particular sound led him to create the first solid-body electric guitar, a departure from the hollow-body guitars of the time. His invention paved the way for modern rock 'n' roll and became the standard instrument for legends like Pete Townshend and Jimmy Page.
He also developed technology that would become hallmarks of rock and pop recordings, from multitrack recording that allowed for layers and layers of "overdubs" to guitar reverb and other sound effects.
Paul remained an active performer until his last months: He put out his very first rock album just four years ago, and up until recently played every week at a New York jazz club.
A musician since childhood, he experimented with guitar amplification for years before coming up in 1941 with what he called "The Log," a 4-by-4 piece of wood strung with steel strings.
Gibson solicited Paul to create a prototype for a guitar, and began production on the Les Paul guitar in 1952. Townshend of the Who, Steve Howe of Yes, jazz great Al DiMeola and Led Zeppelin's Page all made the Gibson Les Paul their trademark six-string.
The Les Paul series has become one of the most widely used guitars in the music industry. In 2005, Christie's auction house sold a 1955 Gibson Les Paul for $45,600.
Paul was born Lester William Polfuss, in Waukesha, Wis., on June 9, 1915. He began his career as a musician, billing himself as Red Hot Red or Rhubarb Red. He toured with the popular Chicago band Rube Tronson and His Texas Cowboys and led the house band on WJJD radio in Chicago.
In the mid-1930s he joined Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians and soon moved to New York to form the Les Paul Trio, with Jim Atkins and bassist Ernie Newton.
Paul started out as an accompanist, working with key artists until he struck out on his own. His first records were released in 1944 on Decca Records. Later, with Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records for hits including "Vaya Con Dios" and "How High the Moon," which both hit No. 1.
He had met Ford, then known as Colleen Summers, in the 1940s while working as a studio musician in Los Angeles. For seven years in the 1950s, Paul and Ford broadcast a TV show from their home in Mahwah, N.J. (Ford died in 1977, 15 years after they divorced).
Paul's use of multitrack recording was unique: Before he did it, most recordings were made on a single tape. By recording each element separately, from the vocals to instrumentation on different tracks, they could be mixed and layered, adding to the richness in sound.
In 1954, Paul commissioned the first eight-track tape recorder, later known as "Sel-Sync," in which a recording head could simultaneously record a new track and play back previous ones.
In the late 1960s, Paul retired from music to concentrate on his inventions. His interest in country music was rekindled in the mid-'70s and he teamed with Chet Atkins for two albums. The duo were awarded a Grammy for best country instrumental performance of 1976 for their "Chester and Lester" album.
Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.
Les Paul
In Memory
John Quade
John Quade, who played the heavy in several Clint Eastwood movies and was the sheriff in the TV miniseries "Roots," has died. He was 71.
His wife Gwen says Quade died in his sleep of natural causes Sunday at his home in the Southern California desert town of Rosamond.
Quade had dozens of TV and movie roles in a career that spanned more than a quarter-century. His movies included "Papillon" and "High Plains Drifter."
However, he is perhaps best remembered as the motorcycle gang leader in the Eastwood movie "Every Which Way But Loose" and its sequel, "Any Which Way You Can."
The Kansas-born Quade leaves six children and 10 grandchildren.
John Quade
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