• In the 1920s, Oliver W. Harrington and one other boy were the only black students in a South Bronx 6th-grade class. One day, their teacher, Miss McCoy, called them to the front of the classroom, pointed her finger at them, and told the white students, “Never, never forget that these two belong in that there trash basket.” Mr. Harrington says that the white students laughed in what “must have been their first trip on the racist drug.” After that experience, Mr. Harrington began to draw caricatures of Miss McCoy (showing such things as a train running over her), and he became a famous black cartoonist who has published several collections of his work.
• In 1951, Marty Links, cartoonist of Teena, was nominated to become the first woman member of the National Cartoonist Society. She was blackballed. Why? The reason given was that the men wanted to “talk dirty” and they couldn’t do that in the presence of a woman. Protests followed. Al Capp, cartoonist of Li’l Abner, walked out — six years later, following changes for the better in the NCS, he returned. Milton Caniff, cartoonist of Terry and the Pirates, made a speech supporting Ms. Links, and definitely not supporting the people who had blackballed her. Eventually, Ms. Links became a member in good standing, and she promptly nominated two other women cartoonists for membership in the NCS.
• Edward Mitchell Bannister was an important early African-American artist, and he faced prejudice. When he heard that his painting titled Under the Oaks had won a prize at the Centennial Exposition of 1876, he wanted to confirm this information, so he made his way through a crowd of people at the exhibition. While doing so, he heard someone say, “Why is this colored person here?” When he reached the inquiry desk, he was ignored, and when he finally was able to ask if Under the Oaks had won a prize, the man at the inquiry desk asked, “What’s that to you?” Mr. Bannister replied, “I painted that picture.” (His painting won the bronze medal.)
• Not all European countries are free of racism. When she was a college student, Maya Lin, whose ancestry is Chinese, traveled to Denmark. When she sat down on a bus, the people sitting near her got up, moved away from her, and sat down again. Later, Ms. Lin designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
Problem-Solving
• American artist Romare Bearden once ran into a creative block and was unable to paint. One day, his housekeeper asked if the unpainted piece of brown paper that was lying on his easel was the same unpainted piece of brown paper that she had seen there the previous week. It was, and Mr. Bearden confessed that he was suffering from a creative block. Fortunately, the housekeeper, a plain woman whom one of Mr. Bearden’s friends had called so ugly that “she looked like a locomotive coming around a corner,” had the solution: “Why don’t you paint me? I know what I look like, but when you look and find what’s beautiful in me, then you’re going to be able to do something on that paper of yours.” The suggestion worked. Mr. Bearden painted her, then he continued to create many great works of art.
First released in 1997, this freeware program holds the Guinness world record for the most downloaded cyberpet. What is the name of this cyber-critter?
The MOPy fish is a freeware cyberpet, released in October 1997 for Microsoft Windows by The Global Beach Group on behalf of Hewlett-Packard. It had been downloaded more than 10 million times as of the year 2000. Based on the blood parrot cichlid fish, the MOPy fish has a complex behavior pattern.
First released in 1997, the MOPy fish program holds the Guinness world record for the most downloaded cyberpet. The MOPy fish can remember how it has been treated over the last week, and alters its behavior to correspond with the effort put into its care. It will, for example, become aggressive if not fed in five days, and may act depressed when starved for as many as tens days. If the MOPy fish is neglected and not fed for three weeks, it will fall sick and die. When the fish dies, all the MOPy points accumulated will be lost and the fish can only be brought back to life via a built-in menu. However, since MOPy fish is controlled by the operating system calendar, the fish can optionally also be brought back to life by manipulating the computer's date entry. Different versions of MOPy fish are still available for download at several websites.
Source
Hadn't thought of my old MOPy fish in years, but the kid sent a link a few days back - he was pretty little back then, but he remembered the smallest details.
MOPy was part of our morning ritual - fire up the computer, start breakfast, feed the MOPy Fish, then our breakfast.
Anyway, after reading the wiki-stuff, figured odds were at least one reader would have had a MOPy Fish. My bad.
Adam was first, and correct, with:
MOPy Fish
Never heard of it...
Rosemary in Columbus wrote:
Rosemary in Columbus
Dave said:
MOPy fish. Supposedly. I never heard of it. Sounds stupid. So if you didn’t spend enough attention to it, the cyberpet would cyber die? No wonder people hate Microsoft.
Mark. answered:
MOPy fish.
Deborah, the Master Gardener replied:
I had to look this up: a MOPy fish. Really? I missed that fad.
Old dog is still sick, I’m dealing with 2 different vets who have conflicting advice, and the dog peed in my bed last night. So this morning, while the bedding is in the washer/dryer, I enjoyed watching a Gulf Fritillary drink from my sage flowers, and I saved it from a hungry lizard. It’s the little things.
Jacqueline responded:
MOPy Fish
Was downloaded 10 million times in 2000.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, said:
First released in 1997, the MOPy fish program holds the Guinness world record for the most downloaded cyberpet.
Cal in Vermont wrote:
Tamagotchi. Good Idea. They don't piddle on the floor or poop on your Persian carpets. No zoomies at 3 in the morning. You don't wake up with one sitting on your face. Kind of like hermit crabs that way...
Daniel in The City answered:
MOPy Fish Program
DJ Useo responded:
I don't know, but I like Mechagodzilla, so that's my answer.
BttbBob replied:
I hadn't a frickin' clue so I had to look it up only to discover it was some manner of weirdness called, of all things ... the MOPy fish... and I thought, "What in the sacred name of Yo-Semite Sam is that, huh? just... What?"... and then shaking my head, I muttered, "Well, that's gotta be when the fall of western civilization began"... Change my mind... You pick a spot.
~~~~~
~ Lighthouse Memories ~
You may thank David of Moon Valley for instigating me into inflicting upon you an intermittent travelogue of the lighthouses that I worked on whilst a Coast Guardsman and may include some pertinent, interesting, perhaps even funny, anecdotes as to not bore you...
Such as... "Getting Strafed on a Lighthouse!"...
That is Detour Reef Light, built in 1931, automated in 1974... It's at the very top of Lake Huron and marks the entrance to the St. Marys River which leads to the Soo Locks and Lake Superior...
One fine summer day (like that above) I, and two trusty non-rates (think: PFCs), finished up some routine maintenance on the Light and were relaxing out on the crib deck (the tower sits on the crib deck, dontcha know)... Out of nowhere a rumbling noise began and slowly increased in intensity to the point where we were looking around, waving our arms, saying stuff like, "What the fuck is that?"... Suddenly, ROAR!... two Air National Guard A-7 fighter bombers split the Light on either side about 50 feet above the water and 30 yards out... Then they went to afterburners and climbed up and beyond in a trail of smoke with a stupendous screeching din... Yeah, it scared the crap out of us... We all sat down, splat, on the crib deck making "Whoa, shit!" like exclamations and pitifully scrabbling around in a stunned state... We all wound up flat on our backs screaming, "That was awesome!", or some such thing... Who said tending lighthouses can't be exciting, huh? Who?
Billy in Cypress U.$.A. replied:
"MOPy fish" is today's answer. By the way, I spent several hours Thursday morning trying to connect to your website, but there seemed to be a problem with the internet in your area. I was not sure if it was a natural problem, i.e. weather, flood, fire, earthquake, construction crew digging up a cable, etc. Then, I was worried it might be an effort by tAnus or "pootie-poo" to target your site before the election. The problem appears to be fixed now and I am very glad.
Randall wrote:
MOPy fish
Alan J took the day off.
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Music: "Cool Generator" from the album TELL NO ONE
Artist: Bad Moves
Artist Location: Washington, D.C.
Info:
“TELL NO ONE is the debut full-length by Washington, D.C.’s Bad Moves. It’s a perfect power-pop album — alternately explosive and vulnerable, loud and tender. Recorded with Hop Along’s Joe Reinhart, it’s an album about secrecy — it’s anxiety and weight. The songs are meant to tell a story about how self-discovery works when you’re a kid and how those experiences, revelations, and regrets ripple into adult life.”
doug m., a fan, wrote, “I saw this band open for Martha and Jeff Rosenstock a few months back and less than two minutes into their set, the bill went from ‘Wow, two great bands on one bill!’ to ‘Holy shit, can you believe there's three great bands on one bill?’ This album totally lives up to that moment. Favorite track: ‘Spirit FM.’”
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $7 (USD) for 12-track album
Joe Biden bicycles into the debate hall, dismounts, runs up a ramp to his podium, one-handedly chugs a bottle of water, slams the empty bottle down onto the lectern and turns to Trump and says "sup, fuckface"
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
CBS opens the night with a begins the night with a FRESH'The Greatest #ATHome Videos', followed by a RERUN'Magnum FU', then a RERUN'Blue Bloods'.
On a RERUNStephen Colbert it's TBA.
On a RERUNJames Corden, OBE, (from 6/24/20) are Don Cheadle and the Black Eyed Peas.
NBC begins the night with the starts the night with a RERUN'The Wall', followed by 'Dateline'.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 8/5/20) are Jamie Foxx, Tig Notaro, and Black Pumas.
On a RERUNSeth Meyers (from 8/3/20) are Sean Penn, Jane Curtin, and Thaddeus Dixon.
On a RERUNLilly Singh (from 12/10/19) are Thomas Lennon and Aisling Bea.
ABC starts the night with a opens the night with a RERUN'Shark Tank', followed by '20/20'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 8/11/20), with guest host Sarah Cooper are Ben Stiller, Holly Humberstone, and (from 8/10/20), with guest host Dua Lipa, is Gwen Stefani.
The CW offers a RERUN'Masters Of Illusion', followed by another RERUN'Masters Of Illusion', then a FRESH'Being Reuben', followed by another FRESH'Being Reuben'.
Faux fills the night with FRESH'WWE Friday Night SmackDown!'.
MY recycles an old 'CSI: Miami', followed by another old 'CSI: Miami'.
AMC offers the movie 'Ghostbusters II', followed by the movie 'Demolition Man', then the movie 'True Lies'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - Through the Looking Glass
[7:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - The Die Is Cast
[8:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - Explorers
[9:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - Family Business
[10:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - Shakaar
[11:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - Facets
[12:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - I, Borg
[1:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - The Next Phase
[2:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Time's Arrow
[3:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Time's Arrow, Part II
[4:00PM] EVOLUTION
[6:00PM] THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD!
[8:00PM] WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
[10:29PM] CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
[1:00AM] WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
[3:29AM] CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has the movie 'Catch Me If You Can', followed by the movie 'Catch Me If You Can', again.
Comedy Central has 3 hours of old 'South Park'. followed by hours & hours of old 'Chappelle's Show'.
FX has the movie 'Pitch Perfect 2', followed by the movie 'Pitch Perfect 3', then the movie 'Girls Trip'.
IFC -
[6:00A] The Three Stooges - Squareheads of the Round Table
[6:30A] The Three Stooges - The Ghost Talks
[6:45A] The Three Stooges - Scotched in Scotland
[7:00A] Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Boggy Creek II, and the Legend Continues
[9:15A] Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof
[11:45A] A Walk Among the Tombstones
[2:15P] Pitch Black
[4:30P] The Expendables
[6:45P] The Expendables 2
[9:00P] The Expendables
[11:15P] The Expendables 2
[1:30A] Pitch Black
[3:45A] A Walk Among the Tombstones (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:00am] perry mason
[7:00am] perry mason
[8:00am] perry mason
[9:00am] the andy griffith show
[9:30am] the andy griffith show
[10:00am] the andy griffith show
[10:30am] the andy griffith show
[11:00am] the andy griffith show
[11:30am] the andy griffith show
[12:00pm] the andy griffith show
[12:30pm] the andy griffith show
[1:00pm] law & order
[2:00pm] law & order
[3:00pm] law & order
[4:00pm] law & order
[5:00pm] law & order
[6:00pm] law & order
[7:00pm] law & order
[8:00pm] law & order
[9:00pm] law & order
[10:00pm] law & order
[11:00pm] law & order
[12:00am] law & order
[1:00am] law & order
[2:00am] tremors 5: bloodlines
[4:15am] the andy griffith show
[4:50am] the andy griffith show
[5:25am] the andy griffith show (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Twister', followed by the movie 'Rush Hour'.
Ice cream giant Good Humor enlisted the help of Wu-Tang Clan mastermind RZA to come up with a new ice cream truck jingle to replace the long-used tune “Turkey in the Straw.”
“Turkey in the Straw” is a classic American folk song that dates back to the early 19th century, and like many songs of that era, its legacy is tied directly to blackface minstrel shows. As the originator of the ice cream truck, Good Humor was compelled to retire “Turkey in the Straw” and commission a new jingle amid ongoing talks over systemic and institutionalized racism throughout American culture and society.
Per a press release, RZA’s new jingle “drew inspiration from his childhood memories of chasing after ice cream trucks on Staten Island — blending traditional ice cream truck sounds with jazz and hip-hop elements.” The little tune is centered around an inviting melody of chiming bells underpinned with some steady but soft kick drums and rapid-fire cymbal hits.
In a behind-the-scenes clip, the RZA spoke about his new jingle, saying, “We wanted to make a melody that includes all community, that’s good for every driver, that’s good for every kid. And I’m proud to say, for the first time in a long time, a new ice cream jingle will be made available to trucks all across the country, in perpetuity. That mean’s forever — like Wu-Tang’s forever. And I can assure you, this one is made with love.
Since the Newport Beach Film Festival could not be held in public this year, the event organizers surprised its Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Eugene Levy, with a special video.
The clip shows Levy watching as his friends and collaborators both praise and lovingly roast him, bringing tears of joy to his eyes by the end of it. Some of the people who shared their thoughts include Steve Martin, Martin Short and Andrea Martin, as well as a bevy of people whose names aren’t Martin, notably the cast of Schitt’s Creek — Catherine O’Hara, Chris Elliott, Annie Murphy, and Levy’s children, Dan and Sarah.
“First, let me say what an honor it is for me to not be there tonight,” Steve Martin said, bringing a smile to Levy’s face. “To be able to tribute you and not really have to do much or go anywhere, just stay home, is such a thrill.”
“Eugene is like family to me in that we often eat dinner in total silence,” offered Martin Short, who, at first, called Levy “Jugene.”
The biggest all-star summer movie event for 2020 is technically from 1982. On August 20, comedian Dane Cook is presenting “Feelin’ A-Live”, a fundraiser/virtual live table read of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the iconic 1982 teen pic directed by Amy Heckerling and written by Cameron Crowe.
The movie was authentic and raw when it came to teen comedies and is hailed as a pop culture touchstone — and the teen comedy celebrates its 38th anniversary today. The virtual live table read will be unrehearsed which means it will be a glorious anything-goes event with an all-star roster including Cook, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Matthew McConaughey, Morgan Freeman, Henry Golding, Shia LaBeouf and Spicoli himself, Sean Penn (although he won’t be playing the stoner surfer — more on that later). Heckerling and Crowe will make a special introduction at the top of the event while additional casting will be unveiled shortly. To find out who will be playing who, viewers will have to tune into the live event.
The event will take place on August 20 at 9pm ET/6pm PT on CORE’s official Facebook page and TikTok. The event will benefit the emergency relief nonprofit CORE, the humanitarian organization co-founded by Penn and CEO Ann Lee, currently on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19 providing testing and relief services in the United States. The event will also support the REFORM Alliance, which is focused on passing laws to reform the criminal justice system and protecting the incarcerated population from the spread of COVID-19. The livestreams will feature a donate button with all proceeds benefiting CORE as well as REFORM Alliance.
“I’m honored that so many talented, wonderful people are willing to get together to celebrate our movie, and to create their own special version of it,” said Heckerling. “And I’m a huge fan of Sean. He has such a big heart and I fully support CORE and all of his causes.”
Andrew Lloyd Webber has volunteered to receive an experimental coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine as part of a medical trial.
The award-winning composer, 72, announced his decision to take part in the study in a tweet on Wednesday, writing, “I am excited that tomorrow I am going to be vaccinated for the Oxford Covid 19 trial. I’ll do anything to prove that theatres can re-open safely."
The University of Oxford has been developing an experimental vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, according the BBC. The outlet reports results have been promising so far and researchers have enlisted more than 10,000 people in the United Kingdom for the next stage of the medical trial.
Webber's tweet comes after his longtime producer Cameron Mackintosh confirmed that they had shuttered the West End production of Phantom of the Opera after 34 years due to a "huge financial hit" from coronavirus-related shutdowns.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenged President Donald Trump to release his college transcripts after he called her a “poor student” and “not a smart person.”
“AOC was a poor student,” he said Thursday on FOX Business while talking about taxes. “I won’t say where she went to school it doesn’t matter. This is not a smart person other than she’s got a good line of stuff. I mean she goes out and she yaps.”
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, responded to the president’s comments on Twitter. She graduated cum laude from Boston University in 2011 with degrees in international relations and economics.
“Let’s make a deal, Mr. President: You release your college transcript, I’ll release mine, and we’ll see who was the better student,” she wrote. “Loser has to fund the Post Office.”
During Ocasio-Cortez’s time at Boston University, she had a John F. Lopez Fellowship, which is offered by the National Hispanic Institute to students who “demonstrate leadership potential, willingness to face challenges, and ability to share talent and skill with the Hispanic/Latino community,” per Snopes.
Several high-profile conservatives including Donald Trump, the Lesser, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Rafael) of Texas shared Russian misinformation earlier this month, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
In Portland, Oregon, protests against police brutality have continued for more than 70 consecutive days. The protests have been largely peaceful, but protesters have also on some occasions lit bonfires.
In one of those instances, at a protest on August 1, a few protesters used a Bible and an American flag to start a fire, which others eventually put out, according to The Times.
Local media outlets reported that the protests had been peaceful throughout the day and that the fire was started only at the end of the night as a dwindling crowd of a few dozen to 100 people spoke about the Black Lives Matter movement. Only one report mentioned a Bible being involved at all.
But Ruptly, the video arm of the Russian state-backed media outlet Russia Today that has livestreamed the protests and published highlight clips nightly, focused its summary video that night on the burning of what appeared to be a single Bible, The Times reported. It tweeted the video twice, both times noting the Bible being set on fire.
Herman Cain, one-time Republican presidential candidate and enthusiastic Trump supporter, sprang an unsettling surprise on Wednesday when his Twitter account abruptly began publishing posts – two weeks after Cain died from coronavirus.
The @THEHermanCain account had lain dormant since Cain contracted coronavirus in June, having posted details of Cain’s memorial service and links to tributes.
When it abruptly came to life, one of the first posts was to attack Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who was unveiled as Biden’s running mate on Tuesday.
“Just in case you thought Biden’s candidacy was going to be anything other than completely nuts, team Trump has released a new video,” the @THEHermanCain account tweeted just after 4pm.
At 5am on Thursday morning, Cain – seemingly – tweeted again, criticizing Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor who was also in the running to be Biden’s vice-presidential candidate.
Observations by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope are showing that the unexpected dimming of the supergiant star Betelgeuse was most likely caused by an immense amount of hot material ejected into space, forming a dust cloud that blocked starlight coming from Betelgeuse’s surface.
Hubble researchers suggest that the dust cloud formed when superhot plasma unleashed from an upwelling of a large convection cell on the star’s surface passed through the hot atmosphere to the colder outer layers, where it cooled and formed dust grains. The resulting dust cloud blocked light from about a quarter of the star’s surface, beginning in late 2019. By April 2020, the star returned to normal brightness.
Betelgeuse is an aging, red supergiant star that has swelled in size due to complex, evolving changes in its nuclear fusion furnace at the core. The star is so huge now that if it replaced the Sun at the center of our solar system, its outer surface would extend past the orbit of Jupiter.
The unprecedented phenomenon for Betelgeuse’s great dimming, eventually noticeable to even the naked eye, started in October 2019. By mid-February 2020, the monster star had lost more than two-thirds of its brilliance.
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