• Not everyone is meant to be a soldier. In his part-fiction, part-autobiographical book titled Unreliable Memoirs, critic Clive James tells about a soldier he calls Peebles. As soldiers were trained how to throw a grenade, a sergeant would give the soldier a grenade, and the soldier would remove the pin and then throw the grenade. Well, most of the soldiers did that. Peebles removed the pin, then handed the grenade back to the sergeant. After a few such experiences, the sergeants would put Peebles somewhere safe, then teach the other soldiers and fake a passing score for Peebles.
• As a young teenager, R.L. Stine, the author of the Fear Street and Goosebumps books, wrote humorous pieces and distributed them to his fellow students in junior high and high school. Occasionally, a student would get caught reading one of Bob’s pieces in class because of laughing out loud. This was a pleasure to young Bob, even though it occasionally meant that he was sent to visit the principal. He used his humorous talents in other ways; in high school, he wrote this (losing) slogan for a friend who was running for president of the senior class: “Kick the scoundrel in.”
• When children’s book illustrator Julie Downing was in high school, she told a guidance counselor that she wanted to be an artist and go to the Rhode Island School of Design. Apparently, the guidance counselor had heard about starving artists, so he suggested that she learn typing in case a career as an artist didn’t work out. Ms. Downing went ahead and applied to the Rhode Island School of Design and swore that she would never learn how to type. (Later, she decided to write books as well as illustrate them, so she learned how to type.)
• As a chemistry major at Cornell University, author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., enjoyed playing practical jokes. During finals week, he would go to the final exam of a lecture class that was so large the professor could not know everyone in the class. After the exams were passed out, Mr. Vonnegut would take his exam up to the professor, rip it into small pieces, throw it on the professor’s desk, storm out of the exam room, and slam the door behind him. (Of course, Mr. Vonnegut wasn’t actually enrolled in that particular class.)
• James T. Farrell, author of the Studs Lonigan trilogy (1932-1935), came to believe that literature had been taken over by college professors, literary critics, and other damned fools. Asked if he would teach a creative writing course, he replied that he would — but with two conditions: “First, that I could do all the writing; second, that I could seduce all the girls.” (Interviewer Roger Ebert asked him, “What about the boys?” Mr. Farrell replied, “They could imitate their teacher.”)
• While feminist comedian Kate Clinton was earning her master’s degree in English, she met poet Adrienne Rich, who was a visiting teacher, and started to say, “There doesn’t seem to be much written about feminist humor and” — at this point, Ms. Rich stopped her and asked, “Why don’t you write it?” Ms. Clinton says, “When Adrienne Rich asks you to do something, you do it.” Her essay on feminist humor appears at the end of her book titled What the L? By the way, Ms. Clinton was working on her memoirs one day when her computer told her, “You are almost out of memory.”
• R.L. Stine has sold over 300 million copies of his scary books for children. He once went back to his native Columbus, Ohio, for a book signing, at which a woman came up to him and asked if he remembered her — she had been one of his English teachers. Mr. Stine, in fact, did not remember her, but he told her, “You were such a big influence on me.” He adds, “It made her day. And it was a nice thing to do.” (And, probably, even the English teachers we don’t remember are a big influence on us.)
In a 1970s ad campaign, actress Margaret Hamilton portrayed Cora, a shopkeeper who sold only one brand of coffee because it was 'good to the last drop'. What brand of coffee did Cora sell?
Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the now-defunct Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, which was its first major customer. For nearly 100 years, until the late 1980s, it was the highest-selling coffee brand in the United States. The company's slogan is "Good to the last drop," which is often incorporated into its logo and is printed on its labels.
Maxwell House was the long-time sponsor of the early television series Mama, based on the play and film I Remember Mama. It starred Peggy Wood as the matriarch of a Norwegian-American family. It ran on the CBS network from 1949 to 1957. This was perhaps the first example of product placement on a TV show, as the family frequently gathered around the kitchen table for a cup of Maxwell House coffee, though these segments, aired toward the end of each episode, were usually kept separate from the main storyline. Early television programs were frequently packaged by the advertising agencies of individual sponsors. As this practice became less common in the late 1950s, Maxwell House, like most national brands, turned to "spot" advertising, with the agencies creating sometimes long-running campaigns in support of their products.
One such 1970s campaign for Maxwell House featured the actress Margaret Hamilton, famous for playing the Wicked Witch of the West in the popular 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, as Cora, the general store owner who proudly announced that Maxwell House was the only brand she sold. Maxwell House was also a well-known sponsor of the Burns and Allen radio show, during which Maxwell House spots were incorporated into the plots of the radio scripts.
Source
Mark. was first, and correct, with:
Maxwell House.
Billy in Cypress U. $. A. said:
The trivia answer today is "Maxwell House".
But, the next question is "What are the top two favorites of flies?"
That answer is 1. Bullshit and 2. Mike Pence.
The "debate fly" got a twofer on Wednesday night.
mj wrote:
Not quite a witches brew
She sols Maxwell House coffee.
Alan J answered:
Maxwell House.
Stephen F responded:
Maxwell House coffee.
Randall replied:
Maxwell House
zorch said:
Maxwell House Coffee.
Roy, the Never Trumper snowflake from Tyler, TX wrote:
After hanging up her broom, the Wicked Witch from Oz, Margaret Hamilton, opened up a little grocery store, where the only coffee she sold was Maxwell House.
PS: I took my mail-in ballot to the elections office yesterday because I don't trust trump's post office after he and the postmaster general trashed it. There were three people working there, and two other fellow senior citizen voters in the lobby, and I was the only one wearing a mask!
Micki answered:
That’s Maxwell House’s slogan, but I don’t remember the Wicked Witch of the West doing ads for them.
Dave responded:
Maxwell House. I’m not sure that having an actress typecast as a witch recommending their brand helped Maxwell House sales though. In real life, Margaret Hamilton was educated as a teacher and taught kindergarten for a few years before finding steady work as a character actor. One of Hamilton’s students was Jim Backus, who was best remembered for his role as Mr. Howell on TV’s Gilligan’s Island and as the voice of the cartoon character Mr. Magoo.
Cal in Vermont replied:
Maxwell House. They also sold parachutes.
David of Moon Valley wrote:
oooh oooh pick me pick me...
…that’s be Maxwell House….and that without a sip of my own covfefe yet….
yeah but remember, in that other can, there’s that heavenly coffee, heavenly coffee, heavenly coffee, better coffee a millionaire’s money can’t buy….
Jim from CA, retired to ID, replied:
Maxwell House
Deborah, the Master Gardener wrote:
Ah, when the Wicked Witch of the West meets coffee…she was hawking Maxwell House coffee. My mother loved that stuff.
Cooler temps, clean air, blue skies…why, it’s just like normal. For a minute.
Dave in Tucson said:
The WWOTW actress plugged Maxwell House Coffee. Vivian plugged it too though it seems she got pretty wired.
Daniel in The City answered:
Maxwell House. Margaret Hamilton was more famous for portraying the Wicked Witch of the West.
Rosemary in Columbus responded:
Maxwell House
DJ Useo replied:
Maxwell House. I’ve enjoyed that coffee before.
@Bruce’s Recommendation - As always, a great album yesterday. Big thanks!
I love that L.A. Witch rekkid.
Leo in Boise said:
That’s Maxwell House Coffee.
Joe ( -- Vote Blue, No Matter Who -- ) wrote:
I don't remember Cora at all but I do remember Maxwell House, good to the last drop. I've wondered these good many years, What was wrong with the last drop?
PS (Did you see on the news that the FBI arrested domestic terrorists bent on kidnapping and killing our Governor and law enforcement officers. A county sheriff said on TV " Good people on both sides." I wonder how he came up with that idea.)
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame answered:
The answer is Maxwell House coffee.
And, on another subject, here's my contribution to the many "fly" photos, memes, etc. on the internet today: from 1958, with narration by Vincent Price, the trailer for the original production of "The Fly."
John I from Hawai`i took the day off.
Michelle in AZ took the day off.
Jacqueline took the day off.
Kevin in Washington DC took the day off.
Ed K took the day off.
Jon L took the day off.
Angelo D took the day off.
Harry M. took the day off.
George M. took the day off.
Doug in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took the day off.
-pgw took the day off.
Gary K took the day off.
Roy the (now retired) hoghead (aka 'hoghed') ( Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. ~Frank Zappa ) took the day off.
Saskplanner took the day off.
Gateway Mike took the day off.
Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
MarilynofTC took the day off.
Paul of Seattle took the day off.
Brian S. took the day off.
Gene took the day off.
Tony K. took the day off.
Noel S. took the day off.
James of Alhambra took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Info: Jim Ivins is the lead singer of the Jim Ivins Band.
See jimivins.com for comprehensive personal, co-writing and session work discography, as well as voice-over work.
This is a Nashville-centric collaborative album. All proceeds benefit the MusiCares COVID Relief Fund, and the album features over 50 of Nashville’s finest musicians.
Price: Name Your Price (includes FREE) for track and for 12-track album
The skunk is back, and from the aroma wafting through the house, something has royally pissed him off.
Tonight, Friday:
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'The Greatest #AtHome Videos', followed by a FRESH'Undercover Boss', then a RERUN'Blue Bloods'.
Scheduled on a FRESHStephen Colbert are Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford and Aaron Sorkin.
On a RERUNJames Corden, OBE, (from 8/24/20) are Maisie Williams and Bright Eyes.
NBC starts the night with a RERUN'American Ninja Warrior', followed by 'Dateline'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Kevin James, Lenny Kravitz, and Nate Bargatze.
On a RERUNSeth Meyers (from 9/29/20) are Sarah Silverman, Lili Reinhart, Phoebe Bridgers, and Jessica Burdeaux.
On a RERUNLilly Singh (from 3/9/20) are Robbie Amell, Stephen Amell, and Vanessa Gonzalez.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Shark Tank', followed by '20/20'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel are Liam Neeson, Killer Mike, and Norah Jones.
The CW offers a FRESH'Masters Of Illusion', followed by a RERUN'Masters Of Illusion', then a FRESH'World's Funniest Animals', followed by a RERUN'World's Funniest Home Videos'.
Faux fills the night with FRESH'WWE Friday Night SmackDown'.
MY recycles an old 'L&O: CI', followed by another old 'L&O: CI'.
A&E has 'The First 48', another 'The First 48', followed by a FRESH'The First 48', then a FRESH'Live Rescue'.
AMC offers the movie 'Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later', followed by the movie 'Halloween'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - DESTINY
[7:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - PROPHET MOTIVE
[8:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - VISIONARY
[9:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - DISTANT VOICES
[10:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - IMPROBABLE CAUSE
[11:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
[12:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - RASCALS
[1:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - A FISTFUL OF DATAS
[2:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - THE QUALITY OF LIFE
[3:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - CHAIN OF COMMAND
[4:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - CHAIN OF COMMAND
[5:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SHIP IN A BOTTLE
[6:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - AQUIEL
[7:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - FACE OF THE ENEMY
[8:00PM] THE FIFTH ELEMENT
[11:00PM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has 'Below Deck Mediterranean', followed by a FRESH'Below Deck Mediterranean', then way too many hours of 'Chrisley Knows Best'.
Comedy Central has an hour of old 'The Office', followed by 3 hours of 'Schitt's Creek'.
FX has the movie 'Jurassic World', followed by the movie 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'.
History has 'MonsterQuest: Serpentine Creatures', 'MonsterQuest: Mystery Of Chupacabra', followed by the FRESH'MonsterQuest: The Hunt For Real Dragons', and 'Ancient Aliens'.
IFC -
[6:00am] Parks And Recreation
[6:30am] The Three Stooges - The Ghost Talks
[6:45am] Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Crawling Hand
[9:00am] Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Robot Monster
[11:15am] Envy
[1:30pm] 30 Minutes Or Less
[3:30pm] Kick-Ass 2
[6:00pm] The Dark Knight Rises
[10:00pm] John Wick
[12:15am] The Walking Dead: World Beyond - Brave
[1:28am] The Dark Knight Rises
[5:29am] John Wick (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:00am] the andy griffith show
[6:30am] the andy griffith show
[7:00am] the andy griffith show
[7:30am] the andy griffith show
[8:00am] the andy griffith show
[8:30am] the andy griffith show
[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 (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Monster House', followed by the movie 'Boo! A Madea Halloween', then the movie 'Lake Placid'.
TCM "improved" their website & I can no longer access it.
Antenna TV - Johnny Carson (from 11/30/76) - George Burns, Michael Constantine, Rodney Dangerfield, and Shana Alexander.
For its upcoming virtual induction ceremony, to be telecast on HBO Nov. 7, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced an extremely wide-ranging slew of guest stars, which is fitting, given this year’s extraordinarily eclectic cast of inductees.
Dave Grohl will begin the show by introducing the class of 2020, to be followed by other stars offering testimonials about the impact of the Hall’s newcomers on their lives. The org hasn’t announced which guests will speak about which inductees, but it may not be difficult to connect the dots, in many cases, with an incoming class that’s made up of Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, the Notorious B.I.G. and T. Rex.
The guests announced Thursday afternoon: Luke Bryan, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Miley Cyrus, Billy Gibbons, Dave Grohl, Don Henley, Jennifer Hudson, Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Alicia Keys, Adam Levine, Chris Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brad Paisley, Bruce Springsteen, St. Vincent, Ringo Starr, Gwen Stefani, Charlize Theron and Nancy Wilson.
Besides the six artist inductees, Jon Landau and Irving Azoff will be Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees, which may provide clues as to who Springsteen and Henley will be celebrating.
The premiere airing of the show will be Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HBO; it’ll also be available for streaming on HBO Max. The recorded telecast comes in lieu of the traditional live ceremony that, before the pandemic, was scheduled to have happened on May 2.
HBO Max has released the trailer for the upcoming election-themed reunion special of Aaron Sorkin’s Emmy-winning The West Wing after teasing it with a 20-second promo on its corporate sibling CNN after the news network’s coverage of the vice presidential debate Wednesday night.
The special, A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, is set for October 15 and reunites original cast members Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Rob Lowe, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney and Anna Deavere Smith to reprise their roles for a staged performance of “Hartsfield’s Landing,” an episode from Season 3.
The episode, written by Sorkin, featured Sheen’s President Josiah Barlett playing chess against Sam (Lowe) and Toby (Schiff) while the Chinese are playing war games in the Taiwan Strait and Josh (Whitfield) is nervous about the 42 votes in a remote New Hampshire town’s election, which always predict the winner of that state’s primary.
Sterling K. Brown is also aboard the special, taking the late John Spencer’s role of Chief of Staff Leo McGarry.
As part of the initiative to drive the vote ahead of the November 3 election, TNT will air Friday marathons of The West Wing’s election-themed episodes starting October 9. HBO Max parent WarnerMedia is also making a donation to When We All Vote.
The Nobel Prize for literature was awarded to American poet Louise Glück on Thursday “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.”
The prize was announced in Stockholm by Mats Malm, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy.
New York-born Glück, 77, who is a professor of English at Yale University, made her debut in 1968 with “Firstborn,” and “was soon acclaimed as one of the most prominent poets in American contemporary literature,” the Nobel Academy said.
Her poetry is “characterized by a striving for clarity,” often focusing on childhood and family life, and close relationship with parents and siblings, it said.
The award, which includes a 10 million kronor (more than $1.1 million) prize, comes after several years of controversy and scandal for the world’s pre-eminent literary accolade.
Seinfeld alum Wayne Knight is back in surly mailman mode in a new political ad that criticizes President Trump’s handling of the U.S. Postal Service. In the ad, sponsored by political action committee PACRONYM, Knight dons his familiar mailman’s uniform — though the ad is careful to call him “your friendly local mail carrier” and not Newman — and angrily rants about the Trump administration’s “systematic, premeditated assault on the U.S. mail.” He spits at the name of Trump’s Postmaster General Louis DeJoy (“The guy’s never even licked a stamp”) and takes umbrage at attempts to slow down the nation’s mail: “The only person who can slow down the mail is a mailman.” (The ad first debuted on EW.com.)
Knight pulls a hefty turkey leg out of his mailbag and chews on it while complaining about all the undelivered mail piling up: “When the mail stops, the world stops!” He also reassures viewers that their mail-in ballot will be delivered… as he brazenly steals cookies from a sealed package. (Veep‘s David Mandel, who was a writer on Seinfeld, penned the ad and convinced Knight to come aboard.)
Knight debuted as Newman in Season 3 of Seinfeld, with the mailman becoming a major recurring character and Jerry’s hated nemesis (though he was one of Kramer’s closest friends). Knight hasn’t reprised the role since Seinfeld went off the air in 1998, but he has appeared on the small screen since in The Exes, Hot in Cleveland and Torchwood.
President Donald Trump (R-Unscrupulous) required personnel at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to sign non-disclosure agreements last year before they could be involved with treating him, according to four people familiar with the process.
During a surprise trip to Walter Reed on Nov. 16, 2019, Trump mandated signed NDAs from both physicians and nonmedical staff, most of whom are active-duty military service members, these people said. At least two doctors at Walter Reed who refused to sign NDAs were subsequently not permitted to have any involvement in the president's care, two of the people said.
The four people familiar with the process did not know whether, during the president's most recent visit over the weekend, he had the same requirement for Walter Reed staff members who had not previously been involved in his care.
Anyone providing medical services to the president — or any other American — is automatically prohibited by federal law from disclosing the patient's personal health information without consent. The existing legal protection for all patients under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, raises the question of why Trump would insist that staff members at Walter Reed sign NDAs.
Germany's foreign minister has said that Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn should not be conducting politics from the European country, where he spends much of his time.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas responded to a question by a Greens member of parliament in the Bundestag on Wednesday at a time that King Vajiralongkorn's monarchy faces unprecedented calls for reform from protesters in Thailand.
"We have made it clear that politics concerning Thailand should not be conducted from German soil," Maas told parliament.
"If there are guests in our country that conduct their state business from our soil we would always want to act to counteract that."
A new study published in the Journal of Anatomy has proven that Homo sapiens (that’s us) aren’t done with evolution yet. An investigation by researchers at the University of Adelaide has discovered that our forearms contain compelling evidence that we are still evolving, albeit on a small scale, as the prevalence of a blood vessel called the median artery has increased significantly since the late 19th century.
During the embryonic stage of our development, the median artery is the main vessel that transports blood to the forearm and hand. In the past, the median artery has disappeared as the radial and ulnar arteries replace it while a baby is still developing in the womb, being an uncommon feature in the adult forearm, but the researchers’ findings reveal that not only is the median artery not disappearing in some individuals but that these people represent an ever-increasing group.
The study estimates that around one in three of us retain this median artery, a statistic that will continue for the next 80 years, but the trend is expected to continue as the median artery becomes more and more common as a permanent feature of the human forearm. When more than 50 percent of people are found to have the “abnormality” it will cease to be abnormal and become the new norm for human anatomy.
The researchers have termed this change “microevolution”, as while, to their estimations, modern humans are evolving at a faster rate than at any stage in the past 250 years, the change is a small one. If we’d sprouted a layer of skin between our arms and body that enabled us to soar, flying-squirrel-style (chance’d be a fine thing) this would of course be a more significant example of evolution, but we’ll take what we can get.
“Since the 18th century, anatomists have been studying the prevalence of this artery in adults and our study shows it’s clearly increasing,” said study author Dr Teghan Lucas in a statement. “The prevalence was around 10% in people born in the mid-1880s compared to 30% in those born in the late 20th century, so that’s a significant increase in a fairly short period of time, when it comes to evolution.
Damage to the retina is the leading cause of blindness in humans, affecting millions of people around the world. Unfortunately, the retina is one of the few tissues we humans can't grow back.
Unlike us, other animals such as zebrafish are able to regenerate this tissue that's so crucial to our power of sight. We share 70 percent of our genes with these tiny little zebrafish, and scientists have just discovered some of the shared genes include the ones that grant zebrafish the ability to grow back their retinas.
"Regeneration seems to be the default status, and the loss of that ability happened at multiple points on the evolutionary tree," said Johns Hopkins University neuroscientist Seth Blackshaw.
The retina is the part of our eyes that reacts to light. It contains light-detecting rod and cone cells as well as the neurons and synapses that convey the received light information to our brains.
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said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
