from Bruce
Anecdotes
Critics
• TV critic Anne Billson wrote a critical analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, an American cult TV series that she greatly admired because of its strong female, action-oriented role model. Despite her great love of the series, she did not like some characters. One was Dawn, Buffy’s younger sister (sort of) in seasons 5-7, whom Ms. Billman (and many Buffy fans) criticizes for being whiny. At the end of season 5, Buffy saves Dawn (and the world) by sacrificing her life. While watching the episode, Ms. Billman found herself screaming at the TV screen, “FOR GOD’S SAKE, LET THEM TAKE DAWN INSTEAD!” Ms. Billman’s extreme dislike of Dawn continued throughout seasons 6 and 7 of Buffy. When Ms. Billman lists a number of actions performed by Evil Willow at the end of season 6, one item (with Ms. Billman’s commentary) is this: “terrorize Dawn (yay!).” In the final episode of the final season of Buffy (season 7), Ms. Billman knew that an important character would be killed. In her book about the show, she writes, “But who will be sacrificed? Xander or Willow? Giles? Faith? Principal Wood? Or (please, please) Dawn?” To be fair, Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Dawn, also thought that the character was whiny. She once pleaded with Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy, to let the character be less whiny — and wear high heels (or at least pumps). After the series ended, a Rocky Horror-type audience-participation showing of the musical episode of Buffy — “Once More, With Feeling” — began happening in some major American cities. Whenever Dawn is whiny in the episode, the audience yells, “SHUT UP, DAWN!”
• Fred Allen was contemptuous of authority in general and his sponsors (who censored his scripts) in particular. One day, while Mr. Allen was warming up the audience for his radio show, a light was turned on in the booth where the sponsor of the show usually sat, but the light revealed that no one was in the booth. “Ladies and gentleman,” Mr. Allen told the audience, “that booth is a device to belittle the comedian by showing him that the sponsor doesn’t care enough for his program to attend it.” A pageboy went to the booth and turned off the light. Mr. Allen then announced, “Ah, a boy who has the guts to turn off a light without a memo from a vice-president will go right to the top of the organization.”
• Jerry Mander wrote a book in 1978 titled Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. Of course, immediately many TV programs wanted to book Mr. Mander as a guest — which Mr. Mander refused to do. Once a TV producer called him and asked him to sum up his book in a few words. Mr. Mander replied that he could not do that; after all, it had taken him 100,000 words to write his book. The producer then asked Mr. Mander what were his main points. Mr. Mander replied, “One of the main points is that television can only deal with main points.”
• Humorist Frank Sullivan had a sister named Kate, who bought a TV in the days when TVs were rare. Very quickly, she called a TV repairman, who asked, “What seems to be wrong with it?” She replied, “Well, for one thing, a lot of the programs are lousy.”
Death
• At the end of season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy dies, shocking the fans of the series. Actually, not just the fans were shocked. James Marsters, who played the role of Spike the vampire, pleaded with series creator Joss Whedon not to kill Buffy. He argued, “Joss, you can’t kill Buffy. The show is called Buffy the Vampire Slayer! You can’t do that, man — I need the job!” Mr. Whedon looked Mr. Marsters in the eyes and said, “Dude, it’s my show. I can do whatever I want.” (By the way, Mr. Whedon really can do whatever he wants — he brought Buffy back to life the following season. Actually, he had done that before — this was the second time that Buffy had died.)
• Pat Leno, Jay’s brother, served in Vietnam. Of course, any family with a member serving in Vietnam dreaded receiving telegrams because that was the means the Pentagon used to announce that a soldier or sailor had died. One day, the Leno family received a telegram. They looked at the telegram for 10 minutes, afraid to open it and see what it said. Finally, Jay’s father opened it and read, “YOU ARE INVITED TO WENTWORTH CHEVROLET TO VIEW THE EXCITING NEW CAPRICE CLASSIC!” Jay’s father bought many cars during the rest of his life — none of them was a Chevy.
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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: "Malaga Storm"
Album: (FREE) GREEN COOKIE SAMPLER 2021
Artist: Lost Acapulco
Record Company: Green Cookie Records
Location: Thessaloniki, Greece
Info:
“Lost Acapulco is a surf rock band formed in the port of Acapulco, Mexico in 1996; One of its main features is the use of Mexican wrestlers masks. They have a cult status in Mexico. Their live performances are powerful and dizzying; the audience transforming them into frenetic and colorful tribal dances wearing wrestlers masks, flowered shirts and beach accessories; paraphernalia which little by little have been incorporated to the shows by the fans. Their tracks have been included in films of the ‘new Mexican cinema,’ such as SEXO, PUDOR Y LÁGRIMAS, PERFUME DE VIOLETAS, ATLÉTICO SAN PANCHO, MATANDO CABOS, SANTOS PEREGRINOS and in animations by Jorge Alderete for MTV and Nickelodeon.”
Price: FREE (You must give your email address.)
Genre: Surf
Links:
(FREE) GREEN COOKIE SAMPLER 2021
Green Cookie Records
Green Cookie Records on YouTube
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Stephen Suggests
Three-Fer
New Venture
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
Gas jumped to $4.15/gal at the no-name, cash preferred gas station ($4.25/gal for credit).
Prop Gun
Alec Baldwin
US actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun that killed a cinematographer and wounded the director on a film set in New Mexico, US law enforcement officers said Thursday.
The incident happened on the set of "Rust" in the southwestern US state, where Baldwin is playing the lead in a 19th-century western.
Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza "were shot when a prop firearm was discharged by Alec Baldwin," the sheriff in Santa Fe said in a statement.
Hutchins, 42, was transported to hospital by helicopter but died of her wounds, while Souza, 48, was taken by ambulance and is receiving treatment.
Baldwin co-produces the film and stars as Harland Rust, an outlaw whose grandson is convicted of murder, and who goes on the run with him when the boy is sentenced to hang for the crime.
Alec Baldwin
Michael Myers Mask
Shatner
Michael Myers’ mask is instantly recognizable with its ghostly white paint job, hollowed-out eyes, and unsettling brown hair. Halloween fans know that the original mask worn in the first movie was actually a modified version of Star Trek’s Captain James T. Kirk.
The mask’s “makeover” (or shall we say make-under) made the finished product look nothing like William Shatner—but after finding out that one of horror’s biggest killers is wearing his mask, the actor himself wasn’t exactly flattered.
In a chat with Shatner for his YouTube channel Jakes Takes, Jake Hamilton asked, “Do you remember the first moment someone said, ‘Hey, do you know the Halloween mask is you?’”
Shatner replied, “I don’t remember the exact moment but I thought ‘Is that a joke? Are they kidding?’ And then I saw—I don’t think I saw the movie, but I saw the mask probably in the picture and I recognized it as the death mask that they had made for me… they made a mask of my face on Star Trek with clay so that I wouldn’t have to be available for the prosthetics that they would put on my face to look old or evil or whatever it was that they were making me look like.”
“That mask existed in Star Trek so somewhere along the line, somebody got that mask and made a mask of it for Halloween [the holiday, not the movie]. And then the story is ‘Get me a mask,’ said the director [John Carpenter], so the guy ran into this Halloween store and grabbed this mask and it happened to be of me.”
Shatner
Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition
Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu
Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu of Canada was named early Thursday as the winner of the 40,000-euro ($45,000) first prize in the 18th Frederic Chopin international piano competition, a prestigious event that launches pianists’ world careers.
The announcement from the jury came just hours after Liu played as the last entrant among the 12 finalists, performing Chopin’s concerto in E minor, opus 11 with the orchestra at the packed National Philharmonic in Warsaw. His inspired performance was met with huge applause.
The second prize and 30,000 euros ($35,000) went jointly to Alexander Gadjiev, representing Italy and Slovenia, and Kyohei Sorita of Japan. Gadjiev also won Krystian Zimerman’s prize of 10,000 euros ($11,800) for the best sonata performance.
The third prize of 20,000 euros ($23,000) was awarded to Martin Garcia Garcia of Spain, who also won the 5,000 euros ($5,800) prize for best concerto performance.
The fourth prize and 15,000 euros ($17,000) was shared by Aimi Kobayashi of Japan and Poland’s Jakub Kuszlik, who also won best mazurka performance prize and 5,000 euros. Italy’s Leonora Armellini was awarded the fifth prize of 10,000 euros ($11,600), while the sixth prize and 7,000 euros ($8,000) went to Canada’s J.J. Jun Li Bui.
Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu
Triceratops Sells For $7.7 Million
“Big John”
The world’s biggest triceratops skeleton, known as “Big John,” was sold for 6.6 million euros ($7.7 million) Thursday to a private collector at a Paris auction house.
The enormous skeleton, estimated to be over 66 million years old, was found in 2014 in South Dakota. The triceratops is known for its three horns on the head.
Big John, named after the owner of the land where it was found, is certified by the Guinness World Records as the largest documented skeleton of a triceratops. The dinosaur died in an ancient flood plain on the island continent stretching from present-day Alaska to Mexico, allowing the conservation of its skeleton in mud.
The skeleton is 7.15 meters long (23 feet) and stands 2.7 meters high (8 feet) at the hips. The skull represents more than one third of its total length, with two large horns over 1.1 meter long (3.6 feet).
Big John’s skeleton is more than 60% complete and its skull more than 75% complete, making it unique.
“Big John”
#328 & #333 Outta 351
LA & LB Ports
Southern California's Los Angeles and Long Beach ports handle the most ocean cargo of any ports in the United States, but are some of the least efficient in the world, according to a ranking by the World Bank and IHS Markit.
In a review of 351 container ports around the globe, Los Angeles was ranked 328, behind Tanzania's Dar es Salaam and Alaska's Dutch Harbor. The adjacent port of Long Beach came in even lower, at 333, behind Turkey's Nemrut Bay and Kenya's Mombasa, the groups said in their inaugural Container Port Performance Index published in May.
The total number of ships waiting to unload outside the two adjacent ports hit a new all-time record of 100 on Monday. Americans' purchases of imported goods have jumped to levels the U.S. supply chain infrastructure can't handle, causing delivery delays and snarls.
Top port honors went to Japan's Yokohama and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on the ranking. Finishing out the top five were Chiwan, part of Shenzhen's port in Guangdong Province; South China's Guangzhou port; and Taiwan's Kaoshiung port.
Ports in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa dominated the top 50 spots, while just four U.S. ports cracked the top 100 - Philadelphia (83), the Port of Virginia (85), New York & New Jersey (89) and Charleston, South Carolina (95).
LA & LB Ports
'Bounty' Paid
Texass
The conservative Texas Republican leader who pledged bounties to those who prove fraud at the polls has paid a liberal Democratic poll watcher who reported illegal voting by a Pennsylvania Republican.
Tipster Eric Frank deposited a $25,000 check from Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s campaign this week, and Patrick may be on the hook for more bounties, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.
Frank reported Ralph Thurman, a 72-year-old registered Republican, after seeing him vote twice on Election Day, once for himself and once for his son, who was a registered Democrat. Frank told The News that he would have reported anyone he saw voting illegally, regardless of party. Having come from a family of Democratic operatives, however, he said he sees the irony of the situation.
“It’s my belief that they were trying to get cases of Democrats doing voter fraud. And that just wasn’t the case,” Frank said. “This kind of blew up in their face.”
Five voting fraud cases from last year’s elections are being prosecuted in Pennsylvania, with four of the suspects Republican, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday. The cases undercut assertions by Patrick and other Republicans that voter fraud cost Donald Trump re-election last year.
Texass
Knife Is Sharper Than Steel
Hardened Wood
When we think of knives we usually picture steel or ceramic, but researchers have developed a way to make strong knives from wood. The material in question is called hardened wood. Material scientists have found a way to make wood 23 times harder and then turned it into a knife that is three times sharper than a stainless-steel dinner table knife.
The method and results are published in the journal Matter. Compared to the production approach for both steel and ceramic, hardened wood knives are likely to be a lot more sustainable. And they can be washed and reused just like regular knives.
But it’s not just cutlery. Hardened wood could be employed in other types of objects where iron and steel are commonly used. One example tested by the team is nails. The team nailed three planks of wood together without the nail getting duller in the process.
The starting point for this work was the team recognizing that human-made materials often satisfy needs that natural-based materials cannot. Even though they might have the potential to do so if treated the right way.
Wood is between 40 to 50 percent cellulose, but the remaining components, hemicellulose and lignin, are weaker. The hardened wood process removes these components and makes the material live up to its full potential.
Hardened Wood
Maker Hacked
Candy Corn
A major U.S. candy company is struggling to fill orders before Halloween after ransomware hackers encrypted its systems.
Ferrara, the Chicago-based manufacturer of candies like Brach's Candy Corn, SweeTarts, Laffy Taffy, Nerds, Red Hots, Lemonhead candies, Boston Baked Beans, Atomic Fireballs, Pixy Stix and Everlasting Gobstoppers, has been able to resume production only "in select manufacturing facilities," a spokesperson said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
Ferrara first noticed that hackers were encrypting its computers and demanding a payment on Oct. 9, and has hired outside experts to help restore its systems, the statement said. It disclosed the attack on Tuesday.
The spokesperson declined to say what percentage of orders it expected to fill before Halloween. All of its candy distribution centers are currently shipping out products, the spokesperson said.
Candy Corn
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