Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Zachary Roth: Barney Frank to Eric Holder: Prosecute big bankers already! (msnbc.com)
Rep. Barney Frank is slamming the Obama administration's decision not to prosecute a British-based banking giant accused of abetting money laundering for fear of destabilizing the financial system.
Mark Morford: The Top 10 Records of 2012 (SF Gate)
(1) Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel. Totally deserving of all accolades to date.
Tom Danehy: Tom looks back at his 2012 faves-and gets ready to blog! (Tucson Weekly)
• Favorite CD: I loved Gary Clark, Jr.'s "Blak and Blu," which was kinda all over the place musically, and I really liked Frank Ocean's "channel ORANGE, "but I guess I'm officially old now, because neither one could top Bonnie Raitt's "Slipstream" or Donald Fagen's "Sunken Condos." I could listen to Fagen's churning R&B ditty "Weather in My Head" all day long and never get tired of it.
Roger Ebert's Top Movies of 2012
The good news is that I've seen the films of one of the best recent years in cinema. I wrote more than 300 reviews in 2012 -- a record -- and it was unusually difficult to leave out many of the quote-unquote "best" films in 11th place. Here are the Best Films I saw in 2012: …
Jennifer Howard: Secret Lives of Readers (Chronicle of Higher Education)
"You're looking for teardrops on the page," says Leah Price, a professor of English at Harvard University and the author of "How to Do Things With Books in Victorian Britain" (Princeton University Press, 2012). "You're looking for some hard evidence of what the book did to its reader"-and what the reader did with the book.
Julie Phillips: THE REAL AND UNREAL: URSULA K. LE GUIN, AMERICAN NOVELIST (Bookslut)
It's been fifty years since Ursula K. Le Guin sold her first short story. Since then her books have been read, taught, quoted, thrust upon acquaintances, put at the top of Occupy reading lists. Over the course of a long, unpredictable, idiosyncratic career, she has written contemporary fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and essays. But she still has one unfulfilled ambition: to be discussed not in genre but in literary terms. She told me recently, "I would love to see somebody, somewhere, sometime, just talk about me as an American novelist."
Charlie Jane Anders: Great Quotes about Writing from 'Game of Thrones' Author George R.R. Martin (io9)
I'm a strong believer in telling stories through a limited but very tight third person point of view. I have used other techniques during my career, like the first person or the omniscient view point, but I actually hate the omniscient viewpoint. None of us have an omniscient viewpoint; we are alone in the universe.
Ron Rosenbaum: Should You Go To Grad School? (Slate)
And so return with me to the moment I made the choice about whether to stay in graduate school; the moment when two roads stretched before me. I don't suggest anyone take the path I did-I don't want to ruin any lives-but maybe it will help some see if it's the road for them.
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took the day off.
wrote:
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, clear and cold (for these parts).
Going Dark In Tribute
Broadway
The theater community will honor Jack Klugman and Charles Durning by dimming Broadway's lights in back-to-back memorials.
The marquees at all Broadway theaters will go dark for one minute at 8 p.m. Thursday in honor of Durning, who died Monday at 89. Durning amassed several important Broadway credits, including playing Big Daddy in a 1990 revival of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," David Rabe's "Boom Boom Room" and opposite George C. Scott in "Inherit the Wind" in 1996.
On Friday, the 40 Broadway marquees will go dark at 8 p.m. for Klugman, who also died Monday at 90. Klugman earned a Tony Award nomination for "Gypsy" in 1960 and his Broadway roles included parts in "I'm Not Rappaport" and "The Sunshine Boys."
Broadway
Most-Forged
Autographs
Elvis Presley and The Beatles top the list of most-forged celebrity signatures in 2012, with less than half of their autographs for sale certified as genuine, memorabilia authenticators PSA/DNA said on Thursday.
The King and The Fab Four British rockers, who topped the list two years ago when it was last released, joined notable figures such as former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and late pop star Michael Jackson on the list of most-forged celebrity signatures.
Late American astronaut Neil Armstrong landed at No. 3 on the list, after fake Armstrong signatures rose significantly after his death in July.
Secretaries and assistants responding to huge volumes of fan mail are one reason for fake signatures floating through the marketplace, said Margaret Barrett, director of entertainment and music memorabilia at Heritage Auctions in Los Angeles.
"There was absolutely no financial gain 50 years ago and secretaries and assistants just wanted to make them happy. A lot of times people stumble upon an old box of signed photographs in grandma's attic and don't know they're forged."
Autographs
Mathematician's Secrets Unlocked
Srinivasa Ramanujan
While on his death bed, the brilliant Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan cryptically wrote down functions he said came to him in dreams, with a hunch about how they behaved. Now 100 years later, researchers say they've proved he was right.
"We've solved the problems from his last mysterious letters. For people who work in this area of math, the problem has been open for 90 years," Emory University mathematician Ken Ono said.
Ramanujan, a self-taught mathematician born in a rural village in South India, spent so much time thinking about math that he flunked out of college in India twice, Ono said.
But he sent mathematicians letters describing his work, and one of the most preeminent ones, English mathematician G. H. Hardy, recognized the Indian boy's genius and invited him to Cambridge University in England to study. While there, Ramanujan published more than 30 papers and was inducted into the Royal Society.
"For a brief window of time, five years, he lit the world of math on fire," Ono told LiveScience.
Srinivasa Ramanujan
2,750-Year-Old Temple Discovered
Israel
Israeli archeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient temple that is nearly 3,000 years old and was once home to a ritual cult.
"The ritual building at Tel Motza is an unusual and striking find, in light of the fact that there are hardly any remains of ritual buildings of the period in Judaea at the time of the First Temple," excavation directors Anna Eirikh, Hamoudi Khalaily and Shua Kisilevitz said in a statement released by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The temple remains were discovered at the Tel Motza site, located to the west of Jerusalem. The Israeli Antiquities Authority has been conducting excavation efforts at the site and says that along with the temple remains itself, the findings include a "cache of sacred vessels" estimated to be 2,750 years old.
"Among other finds, the site has yielded pottery figurines of men, one of them bearded, whose significance is still unknown," the statement from Khalaily and Kisilevitz reads.
Israel
Lawsuit Dismissed
Sylvester Stallone
A federal judge has reaffirmed his decision to dismiss a lawsuit accusing actor Sylvester Stallone (R-Family Values) of copying someone else's screenplay to make his popular 2010 movie "The Expendables."
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan on Thursday rejected claims of copyright infringement damages by Marcus Webb, who contended that the movie's screenplay contained 20 "striking similarities" to his own "The Cordoba Caper."
Webb claimed that both works had similar plots, and involved hired mercenaries in a Latin American country that was home to a villain dictator named General Garza.
But Rakoff said no reasonable juror could find that the works were so similar as to eliminate the possibility that Stallone crafted his screenplay on his own.
Sylvester Stallone
Access To Maggie Thatcher
Jimmy Savile
Classified documents being made public Friday detail how now-disgraced BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile was comfortable at the heart of the British government during his heyday in the 1980s, lunching with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at her country home, sending her jokey thank-you notes and lobbying for tax breaks and contributions for his charitable works.
The papers include an unnerving handwritten note from Savile to Thatcher in which he claims that his "girl patients" are pretending to be jealous because of the time he spent dining with the prime minister.
Only with hindsight does the note seem in dubious taste. In recent months Savile - who died last year at age 84 - has been accused of being a serial abuser of hundreds of underage girls. Investigators have called him one of the worst sex offenders in British history and said he used his TV stardom and charity commitments to help him gain access to vulnerable teens.
The National Archives file detailing some of Savile's dealings with the Thatcher government show not only his extraordinary access to the highest levels of government but also that Cabinet ministers took his role as a charity advocate seriously and discussed how best to deal with his requests. The file includes an April 14, 1980 letter from Thatcher to Savile that begins with the greeting, "Dear Jimmy." In it she discusses plans to change tax rules in a way that will give "considerable encouragement" to charities.
Jimmy Savile
Soon-To-Be Friend Of Bill
Donald Blood
Vermont State Police say a man faces a drunken driving charge after driving onto the lawn of a historic home once owned by the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Police say 55-year-old Donald Blood III of Marlborough, Mass., was ordered to appear in court in Bennington on Jan. 14.
Police say Blood thought he was driving into a parking lot, but actually it was the lawn of the Wilson House, built in 1852 in Dorset, the birthplace of AA co-founder Bill Wilson.
The Wilson House's website describes it as a "place of sanctuary where people can come to give thanks to God for their new lives."
Donald Blood
Candy Smokes Bring Rebuke
St. Paul, Minn
Owners of an old-school soda shop in St. Paul, Minn., are being warned to kick the habit and stop stocking novelty candy cigarettes.
City inspectors threatened a misdemeanor citation and $500 fine if Lynden's soda fountain is caught selling the fake smokes again. The Star Tribune reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/RiCHiP ) that the offering violated an ordinance barring the sale of candy smokes and cartoon character lighters.
A city spokesman says the warning came after inspectors received and looked into a complaint about the presence of the tobacco-themed products. The ordinance was enacted to discourage youngsters from picking up a real smoking habit.
Shop owner Tobi Lynden says the white candy sticks with the red tips were her best-selling candy item but she pulled them to avoid running afoul of the ordinance.
St. Paul, Minn
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Dec. 17-23. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "NCIS," CBS, 19.59 million.
2. NFL Football: San Francisco at Seattle, NBC, 19.50 million.
3. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 15.48 million.
4. "The Voice" (Tuesday), NBC, 14.13 million.
5. "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 13.67 million.
6. "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 13.37 million.
7. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 10.95 million.
8. "The OT," Fox, 10.94 million.
9. "Mike & Molly," CBS, 10.79 million.
10. "Hawaii Five-0," CBS, 10.54 million.
11. "Football Night in America," NBC, 10.23 million.
12. "2 Broke Girls," CBS, 10.22 million.
13. "Vegas," CBS, 9.82 million.
14. "The X Factor" (Thursday), Fox, 9.66 million.
15. "Person of Interest," CBS, 9.40 million.
16. "60 Minutes Presents," CBS, 8.89 million.
17. "How I Met Your Mother," CBS, 8.70 million.
18. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 8.67 million.
19. "The X Factor" (Wednesday), Fox, 8.35 million.
20. "A White House Christmas", NBC, 8.29 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass, a St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with "Rescue Me" in 1965, has died. She was 72.
Bass died Wednesday night at a St. Louis hospice of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago, her daughter, Neuka Mitchell, said. Bass had also suffered a series of strokes over the past seven years.
Bass was born into a family with deep musical roots. Her mother was gospel singer Martha Bass, one of the Clara Ward Singers. Her younger brother, David Peaston, had a string of R&B hits in the 1980s and 1990s. Peaston died in February at age 54.
Bass began performing at a young age, singing in her church's choir at age 6. She was surrounded by music, often traveling on national tours with her mother and her gospel group.
Her interest turned from gospel to R&B when she was a teenager and she began her professional career at the Showboat Club in north St. Louis at age 17. She eventually auditioned for Chess Records and landed a recording contract, first as a duet artist. Her duet with Bobby McClure, "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing," reached No. 5 on the R&B charts and No. 33 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1965.
She co-wrote and later that year recorded "Rescue Me," reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 4 on the Billboard pop singles chart. Bass's powerful voice bore a striking resemblance to that of Aretha Franklin, who is often misidentified as the singer of that chart-topping hit.
Bass had a few other modest hits but by her own accounts developed a reputation as a troublemaker because she demanded more artistic control, and more money for her songs. She haggled over royalty rights to "Rescue Me" for years before reaching a settlement in the late 1980s, Mitchell said. She sued American Express over the use of "Rescue Me" in a commercial, settling for an undisclosed amount in 1993.
"Rescue Me" has been covered by many top artists, including Linda Ronstadt, Cher, Melissa Manchester and Pat Benatar. Franklin eventually sang a form of it too - as "Deliver Me" in a Pizza Hut TV ad in 1991.
Bass lived briefly in Europe before returning to St. Louis in the early 1970s, where she and husband Lester Bowie raised their family. She recorded occasionally, including a 1995 gospel album, "No Ways Tired," that earned a Grammy nomination.
She is survived by four children. Bowie died in 1999.
Fontella Bass
In Memory
Ray Collins
Ray Collins, who invited guitarist Frank Zappa to join the band that eventually became the Mothers of Invention, has died at age 75.
Collins' friend Patrick Brayer tells the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin that the musician from Claremont, Calif., died Monday, five days after a heart attack.
Collins brought Zappa to R&B cover band the Soul Giants in 1964. By 1966, they had become the Mothers of Invention, releasing their first album, "Freak Out," on Verve Records.
Collins sang on three albums, then left the Mothers, saying their comedic approach to music didn't suit him.
He pursued little music afterward and spent his last years living in a van, but was a well-known character and conversationalist on the streets of Claremont, a college town east of Los Angeles.
Ray Collins
In Memory
Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr
Retired U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr, who headed coalition forces that drove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's army out of Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm, has died, a U.S. official said on Thursday. He was 78.
Schwarzkopf, a burly Vietnam War veteran known as Stormin' Norman, commanded more than 540,000 U.S. troops and 200,000 allied forces in a six-week war that routed Hussein's army from Kuwait in 1991, capping his 34-year military career.
Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr
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