Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Elizabeth Hunter: Ten Things I Learned About Publishing in 2015
A lot of people quit publishing in 2015. More will quit in 2016. Everyone has their own reasons. Some are good and some are bad. But if you're getting into this business as a quick way to make a buck, then you're doing it for the wrong reasons. If you're writing and publishing to tell your story, then no matter what happens on the sales front you still have your work. And that's not nothing.
HENRY ROLLINS: YOU CAN'T TELL THE STORY OF ROCK & ROLL WITHOUT LEMMY (LA Weekly)
I was checking the email and saw a new arrival. Kirt S. wrote to inform me that, if I didn't know, Lemmy Kilmister had just passed away at 70 years old. Only a few hours ago, I had been looking at a German rock magazine cover with the two of us staring at each other. Yesterday, I had been wondering how he was doing. I can't imagine that readers of the L.A. Weekly who find themselves in the music section need any explanation as to who Lemmy was. All you need to say is Motörhead and the image of Lem comes up.
Clive James: 'As my immune system underwent one of its regular replacements, I thought of Keats' (The Guardian)
The odes Keats wrote in his last creative surge are so wonderful that it is impossible to believe the dreadful truth: he was just a boy, soon to be dead from a disease that can now be cured in a trice with antibiotics.
Tom Lamont: Jennifer Jason Leigh: 'I've been at this precipice so many times' (The Guardian)
She was the queen of 90s film noir, starring in Single White Female and Short Cuts. Now Leigh is back with two of the biggest, bravest roles of her career. Could this be her year?
Lindsey Bahr: "Movie Review: Charlie Kaufman's 'Anomalisa' will break your heart" (The Eagle; Bryan-College Station, Texas)
There is little entertainment in watching a narcissist's worldview realized. It's more like heartbreaking dread. The fact that Kaufman (his follow up to "Synecdoche, New York") and Johnson (his first feature) accomplished all of this with puppets is all the more astounding. "Anomalisa" is an anomaly. It's distinctive, bold, and achingly human. Sometimes art needs to splash us with cold water to give us an experience that is not just passive enjoyment, but active introspection. Don't say we didn't warn you.
Oliver Burkeman: New year, new you? Forget it (The Guardian)
Old You is the last person you ought to trust when it comes to designing a New You.
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David Bruce has over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
wrote:
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Suggestion
Need To Know
What You Need To Know About The Current Militia Standoff In Oregon | ThinkProgress
Gary in PA
Bosko.
Thanks, Gary!
(there was an image attached, but I can't open it on this computer)
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"STRAP ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD"???
TELL THE TRUTH!
CATLICKERS!
BUKOWSKI.
DON'T BELIEVE THE BULLSHIT!
"YOU LAUGH, ROAR AND HOWL!"
WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN?
STAR TREK IS FOREVER!
"HEAL THE SICK, FEED THE HUNGRY, HELP THE POOR."
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Local TV says it's gonna rain all week.
US Forest Service Reviews California Operation
Nestle
The U.S. Forest Service has begun an environmental review of Nestle Waters North America's bottling operations in Southern California's San Bernardino National Forest, according to a newspaper report.
Nestle was sued in October by environmental and public interest groups who allege the Swiss-based company is operating its Strawberry Canyon facility on a permit that expired in 1988. The groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity said the prolonged drought in California combined with the water bottling operation is affecting wildlife.
Nestle has applied to renew its permit and can continue to operate while that application is pending.
The piping system siphoned about 68,000 gallons (257,400 liters) of water a day out of the forest in 2014, according to a statement made by the plaintiffs after the suit was filed.
For more than 120 years, the Arrowhead bottle water brand, under many different owners, has been fueled by spring water from the San Bernardino Mountains and other springs around the state.
Nestle
Paternity Suit To Continue
Melinda Naud
A lawsuit filed against the late Wayne Rogers by a onetime actress who says the former "M*A*S*H" star fathered her son and shirked his support obligations will continue despite the actor's death, an attorney for the woman said today.
Melinda Naud filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court in August 2013 against Rogers, who died Thursday at age 82 of complications from pneumonia. Rogers played Trapper John McIntyre on the long-running CBS series.
Naud, 55, had roles on had roles on "Happy Days" and "Operation Petticoat," alleges breach of contract, fraud, concealment and false promise. "The case brought by Melinda Naud on behalf of Wayne's son, Luigi Calabrese, will proceed against the estate," said Naud's attorney, Steven Haney. Haney said a judge is scheduled to hear a motion March 10 to determine paternity. Rogers and Naud had a written agreement for support in which the actor agreed to take a paternity test within 30 days of a demand by her lawyers, according to Haney.
According to the complaint, Naud and Rogers met at a celebrity tennis tournament in 1978 and began a relationship that lasted until 1985, when she became pregnant with their son.
The suit alleges Rogers, who was married since 1988 to Amy Hirsch, "hid his relationship with Naud and his son's existence from his wife ... and pretended as if his son did not exist."
Melinda Naud
Guano Problem
Rome
Weekend rain washed away the dangerous pollution that has afflicted Rome in recent weeks but left city authorities with a new headache: roads and pavements made treacherous by bird droppings.
The downpours that cleaned up the air and brought levels of fine particles back down below a World Health Organisation-recommended threshold also cleansed the city's trees of several weeks worth of guano deposited by millions of migratory starlings.
The result, in combination with rotting leaves, was a slippery, slimy fungal mush that forced city authorities to close roads on the banks of the Tiber for most of Saturday while refuse workers attempted to hose the streets back into a safe state.
Starlings swarming above Rome's historic buildings are one of the iconic sights of the capital, but dealing with their excrement is a perennial problem for the cash-strapped city.
The starlings' excrement creates a particularly slick mess because the little black birds spend their time in Italy gorging on olives on the outskirts of the Eternal City.
Rome
Biggest Jesus Statue Unveiled
Africa
Nigeria unveiled a nine-metre tall statue of Jesus Christ carved from white marble, thought to be the biggest of its kind in Africa.
Standing barefoot with arms outstretched, the "Jesus de Greatest" statue weighs in at 40 tonnes.
More than 100 priests and hundreds of Catholic worshippers attended the nine-metre (30-foot) statue's official unveiling in the village of Abajah in southeastern Nigeria.
It was commissioned by Obinna Onuoha, a local businessman who hired a Chinese company to carve it and placed it in the grounds of a 2000-capacity church that he built in 2012.
Africa
Vegas Police Investigating
Chris Brown
Las Vegas police are investigating an allegation of battery against R&B singer Chris Brown.
Authorities received a call shortly before 10:30 a.m. Saturday about the alleged battery at the Palms Casino Resort, Lt. Jeff Goodwin said. A police statement Saturday evening said an altercation took place in a room at the resort when the woman went to take a picture of Brown.
The woman said she was struck by Brown and that he had taken her cellphone, police said. Detectives tried to speak with Brown at his hotel room, but the singer left before police had arrived.
A crime report has been taken for misdemeanor theft and misdemeanor battery listing Brown as a suspect, police said.
Chris Brown
Missing Booksellers
Hong Kong
Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers said Sunday that they will press the government for answers after a fifth employee of a publishing company specializing in books critical of mainland China's leadership went missing.
Lawmaker Albert Ho said the city was "shocked and appalled" by the disappearance of Lee Bo. Like the four others who have disappeared in recent months, Lee is associated with publisher Mighty Current.
While there's been no official word on what happened to the five missing people, Ho told reporters that it appears their disappearances are linked to the publishing company's books.
"From the available information surrounding the disappearance of Mr. Lee Bo and his partners earlier, we have strong reason to believe that Mr. Lee Bo was probably kidnapped and then smuggled back to the mainland for political investigation," Ho said.
It's not uncommon in mainland China for company executives and dissidents to be detained for lengthy periods by the authorities or vanish without anyone claiming responsibility, but the disappearances are unprecedented in Hong Kong and have shocked the city's publishing industry.
Hong Kong
US Repeals Law
Meat Labeling
It's now harder to find out where your beef or pork was born, raised and slaughtered.
After more than a decade of wrangling, Congress repealed a labeling law last month that required retailers to include the animal's country of origin on packages of red meat. It's a major victory for the meat industry, which had fought the law in Congress and the courts since the early 2000s.
Lawmakers said they had no choice but to get rid of the labels after the World Trade Organization repeatedly ruled against them. The WTO recently authorized Canada and Mexico, which had challenged the law, to begin more than $1 billion in economic retaliation against the United States.
Consumer groups say the repeal is a disappointment just as consumers are asking for more information on their food packages. Advocates say the labels help people make more informed buying decisions and encourage purchases of American meat.
Before repeal, the labels told shoppers that a particular cut of meat was "born in Canada, raised and slaughtered in the United States" or "born, raised and slaughtered in the United States." Congress first required the labels in 2002 amid fears of mad cow disease from imported cattle. The labels weren't on most packages until 2009, though, due to delays pushed by the meat industry.
Meat Labeling
Momotombo Volcano
Nicaragua
A volcano in Nicaragua that has been dormant for 110 years spewed gas and lava Sunday for the second time in a month.
The volcano known as Momotombo in the west of the Central American country rumbled into activity before dawn, but then calmed down again, the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies said.
Momotombo stands 1,297 meters (4,255 feet) high, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the capital Managua, separated by a large lake called Lago Xolotlan.
Its last big eruption dates back to 1905.
Nicaragua
Weekend Box Office
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" marched confidently into the new year, raking in an additional $88.3 million over the New Year's weekend and topping the box office for a third week, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"Daddy's Home," the comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, came in second with an estimated $29 million, bringing its total to $93.7 million in just two weeks. The film fell only 25 percent from its first weekend in theaters. Even more formidable is the mere 11 percent drop from the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler comedy "Sisters," which brought in $12.6 million in its third weekend for a fourth-place spot. The film has earned $61.7 million so far.
Quentin Tarantino's bloody Western "The Hateful Eight," meanwhile, took third with $16.2 million in its first weekend in wide release after a strong limited debut. The three-hour epic, which cost a reported $44 million to produce, has made $29.6 million to date - just shy of what "Django Unchained" made in its first weekend.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1."Star Wars: The Force Awakens," $88.3 million ($96.3 million international).
2."Daddy's Home," $29 million ($9.2 million international).
3."The Hateful Eight," $16.2 million.
4."Sisters," $12.6 million ($650,000 international).
5."Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip," $11.8 million ($10.3 million international).
6."Joy," $10.4 million ($9.3 million international).
7."The Big Short," $9 million ($2.2 million international).
8."Concussion," $8 million ($1.4 million international).
9."Point Break," $6.8 million ($6.8 million international).
10."The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2," $4.6 million ($4.4 million international).
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
In Memory
Vilmos Zsigmond
Veteran cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, who won an Oscar for his lensing of the alien visittions in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, has died at 85, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Zsigmond's business partner Yuri Neyman, who is co-founder of their Global Cinematography Institute, posted on Facebook that Zsigmond died on Jan. 1.
Zsigmond also received Oscar nominations for his work on The Deer Hunter (1978), The River (1984) and, more recently, The Black Dahlia (2006).
During a long, prolific career, he shot a wide array of films a series of top directors: McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and The Long Goodbye (2002) for Robert Altman; Blow Out and The Bonfire of the Vanities (Brian De Palma); The Deer Hunter and Heaven's Gate (Michael Cimino); Maverick and Assassins (Richard Donner); Deliverance (John Boorman); The Sugarland Express and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg); Melinda and Melinda, Cassandra's Dream and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (Woody Allen); and The River (Mark Rydell).
The Hungarian-born Zsigmond fled his native country during the brutal Soviet takeover in 1956. He eventually settled in the United States, gaining his citizenship in 1962.
Taught in the European style of cinematography with particular appreciation for light gradations and color tone, Zsigmond's work was noted for its use of natural light and often subdued palette, as visible in such films as McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971). To attain this look, he utilized a photographic technique known as "flashing," exposing the negative to a small amount of light before lensing. The procedure would ultimately mute the colors.
Vilmos Zsigmond was born on June 16, 1930, in Szeged, Hungary. His father, a legendary Hungarian soccer player, encouraged his childhood interest in film. Zsigmond attended the Budapest Film School where he formed a friendship with fellow student Laszlo Kovacs. In 1956, when the Soviet Union rolled its tanks into Budapest, Zsigmond and Kovacs began using Arriflex camers and shot roughly 30,000 feet of the Soviet brutality, which came to be known as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
With the Soviets in control, Zsigmond fled the country with his footage, escaping to Austria. He and Kovacs culled their footage into a documentary, Hungary Aflame. Later, CBS bought it for a network documentary on the Hungarian Revolution narrated by Walter Cronkite.
Zsigmond won an Emmy for his cinematography in 1992's Stalin and received a nomination for The Mists of Avalon (2001). He recently served as cinematographer on The Mindy Project.
Zsigmond received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Cinematographers in 1999 as well as Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He also won the ASC Award for the Movie-of-the-Week Stalin. He received two other nominations from the professional organization for The Ghost and the Darkness and The Black Dahlia.
Zsigmond won a BAFTA Film Award for The Deer Hunter (1978) as well as nominations for McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Images, Deliverance (1972) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).He won a National Society of Film Critics Award for Robert Altman's updating of Raymond Chandler's detective novel The Long Goodbye (1973).
Vilmos Zsigmond
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