from Bruce
Anecdotes
Children
• Karen Hesse, Newbery Award-winning author of Out of the Dust, was a sickly and whiny child. Her mother even gave her gold stars on the days that Karen did not cry, but Karen earned very few gold stars. Still, Karen was eager to try new things. At around age eight, she tried to fly, launching herself into space from the top of some stairs leading to the second floor of her house. She made it almost all the way down the stairs before hitting the floor. Encouraged by this seeming success, she wanted to try flying out of a second-floor window, but fortunately a neighbor saw her sitting on the window ledge. The neighbor telephoned Karen’s mother, who stopped the flying attempt.
• Children are interested in and remember the details of exciting stories. For example, J.R.R. Tolkien used to tell the stories that eventually became his fantasy novel The Hobbit to his young son, Christopher, who would listen to a story, then say, “Last time, you said Bilbo’s front door was blue, and you said Thorin had a silver tassel on his hood, but you’ve just said that Bilbo’s front door was green, and the tassel on Thorin’s hood was gold.” When this happened, Mr. Tolkien would say, “D*mn the boy,” but he would also take notes on what Christopher had said so that he could make the stories consistent.
• When author George Plimpton was a kid, he admired New York Giants’ ace pitcher Carl Hubbell, who had thrown so many screwballs that he was deformed — his palm turned to the outside. Young George used to walk with his palm turned to the outside, hoping that people would think that he threw screwballs, but his father made him stop. Mr. Plimpton says, “He said it looked as if I had tumbled out a window and my parents didn’t have enough money to set the broken arm properly.
• When Fay Kanin was about 12 years old, she discovered that people could get paid for writing. A newspaper called the Elmira Star Gazette paid $1 for anecdotes about readers’ most embarrassing moments. One dollar was a lot of money back then, so Fay invented a most embarrassing moment, wrote it up, and earned $1. She then asked a friend if she could use her name, and she earned another dollar. A little later, all three most embarrassing moments in the newspaper column were ghostwritten by Fay.
• Katherine Anne Porter, author of Ship of Fools, started writing early. When she was six years old, she wrote a “novel,” which she titled A Nobbel — The Hermit of Halifax Cave.
• James Russell Lowell once saw a building with this sign in front: “Home for Incurable Children.” He pointed out the sign to a friend, then said, “They’ll get me in there some day.”
Clothing
• Thomas Butts once called on Mr. and Mrs. William Blake, only to find that they were sitting naked in a summerhouse. Nudity didn’t bother either of the Blakes, so Mr. Blake called to Mr. Butts, “Come in. It’s only Adam and Eve, you know.”
• When Gary Paulsen, the popular children’s author of Hatchet, speaks before groups of young readers, he often wears a cap that bears the message, “Read Like a Wolf Eats.”
Critics
• In his old age, author Gore Vidal moved from his villa (La Rondinaia) in Italy back to the United States because his being in a wheelchair made it impossible for him to live in the Italian villa, situated as it was on a cliff. In his United States abode is a set of chairs, which he bought in Rome from a dealer who tried to convince him that the chairs were created for a maharaja. Mr. Vidal told the dealer, “No, they’re not. They come from the set of the movie Ben-Hur. I wrote it.” Mr. Vidal is one of the uncredited writers of the movie, and he claims to have been forced to write for the movies and popular culture because The New York Times had started to ignore him as a writer of books. He says, “If you didn't appear in the daily New York Times, you were non-existent. Every other journal, including Time and Newsweek, followed its lead. And that is what drove me into television, Broadway, and the movies.” Mr. Vidal found a way to get close to even with The New York Times. He wrote three mystery novels using the pseudonym Edgar Box. These mysteries, he says, “were glowingly reviewed in the Times.”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
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Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Standards"
Album: LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNINGS
Artist: Chamberlain
Artist Location: Bangor, Maine
Info: Female-fronted garage rock band.
The excellent song “Patti Holly” is for sale for $1, purchased separately.
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $4 (USD) for four- track EP
Genre: Garage Rock.
Links:
LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNINGS
“Patti Holly”
Chamberlain on Bandcamp
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Michael Egan
BRUCE'S OPINION
Pride
United State Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch recently refused to wear a mask although fellow Justice Sonia Sotomayor has diabetes, a condition that increases her risk of dying if she gets COVID.
Neil Gorsuch refuses to do a small thing that could save the life of someone else. For a small benefit for himself (not wearing a mask), he refuses to do something that could save the life of someone else. He seems to think that he is the center of the universe and so the universe revolves around him.
Self-Love is Pride.
Pride is the foundation of all sins; pride makes a person think that he or she is the center of the universe. These are the seven deadly sins, and these are illustrations of how these sinners think:
1) Pride — A sinner who is guilty of Pride thinks, “I am the center of the universe, and I am better than other people. Quite simply, I am more important than other people.”
2) Envy — A sinner who is guilty of Envy thinks, “I am the center of the universe, and if you have something I want, I envy you.”
3) Wrath — A sinner who is guilty of Wrath thinks, “Because I am the center of the universe, everything ought to go my way, and when it does not, I get angry.”
4) Sloth — A sinner who is guilty of Sloth thinks, “I am the center of the universe, so I don’t have to work at something. Either other people can do my work for me, or they can give credit for work I have not done because if I had done the work, I would have done it excellently.”
5) Avariciousness and Prodigality — A sinner who is guilty of Avariciousness or Prodigality thinks, “I am the center of the universe, so I deserve to have what I want. If I want money, I get money and never spend it, or if I want the things that money can buy, then I spend every penny I can make or borrow to get what I want. Either way, I deserve to have what I want.”
6) Gluttony — A sinner who is guilty of Glutton thinks, “I am the center of the universe, so I deserve these three extra pieces of pie every night. This is my reward for myself for being so fabulous.”
7) Lust — A sinner who is guilty of lust thinks, “I am the center of the universe, so my needs take precedence over the needs of everyone else. If I want to get laid, it’s OK if I lie to get someone in bed and never call that person afterward. My sexual pleasure is more important than the hurt of someone who realizes that he or she has been used.”
In Dante’s Purgatory, the repentant sinners purge these sins in the order of their evil, starting with Pride.
By the way, according to Dante’s Inferno:
What is at the center of the universe?
The Earth.
What is at the center of the Earth?
Lucifer.
What is at the center of Lucifer?
His rectum.
What is at the center of Lucifer’s rectum?
Food that isn’t food anymore.
And soon, perhaps, unless he sincerely repents his sins, Justice Neil Gorsuch will find that he really is the center of the universe.
Other Links:
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Reader Comment
Current Events
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We are all only temporarily able bodied.
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that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and seasonal.
Weekend Box Office
“Spider-Man: No Way Home”
After spending one weekend in second place, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” proved it still had some fight left. Sony’s superhero juggernaut swung back to first place in its sixth weekend in theaters and became the sixth highest grossing film of all time, globally.
The film topped the North American charts with $14.1 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Globally, it’s now grossed nearly $1.7 billion, passing the total earnings of both “Jurassic World” and “The Lion King.” And in North America its $721 million make it the fourth biggest release ever.
There was little competition for the holdovers to contend with this weekend. The only two fresh offerings nationwide in theaters were comparatively lower-profile releases: “The King’s Daughter,” a fairy tale with Pierce Brosnan that was filmed in 2014 and held until now (it bombed with $750,000 from over 2,000 locations), and “Redeeming Love,” a faith-based historical romance with Nina Dobrev that cracked the top five with $3.7 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” $14.1 million.
2. “Scream,” $12.4 million.
3. “Sing 2,” $5.7 million.
4. “Redeeming Love,” $3.7 million.
5. “The King’s Man,” $1.8 million.
6. “The 355,” $1.6 million.
7. “American Underdog,” $1.2 million.
8. “The King’s Daughter,” $750,000.
9. “West Side Story,” $689,000.
10. “Licorice Pizza,” $683,357.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home,”
Honored With USPS Stamp
Edmonia Lewis
Edmonia Lewis, thought to be the first African American and Native American sculptor to earn international recognition, will be featured on a new United States Postal Service (USPS) stamp which is set debut on Jan. 26.
Lewis, born in upstate New York, moved to Europe in the 1860s. She set up an art studio in Rome, Italy and it became a must-see attraction for American tourists.
Despite her popularity during her life, most of Lewis’ work went unnoticed after her death until an art historian found one of her sculptures in the late 1980s.
The stamp is the 45th piece of the USPS’s Black Heritage series, an initiative by the postal service to commemorate pioneers in the Black community.
Lewis, who is of African American and Ojibwa/Chippewa Native American descent, became an orphan at a young age after both her parents died.
Edmonia Lewis
Cancels Wedding
Jacinda Ardern
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday canceled her upcoming wedding plans due to a recent spike in COVID-19 cases and tightened restrictions. "Such is life," she said when asked by reporters about how she felt about the cancellation, according to Reuters.
"I am no different to, dare I say it, thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts felt by the pandemic, the most gutting of which is the inability to be with a loved one sometimes when they are gravely ill," Ardern said. "That will far, far outstrip any sadness I experience."
Strict new COVID-19 restrictions have been put in place after a cluster of nine cases of the Omicron variant were reported in Auckland, according to the prime minister. A family who traveled by plane for a wedding of 100 people had tested positive, as had a flight attendent.
Ardern, 41, and her longtime partner, television host Clarke Gayford, were set to be married in the coming weeks in Gisborne, according to the New Zealand Herald. They have a daughter, Neve.
Jacinda Ardern
Hotspots Hit By Covid
Hollywood
Early in the pandemic, as Covid case rates rose, Los Angeles County shut down all restaurants, bars and (for practical purposes) hotels. In the months since, regulations have been loosened, customers have gotten more savvy and establishments have dialed in their protocols. Then came Omicron.
In the past month, as Omicron has sent countywide numbers to levels never before seen, the number of workplace-related outbreaks have jumped from about 40 to more than 400 today and, as Deadline has reported, many studios networks and production facilities have seen outbreaks.
In addition to the workplace outbreaks, some of Hollywood’s favorite haunts have been hit hard. Longtime go-to Spago has had 14 staff members test positive for the virus. SoHo House’s Little Beach House Malibu has seen 9 cases, while its Downtown SoHo Warehouse recorded 39. And it’s a good thing the Golden Globes wasn’t in person this year, since the Beverly Hilton has had 23 cases.
The location currently with the highest number of staff cases listed is the newly-renamed Crypto.com Arena downtown which, it should be noted, has seen a massive amount of foot traffic over the past 6-9 months. The arena is listed as having 246 staff cases.
There are other industry favorites that have higher case counts than Crypto.com Arena, the counts are spread across multiple locations. L.A. Whole Foods, for instance, clocks in at over 254 infections across its L.A. stores.
Hollywood
Battles New York Times
Mrs. Palin
Sarah Palin (R-Nellie Oleson), the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, has spent 4-1/2 years battling the New York Times over an editorial she said falsely linked her to a deadly Arizona mass shooting that left a U.S. congresswoman seriously wounded.
On Monday, Palin is poised to try to begin convincing jurors in a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court that the newspaper and its former editorial page editor James Bennet defamed her.
The trial before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff marks a rare instance of a major media company defending its editorial practices before an American jury. Opening statements could take place as soon as Monday, following jury selection.
Palin, 57, has accused the Times of defaming her in a June 14, 2017, editorial linking her political action committee (PAC) to the 2011 mass shooting in an Arizona parking lot that left six people dead and then-U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords wounded. Palin is seeking unspecified damages, but according to court papers has estimated $421,000 in damage to her reputation.
The editorial said "the link to political incitement was clear" in the 2011 shooting, and that the incident came after Palin's PAC circulated a map putting 20 Democrats including Giffords under "stylized cross hairs."
Mrs. Palin
Faces Avenatti At Trial
Stormy Daniels
Stormy Daniels, the porn star who catapulted herself and Michael Avenatti to fame with lawsuits against the former President Donald Trump , will have a starring role in court beginning Monday when prosecutors try to prove that the California lawyer cheated her of $300,000 in book proceeds.
Her testimony in Manhattan federal court will be pivotal for prosecutors trying to prove Avenatti engaged in wire fraud and aggravated identity theft to keep from giving his client money he had received from her publisher. Opening statements are set for Monday. Daniels is not expected to testify until Tuesday, at the earliest.
Avenatti, 50, has pleaded not guilty to the charges in what will be his third criminal trial in two years.
The attorney-client relationship between Daniels and Avenatti seemed strong in the spring of 2018 when the pair showed up together at a Manhattan court hearing pertaining to raids on the home and office of Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal attorney.
With Daniels as a client and his growing reputation as a Trump critic, Avenatti found himself in demand on cable television news programs. He became so popular in some circles that he considered a run for president.
Stormy Daniels
Criticises Cold-Case Probe
Anne Frank Fund
The head of a foundation set up by Anne Frank's father has criticised an investigation into her betrayal to the Nazis that named a Jewish notary as a leading suspect, saying it was "full of errors" and offered no proof, a Swiss newspaper reported.
Anne and seven other Jews were discovered by the Nazis on Aug. 4, 1944, after hiding for nearly two years in a secret annex above a canal-side warehouse in Amsterdam. All were deported and Anne died in the Bergen Belsen camp at the age of 15. Her now-famous diary was later published by her father, Otto Frank.
A team including retired U.S. FBI agent Vincent Pankoke and around 20 historians, criminologists and data specialists last week identified a relatively unknown figure, Jewish notary Arnold van den Bergh, as a leading suspect in revealing the hideout. A book detailing the findings was published on Tuesday.
"It contributes not to uncovering the truth but to confusion and in addition it is full of errors," John Goldsmith, president of the Basel-based Anne Frank Fund set up by Otto Frank, told Swiss newspaper Blick am Sonntag in an interview.
Some experts have emphasised that the evidence against Van den Bergh was not conclusive. Goldsmith said the team of researchers, which he called a commercial rather than academic undertaking, had not provided proof supporting their assertion.
Anne Frank Fund
Lists Viking-Era Wooden Sailboats
UNESCO
For thousands of years, wooden sailboats allowed the peoples of Northern Europe to spread trade, influence and sometimes war across seas and continents.
In December, the U.N.’s culture agency added Nordic “clinker boats” to its list of traditions that represent the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden jointly sought the UNESCO designation.
The term “clinker” is thought to refer to the way the boat’s wooden boards were fastened together.
Supporters of the successful nomination hope it will safeguard and preserve the boat-building techniques that drove the Viking era for future generations as the number of active clinker craftsmen fades and fishermen and others opt for vessels with cheaper glass fiber hulls.
The museum not only exhibits the remains of wooden vessels built 1,000 years ago, but also works to rebuild and reconstruct other Viking boats. The process involves using experimental archaeological methods to gain a deeper, more practical understanding of the Viking Age, such as how quickly the vessels sailed and how many people they carried.
UNESCO
Seeks a Landlord-King
Piel Island
Overseeing a small island dominated by a castle, seals and a pub, an English council is searching for a new king or queen.
Claimants to the ancient throne, carved from old oak and soaked in the beer of coronations past, can apply for the job through the local government’s website.
The job listing, posted last week by the Barrow Borough Council in Cumbria, is technically seeking someone to run the pub on Piel Island, half a mile off England’s northwestern coast. Winters are wet, travel is limited and an eccentric tradition of naming a king survives at the island’s old pub.
“We’re not talking about St. Lucia or the Hawaiian islands,” said John Murphy, a 73-year-old resident of nearby Walney Island, and the guide of walking tours of the area for four decades. “We’re talking about a small and very isolated island in the north of England.”
The primary responsibility of the position, called a landlord, is to run the pub, called the Ship Inn, and to manage and maintain the island’s roughly 50 acres of grass, rock and sand. Neighbors include four private cottages and a 14th-century castle with a history of medieval monks, Scottish raiders and a pretender to the English throne.
Piel Island
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