Recommended Reading
from Bruce
HENRY ROLLINS: CONFESSIONS OF A TAPE TRADER (Guardian)
In the late 1970s, I would help my friend Ian MacKaye put up fliers for his band, The Teen Idles. Sometimes we would come back down the street to see that they had been torn down. I quickly learned that there were forces at work basically trying to keep the music from being heard.
Xeni Jardin: Idaho lawmaker asks if women could swallow cameras for gynecological exams before abortion (Boing Boing)
A complete idiot who managed to get elected to The Idaho House of Representatives received a female reproductive anatomy lesson today. Republican state Rep. Vito Barbieri asked if it were possible for a woman to swallow a small camera so that doctors could conduct a gynecological exam remotely, using telemedicine, before performing an abortion.
Paul Constant: Walmart Raising the Minimum Wage Is Not a Triumph of Business. It's a Failure of Government (The Stranger)
The thing that bugs the hell out of me in all this is that slimy Ayn Rand-loving Republicans like Paul Ryan and Rand Paul are going to point to Walmart's "generosity" as a sign that business can regulate itself. That's not what this is. This is business cleaning up the mess left by an inattentive and uncaring government. … When I look at this story, all I see is the beginning of a dystopian novel.
Paul Constant: "What We Do in the Shadows: As Zombie Films Become Too Numerous and Predictable, Vampire Films Are Getting Interesting" (The Stranger)
Now that we as a culture have seemingly settled on zombies as our primary monster metaphor, the somewhat ignored genre of vampire movies is busy getting weird.
I, Anonymous: Better Change Your Password (The Stranger)
So keep up the entertaining e-mails, messages, and chat conversations. I'll be reading.
Kelly O: Why Is The Easter Bunny Getting Hammered? (The Stranger)
Because of you-because you've dragged her/him out of hibernation a month too early. You think all that candy-those Cadbury Eggs already lining the shelves-is gonna be fresh after sitting around for more than a month?
Kelly O: Article Archive at The Stranger
Kelly O-Stranger staff photographer, music writer, Drunk of the Week columnist, and more!-finished art school and a soul-crushing internship at a corporate advertising agency in Detroit, then fled the Midwest and landed in Seattle in 1998, starry-eyed and hoping to design record covers for Sub Pop. She eventually sent a heart-shaped pizza to The Stranger's art department and was promptly hired as a designer.
Kathryn Bromwich: 'Who knew Kurt Cobain was that funny?' (Guardian)
For his new documentary, Cobain: Montage of Heck, Brett Morgen was given unrestricted access to the Nirvana frontman's archives - and the final edit. Here he talks about the warm, playful side of Cobain the world is about to see.
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"Doug's Most Shared Facebook Post" Today
wrote:
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Comment
Spring!
MAM
Sign of Spring!
Thanks, Marianne!
from Marc Perkel
BartCop
Hello Bartcop fans,
As you all know the untimely passing of Terry was unexpected, even by
him. We all knew he had cancer but we all thought he had some years
left. So some of us who have worked closely with him over the years are
scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. My job, among other
things, is to establish communications with the Bartcop community and
provide email lists and groups for those who might put something
together. Those who want to play an active roll in something coming from
this, or if you are one of Bart's pillars, should send an email to
active@bartcop.com.
Bart's final wish was to pay off the house mortgage for Mrs. Bart who is
overwhelmed and so very grateful for the support she has received.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click on this the yellow donate
button on bartcop.com
But - I need you all to help keep this going. This note
isn't going to directly reach all of Bart's fans. So if you can repost
it on blogs and discussion boards so people can sign up then when we
figure out what's next we can let more people know. This list is just
over 600 but like to get it up to at least 10,000 pretty quick. So
here's the signup link for this email list.
( mailman.bartcop.com/listinfo/bartnews )
Marc Perkel
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Way too warm to be seasonal.
Retrial Postponed
Mohamed Fahmy
The retrial of Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy on terror-related charges in Egypt has been postponed again - this time to March 19.
The decision this morning followed a brief hearing in Cairo for Fahmy and his Al Jazeera English colleague, Egyptian producer Baher Mohammed. The postponement was ordered after two witnesses failed to show up for the hearing.
Fahmy and Mohammed were freed on bail last month while awaiting trial, though they've had to check in with police daily. Their first hearing on Feb. 23 also was postponed because two witnesses were no shows.
Fahmy, Mohammed and a third Al Jazeera journalist, Australian Peter Greste, were initially convicted and sentenced to between seven and ten years.
The trial was widely criticized by human rights organizations, and a new trial was eventually ordered after the three spent more than a year in a Cairo prison.
Mohamed Fahmy
Anchorage Trucks In Snow
Iditarod
If there is one day when mushers in the Iditarod sled dog race don't have to worry about trail conditions, it should be Saturday during the ceremonial start.
A lack of snow south of the Alaska Range created treacherous trail conditions, forcing race officials to move the competitive start of the race to Monday in Fairbanks. A stalled jet stream pushed Arctic air and snow into the Midwest and the East Coast, but kept Alaska fairly warm and dry this winter. But the ceremonial start, a chance for fans and mushers to meet in a casual atmosphere, went on as planned in Alaska's largest city.
Despite the city receiving only about a third of its normal winter snowfall, Anchorage was still able to stage the traditional ceremonial start to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. City crews overnight delivered up to 350 dump truck loads of snow and spread it out over city blocks so the show could go on. The festivities started Saturday morning in very un-Iditarod like conditions, almost 40 degrees with a light rain falling before the start.
City maintenance workers stockpiled snow from neighborhoods the past few months and kept it for winter events, culminating with the Iditarod, said Paul VanLandingham with the public works department.
Iditarod
200 Years Old
Beer & Champagne
Five years ago, divers exploring a shipwreck off the coast of Finland discovered a treasure trove of lager beer lying hidden at the bottom of the ocean for 170 years. Scientists have tasted the 19th century brew and like any good forensic detectives, they've chemically tested them to better understand what the original flavours would have been.
But seawater seeping into the bottles and bacterial activity running rampant inside for a better part of two centuries, wreaked havoc with the flavour of the beers. Even for the most devoted connoisseur, it's unlikely that this drink would be very appealing.
A research team working out of the Technical Research Center of Finland, who published their results in last month's issue of the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, uncorked a couple of the remaining bottles and took a brave sniff and sip. They describe the aroma and taste as an unpleasant salty mix of overripe cheese, sulfur and cabbage - all caused by the salty seawater overpowering the hop or malty flavour it may have originally had. Adding to the pungent cocktail of the sea would be all the bacteria growing inside over the years.
And what about that stash of champagne? Those seemed to fair much better because the corks managed to seal it off from the pressures and saltiness of the ocean water for the most part. The cork of one of the bottles that was brought back to surface during the salvage operation actually popped due to the difference in air pressure.
It turns that leaving leaving bottles of at the bottom of the ocean, under pressure and in the dark for nearly 200 years does not do much harm. If anything, it could have a positive effect. A grouping of eleven of the bottles of Chardonay-like tasting Champagne ended up going up for auction
Beer & Champagne
Civil War-Era Wine Uncorked
South Carolina
A bottle of wine recovered intact four years ago from the 1864 wreck of a Civil War blockade runner that sank off the coast of Bermuda was uncorked and sipped by a panel of experts on Friday during a food festival in Charleston, South Carolina.
The verdict: A heady sulfur bouquet with distinct notes of saltwater and gasoline.
The wine was uncorked at a Charleston Wine + Food event titled "From Deep Below: A Wine Event 150 Years in the Making."
To peals of audience laughter, the panel said the cloudy yellow-gray liquid smelled and tasted like a mixture of crab water, gasoline, salt water and vinegar, with hints of citrus and alcohol.
Wine chemist Pierre Louis Teissedre of the University of Bordeaux who had analyzed samples drawn through the cork earlier said the "nose" of the wine was a room-clearing mix of camphor, stagnant water, hydrocarbons, turpentine and sulfur.
South Carolina
Receives Ransom Demand
Vatican
The Vatican said on Sunday it had received a ransom demand for the return of two rare documents written by Renaissance master Michelangelo that were stolen from its archives nearly 20 years ago.
The theft of the two documents - one a letter including the signature of the artist who painted the Sistine Chapel, designed part of St. Peter's Basilica and sculpted statues such as David and the Pieta - had not been made public before Sunday.
Following a report by the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero on Sunday, spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said a cardinal in charge of St. Peter's Basilica had been contacted recently by a person who offered to get the documents back for what Lombardi called "a certain price".
The spokesman said a nun who worked in the Vatican archives informed officials back in 1997 that the documents had gone missing. He did not say why the Vatican had not disclosed the theft before.
Vatican
Top Defense Importer
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia overtook India to become the world's biggest weapons importer in 2014, a year when global defense trade rose for the sixth straight year to a record $64.4 billion, research company IHS said on Sunday.
The growth in supplies was due to expanding demand from emerging economies for military aircraft and rising tensions in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, IHS, a provider of global market and economic information, said.
The United States remained the top defense exporter in 2014, ahead of Russia, France, Britain and Germany, a top-five ranking unchanged from 2013, IHS said in an annual defense trade report.
Saudi imports rose 54 percent between 2013 and 2014, and based on planned deliveries imports will grow 52 percent to $9.8 billion in 2015, IHS said, without stating the 2014 sales. One out of every $7 spent on defense imports in 2015 will be spent by Saudi Arabia, it said.
The top five importers in 2014 were Saudi Arabia, India, China, the UAE and Taiwan. The 2013 rankings were India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Taiwan and China.
Saudi Arabia
What's For Supper?
Cyprus
More than two million migratory birds were killed in Cyprus last autumn to feed an illicit taste for the delicacy on the Mediterranean island, a conservationist group said Monday.
The survey by Birdlife Cyprus was carried out in the key season between September and October and estimates the number of birds indiscriminately trapped in nets or with limesticks.
It found some 16 kilometres (10 miles) of net supports active during autumn and more than 6,000 limesticks were reported from enforcement agencies and other non-governmental organisations.
Limesticks are twigs covered in a sticky substance that instantly trap birds that alight onto them, leaving them to dangle helplessly.
Such methods are used to catch blackcaps and song thrushes, much sought after delicacies that fetch up to 80 euros ($86) for a dozen at Cypriot restaurants.
Cyprus
Disappears In New York
Sheet Music
Heidi Rogers scurried back to the heaps of manila folders in her shop's maze of cabinets, but she already knew what she had in stock.
She told the musician at the counter that there was a wide choice available among Shostakovich scores. But for the young trombonist who requested sheet music for an impressively obscure solo work, Rogers knew before looking that it was last on sale in 2003.
These are the last days for such personalized attention to New York's musicians. Rogers's store, Frank Music Company -- the last shop devoted to sheet music in this global music capital -- is shutting down on Friday.
Founded in 1937, Frank Music is hidden inside a highrise building in the Theater District as aspiring Broadway actors audition in nearby rooms. Famous past customers have included violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Emanuel Ax.
The loquacious Rogers, who has run the shop since the late 1970s, greets everyone with advice on scores and witticisms, including one for her finale: "Failure has been success. I've had more people come to my store in the past week than in the past five years."
Sheet Music
Weekend Box Office
'Chappie'
Neither a hyper-intelligent robot nor Vince Vaughn could save the box office this weekend, which is down 38.5 percent from the same weekend last year, according to Sunday estimates from box office firm Rentrak.
While Neill Blomkamp's R-rated "Chappie" might have taken the No. 1 spot in its 3,201 theater debut, its modest $13.3 million gross is hardly anything to celebrate. It's a career low for Blomkamp, whose previous films "Elysium" and "District 9" debuted at $29.8 and $37.4 million, respectively.
The R-rated Vince Vaughn comedy "Unfinished Business" fared even worse, opening at No. 10 to a dismal $4.8 million. The $35 million film about a chaotic European business trip also stars Dave Franco and Tom Wilkinson.
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. "Chappie," $13.3 million ($13.7 million international).
2. "Focus," $10 million ($17.7 million international).
3. "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," $8.6 million ($5.6 million international).
4. "Kingsman: The Secret Service," $8.3 million ($17 million international).
5. "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water," $7 million ($9.6 million international).
6. "Fifty Shades of Grey," $5.6 million ($17.7 million international).
7. "McFarland, USA," $5.3 million.
8. "The Lazarus Effect," $5.1 million ($700,000 international).
9. "The DUFF," $4.9 million.
10. "Unfinished Business," $4.8 million ($2.6 million international).
'Chappie'
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