Recommended Reading
from Bruce
HENRY ROLLINS: GOVERNOR MIKE PENCE THREW GOD UNDER THE BUS (LA Weekly)
Gov. Pence knew what he was signing, why he was signing it and who he was signing it for. Pence threw God under the bus. As the Australians say, "Weak sauce!" It wasn't even the outcry of people in his state and the rest of the country that made him blink. It was money!
Evan V. Symon, Lawrence Fama, Josh Gatewood 6 Things Chefs Don't Want You to Know About Food Trucks (Cracked)
Food trucks combine the deliciously prepared cuisine of a restaurant with the flawless atmosphere of an empty parking lot. It's no wonder we love them so. But one can't simply buy a truck, fill it with food, and start selling that food to wandering drunks. There's a whole nightmare of bureaucracy and the occasional knock-down, drag-out chef-fight to deal with first.
Tim Adams: "Stanley Tucci: Take what's in front of you and make it something else. That's art" (Guardian)
The Hunger Games actor, director and author of two cookbooks on why he feels settled in London, why preparing food is like art, and being a father, fourth time around, at 54.
Top 10 Facts - Futurama (YouTube)
"Simply watching Futurama won't help you discover all the secrets hidden in every episode, you have to do some digging and go behind the scenes of the show to discover all the mysteries hidden in plain sight. Or you can watch this informative video created by Top10Memes and discover a thing or ten about the fantastic world of Futurama in about eight minutes!" - Neatorama
Will Harris: "Surely you can't be serious: An oral history of Airplane!" (AV Club)
(Yes, we're serious. And don't call us Shirley.)
Kathleen Elise, Austin Thompson: 27 Temporarily Banned Episodes of Popular TV Shows (Mental Floss)
Over the years, a number of TV series have removed specific episodes from their rerun schedules. Some eventually return to the airwaves, while others may be serving a lifetime ban.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce has over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
, wrote:
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Spud Goodman « My POV
Radio Show 72 - "The Aging Episode"
This is a link to our newest with Billy Gardell, Jon Reep & musical guest Wes Sp8 (who is excellent). The episode description is below.
"The Aging Episode" Featuring actor/comedian
Billy Gardell,
Mike & Molly,
Monopoly Millionaires' Club,
Bad Santa,
You, Me and Dupree. Comedian/actor
Jon Reep,
Last Comic Standing,
Into the Storm,
Eastbound & Down,
Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Musical guest -
WES SP8 and don't forget about The Post Show Report with Lawrence. It's TV on the Radio !!
Thanks, Spud!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
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
Sunny, windy & dry.
First Country To Shut Down FM Radio
Norway
Norway will shut down FM radio in the country beginning in 2017, Radio.no reports. The Norwegian Ministry of Culture finalized a shift date this week, making it the first country to do away with FM radio entirely. The country plans to transition to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) as a national standard.
A statement released this week by the Ministry of Culture confirms a switch-off date that was proposed by the Norwegian government back in 2011. The government has concluded that the country is capable of meeting all the requirements necessary for a smooth transition to digital.
FM is eight times more expensive than DAB
Several other countries in Europe and Southeast Asia are also considering a national move to DAB, but no other country has confirmed a timeline, Radio.no reports.
Norway's FM shutdown will begin on January 11th, 2017.
Norway
Funds Lab for Women Screenwriters
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep has funded a screenwriters lab for women writers over 40, to be run by New York Women in Film and Television and IRIS, a collective of women filmmakers.
The creation of the lab, and Streep's involvement in its founding, was announced Sunday at a panel discussion presented as part of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Called the Writers Lab, the screenplay development program aims to increase opportunities for female screenwriters over the age of 40. This year the initiative will accept submissions May 1-June 1, with eight winning scribes named Aug. 1.
Among the mentors to participate in the Lab's inaugural year are writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood ("Beyond the Lights"), producer Caroline Kaplan ("Boyhood"), and writers Kirsten Smith ("Legally Blonde") and Jessica Bendinger ("Bring It On").
Meryl Streep
Honorary Degrees
Berklee College of Music
Julio Iglesias and three other prominent music industry figures will receive honorary degrees from Boston's Berklee College of Music at its commencement next month.
Sony Music Entertainment CEO Doug Morris, drummer Harvey Mason and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and producer Dee Dee Bridgewater will also receive honorary doctorates at the May 9 ceremony.
Berklee says Iglesias and the others are being recognized for their achievements and influences in music and for their enduring contributions to American and international culture.
Berklee College of Music
Gift From Sweden
Cuban Crocodiles
Cuba's efforts to sustain the critically endangered Cuban crocodile are getting a boost from Sweden, home to a pair of reptiles that Fidel Castro gave to a Soviet cosmonaut four decades ago.
A Stockholm zoo on Sunday is sending 10 of the couple's children to Cuba, where they will be placed in quarantine and eventually released into the Zapata Swamp, said Jonas Wahlstrom, the zookeeper who raised them.
The Cuban crocodile, once found across the Caribbean, is restricted today to two swamps in Cuba, where it is threatened by interbreeding with American crocodiles, habitat loss and illegal hunting.
Wahlstrom said he received his original couple during a 1981 trip to Moscow. They had ended up in the Soviet capital after Castro gave them to cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov in the 1970s as a token of friendship between the communist nations.
Cuban Crocodiles
Sick Veterinarian
Texass
A Texas sheriff said Saturday that he could not arrest and charge a veterinarian shown in a Facebook post bragging about killing a cat with a bow and arrow unless an investigation determines the picture of the dead cat is genuine.
Austin County Sheriff Jack Brandes said he was disturbed by the image that shows Kristen Lindsey holding up what she described as a dead feral tom cat. He has assigned two deputies and an investigator to the case.
"I've had people calling me from all over the country expressing their concern," Brandes said, speaking from a pasture while inspecting his cattle. "I just want everybody to know several things. We can't arrest and charge someone like that based on a picture on the internet. We have to make sure that is true and correct.
The operators of the clinic where Lindsey worked in Brenham, about 100 miles northwest of Houston, said Friday she was fired after they learned of the posting earlier in the week, which has since been removed, along with her Facebook account. The posting prompted hundreds of phone calls also to the Washington Animal Clinic.
Texass
Flawed Testimony
FBI
The FBI and U.S. Justice Department have acknowledged that almost all of the experts in a forensic unit dedicated to microscopic hair comparison gave flawed testimony against defendants before 2000, the Washington Post said.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Innocence Project found that 26 of the 28 examiners in the FBI's microscopic hair comparison unit overstated evidence in more than 95 percent of 268 trials that the groups have examined so far, the Post said.
Defendants and prosecutors in 46 states, along with the District of Columbia, are being advised of the findings, which could result in appealing of convictions, the newspaper said. The cases with overstated evidence included 32 that resulted in death sentences, and 14 of those defendants have been executed or died in prison.
The Post first raised the question of flawed testimony in 1980s and 1990s trials in a story in July.
FBI
Researcher Denied Flight
United Airlines
United Airlines stopped a prominent security researcher from boarding a California-bound flight late Saturday, following a social media post by the researcher days earlier suggesting the airline's onboard systems could be hacked.
The researcher, Chris Roberts, attempted to board a United flight from Colorado to San Francisco to speak at a major security conference there this week, but was stopped by the airline's corporate security at the gate. Roberts founded One World Labs, which tries to discover security risks before they are exploited.
Roberts had been removed from an earlier United flight Wednesday by the FBI and questioned for four hours after jokingly suggesting on Twitter he could get the oxygen masks on the plane to deploy. Authorities also seized his laptop and other electronics.
A lawyer for Roberts said United gave him no detailed explanation Saturday why he wasn't allowed on the plane, saying instead the airline would be sending Roberts a letter within two weeks stating why they wouldn't let him fly on their aircraft.
United Airlines
Replica Of Revolutionary Frigate Sets Sail
The Hermione
With champagne, fireworks and a presidential blessing, a painstakingly built replica of the frigate once used to bring French troops and funds to American revolutionaries set sail Saturday for the U.S. East Coast.
With the celebratory sendoff, the 25 million euro ($27 million) Hermione began its voyage to retrace the 65-meter (213-foot) frigate's trans-Atlantic journey in 1780, when its namesake under the Marquis de Lafayette's command helped to lay the foundation of French-American relations.
Lafayette persuaded French King Louis XVI to provide military and financial support to George Washington's troops. Lafayette set sail on the frigate on March 21, 1780, from the southwestern port of Fouras, arrived 38 days later in Boston, and played an important role in the revolutionaries' ultimate defeat of Britain three years later in the Battle of Yorktown with the support of a French army and fleet.
The Hermione is expected to reach Yorktown, Virginia, in June, and then make several other stops along the U.S. East Coast, including Boston, and should be in New York for the Fourth of July.
The ship is the fruit of nearly two decades of brainstorming, fundraising and toil. Using captains' logs and manuscripts from the era, maritime experts and historians ensured that workers used the same construction materials and methods as those used to build the original.
The Hermione
Weekend Box Office
'Furious 7'
The reigning box office champion might have slowed from its blockbuster debut, but "Furious 7" maintained first place for the third weekend in a row with an estimated $29.1 million, according to box office tracker Rentrak on Sunday.
"Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2" came in a close second with an estimated $24 million. While the PG-rated comedy didn't perform as well as the first film's $31.8 million opening in 2009, it did surpass Sony's modest expectations. Also, it only cost $30 million to produce.
Meanwhile, the low-budget, social media themed thriller "Unfriended" took third place with $16 million - sixteen times its production budget.
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."Furious 7," $29.1 million ($167.9 million international).
2."Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," $24 million ($7.1 million international)
3."Unfriended," $16 million.
4."Home," $10.3 million (10.4 million international).
5."The Longest Ride," $6.9 million ($2.1 million international).
6."Get Hard," $4.8 million.
7."Monkey Kingdom," $4.7 million.
8."Woman In Gold," $4.6 million ($1.1 million international).
9."The Divergent Series: Insurgent," $4.2 million ($4.1 million international).
10."Cinderella," $3.9 million ($7.5 million international).
'Furious 7'
In Memory
Ben Powers
Actor Alton "Ben" Powers, known for his role in the 1970s CBS television series "Good Times," has died at age 64.
Powers played football player Keith Anderson, the husband of Thelma Evans, played by BernNadette Stanis, in "Good Times." The show was a Norman Lear hit about a black family in inner-city Chicago.
Powers also appeared as Moochie in the 1980s CBS series "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer" with Stacey Keach, and had guest roles on other TV shows including "Gimmie a Break," ''Flamingo Road," ''The Greatest American Hero," ''The New Odd Couple," and "Laverne & Shirley."
Powers also acted in several 1980s movies including "Cheech & Chong's Next Movie," ''Things Are Tough All Over" and "The Man Who Loved Women."
His first TV roles were on NBC's "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in."
The Brooklyn, New York, native, was brought up by his grandparents in Providence, Rhode Island. He sang in the choir and was cantor at the First Tabernacle Pentecostal church, according to his family. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design, and began his acting career at the Trinity Repertory Theater in Providence, his family said.
Powers is survived by his mother, two sisters, two uncles, two aunts, four nephews and three nieces.
Ben Powers
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