Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Marc Dion: Social Media Is Crap Journalism (Creators Syndicate)
What's wrong with social media as a news source? It's wrong two-thirds of the time, it can be manipulated by a homeless guy using a free computer in the public library, it's dripping with agendas, it passes rumors around like an STD in a bathhouse and, quite frankly, because social media is so "user friendly," it's used by a giant number of dumbasses who are thrilled they can now play reporter.
Paul Krugman: The Ignoramus Strategy (New York Times)
A while back Noah Smith described one common strategy for arguing against Keynesian economics, and yours truly in particular: "Relentlessly pretend to be an ignorant simpleton." Of course, as always, this strategy is most effective if you aren't pretending, and really are an ignorant simpleton.
Lucy Mangan: the game of the name (Guardian)
'I've always needed to decide what I am. And for most of my life I have been a Miss.'
Mason Currey: Are Starving Artists Better Artists? (Slate)
If all of this makes the life of the artist sound awfully repetitive and dull-well, that's sort of the point. For many artists, deciding what to eat is just one more distraction from the work. If you want to devote hours of intense focus to your art, something else in your life has got to take a backseat, and all too often it is lunch.
Rosanna Greenstreet: "Q&A: Will.i.am" (Guardian)
'What song would I like played at my funeral? There would be no music.'
David Cantwell: The True Genius of George Jones (Slate)
What Jones made sure we heard in his recordings was emotional presence.
Lucy Mangan: "The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett" (Guardian)
It is easy to forget that childhood, when you are in the midst of it, is a strange and cacophonous world, a welter of accidental errors, new instructions and computations, divided loyalties, unsuspected patches of ignorance and embarrassment lying in wait round every corner. In the garden, away from prying eyes, there is peace, solitude, a chance for things to grow, stretch and unfurl at their natural pace.
What I'm really thinking: the postie (Guardian)
'It's pretty obvious you're living beyond your means.'
Oliver Burkeman: "This column will change your life: can you ever know your luck?" (Guardian)
'Luck is that aspect of events that you can't influence. If you can influence it, then it's not luck.'
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Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and breezy.
Helen Mirren Reigns
Olivier Awards
Helen Mirren was crowned queen of the London stage at the Olivier Awards Sunday, while compelling, canine-titled teen drama "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" emerged as best in show with seven trophies.
Mirren, 67, was a popular and expected best actress choice for her regal yet vulnerable Queen Elizabeth II in "The Audience," Peter Morgan's behind-palace-doors drama about the relationship between Britain's queen and its prime ministers.
The actress, who won an Academy Award in 2007 for playing Britain's monarch in "The Queen," quipped that it was 87-year-old Elizabeth who deserved an award, "for the most consistent and committed performance of the 20th century, and probably the 21st century."
Founded in 1976, the Oliviers have been laying on the glitz in recent years, with glossy ceremonies modeled on Broadway's Tony Awards.
"Downton Abbey" actor Hugh Bonneville and West End star Sheridan Smith - an Olivier winner in 2011 and 2012 - hosted a sparky ceremony that included performances by "Glee" star Matthew Morrison, Tony-winning "Wicked" diva Idina Menzel and 60s songstress Petula Clark.
Olivier Awards
$20 Tickets
Rolling Stones
For one night only, the Rolling Stones were an up-and-coming band again.
The legendary group rocked a small club in Los Angeles on Saturday night for a minuscule crowd compared to the thousands set to see them launch their "50 and Counting" anniversary tour a week later on May 3 at the Staples Center.
The band kicked off Saturday's hush-hush 90-minute concert at the Echoplex in the hip Echo Park neighborhood with "You Got Me Rocking" before catapulting into a mix of new and old material, as well as their bluesy covers of classics from Otis Redding ("That's How Strong My Love Is"), Chuck Berry ("Little Queenie") and The Temptations ("Just My Imagination").
Jagger, who ditched a black-and-white track jacket emblazoned with the band's logo after the first few songs, worked the crowd into a singalong frenzy with "Miss You," complete with a harmonica solo from the strutting frontman.
Tickets to the Echoplex concert were sold earlier in the day for $20 each - a fraction of what tickets to the tour cost.
Rolling Stones
Handwritten Ledger Online
F. Scott Fitzgerald
An intriguing peek into the daily scribbles and life of author F. Scott Fitzgerald is now available online, just weeks before the opening of the movie "The Great Gatsby."
Researchers from the University of South Carolina's Thomas Cooper Library put a digital version of the famed author's handwritten financial ledger on their website last week, making it available for the first time for all readers, students and scholars.
"This is a record of everything Fitzgerald wrote, and what he did with it, in his own hand," said Elizabeth Sudduth, director of the Ernest F. Hollings Library and Rare Books Collection.
During a recent visit to the library's below-ground rare-book vault, Sudduth took the original 200-page book out of its clamshell protective cover. The ledger's yellowed pages - with Fitzgerald's elegant, measured cursive strokes - are a throwback to life before computer spreadsheets. The ledger shows Fitzgerald's tally of earnings from his works, the most famous of which is the novel "The Great Gatsby." The ledger lists his many short stories, books, and adaptations for stage and screen.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Wedding News
Prieto - Jordan
Michael Jordan got married over the weekend in front of a few hundred of his family and closest friends.
The Charlotte Bobcats owner exchanged vows with 35-year-old former model Yvette Prieto on Saturday in Palm Beach, Fla., Jordan's manager Estee Portnoy told The Associated Press Sunday
The wedding took place at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea with nearly 300 guests in attendance, including Tiger Woods, Patrick Ewing, Spike Lee and Ahmad Rashad.
The ceremony was followed by a reception at the Bear's Club in Jupiter, Fla., a luxurious private golf club designed by Jack Nicklaus. Jordan, 50, owns a home near the course.
Prieto - Jordan
Problem With Paid Sick Time
Disney
Representatives of a national organization of mothers were prevented on Thursday from delivering a petition to Walt Disney World accusing it of trying to block laws that would require companies to provide paid sick leave for employees.
"They were turned away and security was called," Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director of MomsRising, told Reuters on Friday.
MomsRising got involved after the Orlando Sentinel newspaper reported that Disney, along with the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Darden Restaurants Inc , which owns the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, helped draft a bill currently before the Florida legislature to ban local communities from enacting their own paid sick time rules.
The proposed state law follows a grassroots campaign in Orange County, Disney's home, to place a referendum about paid sick leave on the ballot. Supporters collected more than 50,000 signatures to place the issue on the November 2012 ballot. But county commissioners by a 4-3 vote blocked the measure from getting on the ballot.
In what came to be called "textgate," some county commissioners were found to be texting with lobbyists - including Disney lobbyists - before the vote and during the meeting.
Disney
Raises $2M On Kickstarter In 3 Days
Zach Braff
Zach Braff has met his goal on Kickstarter, raising $2 million in three days to fund his follow-up to "Garden State."
The actor-director's crowd-funding campaign follows Rob Thomas' wildly successful use of Kickstarter to finance a movie of the defunct TV series "Veronica Mars." Thomas pulled in $2 million in less than a day, eventually gathering more than $5.7 million in 30 days.
But some observers have criticized Hollywood stars for using the Kickstarter website to dip into the pockets of their loyal fans. Braff has said this is the only way for him to direct his first film since "Garden State" with final cut and his desired casting.
After passing his goal Saturday, the "Scrubs" star said on Twitter: "I will not let you down. Let's go make a killer movie."
Zach Braff
30th Anniversary 'King of Comedy'
Jerry Lewis
The Tribeca Film Festival has ended on a royal note with Jerry Lewis showing up at the 30th anniversary screening of "The King of Comedy."
The 87-year-old comedian-actor walked out to thunderous applause after the screening Saturday, joining co-star Robert De Niro and director Martin Scorsese.
Lewis answered questions about the making of the film and he brought the audience to laughter with a tale about a guy he met on a subway train.
In the movie, Lewis plays a talk show host kidnapped by a deranged comedian played by De Niro.
Jerry Lewis
Musical Heading To Broadway
'Rocky'
It's been a knockout in Germany. Now Sylvester Stallone hopes a musical based on his beloved boxing film "Rocky" will also be a hit on Broadway.
Producers said Sunday they plan to get "Rocky" up and punching at the Winter Garden by February following a successful debut in Hamburg last fall.
Based on the Oscar-winning 1976 film, the musical features a score by "Ragtime" veterans Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and a story by Thomas Meehan, who wrote "The Producers" and "Hairspray."
Originally written in English but translated into German for its world premiere and billed as "Rocky: Das Musical," the show is produced by Stallone and Stage Entertainment USA.
'Rocky'
3 Generations Coming To Auction
Wyeths
American realist painter Andrew Wyeth left an indelible impression on Eric Sambol after a museum class trip in the 1970s.
Many years later, the New Jersey businessman was able to acquire a work by Wyeth. It was the beginning of a collection that gradually expanded to include Wyeth's equally famous father, the great classic novel illustrator N.C. Wyeth, and his son, Jamie Wyeth.
Sambol is now parting with 13 of his Wyeths - six by Andrew, six by Jamie, and one by N.C. Christie's auction house, which is selling the works May 23, says it is one of the largest collections of Wyeths it has ever sold.
The most expensive piece in the auction is Andrew Wyeth's "Rocky Hill," a watercolor of the artist's beloved dog, Nell, seated in the woods - a frequent subject of the artist's paintings. It's estimated to sell for $1.8 million to $2.4 million.
Wyeths
Gold-Bedecked Skeleton
The Beaker People
More than 4,000 years ago, a woman, perhaps an ancient queen, was carefully laid to rest outside of modern-day London, ornamented with beads of gold strung around her neck and a large drinking cup placed at her hip. Archaeologists have just uncovered her grave at a quarry that lies between Windsor Castle and Heathrow airport.
The gold ornaments suggest the woman was important, possibly of the elite and even a princess or queen, the excavators said.
The woman's bones have been degraded by acid in the soil, making radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis impossible. Nonetheless, excavators believe she was at least 35 years old when she died sometime between 2500 B.C. and 2200 B.C., around the era Stonehenge was constructed.
The woman was adorned with a necklace that had tube-shaped beads fashioned out of sheet gold and black disks of lignite, a dark, coal-like material similar to jet. Though her clothing long ago disintegrated, amber buttons and fasteners were scattered across the woman's body in a row, hinting at how she may have been dressed.
The excavation team believes she belonged to the Beaker people, a widespread Neolithic culture that gets its name from the shape of the ceramic pots they left behind. Beaker remains have been found across Europe, but few in Britain have been found with gold ornaments and most contain male skeletons, excavators say.
The Beaker People
Weekend Box Office
'Iron Man 3'
"Iron Man 3" was the heavy-lifter at theaters with a colossal overseas debut that overshadowed a gang of mercenary bodybuilders in a sleepy pre-summer weekend at the domestic box office.
The Marvel Studios superhero sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. got a head-start on its domestic launch next Friday with a $195.3 million opening in 42 overseas markets, distributor Disney reported Sunday.
Director Michael Bay's "Pain & Gain," a true-crime tale of bodybuilders on the make, muscled into first-place domestically with a $20 million debut.
The Paramount release starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie knocked off Tom Cruise's sci-fi adventure "Oblivion" after a week in the No. 1 spot. Universal's "Oblivion" slipped to second-place with $17.4 million, raising its domestic total to $64.7 million.
Lionsgate's all-star nuptial comedy "The Big Wedding" tanked at No. 4 with just $7.5 million. The ensemble cast includes Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon and Katherine Heigl, but the movie was almost universally trashed by critics and held little interest for audiences.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Pain & Gain," $20 million.
2. "Oblivion," $17.4 million ($12.8 million international).
3. "42," $10.7 million.
4. "The Big Wedding," $7.5 million.
5. "The Croods," $6.6 million ($13.1 million international).
6. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," $3.6 million ($10.2 million international).
7. "Scary Movie 5," $3.5 million ($6.7 million international).
8. "Olympus Has Fallen," $2.8 million ($4.2 million international).
9. "The Place Beyond the Pines," $2.7 million ($1.1 million international).
10. "Jurassic Park" in 3-D, $2.3 million ($410,000 international).
'Iron Man 3'
In Memory
Mary Thom
Renowned feminist and former women's magazine editor Mary Thom was killed in a motorcycle crash over the weekend in Yonkers, New York, friends and colleagues said.
Thom, 68, a former editor of Ms. Magazine, crashed her motorcycle on the Saw Mill Parkway on Friday evening, said Eleanor Smeal, publisher of Ms. Magazine and a close friend of Thom.
An accomplished author, editor and journalist, Thom devoted her career to giving voice to women's rights issues in books, magazine columns and through her work within the women's movement, which mourned the loss over the weekend.
"We, who are Mary's friends and family haven't absorbed her loss yet: it's too sudden,'' said actress Jane Fonda and feminist authors Gloria Steinem and Robin Morgan, three co-founders of the Women's Media Center, in a statement.
Thom, an Akron, Ohio, native, spent more than a quarter century at Ms. Magazine and wrote a book about working her way from an entry level research position to executive editor in "Inside Ms.: 25 Years of the Magazine and the Feminist Movement," according to Smeal.
Thom also edited a book of letters sent to the magazine during the publication's formative years between 1972-1987.
Thom was an avid motorcycle enthusiast who never owned a car and had been riding for four decades, her nephew Thom Loubet told the Journal News newspaper in Westchester, New York.
She was a top editor at the Women's Media Center at the time of her death, Smeal said.
Mary Thom
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