Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Lucy Mangan: "Don't mock Extinction Rebellion protesters - they're fighting your war" (Stylist)
It all reminds me of women who say they aren't feminists then look bewildered when you ask when, in that case, they're going to be giving up the right to vote, their jobs after marriage, and hand their bank accounts over to their husbands or fathers. We live off so many of the benefits of fights that came before us. The one against climate change and environmental catastrophe is our own and one that we need to join in - or at the very, very least, not stand in blind, unthinking opposition to - so that we and future generations can live to feel its benefits. By which I mean - just live.
Hillary Clinton: Mueller documented a serious crime against all Americans. Here's how to respond. (Washington Post)
Our election was corrupted, our democracy assaulted, our sovereignty and security violated. This is the definitive conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's report. It documents a serious crime against the American people. The debate about how to respond to Russia's "sweeping and systematic" attack - and how to hold President Trump accountable for obstructing the investigation and possibly breaking the law - has been reduced to a false choice: immediate impeachment or nothing. History suggests there's a better way to think about the choices ahead.
Joe Lockhart: There's a Bigger Prize Than Impeachment (NY Times)
Keeping Trump in office will destroy the Republican Party. [Mr. Lockhart served as White House press secretary from 1998 to 2000.]
Leonard S. Schleifer: Taxpayers Shouldn't Have to Pay for New Roads (NY Times)
A tiny slice of equity from public companies could fund America's desperate need for better infrastructure. [Dr. Schleifer is the chief executive of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.]
Alexandra Petri: Bill Barr goes to Hell. And finds a client. (Washington Post)
"I have not read the full evidence," Barr says, "but I am confident this so-called Good Book largely exonerates my client. The serpent did no wrong." There is a noise like a thousand flies buzzing with satisfaction, and like Reince Priebus trying and failing to swat them. The words continue to come. "There isn't any law against offering people free apples. Though it could be argued that those apples were planted there by his opponent and, thus, any attempt to use them to indict him is fruit of a poisoned tree. In fact, the real question is why a nude woman was trying to take ownership of a garden. The real question is what she was trying to cover up afterward."
Hadley Freeman: "Celebrities bite back: why Armie Hammer and Justin Bieber should grow up and ignore their critics" (The Guardian)
The rich and famous have millions of followers online. So when they object to critics not liking their outfit or performance, they're giving licence to their armies of fans to attack.
Suzanne Moore: Bret Easton Ellis is part dinosaur, part sage. I'm intrigued (The Guardian)
He says the reaction to Trump is worse than Trump himself. He refuses to toe the liberal line on race and gender. Where do we position such a writer?
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
Cartoon director Chuck Jones worked on a cartoon starring Marc Antony, a bulldog who adopts a kitten. The only dialogue is by a woman, and so expressions are incredibly important. At one point, the woman says to Marc Antony, "What are you up to now?" Marc Antony points to himself and assumes an expression of exaggerated innocence. Mr. Jones worked hard to get that expression right. He created and rejected a minimum of 50 drawings before he got the expression exactly right. He remembered, "I needed that drawing, and I knew it was somewhere between my memory and the tip of my pencil, but there was a sort of cornucopia of unsuitable drawings before I finally got the right one. Mr. Jones told a parable about a Japanese painter whom a rich man commissioned to create a painting of a stork for $10,000. The painting was supposed to be done in two months, but at that time the Japanese painter told the rich man to come back in another two months. When the rich man came back after waiting for four months, the Japanese painter took out his paints and created the painting of a stork in ten minutes. The rich man thought that he had been cheated: "Ten thousand dollars for that? It took you no longer than ten minutes!" The Japanese painter opened a cabinet door and thousands of drawings of storks fell out. Mr. Jones stated, "I didn't do a thousand drawings of Marc Anthony's look of exaggerated innocence, but I did do at least fifty before I got it right, and that doesn't count the thousands of drawings I had done when I was learning to draw this dog, after learning how to draw anydog, after learning how to draw."
Joseph Barbera and William Hanna are famous for their Hanna-Barbera cartoons, featuring such stars as Yogi Berra, Huckleberry Hound, Tom and Jerry, and - of course - the Flintstones. Mr. Barbera almost became a professional boxer. As a youth, he was good, and a man said to him, "You're a good lightweight. I'd like to manage you." He wanted young Joseph to train and do roadwork for a while and then come down to the gym and see him. Young Joseph trained, getting up every morning to do so, and then he went to the gym. There he saw the current lightweight champion of the world working out and sparring in the gym. He also saw the lightweight's managers - men wearing suits and pinkie rings and smoking cigars. Young Joseph thought, I'm getting into this business at the wrong end. He turned around and walked out of the gym.
A cashier ("Anonymous") at a Wisconsin department store wrote about talking with another cashier when a customer approached them. The other cashier said, "Hi, we are both open and can help." The customer asked, "Well, which of you wants to help me more?" Of course, it didn't really matter to the two cashiers - both were willing to help the customer. The customer asked, "Then how about you fight for the honor of checking out my items. You know - a fight to the death?" The cashiers were unwilling to do that - "Too much blood. It's a mess to clean up" - so the cashiers played a game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would help the customer. "Anonymous" wrote, "I ultimately lost, but it made the customer happy and was the highlight of the evening!"
Cartoon director Chuck Jones of Bugs Bunny fame did not make a lot of money when he created cartoons for Warner Brothers, but he valued the autonomy he had on the job - he could make decisions. Walt Disney paid his employees more money, but Walt retained the right to make all of the decisions. His employees would sometimes wait weeks for Walt to make a decision. Chuck once worked for four months for Walt, and he told him, "There's only one job worth having at this studio: yours." Walt replied, "That job's taken."
Walt Disney stuck up for his employees. One of his employees mowed the grass by the window of a visiting film company executive who was so annoyed that he shouted at the employee. Mr. Disney called the executive into his office and told him, "You spoke harshly to that man. He's been with me for 20 years. I don't want it to happen again." The executive replied, "Yes, sir." By the way, Mr. Disney once stated what he felt was the way to success: "Quit talking - and start doing it."
When Count Basie broke up his big band and started a sextet, everyone was surprised that Freddie "Pepper" Green, an important part of Count Basie's "All-American Rhythm Section" for 14 years, was not part of the sextet. But Pepper showed up for work anyway, telling Count Basie, "After I gave you the best years of my life, you think you're going to leave me now?" The six-musician group became a seven-musician group, and Pepper worked for Count Basie another 35 years.
Heinrich Conried, director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, knew that the clouds in Wagner's Walkόre are important, and once he spent three hours rehearsing the movement of the clouds with the stagehands before a performance. He then told them, "Very good! If you do it as well as that tonight, I shall be much pleased." One of the stagehands replied, "But Mr. Conried, we shall not be here tonight. Our eight-hour day expires at five o'clock."
The father of syndicated columnist Froma Harrop worked in a box factory during the Great Depression. As you would probably expect, everyone was broke and desperate for money. However, her father told her that whenever overtime was available, the employees let it go to an employee who was raising children. Ms. Harrop explains, "The laborers were obeying the unwritten and unenforceable 'humanity clause,' whereby one gives up some personal gain in deference to another's screaming need."
"Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work." - Robert Orben
"It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up." - Muhammad Ali
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD is on vacation.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Little bit of rain.
Los Angeles
'Obama Boulevard'
With music, food, thousands of excited residents and VIP guests, Los Angeles renamed a street after former President Barack Obama Saturday evening, replacing Rodeo Road.
Not to be confused with Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Rodeo Road is a 3 ½-mile street that runs through the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw neighborhoods in South L.A.
Among those attending the ceremony were Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Council President Herb Wesson, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) and other elected leaders.
Before the unveiling at 5 p.m. PT, residents were treated to a concert where Doug E. Fresh, Yo-Yo, Kurupt, Alex Isley, Sheila E. and others were slated to perform.
The road is located near "president's row," a series of streets named after former U.S. presidents, including Washington Boulevard, Adams Boulevard and Jefferson Boulevard.
'Obama Boulevard'
Top Winners
Daytime Emmys
Code blue: "General Hospital" was the evening's big winner at the Daytime Emmy Awards, with five awards, followed by "The Young and the Restless," with three, and culinary series "Valerie's Home Cooking" with two. Syndicated series led the night with seven wins overall, followed by ABC and CBS with five each.
"CBS Sunday Morning" won for best morning program, beating "Good Morning America" (which had previously won two in a row), while "Ellen DeGeneres" once again grabbed the talk show entertainment category over last year's winner, "The Talk."
Perhaps the most emotional win of the night, however: "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek, who recently revealed his battle with pancreatic cancer, won for outstanding game show host.
Besides Trebek, winning hosts included Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest for entertainment talk show host, while Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host went to Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb for "Today Show with Kathie Lee & Hoda." That was a farewell award for Gifford, who has departed that show.
The Daytime Emmy Awards recognize outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television and are presented to individuals and programs broadcast from 2:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. during the 2018 calendar year.
Daytime Emmys
GLAAD Awards
Madonna
Madonna, a pioneer for gay rights, accepted the Advocate for Change Award at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards with a rousing speech that went from playful to emotional, bringing the audience to its feet.
The 60-year-old pop icon turned heads as she walked to her table at the Hilton Midtown in New York on Saturday night, before taking the stage to celebrate her three decades of advocacy work in the LGBTQ community.
"Why have I always fought for change? That's a hard question to answer. It's like trying to explain the importance of reading or the need to love. Growing up I always felt like an outsider, like I didn't fit in. It wasn't because I didn't shave under my armpits, I just didn't fit in, OK," she said. "The first gay man I ever met was named Christopher Flynn. He was my ballet teacher in high school and he was the first person that believed in me, that made me feel special as a dancer, as an artist and as a human being. I know this sounds trivial and superficial, but he was the first man to tell me I was beautiful."
Madonna also said Flynn pushed her to leave Michigan and go to New York to pursue her dreams. And when she arrived in the Big Apple in 1977, she was in awe with all New York had to offer - diversity, creativity - but she also learned about the AIDS epidemic.
The multi-hour GLAAD event also gave awards to Andy Cohen, the FX series "Pose" and "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story," Samantha Bee, the film "Boy Erased," CNN's Don Lemon and R&B singer Janelle Monae. The event will air on Logo on May 12.
Madonna
Plagiarism Lawsuit Dropped
Stranger Things
In a development that's so seemingly straightforward that it almost feels like the invisible hand of a massive government conspiracy has stepped in to guide events in a specific way, the Stranger Things plagiarism lawsuit has been dropped by the plaintiff just a few days before it was set to go to trial. A judge rejected an attempt from Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer to get the case dismissed just weeks ago, but now-as reported by Deadline-the suit has been fully withdrawn by filmmaker Charles Kessler.
This all started about a year ago, when Kessler claimed that he had pitched the Duffers on an idea for a feature film called Montauk about a secret government facility in a small town that had inadvertently tapped into some wild sci-fi nightmares. That, of course, is the same premise as the Duffers' hit Netflix show, which also had the working title Montauk while it was in development, and while that may seem like a nail in Stranger Things' coffin, it was actually a reference to the real-life conspiracy theory involving the real-life town of Montauk and the real-life military base nearby that may have been involved in weirdo sci-fi experiments during the Cold War.
In an oddly cordial statement, Kessler explained that he chose to withdraw his suit after hearing some expert testimony and looking at the evidence the Duffers had provided:
After hearing the deposition testimony this week of the legal expert I hired, it is now apparent to me that, whatever I may have believed in the past, my work had nothing to do with the creation of Stranger Things. Documents from 2010 and 2013 prove that the Duffers independently created their show. As a result, I have withdrawn my claim and I will be making no further comment on this matter.
"Whatever I may have believed in the past" is an odd line when dealing with sci-fi conspiracies. Just saying. Anyway, Netflix's main concern in all of this has been that a trial may have required it to give up Stranger Things secrets and spoilers, which could've hurt the show no matter how things turned out. It, naturally, is happy about this turn of events, and Netflix released a statement of its own about how proud it is of the Duffers brothers for having created such a "groundbreaking and original" show.
Stranger Things
Control Freak
Louis CK
After his jokes about the Parkland school shooting survivors prompted backlash last December, Louis CK is clamping down on cellphones and recording devices being used at his stand-up shows.
On the website for the Acme Comedy Company in Minneapolis, which is hosting Louis CK for four sold out shows this week, the venue outlines a cellphone policy requiring attendees to lock their phones, smart watches and other recording devices in locked Yondr bags for the duration of the show.
And if the audience wants to tweet about any of the jokes the comedian makes, that's banned too.
"Louis CK owns all rights in the content and materials, including any jokes and sketches (the "Materials"), delivered during his performance," the site reads. "The Materials may not be copied, translated, transmitted, displayed, distributed, or reproduced verbatim (the "Use"), in whole or in part, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, without the express prior written consent of Louis CK."
Louis CK
Confusion Over Coronation Ceremony Cat
Thailand
Animal lovers in Thailand were thrown into confusion on Sunday over whether a Siamese cat presented to the newly crowned Thai king and his queen was a living feline - or not.
Thailand is holding three days of coronation events for King Maha Vajiralongkorn, 66, who was officially crowned on Saturday in elaborate ceremonies.
It is tradition at royal coronations to present a cat - as well as several symbolic household items - to a new monarch as part of the private Assumption of the Royal Residence blessing ceremony, which was held on Saturday at the Chakrabat Biman residence.
Cats are considered lucky by many Thais and the tradition of giving one as a housewarming gift signifies a stable home.
A palace official, contacted by Reuters, said: "The royal ceremony required the use of a rooster and a cat. It should not be the focus whether the animals were real or not, but instead the ritual itself is important."
Thailand
Suffered From "Claw Hand"
Leonardo da Vinci
Famed artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci suffered from a crippled right hand late in life, usually attributed to a stroke. In a new paper in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, two Italian researchers argue that Leonardo more likely suffered from a condition colloquially known as "claw hand." They base their argument on analysis of a 16th-century portrait of en elderly Leonardo.
The quintessential Renaissance man was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary named Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci. (His mother, Caterina, was a peasant.) Much of what we know about Leonardo's life comes from the writing of the 16th-century painter and historian Giorgio Vasari, in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.
But when Antonio de Beatis, personal assistant to Cardinal Luigi d'Aragona, visited Leonardo's workshop in 1517, he noted in his diary, "One cannot indeed expect any more good work from him, as a certain paralysis has crippled his right hand." This would explain why Leonardo produced far fewer paintings in his last years, although he continued to teach and make many sketches and drawings. His right hand had been damaged, and he could no longer use it to hold palettes and brushes, although he could still write and draw with his dominant left hand.
There was strong consensus among historians that Leonardo likely suffered a stroke (possibly due to a vegetarian diet high in dairy) in his final years that left his right hand gnarled and unusable. Alternatively, he may have suffered from Dupuytren's disease, a rare condition that severely contracts and cripples the hand.
The Italian researchers, Davide Lazzeri and Carlo Rossi, argue that both these diagnoses are wrong. Instead, they advocate that a fainting episode damaged the ulnar nerve in his right hand, leading to ulnar palsy (aka claw hand) and making fine motor movement nearly impossible.
Leonardo da Vinci
University of South Carolina
Rare Comic Books
The University of South Carolina Libraries, in a press release, says it has received a gift of more than 180,000 comic books and related materials from lifelong collector Gary Lee Watson.
Now known as one of the largest comic book collections in the U.S., the collection includes a variety of materials including: 143,000 unique comic books, 20,000 magazines, 15,000 paperbacks and much more.
WIS-TV reports the collection will begin to be cataloged and processed for research and classroom purposes at the university.
School officials say an exhibit at the library will be on display starting Aug. 29.
Rare Comic Books
Weekend Box Office
'Avengers Endgame'
"Avengers: Endgame" continued its global domination at the box office in a second week victory lap that saw the blockbuster cross the $2 billion mark in record time and unseat "Titanic" as the second highest-grossing film ever worldwide. Domestically, newcomers, including thrillers ("The Intruder"), well-reviewed comedies ("Long Shot") or animated family fare ("Uglydolls") were left in the dust to pick up the scraps.
The Walt Disney Co. estimated Sunday that "Endgame" added $145.8 million from North American theaters and $282.2 million internationally bringing its global total to $2.2 billion. "Endgame" is one of five movies to ever reach that threshold and, not accounting for inflation, is now second worldwide only to "Avatar's" $2.8 billion. "Avatar" reached $2 billion in 47 days of release compared with 11 for "Endgame," although in 2009 the theatrical landscape was different, most notably so in China.
In second place, "The Intruder," a modestly budgeted ($8 million) thriller with Dennis Quaid and Meagan Good, survived poor reviews and did the best of the batch with $11 million in box office receipts. The Sony/Screen Gems film was released on 2,222 screens.
Although close behind on the charts in third place, Lionsgate and Point Grey's "Long Shot," a politically-themed romantic comedy with Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron, failed to make a significant dent against its pricier budget. The film, which was the best reviewed of the newcomers by far, grossed an estimated $10 million from 3,230 screens, against a reported $40 million budget. But word-of-mouth could also help propel "Long Shot" to profits ultimately.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1."Avengers: Endgame," $145.8 million ($282.2 million international).
2."The Intruder," $11 million.
3."Long Shot," $10 million ($3.3 million international).
4."Uglydolls," $8.5 million ($955,000 international).
5."Captain Marvel," $4.3 million ($1.2 million international).
6."Breakthrough," $3.9 million.
7."The Curse of La Llorona," $3.5 million ($5.8 million international).
8."Shazam!" $2.5 million ($2.3 million international).
9."Little," $1.5 million ($400,000 international).
10."Dumbo," $1.4 million ($4 million international).
'Avengers Endgame'
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