Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Anonymous, Evan V. Symon: 6 Things I Learned Having My Penis Surgically Removed (Cracked)
There are a number of things that your stereotypical male never wants to hear over the course of his life, like "We're out of beer," "Your wife saw you," or "That 1975 Camaro you bought in high school is finally beyond repair." But none of those even come close to the horror of hearing a doctor diagnose cancer of the penis.
Felix Clay: 4 Bad Ass Works Of Art That Shouldn't Exist (Cracked)
Where does art come from? Bob Ross. End of paragraph. Where does inspiration for art that's not as good as Bob Ross' totally awesome and exceptionally easy to reproduce on your own art come from? That's hard to say.
John Naughton: If Steve Jobs's death didn't ruin Apple, the iCar surely will (Guardian)
The tech firm has prospered under its new boss, but a move into the auto industry is a wrong turn.
Steven W Thrasher: "Summertime and the livin' is easy (for the rich)" (Guardian)
When the sun comes out, we can see that the wealthy have the right to leisure and relaxation, unlike the rest of us.
Anna Bernasek and DT Mongan: Big data is coming for your purchase history - to charge you more money (Guardian)
Unprotected consumer data will allow price personalization by companies who know how much you need something and how much you can manage pay.
Thomas Lake: "'Always a rotten apple': BB King, poison and the daughters of an infertile legend" (Guardian)
As a blues man is laid to rest in the Mississippi Delta, questions linger about how he died. Between the white horses and the family intrigue, the thrill is never gone.
Charles Shaar Murray: BB King was that rare thing - a game-changer who was also beloved (Guardian)
The blues legend, who has died aged 89, pioneered a style - and did so with a grace that made him a hero to fans and musicians alike.
HENRY ROLLINS: LESSONS FROM THE DIY TRENCHES (LA Weekly)
The further I go and the more I learn, the more I'm convinced that the future, at least in art and culture, does not belong to massive corporations and mediocre, tame displays of expression. With more opportunities for truly great ideas to come to fruition and reach so many so easily, this is the century to be in.
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David Bruce has over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
, wrote:
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Re: Vinegar
First day of chemistry class, my assigned partner and I were to identify the unlabeled acid we were given. Partner immediately spilled the acid all over me. Fortunately, the acid turned out to be vinegar. I don't remember working with that girl again..ever...on anything. Loved the chemistry teacher.
Hope you are doing well. I look forward to and love each year's caterpillar pictures. Gary and Leland are a hoot! Can't wait to see the butterflies!
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
There are at least 6 chrysalises hiding on the back fence, and I haven't been able to find them - yet. Combination of great camouflage, poor eyesight, and not enough time. Sigh.
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
May gray gives way to June gloom.
Celebrate Amy Schumer, John Oliver
Peabody Awards
Hundreds of celebrants braved a muggy night and a torrential downpour to acknowledge the recipients of the Peabody Awards, an eclectic bunch that ran the gamut from documentarian Alex Gibney to NBC News correspondent Richard Engel to "Serial" podcaster Sarah Koenig to comedians Amy Schumer and John Oliver.
The "Serial" award struck one of the most intriguing notes of the evening, as it is the first podcast to win a Peabody. Koenig, the force behind the series, told the crowd assembled at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan that much of the program was recorded in her basement, with blankets used to muffle unwanted sounds.
NPR, PBS and CNN were among the bigger winners of the night, though the event took on a different tone as host Fred Armisen moved from talking about real news programming to satire and parody. Tina Fey took the stage to present a Peabody - and a big mouth-kiss - to Amy Schumer, noting "Amy's honesty is making everyone furious" as it is displayed in the Comedy Central program "Inside Amy Schumer."
The 74th annual Peabody ceremony marked the first time the event was given a night-time awards show treatment complete with red carpet. Highlights of the three-hour ceremony will air June 21 on cabler Pivot.
Peabody Awards
São José-Paquete de Africa
Smithsonian
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture will display objects from a slave ship that sank off the coast of Cape Town in 1794.
The artifacts were retrieved this year from the wreck site of a Portuguese slave ship that sank on its way to Brazil while carrying more than 400 enslaved Africans from Mozambique. Objects recovered from the ship, called the São José-Paquete de Africa, include iron ballasts used to weigh the ship down and copper fastenings that held the structure of the ship together.
Lonnie G. Bunch III, the director of the African American history museum, said in a statement that the ship "represents one of the earliest attempts to bring East Africans into the trans-Atlantic slave trade."
The objects from the slave ship are to be on a long-term loan to the Smithsonian from the Iziko Museums of South Africa. Officials have known the site of the wreck for a number of years and suspected the ship was a slave ship, but research only recently confirmed it.
Smithsonian
Trailer Turned Canvas Up For Auction
Banksy
Painted by one of the world's most famous street artists, installed first at a mud-soaked music festival and then beneath an oak tree, the trailer was home first to an itinerant British couple and then their growing family.
In 1998, the truck owner knew Banksy as someone he had once busked with in Bristol, England, and the friend of his sister's boyfriend, and for 200 pounds (about $300 at the time), he agreed to turn his trailer into a blank canvas for the Glastonbury music festival.
Recently pried off the trailer, the work called "Silent Majority," which depicts a commando raid to install sound gear for a rave, goes up for auction Monday in Paris.
The Digard auction house hopes it will fetch at least $400,000. Failing that, the plan is to put it up for private sale.
The owner wanted only his first name, Nathan, to be used to avoid more hassle over his strange and valuable possession. His four children, who tagged along to Paris, still treat the work casually, slipping up alongside it on the street where it was displayed for the weekend.
Banksy
Two More Print Runs For Memoir
Laura Ingalls Wilder
The autobiography of prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder, a blockbuster for the South Dakota State Historical Society Press, is expected to jump to about 145,000 copies in print by mid-summer.
The press' director, Nancy Tystad Koupal, said the small state-owned publishing house is ordering two more print runs of the book totaling about 20,000 additional copies. "Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography," edited by Pamela Smith Hill, was released in November by the publishing house. The memoir, written for an adult audience, has been a best-seller.
Wilder wrote her autobiography in the early 1930s. By then, she had been settled on her Missouri farm for decades, but her early life took the Ingalls family on a journey that includes what today are Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota. The book was written for an adult audience and gives a more realistic, grittier view of frontier living than Wilder's popular children's series of "Little House on the Prairie" books.
The initial print run of the book was 15,000 copies, and it's on its fifth printing. Tystad Koupal said the memoir's success allows the "small little press on the prairie" to finance other projects. The additional 20,000 copies are meant to help keep the book stocked in stores when the holiday shopping season begins, she said.
Kathy Borkowski, director of the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, said the number of copies in print is "really unusual." She said a typical print run for her press is roughly 5,000 copies.
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Hiking Permits
Grand Canyon
It isn't clear yet if a new permit program for rim-to-rim hikes at the Grand Canyon is proving successful, park officials said Sunday.
Grand Canyon National Park so far has given out fewer permits than expected because the new system went into effect last September. Only nine permits have been given this year, park spokeswoman Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski said.
There is still confusion among visitors about whether a permit is needed for the cross-canyon hike, said Cori Conner, a supervisory park ranger. "So far it's kind of mixed. We're still evaluating it daily," Conner told the Arizona Daily Sun.
The permit program was implemented so Grand Canyon Park could address overcrowding, litter and safety issues. The trails get trashed with abandoned or cached gear, Shedlowski said. The litter includes human waste. The restrooms and water-treatment facilities have also felt the weight of so many people.
Another advantage to the permits, which cost a minimum fee of $175, is park officials can touch base with the groups and educate them. Officials can brief visitors about trail etiquette and make sure they are prepared for such a trek.
Grand Canyon
Drone Accident
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias was recovering Sunday after some of his fingers were sliced when he grabbed a drone during a concert in Tijuana, Mexico.
A representative for the singer said in a statement to The Associated Press that Iglesias was "semi-treated" after the accident at the side of the stage to stop the bleeding on Saturday night. He was advised to end the show but went on to perform for an additional 30 minutes.
"During the show a drone is used to get crowd shots and some nights Enrique grabs the drone to give the audience a Point of View shot. Something went wrong and he had an accident," the statement read. "He decided to go on and continued playing for 30 minutes while the bleeding continued throughout the show."
"He was rushed to the airport where an ambulance met him there. He was then put on a plane to L.A. to see a specialist," the statement read.
Enrique Iglesias
Oldest Synagogue In The US
Touro Synagogue
A bitter struggle for control over the nation's oldest synagogue goes to trial this week, with lawyers saying they may use more than 1,000 exhibits dating as far back as 1733.
The congregation that worships at the 250-year-old Touro Synagogue in Newport says its very existence is at stake. The congregation that owns it accuses the Newport congregation of lawlessness for agreeing to sell a pair of ceremonial bells valued at more than $7 million.
The lawsuit and countersuit, brought by the nation's first Jewish congregation, are being heard in a bench trial beginning Monday in U.S. District Court in Providence and rely on centuries of history.
Dedicated in 1763, the Touro Synagogue sits on a hill in this seaside town of Colonial homes and cobblestone streets. It is a National Historic Site and has been visited by three presidents: George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.
Touro Synagogue
Future Of Amphitheater Sparks Divide
Chautauqua Institution
It's a 122-year-old stage that has played host to soaring speeches, debates and musical performances from such luminaries as Susan B. Anthony, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Robert F. Kennedy and Duke Ellington.
But the biggest debate now at the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater is whether to go ahead with a plan to demolish and rebuild the open-air venue affectionately known as "the Amp."
Administrators say a reconstruction is necessary for the viability of the institution - and they note there have been so many fixes over the years that little of the hall's original construction remains anyway. But preservationists say there must be a better way than a complete rebuild.
"The Amphitheater has always been the centerpiece, the beating heart if you want to call it that" of the not-for-profit intellectual and arts retreat, said Brian Berg, a summer resident who leads a group, Savetheamp.org, that this year secured a "National Treasure" designation for the hall in its fight against demolition.
The dispute has cast an uncharacteristic air of conflict around the gated enclave that comes alive as a bastion of enlightenment and learning for nine weeks each year.
Chautauqua Institution
Weekend Box Office
'San Andreas'
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson out-muscled the competition at domestic movie theaters as the earthquake epic "San Andreas" hauled in an estimated $53.2 million over the weekend. It was Johnson's biggest debut for a non-sequel as the top-billed actor, according to box office tracker Rentrak.
The action star helped the movie over-perform on the West Coast despite fears that audiences in earthquake-prone regions would shy away, said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros., which distributed the film made by its New Line unit.
"Aloha," the critically maligned romantic comedy from director Cameron Crowe, opened in sixth place with $10 million.
For the year to date, box office revenues for theaters in the U.S. and Canada are up nearly 5 percent at $4.26 billion, while attendance is up more than 4 percent.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "San Andreas," $53.2 million.
2. "Pitch Perfect 2," $14.8 million.
3. "Tomorrowland," $13.8 million.
4. "Mad Max: Fury Road," $13.6 million.
5. "Avengers: Age of Ultron," $10.9 million.
6. "Aloha," $10 million.
7. "Poltergeist," $7.8 million.
8. "Far From the Madding Crowd," $1.4 million.
9. "Hot Pursuit," $1.4 million.
10. "Home," $1.2 million.
'San Andreas'
In Memory
Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer, the veteran character actress who achieved lasting, though not necessarily sought-after, fame as the murderous camp cook in the cheesy horror film "Friday the 13th," has died at age 88.
Palmer had appeared in films, on Broadway and in TV shows for decades before she took the role of Mrs. Voorhees in the campy 1980 movie in which young camp counselors suddenly begin meeting their bloody demise. The back story was that she was the mother of Jason Voorhees, who had died at the camp years before. He would come to life in several sequels that Palmer passed on.
She would say in later years that she only took the role in that first film because she wanted the money to buy a new car.
Palmer had appeared in numerous TV shows dating to the early 1950s Golden Age of Television. Among them were such classic dramas as "Kraft Theatre," ''Playhouse 90" and "Studio One."
Her film credits included "Mr. Roberts" with Henry Fonda, "The Long Gray Line" with Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara, "Queen Bee" with Joan Crawford, and "The Tin Star" with Fonda and Anthony Perkins.
Other TV credits included "Knot's Landing," ''The Love Boat," ''Newhart," ''Just Shoot Me" and "Murder, She Wrote." She also appeared in several Broadway plays, including "Same Time, Next Year" and "Cactus Flower."
Palmer is survived by her daughter, Melissa Merendino.
Betsy Palmer
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