from Bruce
Anecdotes
Audiences
• Believe it or not, changing your hairstyle suddenly can put you at a disadvantage in competitive gymnastics. In Moscow, at the 1958 World Championships, Soviet gymnast Polina Astakhova suddenly decided to change to a more fashionable hairstyle, so instead of pulling her hair back into a bun as she usually did, she wore pigtails decorated with blue ribbons. Unfortunately, because of the change in hairstyles, the audience did not recognize her and so they did not give her the burst of applause that can be so helpful in releasing adrenaline and influencing judges. Of course, as soon as she was able, she went back to her usual hairstyle, and the audience recognized her and gave her the usual ovation.
Autographs
• Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes once visited the troops in Vietnam to boost their morale. During one stop, he spoke to the troops, then asked if there was anyone from Ohio who was not able to be present because of duty. After finding out that an Ohio soldier was on guard duty in an unsafe zone, Mr. Hayes insisted that a helicopter take him to the soldier, where he attempted to autograph a photograph for the soldier but discovered that his only pen was out of ink. He told the soldier, “Come see me when you get home and I’ll finish signing the picture.” Three years later, the ex-soldier was attending Ohio State University. When he went to Mr. Hayes’ office, the coach wasn’t there, but the ex-soldier did leave his telephone number. After attending classes, the soldier went home and found Mr. Hayes waiting for him. Mr. Hayes finished signing the photograph, then stayed for a dinner of macaroni and cheese with the ex-soldier and his wife.
• Figure skater Carol Heiss won five gold medals at the World Championships, a silver medal at the 1956 Olympics, and a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. Oddly, to many people only one of those medals means anything. One day, at the Winterhurst Figure Skating Club in Lakewood, Ohio, a woman came in who didn’t know Ms. Heiss. They started talking, and the woman discovered that Ms. Heiss had won the silver medal at the 1956 Olympics. The woman said, “Oh, that’s too bad … what did you go on to do after that?” Ms. Heiss said that she had continued to compete and had won Olympic gold in 1960. Hearing this, the woman was suddenly impressed and wanted Ms. Heiss’ autograph. Ms. Heiss gave her the autograph, but she also told her, “I’m very proud of my silver medal in 1956. First time I made the Olympic team, and I’m on the podium.”
• As an 11-year-old, gymnast Shannon Miller finished second (behind Wendy Bruce) in the all-around competition in the Alamo Classic. Afterward, the pre-teen Shannon signed autographs for her adoring fans. In fact, when her father, Ron, went up to talk to her, other parents grew angry at him because they thought he was cutting in line.
• In 1992, Dominique Moceanu, then a member of the junior national gymnastics team, had her goal set to compete in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. When asked by fans to sign her autograph, she often wrote, “Dominique Moceanu, Atlanta Olympics, for sure!” She won a team gold medal in Atlanta.
• “Shoeless Joe” Jackson was one of baseball’s greatest hitters in the early 1900s, but he was also nearly illiterate and sometimes signed his name with an “X.” Frequently, fans would mail requests for autographed baseballs to his house, but it was his wife, Katie, who signed his name to the baseballs.
• Gordon Gee, the former president of the Ohio State University, looks like Lou Holtz, the coach of the Notre Dame football team. One day, someone asked Mr. Gee for his autograph, which he willingly gave. The fan looked at the autograph, then asked, “Who are you? I thought you were Lou Holtz.”
Birth
• When Russian ice skater Ekaterina Gordeeva was giving birth in New Jersey to her daughter (Daria), she was in terrific pain. Her doctor offered to give her a shot to make the pain go away, but she had to read and sign a form — written in English, of course — first. Ekaterina’s husband, Sergei Mikhailovich Grinkov, didn’t speak English, and because she was in such great pain, she wasn’t able to read the form (at that point, she wasn’t able to think in English anymore). Still, because she wanted the pain to go away, she signed the form, even though she was afraid that the form would maybe also make her car and her Rolex go away.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. was first, and correct, with:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "All the People"
Album: SIDBURY
Artist: Darren Tuck
Record Company: Aldora Britain Records
Record Company Location: Rothley, England
Info: This compilation album has 24 tracks by various artists.
“AB Records is an e-zine and record label that promotes the music and work of authentic independent or underground artists from all around the world. Originally established in 2013, they revamped themselves in 2018 with a brand-new approach. Their first weekly compilation, aptly titled THE SECOND COMING, was released in late 2019. They now also release original singles, EPs and charity projects.”
Price: £2.40 (GBP) for 24-track album
Genre: Pop. Various.
Links:
SIDBURY
Aldora Britain Records
Aldora Britain Records on YouTube
Darren Tuck on YouTube
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still way too toasty.
Cannes
Sean Penn
During a press conference for his Cannes Competition film Flag Day, actor-director Sean Penn took aim at former president Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up) after being questioned about own humanitarian efforts during the ongoing pandemic — on his own dime, and under the banner of his Core (Community Organized Relief Effort) project, Penn has been responsible for bringing much-needed testing and vaccinations to deprived areas in major U.S. cities.
“I don’t think that I can illuminate anything that shouldn’t be plain to the eye,” Penn said calmly. “We were — not only as a country, but as a world — let down and ultimately neglected, misinformed, had truth and reason assaulted under what was, in all terms, an obscene administration, humanly and politically. When my team and I would come home from test and vaccination sites at night, particularly during the testing period during the Trump administration… it really felt like there was someone with a machine gun gunning down communities that were the most vulnerable from a turret at the White House.”
He reserved praise for Trump’s successor Joe Biden and the task force he assembled shortly after taking over in January this year. “It was like a sun was rising,” he remarked. “But there was no effort of integrity coming from the federal government until after the Trump administration was dismissed.”
The comments proved to be a rare detour into a politics; the rest of the press conference was spent discussing Penn’s film, an adaption of the memoir by Jennifer Vogel, in which Penn plays the author’s real-life conman father John Vogel and Penn’s daughter Dylan plays Jennifer herself.
Sean Penn
Weekend Box Office
‘Black Widow’
Even with an option to watch “Black Widow” at home, audiences went to the movie theater in pandemic record numbers this weekend to catch the first Marvel movie released in two years.
The Walt Disney Co. said Sunday the superhero pic generated an estimated $80 million in ticket sales in North America. Combined with $78 million from international theaters and at least $60 million in Disney+ Premier Access rentals, “Black Widow” grossed over $215 million in its first weekend. The studio said it’s the largest domestic opening weekend since “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” debuted in 2019, pre-pandemic.
“F9” came in second place with an estimated $10.8 million, bringing its domestic total to $140.8 million in its third weekend out in North America. Globally, it’s grossed $541.8 million. Universal also held the third and fourth place spots with the animated sequel “The Boss Baby: Family Business,” which added $8.7 million, and the horror “The Forever Purge,” with $6.7 million. “A Quiet Place Part II” rounded out the top five with $3 million.
Currently, 81% of North American theaters are open, and most are operating at full capacity. Overall the films this weekend grossed a total of $117 million. It’s the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that a moviegoing weekend has surpassed $100 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Black Widow,” $80 million.
2. “F9,” $10.9 million.
3. “The Boss Baby: Family Business,” $8.7 million.
4. “The Forever Purge,” $6.7 million.
5. “A Quiet Place Part II,” $3 million.
6. “Cruella,” $2.2 million.
7. “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” $1.6 million.
8. “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,” $1.3 million.
9. “In the Heights,” $630,000.
10. “Zola,” $620,000.
‘Black Widow’
Unopened Game Sells For $1.56M
Super Mario 64
An unopened copy of Nintendo’s Super Mario 64 has sold at auction for $1.56 million.
Heritage Auctions in Dallas said that the 1996 game sold Sunday, breaking its previous record price for the sale of a single video game.
Super Mario 64 was the best-selling game on the Nintendo 64 and the first to feature the Mario character in 3D, the auction house said in a statement.
The sale follows an unopened copy of Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda selling at auction Friday for $870,000. Valarie McLeckie, Heritage’s video game specialist, said the auction house was shocked to see a game sell for more than a $1 million two days after the Zelda game broke its past record.
In April, the auction house sold an unopened copy of Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. that was bought in 1986 and forgotten about in a desk drawer for $660,000.
Super Mario 64
Jungle Cruise Makeover
Di$neyland
Disney has soft opened the latest of its classic attractions to receive a makeover. The Jungle Cruise was announced to be reopening on July 16 at Disneyland, but guests at the park began posting their thoughts about — and images of — the reimagined ride on Friday as its tramp steamers once again began accepting passengers. (Disney World’s Jungle Cruise is expected to relaunch “this summer.”)
The most obvious change is that any characterization of so-called “natives,” one of whom held a number of shrunken heads and others of whom seemed to be cannibals, has been removed.
The enhancements include several new scenes and new characters that replace or reimagine the old ones. For instance, there is now a safari party that finds itself up a tree trapped by a rhino and hyenas.
That rhino had previously been threatening a number of frightened-looking “natives” wearing what looked to be fezzes.
And there are monkeys. Lots more monkeys, including a troop that has taken over the Mekong Maiden.
Di$neyland
Study Finds It Isn’t Real
‘California Exodus’
The idea of a “California exodus” that has seen waves of residents abandon the state has been steadily gaining steam. But new research has revealed it appears to be more myth than reality.
Researchers from a consortium of universities – including the Berkeley, UCLA, Cornell and Stanford – teamed up in the fall of 2020 to study California’s population. Their finding, released this week, determined there was “no evidence of an abnormal increase in residents planning to move out of the state”.
The consortium assessed information from various sources to review whether there was an exodus. Data included public opinion and US census figures, home ownership rates, consumer credit histories and venture capital investments.
Discussion of the flight from California has often focused on the state’s high tax rate, its expensive housing and high cost of living, and quality-of-life concerns such as homelessness, particularly in more conservative circles. Elon Musk decamped to Texas in 2020, saying California was taking its status “for granted”.
But more than 3,000 Californians surveyed said at a nearly 2-to-1 margin that they thought the state was a great place to reside and raise a family. “The majority of Californians still believe in the ‘California dream’,” researchers said.
‘California Exodus’
Getting COVID
Blame
Former President Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up) believed that he contracted COVID-19 last October from ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, according to a forthcoming book by journalist Michael Wolff.
Shortly before Trump announced he tested positive coronavirus on October 2, he worked with Christie to prepare for the September 29 presidential debate against Joe Biden.
Trump, a self-described germaphobe, had "seen the spittle" come out of Christie's mouth and "tried to duck from the droplets" as they sat across from each other at practice debate sessions, Wolff wrote in his book, "Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency."
Trump later blamed his exposure to COVID-19 on Christie, who tested positive around the same time as him and battled the virus for a week in the ICU.
Whether or not Christie gave coronavirus to Trump, the former president was "convinced" that he did, Wolff wrote.
Blame
Rewriting
History
Before his headlining remarks at the nation’s largest Republican conference, after its panels and speakers spent three days giving credence to his false “stolen election” narrative that fuelled violence at the US Capitol, Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up) appeared on Fox News to revive his baseless conspiracy theory and downplay his supporters’ attack on Congress.
He called his failure to overturn millions of Americans’ votes “a terrible blot on our country” and lashed out at the US Supreme Court for refusing to indulge in spurious lawsuits to reject election outcomes in states he lost to Joe Biden.
He called his remarks before the riot “a very mild-mannered speech” – although he faces several lawsuits for telling his supporters to “fight like hell” and was impeached by the House of Representatives a second time for his months-long campaign to undermine election results that inspired the riot.
The former president said there was “such love at that rally” but admitted “they were there for one reason: the rigged election”.
“Who shot Ashli Babbit? Why are they keeping that secret?” he said. “I’ve heard also that it was the head of security for a certain high official – a Democrat – and we’ll see. It’s gonna come out.”
History
49 Red Lights
Angry Woman
An angry woman was arrested in Zhejiang Province in eastern China after she deliberately ran 49 red lights in her ex-boyfriend's car, according to local media.
The woman, identified only as Lou, asked a man called Chen to rent her former partner's Audi, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported.
Chen then handed the car to another man called Zhu who, with Lou, used the car in a two-day marathon committing traffic offenses, the Global Times said.
Zhu and Lou also ran 49 red lights before they were stopped by the police, the newspaper added.
The car belonged to some known only as Qian who, according to the Global Times, had dated Lou before leaving her for another woman.
Angry Woman
Meteorite Impact Sites
Drones
It's easy to find large meteorites (or their craters) once they've reached Earth, but the smaller ones often go neglected — scientists recover fewer than 2 percent of them. Soon, however, it might just be a question of sending a robot to do the job. Universe Today reports that researchers have developed a system that has autonomous drones use machine learning to find the smaller meteorites in impact sites that are either 'hidden' (even if observers traced the fall) or simply inaccessible.
The technology uses a mix of convolutional neural networks to recognize meteorites based on training images, both from online images as well as staged shots from the team's collection. This helps the AI distinguish between space rocks and ordinary stones, even with a variety of shapes and terrain conditions.
The results aren't flawless. While a test drone did correctly spot planted meteorites, there were also some false positives. It could be a while before robotic aircraft are trustworthy enough to provide accurate results all on their own.
The implications for space science are significant if the technology proves accurate, though. It would help scientists spot and potentially recover meteorites that are either too small to find or too remote. That, in turn, could help pinpoint meteorite sources and identify the rocks' compositions. Simply put, drones could fill gaps in humanity's understanding of the cosmic debris that lands at our doorstep.
Drones
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