from Bruce
Anecdotes
Coaches
• During Wayne Gretzky’s first season (1979-1980) with the Edmonton Oilers, when the team was still part of the World Hockey Association, he played poor defense, costing his team a goal in a game against the Cincinnati Stingers. Therefore, his coach, Glen Sather, benched him for more than one period. When Mr. Gretzky got back into the game, he scored a hat trick (three points) to lead the Oilers to a 5-2 victory. Mr. Sather was impressed by Mr. Gretzky: “He could have pouted and sulked. But when I put him back in, he scored a hat trick. That, to me, was the turning point of his pro career.”
• Casey Stengel coached third base while managing the Dodgers. During a doubleheader against St. Louis, the Cardinal pitchers Dizzy and Daffy Dean were magnificent. In the first game, Dizzy allowed no Dodger past second base, and in the second game, Daffy pitched a no-run, no-hit game. Following this exhibition of impressive pitching in which no Dodger had reached third base, a fan yelled down to Casey, “Nice work. You never did a better job of coaching third base. I didn’t see you make one mistake all day.”
• At halftime, with his team trailing badly, a 140-pound football coach criticized a 235-pound tackle, who had actually played well, if only the coach would admit it. The coach declared, “You’re just a bum. You can’t take it. If I had your size, I’d be heavyweight champion of the world. Nothing could stop me.” The tackle replied, “What’s keeping you from being lightweight champion?”
• Figure-skating coach Brian Foley knew what to say to motivate his athletes to skate better during competitions. During a World Championship, the brother-and-sister pairs team of Val and Sandra Bezic started to lose momentum. Mr. Foley ran as close as he could to them, then yelled, “Come on, Sandra—Move your *ss.” The bystanders were startled, but Sandra was motivated.
• Don Faurot, football coach at Missouri, punished unsportsmanlike behavior. During a game, one of his players hit an opposing player. Referee Cliff Ogden saw the infraction and came running over to throw the player out of the game. However, the player told him, “You can’t put me out of the game—Faurot’s already beat you to it.”
• Paul Brown ran into some trouble before coaching his first game at Ohio State University—because he did not have a ticket, he was refused admittance to the football stadium. Fortunately, he was able to throw some stones at his players’ window. The noise made by the stones attracted his players’ attention, and they let him in.
Comedians
• Many celebrities early in the 20th century grew up poor, then took up golf later in life, after they had become successful. As a result, they were poor golfers. One day George Jessel came running to George Burns, screaming, “I did it! I did it! I came in with a 99!” When Mr. Burns asked him how he had accomplished such an amazing feat, Mr. Jessel replied, “I’ll tell you how I did it—every shot perfect!”
• Back in high school, lesbian comedian Kate Clinton had a crush on Ruby Gill, whom she called “a smart-*ss cheerleader.” The school’s boys’ basketball team was pathetic, and during a game in which the team was behind 80-40, Ms. Gill started chanting, “Break that tie! Break that tie!”
• British comedian Danny La Rue performs in drag; however, early in his career, performing in drag was not accepted. While he was imitating Mae West in a nightclub, some patrons started throwing ice cubes at him. Mr. La Rue asked, “Hey! Who do you think I am? Sonja Henie?”
Competitiveness
• The 1925 Rose Bowl featured Notre Dame against Stanford. In one play, Stanford fullback Ernie Nevers came close to scoring a touchdown, but when players were pulled off the pileup, Mr. Nevers was discovered to be inches short. This play was controversial, and fans of both sides argued about it for years. At a gathering of football fans and former players, a Stanford booster claimed that Mr. Nevers had scored on the play: “I used high-powered binoculars, and my seat was exactly on the goal line.” Another person, however, said, “I say he didn’t score. I also saw the play.” “Where were you sitting?” asked the Stanford booster. The other person answered, “On Nevers’ head. I’m Harry Stuhldreher, the Notre Dame quarterback that day.” (By the way, Notre Dame won, 27-10.)
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "I Wanna Be Divine"
Album: THE CANDI SCISSORS EP
Artist: Candi Scissors
Artist Location: Alabama
Info:
Candi Scissors is:
Candi Scissors
Marky Horror
Weird Larry
“A 6-song dumpster fire dive into a filthy world populated by John Waters groupies, failed time travelers, turned-on robots, prostitute preachers, serial killer correspondents and alchemical quacks.”
Price: $5 (USD) for six-track EP; tracks cannot be purchased separately
Genre: Rock. Diva. Punk.
Links:
THE CANDI SCISSORS EP
Candi Scissors on YouTube
Other Links:
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Shallow marine layer.
Dismayed Over ‘Jeopardy!’
John Oliver
John Oliver isn’t too pleased about the new host of Jeopardy! either.
The HBO Max host noted his disgruntlement on today’s episode of Last Week Tonight while discussing school mask mandates.
Early in the episode, Oliver played a clip of an angry mob accosting a school board member over mask mandates with a man screaming, “We know who you are.”
“It is genuinely hard to imagine a five word phrase less welcome than ‘we know who you are’ aside from obviously ‘new Jeopardy host Mike Richards,'” Oliver quipped.
John Oliver
North American Box Office
'Free Guy'
The video game action comedy "Free Guy" has topped the North American box office in its opening weekend, taking in $28.4 million, preliminary figures from trade firm Exhibitor Relations showed Sunday.
The horror feature "Don't Breathe 2," about a game of mass murder perpetuated by a blind veteran, came in second place with $10.6 million in its first weekend.
In third place was Disney's family adventure film "Jungle Cruise," based on a theme park ride, with $9 million for the Friday-Sunday period.
Right behind it, the biopic about soul queen Aretha Franklin, "Respect" came in fourth with $8.8 million, and rounding out the top five was the supervillain movie "The Suicide Squad," which amassed $7.8 million.
Here are the rest of the top 10:
"Old" ($2.4 million)
"Black Widow" ($2 million)
"Stillwater" ($1.3 million)
"The Green Knight" ($1.2 million)
"Space Jam: A New Legacy" ($1.2 million)
'Free Guy'
Conservatorship Battle
Nichelle Nichols
Tucked away at the end of a secluded cul-de-sac, Nichelle Nichols’ Woodland Hills home was a testament to her boundary-breaking career spanning more than 70 years. Nichols lined walls and shelves with photos of herself as Lt. Uhura on the original “Star Trek” series, memorabilia from her legions of fans and documentation of her contributions to NASA’s recruitment of women and people of color in the 1970s.
The home was Nichols’ pride and joy, say those close to the star. She purchased it in 1982 for $12,000 and meticulously planned its details, from her plush, oversize furniture to the garden where she planted roses to the neighboring property she purchased in 1994 to use as a guesthouse and workspace for projects.
Questions around the fate of Nichols’ home — who lives in it and what happens to it — have been central to an ongoing, years-long legal battle over the finances and care of the beloved TV star, who friends and family say is financially drained and struggling with dementia.
A three-way fight over Nichols’ fate involves her only child, Kyle Johnson, who is also her conservator; her former manager Gilbert Bell; and a concerned friend, Angelique Fawcette.
At 88, Nichols no longer occupies the house. Last year, Johnson moved her to New Mexico, where he and his wife live. Johnson declined The Times’ requests to speak with Nichols directly.
Nichelle Nichols
Reminds Cawthorn
John Oliver
In-person back to school this year that comes with the added dilemma of each individual school district being left to decide which COVID-19 precautions to enforce — and that’s provoking a lot of heated debate, as John Oliver pointed out in his most recent show.
During his Aug. 15 episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver began the show’s typical news roundup introduction segment by focusing on the challenges school districts face in implementing COVID-19 precautions, like mandating every student wear a mask at school.
He also pointed out that part of the reason there’s a rise in children being hospitalized for the coronavirus is because the adults in their communities, that are eligible for vaccines, are often refusing to take them — and bringing COVID home to their kids. Since only children ages 12-15 are eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations, school-age populations are especially vulnerable to infection.
Oliver noted that many school board meetings across the country have been overrun by parents protesting coronavirus safety measures. One meeting for the Buncombe County Schools Board of Education in Asheville, N.C. was graced by the presence of North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who had some colorful things to say about a county-wide mask mandate in schools.
Before showing a video of Cawthorn’s remarks last week, Oliver reminded us of that time Cawthorn posted a clip of him beating up a tree on his Instagram last March that immediately went viral for well, just how weird it was to watch.
“Madison Cawthorn thinks the biggest threat to children is school board members who think they’re omniscient,” Oliver said. “I’d say, I was surprised by that. But this is a man who once posted this video of himself beating up a tree, so he clearly loves to pick useless fights against imaginary opponents where he comes out looking like a complete asshole.”
John Oliver
Remington Offers $33M Settlement
Sandy Hook
After a seven-year legal battle, the maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre has offered the victims’ families nearly $33 million in a possible settlement for a lawsuit over the company’s marketing of the gun.
The nine families suing Remington Arms are discussing the proposals with their lawyers, said Joshua Koskoff, lead attorney representing the families. Koskoff called the offer "grossly inadequate" but declined further comment. Each family would receive $3.7 million.
Remington’s Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle was used to kill 20 first graders and six teachers in 2012 at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
The suit could shatter long-held perceptions surrounding gunmakers' ability to resist lawsuits related to criminal use of guns they make, experts told USA TODAY. Regardless of outcome, they said, the case may offer the public a rare glimpse into how a major gunmaker markets its products and could shift national conversations about gun violence to center on the marketing of guns.
Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University College of Law, said the shift may have already begun. A federal judge in early August ruled it wouldn't stand in the way of the New Jersey Attorney General's Office's efforts to investigate the marketing practices of gun manufacturer Smith and Wesson. The Mexican government recently filed a lawsuit against several U.S. gunmakers, accusing them of reckless business practices including improper marketing.
Sandy Hook
Child Bride Destination
North Carolina
Known for its coastlines, mountains and the state that was “first in flight,” North Carolina has also developed a more dubious reputation recently: as a regional destination for adults who want to marry children.
State lawmakers are nearing passage of a bill that could dampen the state’s appeal as the go-to place to bring child brides — but would still leave it short of a national push to increase the age to 18. The proposed legislation would raise the minimum marriage age from 14 to 16 and limit the age difference between a 16-year-old and their spouse to four years.
The state is currently one of 13 that allow children under 16 to wed, according to Unchained at Last, a nonprofit organization that advocates ending child and forced marriages in the U.S. Nine of those states have no set minimum age, the group says, relying instead on case law or a judge’s ruling.
Under current North Carolina law, children as young as 14 can get married if they become pregnant and if a judge allows it. Otherwise, children can wed as young as 16 with parental permission. Alaska is the only other state whose law expressly allows marriages as young as 14.
North Carolina
Mental Health
QAnon
Anthony Beckett apologized to his pregnant girlfriend as he tried to force her head underwater.
Beckett, who had become obsessed with the QAnon conspiracy theory, believed that Chinese government officials would abduct his family and that a "great reset" would take place on the day of President Joe Biden's inauguration.
So two days before the inauguration, on January 18, while his pregnant girlfriend was taking a bath after putting the kids to bed, Beckett took a hammer and hit her on the head four times before strangling and attempting to drown her, court documents show.
Two months ago, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail for attempted murder. His lawyer, Jonathan Walker, claimed in court that his client had a history of mental health issues.
The story is only one example of a series of violent incidents linked to believers of the QAnon conspiracy. The most recent saw a father in California killing his two children with a speargun because he thought they would "grow into monsters."
QAnon
Plastic Toxin
Hermit Crabs
In today's anthropogenic world, an innocent hermit crab, just minding its own business and swimming in its search for food, has far more than the usual dangers of predators to contend with.
After expending effort and energy to get to that delicious scent of decaying prawn or mussels, these scavengers may sometimes end up with nutrition-less plastics instead of a fulfilling dinner.
New studies from University of Hull researchers have revealed that several chemicals leaching from plastic pollution poison mussels and befuddling hermit crabs in laboratory experiments.
"Oleamide has a striking resemblance to oleic acid, a chemical released by arthropods during decomposition. As scavengers, hermit crabs may misidentify oleamide as a food source, creating a trap," explained chemical ecologist Paula Schirrmacher.
But it is an organic molecule also found naturally in human blood plasma and animal pheromones. In the cleaner shrimp (Lysmata boggessi), oleamide has been found to help catalyze a mating response in sexual partners through a pheromone bouquet.
Hermit Crabs
How Plants Evolved
Plant Spores
When plants first ventured onto the land, evolving from freshwater-dwelling algae, more than 500 million years ago, they transformed the planet. By drawing carbon dioxide from the air, they cooled Earth, and by eroding rock surfaces they helped build the soil that now covers so much land.
These changes to the planet's atmosphere and land surface paved the way for the evolution of the biosphere we know. Land plants make up around 80 percent of Earth's biomass.
The pioneering plants were small and moss-like, and they had to overcome two big challenges to survive on land: avoiding drying out, and surviving the Sun's harsh ultraviolet light.
In rock samples from Canning Basin in the north of Western Australia, we have discovered 480 million-year-old fossilized spores from early land plants alongside spores from ancestral water-dwelling algae.
These are the oldest land plant spores found, and they give us new clues about when and where plants made the jump to land and also how they managed to survive. The research is published in Science.
Plant Spores
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