Connie Schultz: When in Doubt, Show Up (Creators Syndicate)
Again, no matter how you reach out, remember: If you don't know what to say, just say that. We'll know what you mean. I am reminded of a text message from one of my former students, sent from hundreds of miles away. "I don't know what to say," he wrote, "but you always told us it's important to show up. So, this is me, showing up. I'm sorry you lost your brother." For just a moment, I fell apart, for all the right reasons.
Anonymous: Wedgwood Trumpeter, Your Playing Is Obnoxious (The Stranger)
The sun is out, the birds are singing, and there's a beautiful breeze-it's truly heavenly to be able to have the windows open during this still-smoke-free Seattle summer... until you, Wedgwood Trumpet Player, decide to stand outside and blow your mediocre-at-best trumpet to such jazzy standards as the Family Guy theme. You are THE WORST.
AJ Dent, Seattle Goth-Pop Band Razor Clam Celebrate Queerness and Weirdness (The Stranger)
"Everything. Everything is about mental-health issues and systemic injustice," said Aya Mara, lead singer and primary lyricist of Seattle band Razor Clam, describing the inspiration behind their songs. "A lot of it is coping with depression, having friends who are suicidal. Dealing with racism. Whatever's on my mind."
The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the second-largest living bird by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. The emu's range covers most of mainland Australia, but the Tasmanian, Kangaroo Island and King Island subspecies became extinct after the European settlement of Australia in 1788. The bird is sufficiently common for it to be rated as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Emus are soft-feathered, brown, flightless birds with long necks and legs, and can reach up to 1.9 metres (6.2 ft) in height. Emus can travel great distances, and when necessary can sprint at 50 km/h (31 mph); they forage for a variety of plants and insects, but have been known to go for weeks without eating. They drink infrequently, but take in copious amounts of water when the opportunity arises.
Breeding takes place in May and June, and fighting among females for a mate is common. Females can mate several times and lay several clutches of eggs in one season. The male does the incubation; during this process he hardly eats or drinks and loses a significant amount of weight. The eggs hatch after around eight weeks, and the young are nurtured by their fathers. They reach full size after around six months, but can remain as a family unit until the next breeding season. The emu is an important cultural icon of Australia, appearing on the coat of arms and various coins. The bird features prominently in Indigenous Australian mythology.
Source
Randall was first, and correct, with:
the emu?
Dave said:
Emu. The world's second tallest bird, the flightless Emu is the national bird of Australia. Domesticated Emus are raised as livestock for its meat, leather and oil.
Photo: The Emu is capable of sprinting to a speed of 30 mph, faster than Usain Bolt.
mj wrote:
And, no, his name isn't Limu
The emu is Australia's largest native bird, inheriting the title from
the extinct giant, the moa.
Alan J answered:
The Emu.
Micki replied:
Emu.
Deborah responded:
I believe it's the emu. We saw lots when we were in Australia in January, and we kept our distance. They can kick with deadly force.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, wrote:
by height, Australia's largest bird is the emu
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame replied:
The answer is the emu.
Cal in Vermont said:
The Emu. With or without Doug.
Joe S wrote:
Why everyone who watches Liberty Mutual Insurance commercials should know this, the Emu.
Ed K took the day off.
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BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
• Comedian Jack Benny played the violin, and many of his friends were famous musicians. Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatagorsky, Leonard Pennario, and Mr. Benny once were at the home of Joan, Mr. Benny's daughter. Mr. Benny sat in a chair, which made a noise, and Mr. Heifetz immediately said, "E flat." Mr. Benny, however, said, "E natural." Joan went to the piano, played E flat, and Mr. Benny sat down in the chair again. The noise it made was E flat. Mr. Benny was happy to have been proven wrong and happy that Mr. Heifetz' renowned perfect pitch had been proven right once more. By the way, when Mr. Benny celebrated his 80th birthday, movie director Billy Wilder gave him the perfect gift: two copies of the book Life Begins at Forty.
• Steve Martin is an accomplished comedian, actor, author, and bluegrass banjo player. In 2010, he won a Best Bluegrass Album Grammy for The Crow, his first album of original bluegrass songs. In 2011, he recorded another album of original bluegrass songs, with help from friends. The Dixie Chicks sang his song "You," which is about a past relationship. Paul McCartney sang the lead on the song "On Best Love," which is about happiness in a marriage. Originally, Sir Paul thought that he would be singing backup, but then he heard Mr. Martin's singing and told him, "You know, when you said you were a terrible singer, I thought you were being humble, but you weren't."
• Before Johnny Carson was a really big star, he went to Jilly's bar and restaurant, the hangout of Frank Sinatra, who was a really big star. When Frank walked in, Jilly's went quiet. Frank was king there - and everywhere else, too. Johnny, however, said in an exasperated voice, "Frank, I told you 11:30." Johnny was present for the launch of the rocket that took Neil Armstrong to the Moon. He was impressed as the rocket took off and quietly said, "Jesus Christ." In the seat ahead of him was a representative of the Vatican, who turned around and said, "Name-dropper!"
• Comedian Joe E. Lewis' signature song was "Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long," which meant he had to sing it at almost every performance. One day, he came out on stage wearing earmuffs and told the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight I'm going to sing 'Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long,' but I'm wearing these earmuffs because I'll be godd*mned if I'm going to listen to it again."
Composers
• • Hans Pfitzner, composer of the opera Palestrina, went to a German town for an event and stayed in a small hotel. He got up early and started composing, but at 7:30 a.m. workers began to break up with a drill the street outside his hotel room. Mr. Pfitzner opened his window and shouted, "Quiet! Pfitzner lives here!" By the way, Mr. Pfitzner once asked the young Hans Hotter to sing, with himself as the accompanist, some of Mr. Pfitzner's songs and some ballads by Carl Loewe. Mr. Pfitzner asked Mr. Hotter to choose the songs by Mr. Loewe that he would sing, and Mr. Hotter chose some ballads that Mr. Pfitzner had orchestrated, thinking that his choices would please him. However, Mr. Pfitzner said to him after seeing a particular Loewe ballad he had selected ("Odin's Meeres-Ritt"), "Are you crazy? I am not [noted German pianist Wilhelm] Backhaus! I cannot play this!" Of course, Mr. Hotter immediately said that he need not sing that particular song, but Mr. Pfitzner said, "No. It's in the program. I asked you to choose [the ballads] and you have made this mess for me, and now I have to cope with it. See you tomorrow at 9 o'clock." Mr. Pfitzner worked both hard and quickly and the next day played the difficult passage in "Odin's Meeres-Ritt." Mr. Hotter said, "Fabulous!" Mr. Pfitzner replied, "Isn't it!" Mr. Hotter said much later, "He was so happy. He was in a better mood then than I ever saw him." Mr. Hotter was also impressed that such an accomplished composer had gone through so much trouble for a young singer. By the way, Mr. Hotter once complained to Matthäus Roemer, his singing teacher, "What annoys me is that people say, 'Of course, it's so easy for you!'" Mr. Roemer replied, "You should take that as the highest praise. It is nobody's d*mn business to know how much effort it took you to sound so natural."
Don't know if it's connected to Fleet Week, but there've been F/A-18 Hornets taking off from the local airport the last 2 days.
Tonight, Monday:
CBS opens the night with a RERUN'The Neighborhood', followed by a RERUN'Big Bang Theory', then a RERUN'Young Sheldon', followed by a RERUN'Bull'.
On a RERUNStephen Colbert (from 8/7/19) are Tiffany Haddish, Jared Harris, and Smashing Pumpkins.
On a RERUNJames Corden, OBE, (from 5/20/19) are Renée Zellweger, Ben Kingsley, and Oliver Tree.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'American Ninja Warrior', followed by 'Dateline'.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 8/8/19) are Will Ferrell, Lil Rel Howery, and Natalie Merchant.
On a RERUNSeth Meyers (from 8/14/19) are Michael Che, Alison Brie, Torche, and Nate Smith.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 4/8/19) are DeWana Wise, Blackberry Smoke, and Lili Mirojnick.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'Bachelor In Pardise', followed by a FRESH'Grand Hotel'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 7/15/19) are Shailene Woodley, Mike Epps, and Garth Brooks.
The CW offers a RERUN'Penn & Teller: Fool Us', followed by a RERUN'Whose Line Is It Anyway?', then another RERUN'Whose Line Is It Anyway?'.
Faux fills the night with a FRESH'So You Think You Can Dance'.
MY recycles an old 'L&O: CI', followed by another old 'L&O: CI'.
A&E has 'Live PD: Police Patrol', another 'Live PD: Police Patrol', still another 'Live PD: Police Patrol', followed by a FRESH'Live PD: Police Patrol', then a FRESH'Live Rescue: Emergency Response', followed by another FRESH'Live Rescue: Emergency Response', then still another FRESH'Live Rescue: Emergency Response', followed by yet another FRESH'Live Rescue: Emergency Response'.
AMC offers the movie 'Jaws 2', followed by a FRESH'The Terror', then a FRESH'Lodge 49'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] THE PATRIOT (2000)
[9:30AM] A KNIGHT'S TALE (2001)
[12:30PM] ALIEN (1979)
[3:00PM] ALIENS (1986)
[6:00PM] TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991)
[9:00PM] TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003)
[11:30PM] TERMINATOR SALVATION (2009)
[2:00AM] ALIENS (1986)
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 26-Basics, Pt. 1 (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Below Deck Mediterranean', another 'Below Deck Mediterranean', followed by a FRESH'Below Deck Mediterranean', and another 'Below Deck Mediterranean'.
FX has the movie 'Captain America: The First Avenger', followed by the movie 'Deadpool', then the movie 'Thor: The Dark World'.
History has 'American Pickers', another 'American Pickers', followed by a FRESH'American Pickers', and another 'American Pickers'.
IFC -
[6:00A] The Three Stooges-I'll Never Heil Again
[6:25A] The Three Stooges-I'm a Monkey's Uncle
[6:50A] The Three Stooges-In the Sweet Pie and Pie
[7:15A] First Blood
[9:15A] Rambo: First Blood Part II
[11:30A] Gladiator
[3:00P] That '70s Show-Thanksgiving
[3:30P] That '70s Show-Sunday Bloody Sunday
[4:00P] That '70s Show-Eric's Buddy
[4:30P] That '70s Show-The Best Christmas Ever
[5:00P] That '70s Show-Ski Trip
[5:30P] That '70s Show-Stolen Car
[6:00P] Two and a Half Men-Did You Check With the Captain of the Flying Monkeys?
[6:30P] Two and a Half Men-If They Do Go Either Way, They're Usually Fake
[7:00P] Two and a Half Men-Twenty-Five Little Pre-Pubers Without a Snoot-Ful
[7:30P] Two and a Half Men-Phase One, Complete
[8:00P] Two and a Half Men-Merry Thanksgiving
[8:30P] Two and a Half Men-Alan Harper, Frontier Chiropractor
[9:00P] Two and a Half Men-Camel Filters and Pheremones
[9:30P] Two and a Half Men-Sarah Like Puny Alan
[10:00P] Two and a Half Men-I Can't Afford Hyenas
[10:30P] Two and a Half Men-Round One to the Hot Crazy Chick
[11:00P] Two and a Half Men-That Was Saliva, Alan
[11:30P] Two and a Half Men-Ate the Hamburgers, Wearing the Hats
[12:00A] Two and a Half Men - One False Move, Zimbabwe!
[12:30A] Two and a Half Men - Slowly and in a Circular Fashion
[1:00A] That '70s Show - Thanksgiving
[1:30A] That '70s Show - Sunday Bloody Sunday
[2:00A] That '70s Show - Eric's Buddy
[2:30A] That '70s Show - The Best Christmas Ever
[3:00A] Sherman's Showcase - -July 8, 1995
[3:30A] Colombiana (ALL TIMES EDT)
President Trump (R-Cheap Veneers) took a swipe at Hollywood actress Debra Messing after the "Will & Grace" star praised an Alabama church sign that read "A black vote for Trump is mental illness."
Messing responded to Trump's attacks by shifting attention to gun violence and Hurricane Dorian, which the Alabama National Guard expects to reach the state's southern region early next week.
"Now that I know I have your attention @realDonaldTrump, please read this thread - a PARTIAL list of souls lost to preventable, devastating gun violence," Messing responded Sunday, referring to a list of past mass shootings. "America wants universal background checks. The majority of Americans want assault weapons ban."
Messing wrote in an Instagram post: "I woke up this morning to my phone notifications going crazy. I got scared. I thought 'Oh NO! Don't tell me there is a 3rd mass shooting this weekend! Don't tell me the Bahamians have lost their homes, their Lives by Hurricane #dorian!'
"It was Trump," she continued. "NOT CALLING McConnell and demanding an end to the recess, and an emergency meeting to pass the gun violence bills passed by the House months ago. NOT reversing his decision to move $155 MILLION DOLLARS from FEMA Disaster Fund to ICE. Nope. What was on Trump's mind in the midst of such tragedy, was me. The LAST thing that should be on his mind or in his tweets."
A Roman Catholic school in Tennessee has banished JK Rowling's universally popular series of Harry Potter novels from its library shelves after its pastor took exception to their portrayal of magic, warning the spells and curses the author describes are real and "risk conjuring evil spirits" when read.
The Reverend Dan Reehill explained his decision in an email to the parents of students at St Edward Catholic School in Nashville, declaring that he had consulted with exorcists in the US and at the Vatican before outlawing the seven-volume tale of the boy wizard's career at Hogwarts and his battle against Lord Voldermort and the forces of darkness.
"These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text," the Reverend Reehill wrote, apparently in all seriousness.
Rebecca Hammel, the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Nashville, told The Tennessean that the Reverend Reehill had indeed sent the email and has the final say on the matter, since the Catholic Church does not have an official position on Ms Rowling's best-selling series.
Ms Hammel did say the school would not stand in the way of students reading Harry Potter at their parents' discretion.
A statue of a Danish citizen who is credited with saving thousands of people in China during the Japanese invasion that led to the Nanjing Massacre was unveiled by Denmark's queen on Saturday.
Queen Margrethe II revealed the three-meter (10-foot) bronze statue of Bernhard Arp Sindberg at a park in Aarhus, the city where he was born in 1911.
Designed by Chinese and Danish artists, the statue was a gift from the city of Nanjing, which was the capital at the time of the massacre in December 1937 and January 1938.
Chinese authorities say Sindberg's actions saved up to 20,000 people - Danish historians give an estimate of 6,000-10,000 - during the six-week rampage by Japanese forces.
Sindberg, an adventurer who served with the French Foreign Legion in the early 1930s, ended up in China as a stowaway on a Danish merchant vessel.
Washington's National Zoo may be left without any giant pandas amid fears Donald Trump's (R-Ninny) ongoing trade war with China could see the bears become a political tool.
The Smithsonian National Zoo's panda bears are one of the main draws for its two million annual visitors but the current lease of its two adults, male Tian Tian and female Mei Xiang, is due to expire next year.
The zoo's only other panda, Bei Bei, turned four this month - the age where pandas fully mature and are able to breed - and will be sent back to China for a breeding programme within the next few months under a prior agreement.
China's giant pandas have often been used to sweeten relations with international partners; Washington's National Zoo received its first pair in 1972 to commemorate President Richard Nixon's successful visit to China.
Those bears were a gift, but the current pair were sent over under a lease agreement which has since been extended multiple times but is now set to expire on December 7 2020.
Chinese lunar rover Yutu-2 has rolled over a strange mystery on the far side of the Moon. At the bottom of a small, recent impact crater, the rover found a shiny unknown substance the Chinese space agency described as a "gel with a mysterious lustre".
Although Chinese scientists have not yet revealed what it might be, the best guess from external scientists, according to Space.com, is that the material is glass that formed in the heat of the impact that left the crater.
On July 28 - three days after the start of the two-week lunar day - the Yutu-2 science team at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center were preparing to power down the rover for a 'midday nap', a process that prevents the delicate machinery from overheating when the Sun is directly overhead.
But team member Yu Tianyi noticed something unusual in the crater while checking a panorama photographed by Yutu-2. So the researchers kept the rover awake just a little bit longer, rolling it over to the crater for a better look.
There, they found a glistening substance. According to the rover's drive diary, this material differed from the surrounding regolith in shape, colour and texture.
The scenario is unfortunately common: A woman goes to a bar and chooses to have several drinks. Later that night, she becomes a victim of sexual assault.
In New York, Manhattan's top prosecutor says, the assaulter can not be charged with a sex crime because of a legal loophole stipulating that someone who becomes voluntarily intoxicated is not considered "mentally incapacitated" for purposes of giving consent.
"But there is no difference between an intoxicated individual's ability to consent to sexual acts when he or she was drugged, and an intoxicated individual's ability to consent when he or she voluntarily drank alcohol or took narcotics," District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. wrote to Governor Andrew Cuomo in an April 2018 letter reviewed by The Washington Post.
If a reasonable person should have known the victim was drunk, Vance wrote, the assailant should not be shielded from prosecution.
New York is not alone in treating voluntary and involuntary intoxication differently in sexual assault cases. Most states only explicitly say that drunkenness implies a lack of consent if the intoxication was involuntary, according to a Brooklyn Law Review article published in 2016.
Volatiana keeps her secret behind a flimsy wooden gate, tucked along a red brick wall at the back of her vegetable garden in Madagascar's Antananarivo.
"There are around eight foetuses buried here," said the Malagasy mother of six, standing on a narrow patch of land hidden behind a corrugated metal sheet.
Volatiana, who did not wish to use her real name, had carried them all. When they were removed from her body, she felt only relief.
Abortion is illegal on the island state of Madagascar, a majority-Christian country that Pope Francis is set to visit next week as part of his second trip to sub-Saharan Africa.
Termination here is punishable by 10 years in prison, and banned even when pregnancy results from rape.
The task of safeguarding the embalmed corpse of Vietnam's revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh is gruelling: carefully-selected riflemen work around the clock, watching over the communist nation's founding father who died 50 years ago Monday.
Protecting him is the ultimate patriotic service for men in stiff white uniforms at Ho's towering tomb in Hanoi, a monolithic shrine to a man who still pervades public life despite his fading relevance among the youth.
The job is a "dream come true" for guard Nguyen Xuan Thang, even if it's not always easy.
All year round, he works up to four two-hour shifts every day -- often outside the tomb in the blistering summer heat, monsoon rains, or frigid winter weather.
Some days he works inside the cool, dark chambers where Ho's waxy body -- his wispy goatee beard still intact -- is on display for daily pilgrimages by thousands of schoolchildren, tourists and war veterans who come to pay their respects.
Never before has one studio so dominated summer at the movies. The Walt Disney Co. accounted for about half of all ticket sales in U.S. and Canada theaters on the season, which came to a close Sunday with the Gerard Butler action thriller "Angel Has Fallen" topping the box office for the second weekend.
Summer ticket sales finished 2% behind last year, according to data firm Comscore, a slight downturn that came despite an unprecedented display by Disney. The studio's approximate $2.2 billion in domestic summer box office is greater than that of all the major studios combined.
Summer, which for Hollywood runs from the first weekend in May to Labor Day, traditionally ends with a whimper as few new releases seek to draw audiences over the holiday weekend. That was especially true this weekend as nothing new dented the top 10. Lionsgate's "Angel Has Fallen" came on top again with an estimated $11.6 million.
Only one original film this summer ranked among the top 10, and it came in 10th. Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" will have made an estimated $130.8 million through Monday domestically, plus sizable ticket sales abroad. It, along with "Spider-Man," helped lead Sony to its best summer since 2006 - but a distant No. 2 to Disney.
But after a sluggish spring, overall ticket sales are down 6.3% on the year according to Comscore. And when factoring in inflation and higher ticket prices, not since 1992 have fewer summer tickets been sold.
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.
1. "Angel Has Fallen," $11.6 million.
2. "Good Boys," $9.2 million.
3. "The Lion King," $6.7 million.
4. "Hobbs & Shaw," $6.3 million.
5. "Overcomer," $5.7 million.
6. "Ready or Not," $5.6 million.
7. "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark," $5 million.
8. "Spider-Man: Far From Home," $4.3 million.
9. "Dora and the Lost City of Gold," $4.1 million.
10. "The Angry Birds Movie 2," $4.1 million.
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wrote:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
