Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jeffery Rudell: "How To: Haunted House Silhouettes" (blog.craftzine.com)
The solution arrived when I realized that the paper blinds on all of the windows provided me the chance to turn the entire house into one oversized luminary by creating very large paper silhouettes on all of the windows.
Anil Dash: WHAT THEY'RE "PROTECTING" US FROM (Dashes.com)
He's the anchor baby of an activist Arab muslim who came to the U.S. on a student visa and had a child out of wedlock. He's a non-Christian, arugula-eating, drug-using follower of unabashedly old-fashioned liberal teachings from the hippies and folk music stars of the 60s. And he believes in science, in things that science can demonstrate like climate change and Pi having a value more specific than "3", and in extending responsible benefits to his employees while encouraging his company to lead by being environmentally responsible. Every single person who'd attack Steve Jobs on any of these grounds is, demonstrably, worse at business than Jobs.
Marc Dion: Occupy America With a Good Ad Campaign (Creators Syndicate)
Talk about "the Greatest Generation." "Is this what the Greatest Generation fought for?" you can say. "Did those brave men who stormed Omaha Beach die for bond-traders and bankers who bribe Congress? That's not what the Founders wanted. They wanted a free, strong America, not an America that is owned by the banks."
Ain't too proud to beg: Six stories of hardscrabble lives on the streets of Detroit (metrotimes.com)
The sign-holders are a minority among the city's vagrants and homeless. They're the handful with enough drive and dedication to spend hours standing in one place, making a sales pitch. They could probably succeed at a real job somewhere with such determination. But who's going to hire a depressed guy with three teeth, a felony record and a drinking problem?
1950s Housewife Tries LSD
A "stable, well-balanced" housewife describes her experience after receiving a 100 gama dose of LSD-25 as part of government research - she served as a voluntary participant in clinical trials of the drug. She tries to express what she sees but unfortunately "can't talk in technicolor." She sums the journey up with, "I've never seen such infinite beauty…this is reality." Luckily, people who attempt such encounters now are jailed.
Lucy Mangan: life after birth (Guardian)
'I know I made a promise not to talk about the baby, but…'
What I'm really thinking: the fast food waitress (Guardian)
I want to be seen as more than just a puppet in this brightly coloured uniform.'
Kira Cochrane: "Stieg Larsson's partner: 'It's odd to have to prove our life together existed'" (Guardian)
Eva Gabrielsson and bestselling writer Stieg Larsson had always wanted to marry. But his sudden death didn't just deprive her of her wedding day, it also plunged her into a nightmare of legal wrangling.
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
answered:
Reader Question
'Houseboat'
About the photo you are showing, is it from, "Houseboat," the 1958 romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer, Paul Petersen, Charles Herbert and Mimi Gibson? Huh? Huh??
Care to 'splain some more??
Sally P :)
On the return from our all-too-brief-visit-to-PA, the Southwest cattle-car-in-the-sky placed my bony ass in a center seat. On my right was a young technophile, as vacuous as an old RCA Tube, and on the left, and an older guy wearing a collared shirt advertising 'Monster Bash' on the back.
The young technophile had fired up his laptop and was trying to memorize 4 lines of a speech. Four lines, each of 6 words (or less), for 4 hours, and I'll bet he still didn't have it down.
The guy on my left, with the 'Monster Bash' shirt, offered me half of his Subway tuna sandwich.
Having had a wonderful meal at O'Brien's at the Pittsburgh airport (yes, I had a wonderful meal at an airport restaurant. Deal with it), I passed on the sub.
Between being in a somewhat crappy mood and the din of the motors messing with my hearing, I hoped the conversation was over, when the the gentleman said something about a film festival and I thought I head the name 'Paul Peterson'.
It was an 'oh shit' moment, and I had to respond.
I don't have many heroes, but damn, Paul Peterson is one.
Having grown up in the backwoods, I was pretty much in awe of anyone who had been on TV.
By that upbringing, I didn't understand how anyone who'd been on TV wasn't rich.
Over the years I met all kinds of folk who'd not only been on TV, but had also starred in movies, or written, or produced them, and not only were they not rich, they were in worse shape then I was.
The kids who'd been used by the Hollywood system, had largely been sucked dry, then left out to parch in the heat of the San Fernando Valley.
Kids without a 'long-term contract' mostly. The long-term contract protected earnings, thanks to the Coogan law. But most kids in TV & films don't have long-term contracts. They'd get to 21 and find out there wasn't much, it anything, there.
They are overwhelmingly uneducated. Sure, they can read. But their reading skills ended at parroting back lines. History, grammar, science, math - forget it.
And now this guy is saying he was here thanks to Paul Peterson.
Turns out the gentleman's name is Charles Herbert, and he was a kid actor. He'd been in 'Houseboat' with Cary Grant & Sophia Loren & Paul Peterson. He was also in 'The Fly' and the original '13 Ghosts', among other works. He
was supporting his family by 4, and 'washed up' by 20. Here are Charles's creidts at IMDb.
But, with my crappy hearing, I missed most of it.
Regardless, he pulled out a pile of photos, and autographed one to me - that's the picture.
So, if you're in the proximity of 'Monster Bash', stop by and say 'hi' to Charles, one of the survivors.
Reader Comment
Re: Charles Herbert
Must be tough to have been a child actor that no one really wants as an adult. Sort of a sad thing.
MAM
Thanks, Marianne!
Reader Comment
Re: Charles Herbert
Hi Marty,
I am not expecting you to post any of this on your web site, but just wanted
to let you know my thoughts after reading your story about Charles Herbert.
Thanks for the info on the autographed photo and your encounter with Mr.
Herbert. I remember seeing him in TV shows and movies, but never knew his
name.
Since I grew up in the San Fernando Valley (so tired of people asking me if
I am a "Valley Girl", but that's another story!), I have always been around
people who had something to do with show business. For example, the man who
did the voice of Tony the Tiger (Thurl Ravenscroft) went to my church, as
did Tommy Bond, who played Butch in the old Little Rascals/Our Gang shorts.
Tommy went on to work for the local Los Angeles station on Channel 11, KTTV,
before it was a Fox affiliate. A man named John Rovick who did a children's
cartoon show dressed up as "Sheriff John" also went to my church. There
were others whose names weren't familiar to most people because they were
largely behind the scenes as sound mixers or set designers, etc. Anyway, it
was good for me to see that they were just regular people, even though I
still get a kick out of knowing that someone I know is in the film, TV or
recording business!
I am also a fan of Paul Peterson and the work he has done in support of
former child stars. I once saw a TV show with Paul and several other actors
who had been stars as children and they were all talking about their life
experiences. Some did fine and others, as you know had a hard life once
they were no longer children. Sheesh, as if puberty wasn't hard enough
already!
Hope this finds you well.
Barbara
Thanks, Barbara!
LOL - where else can you find yourself screaming 'that son of a bitch who just cut me off was fill in your favorite celebrity's name here!
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Future Of Advertising
LG advertising on building in Berlin. Spectacular! This is the
future... LG advertising their new 3-D televisions without glasses.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and much warmer.
This computer is crankier than a 2-headed baby with colic. Ack.
Brown's Clueless
Nancy Pelosi
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that Sen. Scott Brown's wisecrack about Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren shows he is clueless about women.
During a Democratic primary debate Tuesday, Warren was asked about Brown's decision to pose nude in a magazine during law school. Asked how she paid for college, Warren said she kept her clothes on.
"Thank God," Brown laughed during a radio interview about the comment afterward. He later said he was joking.
"I thought it spoke volumes about how clueless Sen. Brown is," the California Democrat said on ABC's "This Week." ''It really spoke volumes about, really, disrespect for women he may not even realize."
Nancy Pelosi
Wedding News
Shevell - McCartney
A hint of autumnal Beatlemania was in the air Sunday as Paul McCartney - for the second time in his improbable life - climbed the steps of Old Marylebone Town Hall to get married.
True, thousands of heartbroken female fans crowded the venerable registry office in 1969 when he married Linda Eastman and only a few hundred showed up Sunday as he wed American Nancy Shevell. But the feeling this time was not regret at the loss of a bachelor heartthrob. Instead there was joy that McCartney, regarded as a national treasure, seemed happy again.
McCartney shared his joy with the crowd, raising his bride's hand in triumph as he walked down the steps after they became husband and wife at a simple civil ceremony attended by close family and friends, including drummer Ringo Starr and TV journalist Barbara Walters, a second cousin of the bride.
The wedding ceremony Sunday afternoon was everything his wedding to Mills was not: simple, understated, almost matter-of-fact. By contrast, McCartney and Mills married in an over-the-top lavish ceremony at a remote Irish castle that was disrupted several times by news helicopters flying overhead hoping for a glimpse of the A-list guests.
Shevell, who was married for more than 20 years to attorney Bruce Blakeman and serves on the board of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is also a vice president of a lucrative New Jersey-based trucking company owned by her father.
Shevell - McCartney
AFI Liifetime Award
Shirley MacLaine
Oscar-winning actress Shirley MacLaine will be honored with the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, the group announced on Sunday.
MacLaine, 77, will be presented with the prestigious honor from the Los Angeles-based U.S. film arts and education institute on June 7 in a ceremony to be broadcast later on TVLand, AFI said in a statement. She will be the award's 40th recipient.
MacLaine, who won a best actress Oscar in 1984 for "Terms of Endearment," is also an outspoken activist, writer and believer in reincarnation and extra-terrestrial beings. Her views have won her both respect and a good measure of ribbing.
She made her Hollywood debut at age 19 with Alfred Hitchcock in "The Trouble With Harry."
Shirley MacLaine
Hospital News
Zsa Zsa
Zsa Zsa Gabor remained hospitalized in Los Angeles on Sunday and was doing "a little better," but stomach surgery to reattach a feeding tube was delayed as she continues to run a high fever, her husband said.
Frederic Prinz von Anhalt told Reuters the 94-year-old celebrity who has suffered ill health for well over a year was taking "very strong antibiotics" and that her blood pressure was down.
Gabor was taken to the hospital Saturday morning and von Anhalt said at the time that her condition "did not look good," but she has since stabilized. He said doctors likely would attempt the stomach surgery later on Sunday.
Zsa Zsa
Conn. Gets Tough
Amazon
Connecticut officials are not giving up on requiring Internet sellers to collect state sales taxes, despite signs from online retailer Amazon.com that it has no immediate plans to abide by the state's new Internet tax law.
State officials confirmed to The Associated Press that Amazon wrote the Department of Revenue Services this month, saying the company is not obligated to abide by the law because it does not have a physical presence in Connecticut. Amazon contends that by not having a physical presence, it does not have to collect and remit taxes to the state, a protection of the U.S. Constitution.
Connecticut plans to press Amazon for the taxes the state believes it should have collected at least during the month or so when the new law was in effect and Amazon still had affiliations with websites in Connecticut through its Amazon Associates Program. Amazon severed those ties in June.
The state could expect up to $9.4 million a year in additional revenue if remote sellers, including Amazon, complied with the new law, according to an estimate by the General Assembly's Office of Fiscal Analysis. That estimate was based on data from a comparable New York law.
Connecticut officials believe Amazon is obligated in other ways, as well.
Amazon
Man Assaults Wife for Not "Liking" His Facebook Update
Facebook
A 36-year-old Texas man has pleaded not guilty to battery charges after allegedly attacking his estranged wife for failing to "Like" a status update he posted to Facebook.
Benito Apolinar had posted an update to his Facebook page about the anniversary of his mother's death. Angry that the post had elicited no response from his wife of 15 years, he confronted her after dropping off their children at her home in Carlsbad, New Mexico on Tuesday.
[
"That's amazing everyone 'Likes' my status but you, you're my wife. You should be the first one to 'Like' my status," he allegedly told her before punching her in the cheek and pulling her hair. He was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time.
Apolinar was arrested the same evening of the incident. He is scheduled to appear in court on December 22.
Facebook
Splinter Group Has Scissors
Amish
Four Ohio men believed to be members of a breakaway Amish group have been arrested for allegedly going into the home of an Amish man and cutting his hair and beard with scissors.
It's common practice for married Amish men to have beards and the attack on the 74-year-old man in his Holmes County home Tuesday night was believed to be an attempt to degrade and insult him. Likewise, Amish women do not cut their hair based on biblical teaching.
A Jefferson County deputy said authorities Saturday arrested 38-year-old Johnny Mullet, 26-year-old Lester Mullet, 53-year-old Levi Miller, and Lester Miller. Lester Miller's age was not immediately available nor were the charges against him.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the Mullets and Levi Miller were charged with kidnapping and burglary.
Amish
Killer Whales Found Dead
Alaska
Two of three killer whales that wandered far up an Alaska river have died, apparently succumbing to stresses associated with being out of their saltwater habitat, federal officials said on Sunday.
The surviving whale was seen swimming downriver Saturday toward possible safety, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service said.
Biologists were concerned about the three whales because they had spent three weeks in southwest Alaska's salmon-rich Nushagak River and were lingering as far as 30 miles upstream from where the river flows into the saltwater of Bristol Bay.
I
t was the first time killer whales had been documented lingering far upriver in any area of Alaska, according to NOAA Fisheries officials.
Alaska
Mimes Tackle Traffic Chaos
Venezuela
A part of Venezuela's capital is giving dangerous drivers the silent treatment, sending mimes into the streets to do what police alone have not: tame the lawless traffic.
About 120 mimes dressed in clown-like outfits and white gloves took to the streets of the Sucre district this past week, wagging their fingers at traffic violators and at pedestrians who streaked across busy avenues rather than waiting at crosswalks.
They found plenty to keep them busy in a city where motorcycle riders roar down sidewalks, buses drop passengers in the middle of busy streets and drivers treat red lights and speed limits as suggestions rather than orders.
"Most people are collaborating, but bad habits are usually hard to break and some drivers just don't change their ways," said Neidy Suarez, an 18-year-old mime wearing fluorescent yellow overalls and a bright red ribbon wrapped around her pigtails.
Suarez frowned, thrust her hands forward in a "stop" motion and then pointed to a red light as a motorcyclist raced toward a crosswalk filled with pedestrians.
Venezuela
Editor Paddles Pumpkin To Victory
Farmers Almanac
Farmers Almanac editor Peter Geiger splashed his way to first place in a giant pumpkin fashioned to look like a whale in the annual Pumpkin Regatta on Sunday, besting four other boats.
Geiger, who said he has raced pumpkins in Maine and Canada, started with a 535-pound giant gourd for the race at the annual Pumpkinfest in the small coastal village of Damariscotta, Maine.
"After taking the guts out and carving it down, it was about 70 pounds less," said Geiger, who lives in Lewiston, Maine.
First-time racer Christian Rioux of Brunswick, Maine, finished first in the powered-pumpkin class. He strapped a 15 horsepower outboard motor to a shell fashioned from an 800-pound pumpkin.
Farmers Almanac
Weekend Box Office
'Real Steel'
Hugh Jackman's "Real Steel," set in a near-future when robot fighters have replaced humans in the ring, debuted at No. 1 with $27.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
A DreamWorks release distributed by Disney, "Real Steel" added $22.1 million in 19 overseas markets for a worldwide total of $49.4 million. The movie casts Jackman as a former boxer reluctantly thrown together with his young son as they turn a junkyard robot into a world-class contender.
George Clooney's political saga "The Ides of March" was the runner-up, opening at No. 2 with $10.4 million. The Sony release stars Ryan Gosling as an aide to a presidential candidate (Clooney) caught up in scandal. Clooney also directed.
The previous No. 1 movie, the Warner Bros. family film "Dolphin Tale," slipped to No. 3 with $9.2 million, raising its domestic total to $49.1 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Real Steel," $27.3 million ($22.1 million international).
2. "The Ides of March," $10.4 million.
3. "Dolphin Tale," $9.2 million.
4. "Moneyball," $7.5 million.
5. "50/50," $5.5 million.
6. "Courageous," $4.6 million.
7. "The Lion King," $4.55 million ($7.3 million international).
8. "Dream House," $4.5 million.
9. "What's Your Number?", $3.1 million ($2.8 million international).
10. "Abduction," $2.9 million ($4 million international).
'Real Steel'
In Memory
Mikey Welsh
Mikey Welsh, the former bass player for the alternative rock band Weezer, was found dead in a Chicago hotel, a police spokeswoman said on Sunday.
Workers at the Rafaello Hotel found Welsh unresponsive and not breathing when they went to his room on Saturday afternoon after he failed to check out as scheduled, spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said.
Welsh, 40, who left the band a decade ago, had been in Chicago to attend Weezer's appearance at RiotFest on Sunday night, a concert that will go on as scheduled, the band said on its website in notifying fans of his death.
Welsh left the band in 2001 after a well-publicized nervous breakdown, resurfacing later as an artist and painter.
Welsh said in a posting on his Facebook page earlier in October that he was looking forward to meeting up with the band in Chicago.
Mikey Welsh
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