from Bruce
Anecdotes
Cartoons
• Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera worked together on many Tom and Jerry cartoons, as well as cartoons starring the characters The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and Scoobie-Doo. Both were capable of causing mischief. When they were youngsters, Bill and Norma, his sister, cracked every window in the family’s barn. Of course, they had a good reason: They liked the patterns the cracked windows made. As a cartoonist working on Tom and Jerry, Joe once drilled a hole in a wall, then he inserted a soda straw into the hole. When the cartoonist who worked in the office next door sat down, Joe filled his mouth with water, then used the straw to spray the back of the cartoonist’s head with water. This is the artistic sensibility and the sense of humor that resulted in the Tom and Jerry cartoons winning seven Academy Awards. Nowadays, of course, the Tom and Jerry cartoons are shown on television.
• Leon Schlesinger was cartoon director Tex Avery’s boss, and he was a very hard man to get money from. However, he loved to gamble, so when Mr. Avery wanted a $25 raise, Mr. Schlesinger proposed that they draw cards to see who got the highest-value playing card. If Mr. Schlesinger won, Mr. Avery would get no raise. If Mr. Avery won, then he would get a $50 raise. Fortunately for Mr. Avery, he won — jack to eight.
Censorship
• Tommy Smothers realized that his 1960s TV variety show The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was controversial, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before the censors would start making very strong “requests” to tone down the satire — especially the political satire. He had a decision to make: either fight to keep the satire or be bought off and lose the satire. He could fight the censors, or he could continue to live the easy life of a major television celebrity with lots of money, lots of cars, and lots of houses. He made his decision. He sold off cars and houses to reduce the kind of expenses that make courage difficult, fought the censors, and eventually his show was cancelled despite its coveted high ratings among younger people with lots of disposable income. Of course, by that time Mr. Smothers had made being fired affordable.
• In the early days of radio, producers avoided controversy; however, feminist Olga Petrova got her point across anyway. Before Ms. Petrova’s program of singing, the station manager asked what she planned to say on the air. She replied, “Just a few nursery stories like ‘The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.’” There’s nothing controversial about nursery stories, is there? Wrong. On the air, Ms. Petrova said, “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children because she didn’t know what to do.” Before the station manager realized the satiric meaning of what she had said, it had already been broadcast.
Children
• Tori Spelling’s father was Aaron Spelling, a spectacularly successful and wealthy TV magnate. Because of her family connection, Tori co-starred in Beverly Hills, 90210. Growing up in such a wealthy family led to experiences that were much different from those of lower- and middle-class kids, although for Tori they were the only experiences she knew. For example, she got a nose job as a teenager, and her mother reserved one room out of a 123-room mansion for the sole purpose of wrapping presents. In addition, when Tori was very young, her father trucked in several tons of snow so that she could enjoy a white Christmas in Los Angeles.
• Lucille Ball was born in Celoron (a suburb of Jamestown), New York, on August 6, 1911. When she was almost four, her father died, and the family was taken under the wing of her mother’s father, “Grandpa” Fred Hunt. A few months after her father’s death, Lucy wore a harness that was tied to a trolley on a clothesline so she could run around in the yard but couldn’t run next door to visit some kids who had measles. Her mother overheard Lucy talking to the milkman: “Oh, mister, somehow I happened to get caught in this silly old clothesline. Do you think you could get me loose?”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Better When I’m Drunk (Reimagined)"
Album: HOLLYWOOD GYPSY (REIMAGINED)
Artist: TWINNIE
Artist Location: UK
Info:
“Hear five tracks off the HOLLYWOOD GYPSY album as you've never heard them before with this completely reimagined EP that creates a dynamic new sound for the country-pop songs featured on the original LP.”
Above: The Original (Not Reimagined) Version
Price: £3.99 (GBP) for five-track EP; tracks cannot be purchased separately
Genre: Alternative Country
Links:
HOLLYWOOD GYPSY (REIMAGINED)
Twinnie on Bandcamp
Twinnie on YouTube
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce's Blog #1
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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
Couple of shade tree mechanics set up shop outside my window - they worked on 2 or 3 cars, then packed up their mess and went away.
Weekend Box Office
‘Halloween Kills’
“Halloween Kills” may be available to watch at home, but the latest installment in the Michael Myers saga is making a killing at the North American box office in its first weekend in theaters. The David Gordon Green-directed horror scared up $50.4 million from 3,705 locations, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Universal’s “Halloween Kills” far surpassed expectations, which had the film pegged for a more conservative debut in the $30 million range. It also easily bested its main competition, which included the James Bond pic “No Time to Die,” in its second weekend, and Ridley Scott’s medieval epic “The Last Duel.” Both are playing exclusively in theaters.
The James Bond film “No Time To Die” slid into second place in its second weekend in North America with $24.3 million, which is down only 56% from last weekend and brings its total to $99.5 million. Globally, “No Time to Die” has earned $447,521 million.
Further down the charts is “The Last Duel,” Scott’s 14th century drama starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jodie Comer and Adam Driver, which has earned only an estimated $4.8 million from 3,065 locations despite positive reviews and an exclusive theatrical run. Distributed by the Walt Disney Co., “The Last Duel” was a title the company inherited in the deal with 20th Century Fox.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Halloween Kills,” $50.4 million.
2. “No Time to Die,” $24.3 million.
3. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” $16.5 million.
4. “The Addams Family 2,” $7.2 million.
5. “The Last Duel,” $4.8 million.
6. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” $3.5 million.
7. “Free Guy,” $680,000.
8. “Lamb,” $543,000.
9. “Candyman,” $460,000.
10. “Dear Evan Hansen,” $410,000.
‘Halloween Kills’
Leaked Netflix Data
‘Squid Game’
“Squid Game” has become the latest pop culture phenomenon out of Netflix, and leaked data from the streaming company shows just how much that means in dollars and cents — roughly $891 million.
According to Bloomberg, Netflix estimates in internal reports that “Squid Game” has a value closing in on a billion dollars, a figure based on data on viewing habits from the streamer’s subscribers. With a reported budget of just $21.4 million for the entire series, “Squid Game” is one of the cheapest hits Netflix has yielded in recent years. By comparison, it spent $100 million to sign a production deal with Shonda Rhimes, who began her tenure at the streamer last winter with the romance series “Bridgerton.”
This past week, an unidentified Netflix employee provided Bloomberg with confidential internal data for its story about backlash to transphobic jokes made by comedian Dave Chappelle in his latest stand-up special. Netflix has since fired the employee after they admitted to the leak. Over 1,000 employees are expected to hold a protest on Wednesday against Chappelle and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos’ continued vocal support of the comedian. Netflix paid a combined $47.7 million for Chappelle’s latest special “The Closer” and his 2019 special “Sticks and Stones.”
Amidst the controversy surrounding Chappelle, “Squid Game” has been a bright spot for Netflix, with the data provided to Bloomberg showing that 132 million viewers saw at least two minutes of the show, shattering the record set by “Bridgerton.” Netflix estimates that 66% of those viewers, or 87 million people, finished the series.
Written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, “Squid Game” follows Gi-Hun, a divorced chauffeur, who, in his financial desperation, takes part in a macabre game show where hundreds of contestants struggling with debt play deadly versions of children’s games with the death of each contest raising the jackpot for anyone who survives. It has become the most-watched Netflix show in 90 countries and has received critical acclaim for its social commentary on the growing economic inequality and rising debt in South Korea.
‘Squid Game’
Three Men
“Carmen Mola”
Spain‘s literary world has been thrown into chaos after a coveted book prize was awarded to “Carmen Mola” — an acclaimed female thriller writer who turned out to be the pseudonym of three men.
Television scriptwriters Agustín Martínez, Jorge Díaz and Antonio Mercero shocked guests, who included Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, at the Planeta awards Friday when they took to the stage to pick up the prize money and reveal the celebrated crime author did not actually exist.
On the website for Mola’s agent, the writer — who has been compared to Italy’s esteemed novelist Elena Ferrante — is described as a “Madrid-born author” writing under a pseudonym in a bid to remain anonymous. The description for Mola on the website also contains a series of photographs of an unknown woman looking away from the camera.
In previous interviews with Spanish media, Martínez, Díaz and Mercero had presented Mola as a female university professor who lived in Madrid with her husband and children.
The Mola novels are well known for being gory and graphic — and Spanish media has noted in the past that the contrast between Mola’s supposed life as a married university professor and the violent nature of the books served as a useful marketing tool.
“Carmen Mola”
Africa’s Largest Film Festival
Burkina Faso
Africa’s largest film festival kicks off Saturday in Burkina Faso amid both the COVID-19 pandemic and a growing jihadi insurgency in the West African nation that has killed thousands of people and displaced more than 1 million in recent years.
Alex Moussa Sawadogo, head of the Pan-African Film and TV Festival of Ouagadougou said organizers wanted to go ahead with the event known by its French acronym, FESPACO in spite of the challenges to show Burkina Faso can still “inspire imagination through cinema.”
“This event will be a FESPACO of resistance because it is taking place under harsh security and health conditions,” he told The Associated Press in an interview in the capital, Ouagadougou.
The weeklong festival showcases works by African filmmakers and works produced on the continent. Out of nearly 1,200 films submitted, 282 have been selected to compete, some of which have already been shown at places like Cannes and the Toronto Film Festival.
Participants say they hope FESPACO will be a breath of fresh air for a suffering nation. Boubakar Diallo, a film director and two-time FESPACO winner, will debut his comedy, “The 3 Lascars”, about three friends going on a trip with their mistresses.
Burkina Faso
Publix Connection
January 6
The daughter of the founder of the Publix grocery store chain and the top funder of the January 6 rally in Washington that preceded the riot at the US Capitol, donated $150,000 to a Republican attorneys general group to help fund the pro-Trump protest, according to a published report.
The nonprofit Rule of Law Defense Fund, with help from Julie Jenkins Fancelli, the heiress of Publix, financed a robocall touting a march to the US Capitol to "call on Congress to stop the steal," a reference to debunked claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, according to records reported by the Washington Post.
How funding was gathered for the January 6 protests is a current focus of the House select committee tasked with investigating the deadly storming of the Capitol. The committee is also interested in the role that government officials, like attorneys general, played in encouraging people to attend the protest, the Post reported, citing sources familiar with the committee.
The robocall gave listeners specific details on how and when to "march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal," according to the watchdog group Documented who first reported on the call. "We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections," the call said.
Fancelli, a top donor to former President Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up), gave about $300,000 to Women for America First, the "Stop the Steal" group that obtained a permit for the rally, making her the prime contributor for the event, according to records viewed by The Post. Fancelli donated more than 50% of the funds needed for the rally, which was organized to push false claims that voter fraud led to Trump's loss in the election.
January 6
Banned In Catania
Godfathers
The mother had prepared everything for the baptism. She dressed her infant son Antonio in a handmade satin suit with tails and a matching cream-colored top hat glittering with rhinestones. She hired the photographers and bought the baby a gold cross. She booked a big buffet lunch for the whole clan at the Copacabana.
But as the parish priest in the Sicilian city of Catania went through the usual liturgy, calling on the family to renounce Satan and ladling holy water on the squirming baby’s head, one major part of the ritual went missing.
There was no godfather.
“It’s not right,” said Agata Peri, 68, little Antonio’s great-grandmother. “I definitely didn’t make this decision.”
The church did. That weekend in October, the Roman Catholic diocese of Catania enacted a three-year ban on the ancient tradition of naming godparents at baptisms and christenings. Church officials argue that the once-essential figure in a child’s Catholic education has lost all spiritual significance. Instead, they say, it has become a networking opportunity for families looking to improve their fortunes, secure endowments of gold necklaces and make advantageous connections, sometimes with local power brokers who have dozens of godchildren.
Godfathers
Waters Plummet
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe's water level has dropped so low that water is no longer flowing into the Truckee River and salmon aren’t expected to spawn in a major tributary this year.
Some boat ramps and docks are hundreds of feet from the water line, and clumps of stringy algae have been washing up on beaches, said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
The receding water level, which is driven by climate change and drought, comes as the latest insult to the treasured tourist destination nestled in the Sierra Nevada. Already its waters have been clouded by smoke and ash from multiple wildfires this summer.
Lake Tahoe's water level is always fluctuating. It is typically lowest in December and January and then increases in the spring as melting snow from nearby mountains flows down, Schladow said.
And with no game-changing precipitation, conditions have continued to worsen. The water level is usually somewhere between the lake's natural rim, which sits at 6,223 feet, and a dam at the top of the Truckee River that is six feet higher, Schladow said. But earlier this week, it dropped just below the rim. By Saturday afternoon, the water level was roughly half an inch below the rim — and falling, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Lake Tahoe
Koalas Line Up For Vaccine
Australia
About 400 Australian koalas will be vaccinated against chlamydia as part of a trial that researchers say they hope could play a significant role in the longer-term survival of the animals.
Chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease also found in humans, has spread widely among Australian koalas, affecting half the animals in some areas.
The bacterial disease, which can be spread from mothers to their newborns, can also cause blindness, researchers say.
Although in many cases chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics, the researchers said they hope the vaccine will help improve the survival and reproduction of the animals.
Estimates of koala populations vary as they are difficult to count in the wild. A 2016 study ran by University of Queensland, calculated there were around 330,000 koalas left in Australia.
Australia
Colombia Sterilises Hippos
Pablo Escobar
A group of hippos - an unwanted legacy following the death of notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar - are being sterilised.
Escobar, who was shot dead by police in 1993, illegally imported exotic animals, including a male and a female hippo - dubbed the "cocaine hippos".
Since then, a growing population has been taking over the countryside near his former ranch, Hacienda Nápoles.
The Colombian government has so far sterilised 24 of more than 80 animals.
Colombian environmentalists say the hippos, believed to be the biggest herd outside Africa, are an invasive species and have pushed away the native fauna.
Pablo Escobar
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