Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Case for a Mixed Economy (NY Times)
Maybe not everything should be privatized.
Gabbatt: Trump's 'Merry Christmas' pledge fails to manifest at his own businesses (The Guardian)
Despite railing against political correctness, the word 'Christmas' is curiously absent from Trump's stores, restaurants and hotels.
Jonathan Jones: "Trump portrait: you couldn't create a creepier Yuletide scene if you tried" (The Guardian)
The formal smartness of the US president and the first lady adds to the emotional numbness of the scene.
Lucy Mangan: Welcome to this year's Mangan Awards (Stylist)
Unsung Hero/Heroine Award: it had to be the anonymous woman who was viciously set upon after a post she wrote describing what kind of flatmate she was looking for went viral. She said she wanted someone who used door handles rather than just pushing doors closed with a bang, for example, and who didn't have friends round three or more times a week or spend hours in the kitchen cooking. She was ABSOLUTELY RIGHT IN EVERYTHING SHE SAID ….
Penny Anderson: The music business I knew was a sexist hell. But things are changing (The Guardian)
I witnessed appalling behaviour in the 90s. Yet overhearing a band's conversation recently tells me progress has been made
From #MeToo to Apu: Lucy Mangan on 2018's biggest TV controversies (The Guardian)
The Guardian's TV critic looks back on a year of shows that provided respite from the 'raging bin fire that is the real world'.
Lucy Mangan: The 50 best TV shows of 2018: No 1 - Killing Eve (The Guardian)
Shocking, gory and very funny, Phoebe Waller-Bridge's spy-v-assassin thriller was a high-wire act of misdirection that subverted stale genre expectations.
Hadley Freeman: Home Alone a festive film? Hardly - it's the Muppets every time (The Guardian)
A true Christmas movie must adhere to the following scientific, mathematical and logical rules.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
christmas meme
MARTY Merry Christmas, to all younz former PA residents & stuff
here is a shutdown meme
I think the term "The Great Christmas Shutdown" is fitting (wish it would go viral)
or at least CNN/MSNBC
Best Christmas wishes to all keep up the good fight....
some guy
Thanks, Guy!
Best back at yinz.
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Graphic
BadToTheBoneBob
Thanks, Robert!
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• When he was in his 90s, British conductor Sir Adrian Boult was no longer able to walk, so if he ever needed to travel, his chauffeur would pick him up and carry him to and from the car. Once, Sir Adrian traveled to meet the Queen Mother in order to receive some documents from her. When Sir Adrian reached the Queen Mother's residence, he decided that he didn't want to get out of the car, so he said, "It would be better for everyone were the documents to be brought out to me." No problem. The Queen Mother brought the documents to him, as well as some footmen with a table, a chair, and a silver tray bearing food and tea. The Queen Mother sat on the chair, Sir Adrian remained in the back seat of his car, and they proceeded to have tea together.
• The Danish nobility was not anti-Semitic. The synagogue in Copenhagen celebrated its 100thanniversary in the spring of 1933, and King Christian X of Denmark was invited to attend the celebration. However, Germany was becoming more and more anti-Semitic, and Adolf Hitler ordered the German citizens to boycott Jewish-owned and -operated stores. The chair of the Jewish Community told King Christian X that Jews would understand if the king decided not to attend the celebration, but King Christian X replied, "Are you out of your right mind, man? Now, of course, is when I will be coming." So in Germany, Aryans boycotted Jewish-owned and -operated stores, while in Denmark, the king celebrated the 100thanniversary of the Copenhagen synagogue.
• Author and artist Edward Lear, of A Book of Nonsense fame, once gave a series of art lessons to Queen Victoria. Of course, coming from a family that had been royal for a very long time, she had many, many portraits and other works of art hanging in the palace. One day, she took Mr. Lear on a tour of the palace, showing him many of the works of art there. He was amazed at such a wealth of art and exclaimed, "Oh! Where did you get all these beautiful things?" Queen Victoria replied, "I inherited them."
• In 1924, the Prince of Wales visited Fanny Brice's apartment in New York. She told him, "Sit down, kid, and take off your shoes. While you're relaxing, I'll whip up a couple of smoked sturgeon sandwiches on rye with some marvelous pickles a guy on Delancey Street puts up for me." The Prince of Wales told her, "Miss Brice, I thank you from the bottom of my heart," then he took off his shoes.
• At Wimbledon, women tennis players customarily curtsy before the royal box. In 1972, Chris Evert played Australian Evonne Goolagong at Wimbledon. Immediately before they were to walk in front of the royal box, Chris had to ask Evonne, "How do you curtsy?" Evonne demonstrated, and Chris was able to follow the custom, thus averting a potential international crisis.
• During Word War II, the citizens of Denmark managed to save nearly all of their country's Jewish population by sailing them to neutral Sweden. The King of Denmark, Christian X, fully supported these rescue efforts, saying, "The Jews are a part of the Danish nation. We have no Jewish problem in our country because we never had an inferiority complex in relation to the Jews."
• Voltaire was controversial and thought to be impious. Because of the attacks against him, he lived at Ferney, close to the border with Switzerland, where he could escape if necessary. While on her deathbed, Queen Maria Lecszinska wanted his impiety to be punished. However, her husband the King answered, "What can I do? If he were in Paris, I should exile him to Ferney."
• In Utrecht, Holland, very few people came to see Anna Pavlova and her troupe dance on a bitterly cold day. Ms. Pavlova's husband asked the manager of the theater why so few people were in the audience. The manager replied, "But my dear sir, you cannot expect anybody to be here - it is the first ice. Even the Queen of Holland herself will be skating!"
• Soprano Adelina Patti was beloved by royalty all over the world. Once, she was asked who was her favorite royal personage. She thought for a moment, then answered, "Well, the Tsar Alexander gives the best jewelry."
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
Reader Comment
Current Events
Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude for my Christmas present. According to Axios today:
"I'm doing great, but it's a war every day," Predator has said to aides as he scanned headlines. "Why is it like this?" {Linda says--Because he's a gigantic, orange, corrupt, racist, misogynistic, narcissistic asshole.}
"He regularly curses at [his staff], some say." {Whomp, Whomp.}
"Predator has told associates he feels 'totally and completely abandoned.'" {Whomp, Whomp,}
"Predator's relationship with his children has grown more removed." {Whomp, Whomp}
"[H]e feels he does not have a friend in the White House." {He doesn't have a friend ANYWHERE! You have to be capable of BEING a friend--and a human being--to have a friend--no narcissists need apply.}
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD is on vacation.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny and cooler than seasonal.
'Drunk Halfwit' Attacks New Artwork
Banksy
A 'drunk halfwit' has attacked Banksy's new artwork just a week after it appeared.
The street artist's new mural - named 'Season's Greetings' - features what initially looks like a young boy enjoying a snowy scene, though when the full artwork is visible, the snow is revealed to be ash, falling from a near by blazing skip fire.
A security guard chased the culprit away from the garage wall in south Wales on Saturday.
The 'drunk halfwit' reportedly tried to pull down the plastic screening which was newly fitted to protect the Port Talbot graffiti.
The owner of the garage used as a canvas by Banksy for his latest artwork is paying for a security firm to protect it from other potential vandals.
Banksy
Officially Dropped
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp's tenure as Captain Jack Sparrow has officially come to an end, following a Disney executive's confirmation that the actor will no longer be a part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
The studio's production chief, Sean Bailey, was speaking about the previously announced reboot - set to be written by Deadpool's Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese - when he was asked whether the series could survive without Depp.
Rather than deny the reports, Bailey told The Hollywood Reporter: "We want to bring in a new energy and vitality. I love the [Pirates] movies, but part of the reason Paul and Rhett are so interesting is that we want to give it a kick in the pants. And that's what I've tasked them with."
Unverified news that Depp would not be in the reboot surfaced in October during a red carpet interview in which the original film's screenwriter, Stuart Beattie, called Depp's time on the franchise "a great run".
Depp has played the role of Sparrow in five films across 14 years, which have accumulated box office takings of over $4.5 billion, making it the twelfth biggest franchise of all time.
Johnny Depp
Canceled By SyFy
'Z Nation'
SyFy has canceled zombie drama Z Nation, according to producer David Michael Latt, who posted a Twitter video announcing the decision.
Z Nation will end with its fifth season. The drama concerns a band of zombie apocalypse survivors attempting to get a man who has an immunity to the virus causing the zombie explosion to the last-known Center for Disease Control research lab in California.
Z Nation was created by Karl Schaefer and Craig Engler and produced by The Asylum. The show premiered in 2014 with 13 episodes.
Netflix has already picked up a prequel series, Black Summer, which has an eight-episode order. The story concerns a mother searching for a daughter after the world collapses.
Z Nation's cancellation means its run ends at 68 episodes, with the season finale coming on Friday, Dec. 28 at 9 PM ET/PT/8C.
'Z Nation'
'Midnight, Texas' & 'Marlon' Canceled
NBC
The current second season of NBC's series Midnight, Texas will be its last. The network has opted not to order a third season of the supernatural drama based on the books by author Charlaine Harris. Producing studio Universal Television is shopping it to other outlets. NBC also will not be picking more episodes of multi-camera comedy Marlon,starring Marlon Wayans, which ran for two seasons in summer 2017 and summer 2018.
Midnight, Texas, from Universal TV and David Janollari Entertainment, started with a 10-episode first season, which aired in summer 2017, ranking as the No. 1 broadcast drama series of the summer among adults 18-49. The show was renewed for a nine-episode second season, which was moved in-season, debuting this past October. There was a change at the helm of the series heading into Season 2, with Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder becoming executive producers and showrunners, replacing Monica Owusu-Breen. Additionally, two cast members from Season 1 - Sarah Ramos and Yul Vazquez - did not come back as series regulars.
Season to date, Midnight, Texas, which aired Fridays at 9 PM until shifting to 8 PM last week, has averaged 2 million viewers and a 0.4 in 18-49 (Live+Same Day), which was down from the Season 1 average. Its Season 2 finale, which will be a series finale, airs next Friday.
Like Midnight, Texas, Marlon too got off to a solid ratings start in summer 2017. The sitcom, created by Wayans and Christopher Moynihan, became that summer's No. 1 new scripted series on the Big 4 networks in 18-49 and total viewers. Also like Midnight, Texas, Marlon's second season, which averaged 2.6 million viewers and a 0.6 rating in 18-49, was down significantly from Season 1.
Loosely inspired by the real life of star Marlon Wayans, the family comedy centered on a loving (but sometimes inappropriate) father committed to co-parenting his two kids with his very together ex-wife. While his misguided fatherly advice, unstoppable larger-than-life personality and unpredictable Internet superstardom might get in the way sometimes, for Marlon family really always does come first - even if he's the biggest kid of all.
NBC
Christmas Wishes
Arizona
When Randy Heiss went hiking behind his Patagonia, Ariz., ranch, the last thing he expected to find was a Christmas list from a little girl across the U.S.-Mexico border.
"I found this balloon on my morning walk near Patagonia Sunday. I couldn't tell what it was until I got close enough to see the ribbon because the balloon had popped when it reached high elevation. Attached to the ribbon was a scrap of paper with the Christmas wishes from a little girl," Heiss wrote Dec. 18 on the Facebook page of the Mountain Empire Rotary Club, of which he's a member. He asked for help with finding the girl and her family. "We would love to help make the magic of Christmas happen for her," he concluded.
When he brought the list home to his wife, who speaks fluent Spanish, they determined that the little girl had asked for Enchantimals toys, clothes, art supplies and various other gifts.
That's when Heiss set out to make the little girl's Christmas dreams come true. Heiss said he had attempted to send Christmas letters to Santa Claus via balloon when he was a kid but never received a response.
Heiss sent a Facebook message on Wednesday to XENY, a radio station in Nogales, to see if it could help him track down the girl or her family. He later received a response from the station, which had determined the author of the letter was an 8-year-old girl named Dayami- and the station wanted to set up a meeting between the two on Thursday.
Arizona
Referee Suspended
New Jersey
A New Jersey high school referee was suspended after a video showed a black wrestler being forced to have his hair cut before a bout after being told he would have to forfeit the match if he refused, according to state athletic officials on Saturday.
The video, which was uploaded on Twitter on Thursday by a reporter from SNJ Today newspaper, showed Andrew Johnson of Buena Regional High School in Buena, New Jersey, getting his dreadlocks hairstyle cut off by a school official. Moments later, Johnson, who is black, won his match against his opponent.
A referee named Alan Maloney, who is white, apparently had ordered Johnson to cut off his hair, according to local media reports. The clip went viral on Friday, with many social media users condemning the school for allowing Maloney to make the order, calling it racist and discriminatory.
"Deeply disturbed that Andrew Johnson, a student at Buena Regional H.S., was forced to choose between keeping his dreadlocks and competing in a wrestling tournament," wrote New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a democrat, on Twitter. "No student should have to needlessly choose between his or her identity & playing sports."
Larry White, the executive director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), said the incident would be investigated by the New Jersey Civil Rights division and the referee would not be assigned to future high school wrestling events in New Jersey until the review is complete.
New Jersey
Ancient Stable
Pompeii
Archaeologists have unearthed the petrified remains of a harnessed horse and saddle in the stable of an ancient villa in a Pompeii suburb.
Pompeii archaeological park head Massimo Osanna told Italian news agency ANSA that the villa belonged to a high-ranking military officer, perhaps a general, during ancient Roman times.
Osanna was quoted on Sunday as saying the remains of two or three other horses were also discovered.
The villa's terraces had views of the Bay of Naples and Capri island. The area was previously excavated, during the early 1900s, but later re-buried.
Osanna says suffocating volcanic ash or boiling vapors killed the horses. He hopes the villa eventually will be open for public visits.
Pompeii
Birds Overdose
Huntington Beach
Birds that appeared to have been intoxicated on prescription pills dumped in a Southern California park are now recuperating thanks to wildlife center staff.
The Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center shared photos of an intoxicated goose and gull on its Facebook page after neighbors in Huntington Beach, Calif., noticed the birds to be acting strangely. The birds were said to be walking slowly, and one goose passed out with its legs in the air.
According to the post, hundreds of pills, which may have included heart medications, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety and insomnia medications, were left at Carr Park by an unknown person. To the birds, the medicine may have appeared to be grain. According to one commenter, who identified himself as an assistant manager at a sober-living facility, one of the pills included Seroquel, a "heavy sedative used in [paranoia]/anxiety."
The Canada goose and ring-billed gull received IV fluids and, as of Thursday, appeared to be doing better.
"A caring citizen noticed hundreds of pills all over the grass at a park in Huntington Beach yesterday. He saw a goose in distress and called Animal Control," the nonprofit wrote. "There were other birds that may have eaten some of the pills but they were able to fly away. … Thank you to those who took quick action to help the innocent birds at this park."
Huntington Beach
Weekend Box Office
'Aquaman'
In a flood of new releases, "Aquaman" easily swam past "Mary Poppins Returns" and "Bumblebee" to lead the busy pre-Christmas weekend with an estimated $67.4 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Returns were more modest for Disney's "Mary Poppins" sequel and Paramount's "Transformers" spinoff, though each had reason to expect strong business through the holidays.
Largely overlooked in the onslaught at theaters was STXfilms' "Second Act," starring Jennifer Lopez. The romantic comedy debuted with an estimated $6.5 million in 2,607 locations, drawing an audience that was 70 percent female.
But the weekend's real flop was "Welcome to Marwen," the Robert Zemeckis-directed fantastical drama starring Steve Carell as an imaginative man whose scale model town helps him rehabilitate after a trauma. The film, which cost at least $40 million to make, earned just $2.3 million in 1,900 theaters. It's the second straight flop for Universal (which teamed with DreamWorks for "Marwen") following "Mortal Engines." That $100 million film debuted last weekend with $7.5 million film in ticket sales.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Comscore:
1. "Aquaman," $67.4 million ($91.3 million international).
2. "Mary Poppins Returns," $22.2 million.
3. "Bumblebee," $21 million ($31.1 million international).
4. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," $16.7 million ($38 million international).
5. "The Mule," $9.3 million.
6. "The Grinch," $8.2 million ($23.7 million international).
7. "Second Act," $6.5 million.
8. "Ralph Breaks the Internet," $4.6 million ($9.3 million international).
9. "Welcome to Marwen," $2.4 million.
10. "Mary Queen of Scots," $2.2 million.
'Aquaman'
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