• Sydney Smith was both a clergyman and a wit. Once, a lady guest at his country estate suggested that the estate would be more beautiful if it had deer. When the lady woke up the following morning and looked out her window, she saw two donkeys with deer antlers tied to their heads.
• Harpo Marx and Oscar Levant were motoring on Long Island when Harpo drove alongside another car, then pointed West and asked, “Denver?”
Prejudice
• At the Atlanta airport, country comedian Jerry Clower saw a little white boy trip and gash his head. Blood was flowing freely, the boy’s mother was upset, and airline employees were calling for help. A good-looking, well-dressed black man stepped up to Mr. Clower and said, “Mr. Clower, I am a medical doctor. Would you ask the mother if it would be all right for me to check the little boy?” Mr. Clower understood why the black doctor had spoken to him first—if the doctor had been white, the doctor would have spoken to the mother directly. Mr. Clower did speak to the mother, the mother gave permission for the black doctor to attend to her boy, and when emergency personnel arrived, they said nothing more needed to be done because the black doctor had already done everything excellently. Mr. Clower writes, “I hope one day we grow to the point where an individual can perform as a professional, whatever his race, nationality, or origin.”
• When African-American comedian Dick Gregory first went into show business, he worried about how to react when some yahoo screamed racial epithets at him. For six months he had his wife scream insults at him while he figured out the best way to react. Finally, he asked his wife, “What would you do if from this day on I started referring to you as ‘bitch’?” She replied, “I’d just ignore you.” Mr. Gregory was impressed by the attitude with which she said that, and he used that attitude in his act. Later, he found comic ways to respond to racial insults. When someone called him “nigger,” he replied very politely, “According to my contract, the management pays me $50 every time someone calls me that. Please do it again.”
• In the Jim Crow era, black comedian Nipsey Russell engaged in this bit of socially relevant material. Blacks who attempted to vote in the South were often given a literacy test that involved many questions and was impossible to pass. In one bit Mr. Russell told, a would-be black voter was asked, “What did the Founding Fathers mean when they said all men were created equal?” The would-be black voter, realizing that he would not be allowed to vote no matter what he answered, replied, “They meant when you’re white, you’re right; when you’re brown, you could stick around; but when you’re black, get waaaay back!”
• In his act, black comedian Dick Gregory used to tell a story about being in a restaurant down South during Jim Crow days. The white waitress told him, “We don’t serve colored people here.” Mr. Gregory replied, “That’s all right, I don’t eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken.” Just then, three members of the KKK walked in and told Mr. Gregory, “Boy, watch what you do, because whatever you do to that chicken, we’re going to do to you.” So Mr. Gregory picked up the chicken and kissed it!
• Comedian Bob Smith’s parents accepted his homosexuality. His father, a retired state trooper, once attended an Annual Policemen’s Ball where some men sitting with him and his wife (Sue) began to talk about “fags.” His father said, “You know, my son’s gay. And it takes a lot more guts for him to deal with being gay than it does for jerks like you to sit there talking with your mouths full and your heads empty. And I don’t have to listen to it. C’mon, Sue. Let’s sit somewhere else.”
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae gourd family that bears cucumiform fruits, which are used as vegetables. There are three main varieties of cucumber—slicing, pickling, and burpless/seedless—within which several cultivars have been created. The cucumber originates from South Asia, but now grows on most continents, as many different types of cucumber are traded on the global market.
The cucumber is a creeping vine that roots in the ground and grows up trellises or other supporting frames, wrapping around supports with thin, spiraling tendrils. The plant may also root in a soilless medium, whereby it will sprawl along the ground in lieu of a supporting structure. The vine has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruits.
Cucumber fruits consist of 95% water. In botanical terms, the cucumber is classified as a pepo, a type of botanical berry with a hard outer rind and no internal divisions. However, much like tomatoes and squashes, it is often perceived, prepared, and eaten as a vegetable.
Source
Deborah, the Master Gardener said:
Roughly 95% of a cucumber is water. I think cucumbers and celery are two foods that cost more calories to eat than they contain. I wish that was true of bacon.
Only a few fool neighbors set off fireworks at midnight, which caused the Schipperkes to sound the alarm, and it was over as quickly as it began. I hope that jackassery isn’t a harbinger of what’s to come; I have much hope for 2021 kicking 2020’s ass.
Happy New Year!
Mac Mac took the day off.
Jon L took the day off.
Stephen F took the day off.
Roy, still a leftist scumbag in Tyler, TX took the day off.
John I from Hawai`i took the day off.
Rosemary in Columbus took the day off.
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame took the day off.
Joe took the day off.
Leo in Boise took the day off.
Daniel in The City took the day off.
David of Moon Valley took the day off.
Dave in Tucson took the day off.
DJ Useo took the day off.
Bob from Mechanicsburg, Pa took the day off.
Michelle in AZ took the day off.
Kevin K. in Washington DC took the day off.
Ed K took the day off.
Doug in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took the day off.
-pgw took the day off.
Kenn B took the day off.
Micki took the day off.
Angelo D took the day off.
Harry M. took the day off.
George M. took the day off.
Gary K took the day off.
Roy the (now retired) hoghead (aka 'hoghed') ( Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. ~Frank Zappa ) took the day off.
Saskplanner took the day off.
Gateway Mike took the day off.
Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
MarilynofTC took the day off.
Paul of Seattle took the day off.
Brian S. took the day off.
Gene took the day off.
Tony K. took the day off.
Noel S. took the day off.
James of Alhambra took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Happy Effing New Year - woke up to a text from my kid brother - Dear Old Dad had died - his heart gave out.
Lots of stuff is up in the air, will know more later today and take it from there.
Just a bit numb.
Tonight, Saturday:
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'Magnum PU', followed by a RERUN'Blue Bloods', then '48 Hours'.
NBC opens the night with a RERUN'Ellen's Game Of Game's, followed by a RERUN'The Wall', then an old old 'SNL'.
'SNL' is a RERUN, with John Mulaney hosting, music by The Strokes.
ABC starts the night with a RERUN'To Tell The Truth', followed by a RERUN'Shark Tank', then a RERUN'The Rookie'.
The CW offers the FRESH'RuPaul's Drag Race', followed by a RERUN'Masters Of Illusion'.
Faux has a RERUN'9-1-1', followed by a RERUN'9-1-1: Lone Star'.
MY recycles an old 'Weather Gone Viral', followed by an old 'Storm Of Suspicion'.
AMC offers the movie 'Lethal Weapon 2', followed by the movie 'Lethal Weapon 3', then the movie 'Lethal Weapon 4'.
BBC -
[6:00AM - 3:00PM] WEIRD WONDERS
[4:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - THE BLUE PLANET
[5:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - THE DEEP
[6:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - TIDAL SEAS
[7:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - COASTS
[8:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - SEASONAL SEAS
[9:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - CORAL SEAS
[10:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - THE OPEN OCEAN
[11:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - FROZEN SEAS
[12:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - THE BLUE PLANET
[1:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - THE DEEP
[2:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - TIDAL SEAS
[3:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - COASTS
[4:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - SEASONAL SEAS
[5:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - CORAL SEAS (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has the movie 'Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 2', followed by the movie 'Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1'.
FX has the movie 'Now You See Me 2', followed by the movie 'Hidden Figures'.
History has 'History's Greatest Mysteries', followed by the FRESH'Titanic: Into The Heart Of The Wreck'.
IFC -
[6:00am - 1:00pm] Saved By The Bell
[1:30pm] Drillbit Taylor
[4:00pm] A Very Brady Sequel
[6:00pm] The Brady Bunch Movie
[8:00pm] Vacation
[10:15pm] Vacation
[12:35am] Drillbit Taylor
[3:10am] Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Skydivers
[5:30am] Three's Company (ALL TIMES ET)
ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest led the way Thursday with its annual countdown to the new year, drawing a 2.4 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic and 8.37 million viewers in the primetime portion of its broadcast in fast affiliate Nielsen Live+Same Day numbers.
Rockin’ Eve’s numbers were steady with last year’s early data, with the 10 p.m. hour growing to 3.1 rating and 10.18M viewers. But other programming last night was mostly down year over year with the festivities in Times Square muted by the pandemic. There were only small groups of socially distanced first responders in the crowd to watch performers including Jennifer Lopez, Cyndi Lauper and Billy Porter ahead of the annual ball drop to ring in 2021.
NBC was second overall last night with its NYE content, airing NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly (1.0, 4.41M), down four tenths in the demo from last year. The network said the 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. portion of last night’s broadcast drew a 1.9 rating with 7 million viewers; other networks’ post-ball drop ratings were not available. NBC’s night started with the two-hour Dateline special Escape From 2020 (0.8, 4.35M).
Fox’s new stab at a NYE show, New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast (0.6, 1.99M) hosted by Ken Jeong and Joel McHale, was off two tenths from the network’s New Year’s Eve With Steve Harvey: Live From Times Square last year.
This year especially, film holiday bragging rights ought to belong to the streamers, as numerous big pictures fill the holiday corridor gap emptied by the pandemic. Trouble is, most of them resist transparency, even when the news is good. I’m trying to coax out information on a couple of films, but here’s some news Deadline has gotten on one of the big successes. The George Clooney-directed sci-fi thriller The Midnight Sky is well on its way to becoming one of the biggest-ever films on Netflix — with a projected 72 million households on course to watch the film in the first 4 weeks. Netflix has confirmed that along with the fact that the success is global: The Midnight Sky reached the #1 spot overall in 77 countries; and has been in the Top 10 in 93 countries – from Turkey to Argentina, Germany and Iceland (where part of the movie was shot).
In addition, the theatrical release for The Midnight Sky was Netflix’s largest of the year. While that needs to be qualified in light of how the Covid pandemic walloped theatrical, The Midnight Sky played in more than 800 locations in 16 countries including US, the UK, Brazil, Australia, Spain, Japan and Mexico.
There is validation here of the Netflix Films program built under the leadership of Scott Stuber, who in three years has brought in talent he had relationships with when he was a movie executive and producer. When he came in, most big stars weren’t doing streamer films but that line in the sand is long gone. Netflix began 2020 with the Chris Hemsworth-starrer Extraction, which became the streamer’s most viewed film ever and has a sequel in the works. The year ends with the David Fincher-directed Mank, the Aaron Sorkin-directed The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Midnight Sky. Netflix starts 2021 with its biggest ever movie production, the Joe & Anthony Russo-directed espionage thriller The Gray Man set to start early next year in Long Beach with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans starring.
Clooney stars with Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Demian Bichir, Tiffany Boone and Caoilinn Springall.
As 2020 drew to a close, a list of heralded cultural works slipped into the public domain.
Now that the year 2021 has arrived, works published in 1925 have reached the public domain in the US.
It just so happens that 1925 was a banner year for literature and music. The Great Gatsby, by American writer F Scott Fitzgerald, and Mrs Dalloway, by English author Virginia Woolf, are among the works that came out that year and are now considered part of the US public domain.
On the film side, the 1925 silent movie “Go West”, directed by and starring Buster Keaton, is also on the list.
Works by Ma Rainey, such as “Army Camp Harmony Blues” and “Shave ‘Em Dry”, are also now considered public domain in the US, as is George and Ira Gershwin’s “Looking For a Boy”.
The iconic Pink's Hot Dogs stand announced Thursday it will close for two months due to the increase in coronavirus cases in the region.
In a post on its Twitter page, Pink's said the decision to close beginning Sunday night is being done "in order to keep our patrons and staff safe from the current Covid surge.''
The owners say with the regional stay-at-home order and diminishing hospital bed capacity, the business feel it's too risky to stay open.
The legendary spot in Hollywood has been serving customers since 1939 and concluded its Twitter message with "See you in March. Please stay safe!''
A New Year’s event by controversial Christian evangelical singer Sean Feucht, who has been opposing coronavirus guidelines with his shows, kicked off in Los Angeles amid strong protest by residents and activists.
Community leaders asked Mr Feucht to call his programme off amid fears of the event turning into a “super-spreader,” the LA Times reported. Several activists and residents also tried preventing the event from being set-up with a car blockade, but it took place as planned.
Church Without Walls Pastor Stephen "Cue" Jn-Marie along with Pete White, executive director of the LA Community Action Network, created a Facebook event inviting residents to help form the blockade at Echo Park. The event’s poster said “Resistance blockade against biological warfare: Protest the homeless.”
With several live posts, Mr Jn-Marie showed the protest scenes where the protestors were seen confronting the supporters of Mr Feucht. One person was heard saying “That’s not Christianity, Christianity saves life, not puts life in danger.”
Mr Feucht, volunteer pastor and failed Republican congressional candidate, has been holding his open-air “Let Us Worship” concerts throughout the country in a push back against government restriction on religious gatherings. His events have seen thousands of his maskless supporters join the crowd, singing and dancing, flouting the coronavirus restrictions. Mr Feucht has upcoming events scheduled in Orange County and San Diego, according to his website.
A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the only woman on federal death row to be executed before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
The ruling, handed down Friday by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, concluded that a lower court judge erred when he vacated Lisa Montgomery’s execution date in an order last week.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss had ruled the Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled Montgomery’s execution and he vacated an order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons scheduling her death for Jan. 12.
Montgomery had been scheduled to be put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, in December, but Moss delayed the execution after her attorneys contracted coronavirus visiting their client and asked him to extend the time to file a clemency petition.
Montgomery was convicted of killing 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in December 2004. She used a rope to strangle Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and then cut the baby girl from the womb with a kitchen knife, authorities said. Montgomery took the child with her and attempted to pass the girl off as her own, prosecutors said.
Trump International Hotel in Washington DC has hiked its prices to over three times their usual rate ahead of president-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The hotel recently unblocked the dates after months of keeping 16-20 January 2021 unavailable to bookings, presumably in anticipation of Mr Trump’s inauguration.
The rooms initially opened at higher prices than usual, ranging from doubles to suites at $886 (£650) to $2,225 (£1,630).
However, the prices seem to have been hiked further, as the hotel's website now says a two-night minimum is required for guests visiting during the week of inauguration, with even the cheapest rooms priced at $2,225 a night for 19 and 20 January. On other days in January, the average room charge for the hotel is priced at $436.
Trump International is not the only hotel in Washington to raise prices in hopes of heightened demand around the inauguration. But it is now priced considerably higher than most rivals.
Florence’s Uffizi Gallery is making available for viewing online 88 rarely displayed drawings of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” to mark the 700th anniversary in 2021 of the Italian poet’s death.
The virtual show of high-resolution images of works by the 16th-Century Renaissance artist Federico Zuccari will be accessible from Friday “for free, any hour of the day, for everyone,” said Uffizi director Eike Schmidt.
The drawings illustrate Dante’s masterpiece, “The Divine Comedy,” an epic poem in three parts recounting a pilgrim’s travels through hell, purgatory and heaven.
Dante Alighieri is revered as the father of the Italian language. A Tuscan by birth, he died and was buried in the city of Ravenna, a three-time ancient capital located in the region of Emilia-Romagna.
The pencil-and-ink drawings are in contrasting shades of black and red. They were completed during Zuccari’s stay in Spain from 1586 to 1588, and became part of the Uffizi collection in 1738.
The drawings have only been publicly displayed twice previously, and then only a selection, owing to their fragility: in Florence in 1865 to mark the 600th anniversary of Dante’s birth and coinciding with Italy’s unification as a nation, and for a specialized exhibit about Dante in Abruzzo in 1993.
Scientists are edging closer to making a super-secure, super-fast quantum internet possible: they've now been able to 'teleport' high-fidelity quantum information over a total distance of 44 kilometres (27 miles).
Both data fidelity and transfer distance are crucial when it comes to building a real, working quantum internet, and making progress in either of these areas is cause for celebration for those building our next-generation communications network.
In this case the team achieved a greater than 90 percent fidelity (data accuracy) level with its quantum information, as well as sending it across extensive fibre optic networks similar to those that form the backbone of our existing internet.
"We're thrilled by these results," says physicist Panagiotis Spentzouris, from the Fermilab particle physics and accelerator laboratory based at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Quantum internet technology uses qubits; unmeasured particles that remain suspended in a mix of possible states like spinning dice yet to settle.
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said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
