from Bruce
Anecdotes
Education
• Flannery O’Connor used to take castor-oil sandwiches to the St. Vincent’s Grammar School for Girls she attended in Savannah, Georgia. Why? She didn’t want to share her lunch with the other students. Later, she attended the Peabody School in Milledgeville, where she was required to sew a set of clothing for her Home Economics class. On examination day, she brought her pet duckling and the set of clothing she had made to school. The set of clothing consisted of underwear and outerwear — all created to fit the duck.
• Milton Friedman was a Nobel Prize-winning economist who served as an economic adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. After Mr. Friedman had given a speech, Shlomo Lorincz asked him, “In the Talmud, Hillel summarized Judaism in one sentence: ‘What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: this is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary.’ Could you summarize economics in one sentence?” Mr. Friedman replied, “Yes — there is no such thing as a free lunch.”
• Lynne Reid Banks, author of The Indian in the Cupboard, taught English for nine years in Israel. She once attended a reading conference where she spoke in front of a group of children who had plastic bags filled with reading materials. The children grew restless and started rustling the bags, and to get their attention, she kicked the bag out from underneath a boy. Another teacher wrote her an angry letter protesting her action, but the boy invited Ms. Banks to join his soccer team.
• M.E. Kerr, author of books for young people, sometimes gives presentations in classrooms. One teacher who gave a questionnaire to students following Ms. Kerr’s presentation shared one with her. One question was this: “What did you like most about Ms. Kerr’s talk?” A student named Wallace had answered, “Sitting next to Brenda.” By the way, Ms. Kerr’s real name is Marijane Agnes Meaker. The pseudonym “M.E. Kerr” is a play on the name “Meaker.”
• Many people who tell stories have the bad habit of stopping repeatedly to ask the listener if he or she has heard the story before. Henry Irving was one such person. In telling a story to Mark Twain, he stopped three different times to ask if Mr. Twain had heard the story before. Finally, Mr. Twain could stand it no longer and said, “I can lie once, I can lie twice for the sake of politeness, but there I draw the line. I not only heard the story — I invented it.”
• David Foster Wallace’s mother was an English teacher at a community college. She had an interesting way of teaching David and Amy, his sister, proper grammar. If either of them made an error in usage during conversation at the supper table, she would pretend to have a coughing fit until the child acknowledged his or her error and corrected it.
• Countee Cullen took his poetry seriously — and his teaching. In Paris, he once met a student to whom he had given a failing grade in French. The student thanked him for the failing grade because after he had received it, he had studied French seriously and the French government had hired him as a translator.
Fame
• For many years, Alistair Cooke lived in the United States and was famous in Great Britain because of his BBC radio program Letter from America and his articles in The Guardian. However, Susan, his own daughter, did not know that her father was famous. She found out when her family went to London on vacation, and the British maître d’ in a restaurant made a huge fuss over the recently knighted Sir Alistair Cooke. She was shocked, went into the ladies’ room, and thought, “What the heck!” Of course, Sir Alistair knew he was famous, and he learned how to deal with it. Sometimes someone would recognize him and say, “Aren’t you …?” He always replied, “That’s right. I’m Bob Hope.” One day, he said that to a woman, and the woman replied, “Isn’t that interesting? I’m Mrs. Bob Hope.” (She really was, and they both laughed.) By the way, Sir Alistair had high standards for language, both written and spoken. He seriously disliked for his daughters to say “um,” and Emma’s sister’s habit of saying “you know” drove him to yell, “I don’t know, I don’t know! That’s why you’re talking and I’m not, because you’re going to tell me something I don’t know!”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Dust and Bones"
Album: SONGS FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE
Artist: Genni Kane
Artist Location: Australia
Info:
“Genni Kane sang her way through the 1980s as a member of the ARIA award-winning Flying Emus. She has been writing songs and performing since she was 17. She has written songs for many artists including Flying Emus, Slim Dusty, Jimmy Little, Anne Kirkpatrick and Bananas in Pyjamas.
“Most recently Genni has been exploring and writing songs at her kitchen table about how she sees the world.”
MUSICIANS
Genni Kane: vocals, acoustic guitar, ukuleles
John Kane: acoustic 11-string guitar, mandolin, banjo, dobro, resonator guitar, vocals
Jon Wilby: electric guitar, double bass, vocals
Christian Prusiak: fretless electric bass, vocals
Smith & Jones: Duet vocals on “Folk Singer,” harmonies
Syd Green: drums, percussion, acoustic guitar
Price: $8 (AUS) for 12-track album; tracks cannot be ordered separately
Genre: Singer-Songwriter. Americana.
Links:
SONGS FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE
Genni Kane on Bandcamp
Genni Kane Official Website
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Stephen Suggests
Twofer
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Gas went up 4¢ to $4.33/gal at the no-name, cash-preferred station ($4.43/gal credit).
Joins Neil Young
Joni Mitchell
Singer Joni Mitchell has joined Neil Young in asking for her music to be removed from Spotify over Covid misinformation concerns.
"Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives," the Canadian singer said in a post on her official website.
In her message on Friday, Mitchell, whose hits include Big Yellow Taxi, said she stands in solidarity with the Canadian-American singer, Neil Young, and with the "global scientific and medical communities".
Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have been friends for many years, and are both survivors of polio. They both contracted the disease in the early 1950s, not long before a vaccine became available.
Unlike Young, Mitchell did not specifically name Mr Rogan in her post. However, she did include a link to an open letter signed by a group of scientists and medical professionals, which criticised Spotify for hosting Rogan's podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience.
Joni Mitchell
Sales Soar
‘Maus’
Just days after the banning of “Maus” by a Tennessee school district made national news, two editions of Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel about the Holocaust have reached the top 20 on Amazon.com and are in limited supply.
“Maus” was No. 12 on Amazon as of early Friday evening, and was not available for delivery until mid-February. “The Complete Maus,” which includes a second volume, was No. 9 and out of stock.
Neither book was in the top 1,000 at the beginning of the week.
Earlier this month, the McMinn County School Board in Tennessee voted to remove “Maus” due to “inappropriate language” and an illustration of a nude woman, according to minutes from a board meeting. Spiegelman’s autobiographical book, winner of a Pulitzer in 1992, tells of his father’s experiences as a Holocaust survivor.
The board’s decision came amid a wave of conservative-sponsored legislation and other actions to pull books from schools, with other banned works including Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
‘Maus’
Class Act
West Virginia
Gov. Jim Justice has a message for singer and actress Bette Midler, who called West Virginians “poor, illiterate and strung out” in a tweet after Sen. Joe Manchin refused to support President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act.
The 70-year-old Republican governor ended his televised State of the State address Thursday night by lifting up his English bulldog and flashing its rear end to the cameras and crowd.
“Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there: Kiss her heinie,” Justice said, grinning as people applauded and some gave him a standing ovation.
Midler shot back in a tweet with a ranking of states from an unnamed source showing West Virginia near the bottom in health care, education and the economy. Said Midler, the dog’s heinie would make a better governor, though she used a stronger word than that.
Not everyone was amused by Justice. In a tweet, West Virginia Democratic Del. Shawn Fluharty called the governor’s move “embarrassing and beneath the office.”
West Virginia
Newest White House Pet
Willow
Welcome, Willow, to a long line of presidential pets.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have added a green-eyed tabby from Pennsylvania to the White House family, the first feline tenant since President George W. Bush’s controversially named cat India.
The 2-year-old Willow joins Commander, a recently acquired German shepherd puppy who follows two other German shepherds, Champ and Major. Champ died in June at age 13, while Major, a 3-year-old rescue, was sent off to a quieter life after behaving aggressively.
With Presidents James K. Polk and Donald Trump the previous occupant among the no-pets exceptions, animals have a long history in the White House.
Willow
Net Neutrality Law Upheld
California
A federal appeals court has upheld California’s net neutrality law, rejecting an attempt by telecommunications industry groups to prevent the state from enforcing it.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous ruling, which means the status quo stays and the state can continue to enforce the law. This means California can continue its ban on internet providers slowing down or blocking access to websites and applications that don’t pay for premium service.
California’s net neutrality law was signed by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018. That came after regulators during the Trump administration killed federal net neutrality rules designed to prevent AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and other major internet providers from exploiting their dominance to favor certain services or apps over others.
In response, seven states and Puerto Rico enacted their own net neutrality policies. The most expansive effort of this sort was in California, which started enforcing the law last year, with potentially significant consequences for the rest of the U.S.
The Trump previous administration sued to block California’s 2018 law, preventing it from taking effect for years, but the Biden administration has dropped that lawsuit.
California
Gun To Be Destroyed
Rittenhouse
A judge on Friday approved an agreement by lawyers to destroy the assault-style rifle that Kyle Rittenhouse used to kill two people and wound a third during a 2020 street protest in Wisconsin.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the state crime lab would destroy the gun, probably in April. Judge Bruce Schroeder, the Kenosha County judge who presided over Rittenhouse’s trial, approved the agreement. Rittenhouse was not in court for Friday’s hearing.
The judge also ordered that Rittenhouse’s $2 million bail be divided among his attorney, a foundation that solicited donations for his defense and actor Ricky Schroder, who donated to the defense fund.
Destruction of the gun will be recorded as part of the agreement that was approved Friday. The rest of Rittenhouse’s property has already been returned to him, Binger told the judge.
Conservatives across the nation have praised Rittenhouse, saying he was defending Kenosha from far-left militants. Liberals have painted him as a trigger-happy vigilante.
Rittenhouse
Asks About Ghosts
Avenatti
Michael Avenatti sought Friday at his fraud trial to portray his former client Stormy Daniels as someone who might be delusional as he questioned the porn actor about her belief that her house was once haunted by ghosts.
Avenatti, who is acting as his own lawyer, got to cross-examine Daniels for a second day about allegations that he stole $300,000 the performer was supposed to get from a publisher for writing a tell-all book about an alleged sexual tryst with former President Donald Trump.
He asked Daniels about stories she has told on her “Spooky Babes” show website about living in a New Orleans house in 2019 that she said was haunted. Daniels said she experienced unexplainable and frightening encounters, including physical attacks from invisible assailants, a haunted doll named “Susan” who calls her “mommy” and the ability to communicate with dead people.
Throughout two days on the witness stand for Daniels that ended Friday afternoon, jurors heard plenty of profanity as written communications were read aloud.
On cross-examination Friday, she tended toward curt and dour, often smirking before answering Avenatti’s questions. Jurors appeared less engaged in her second day on the stand, some slouching in their chairs as the examination dragged on.
Avenatti
Rare Portrait Sells
Diana, Princess of Wales
A rare portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales, sold for more than $200,000 Thursday, fetching ten times its highest estimate, according to auction house Sotheby's.
The oil on canvas painting by late American artist Nelson Shanks depicts a pensive Diana looking down to her right side, as if deep in thought.
The piece had been expected to sell for around $15,000 to $20,000, but went for well above the estimated price for $201,600, Sotheby's, headquartered in New York City, said.
The head study was completed during the more than 35 hours of sittings Diana had in 1994 for a separate full-length portrait. That portrait was originally hung in Kensington Palace, but now hangs in her ancestral home in Althorp in Northamptonshire, Sotheby's said.
In a letter to the artist, she wrote of how she missed their time together, writing: “I do miss you and Leona in London, as coming to the Studio was a safe haven, so full of support and love,” Sotheby’s said.
Diana, Princess of Wales
New Lease On Life
Queen Mary
A $5-million repair project will begin next month to reopen the Queen Mary to the public, the latest step to keep the beleaguered Long Beach tourist attraction afloat.
The former ocean liner turned floating hotel closed in May 2020 because of the pandemic. Several studies have been conducted to gauge the work needed to keep the vessel open to tourists and prevent parts of the ship from flooding. The 88-year-old ship is in such disrepair that the city of Long Beach had considered the option of sinking it after taking control of the vessel from the lease operator last year.
Long Beach officials said Thursday the $5 million in crucial repairs should be completed by the end of 2022.
The company that held the lease to operate the ship, Eagle Hospitality Trust, filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2021 and agreed to surrender its lease agreement in June. Long Beach, which owns the ship and the property around it, said Eagle Hospitality defaulted on several provisions of the lease, including failure to maintain the aging ship.
Over the last 50 years, Long Beach has recruited several companies — including Walt Disney Co. — to manage the ship and develop the adjacent oceanfront property, with mixed shitty results. Before the pandemic, the ship generated $3.3 million in tax revenues annually from its operation as a hotel, a venue for concerts and festivals, and as a film location.
Queen Mary
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