from Bruce
Anecdotes
Movies
• While filming the movie Silver Streak, Richard Pryor held on to Gene Wilder’s belt while Mr. Wilder hung out of a moving train. During rehearsal, the train went 10 miles per hour, but during the actual filming, the train went 50 miles per hour. The stunt was dangerous, and Mr. Pryor made a promise to Mr. Wilder: If Mr. Wilder fell and was killed, Mr. Pryor would jump off the train.
Music
• Comedian Steve Martin played banjo and performed magic during his stand-up days as a way to give his act a little extra. Later, he decided to get more serious about his music. In 2009, he spoke about solving a problem, “About 10 years ago I did something: I put a banjo in every room. So wherever I was, it was there. I didn’t have to be in the mood to play the banjo and say, ‘Oh, who wants to go back to the bedroom to pick it up?’ It really helped me. You know, I started playing a lot more that way.” Soon, opportunities came his way: banjo player Earl Scruggs requested that Mr. Martin play on one of Mr. Scruggs’ albums, and The New Yorker asked him to host a banjo evening. In 2009, Mr. Martin went on tour with the North Carolina bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers, who are family friends. The tour is 85 percent music and 15 percent talking, but if some humor occurs to Mr. Martin, he throws it in.
• Some people are brilliant, among them DustoMcNeato, aka Dustin McLean, who is a filmmaker in Pasadena. He says, “Ever wish songs just sang what was happening in the music video? Well now they do ….” DustoMcNeato had the idea of taking music videos and rerecording the lyrics so that what is sung simply states what is happening in the music video. Many people have borrowed this idea, and on youtube are a number of videos that give the “Literal Video Version” of famous songs. For example, DustoMcNeato’s Literal Video Version of “Head Over Heels” by Tears for Fears contains these lyrics: “I’ve got a stack of books to return / I wish they were better / Now I’m singing in the library / And trying to flirt.” Search youtube for “Literal Video Version” to see this and other videos of this kind.
• Comedian John Cleese lacks musical talent and is completely unable to sing. Nevertheless, because of his comedic talents, he earned a role in the Broadway musical Half a Sixpence — with the understanding that he would mime as someone else did the necessary singing. However, after 50 performances, he felt comfortable with the role, so he began to join in the chorus — softly. After singing the chorus — softly — Mr. Cleese saw the musical’s director, Stanley Lebowski, who scowled at him and asked, “John, are you singing?” Mr. Cleese admitted that he was, and Mr. Lebowski told him, “Well, don’t.”
• The ivory keys of pianos can get very yellow when they get very old — at least, that’s the usual explanation for the color. However, Victor Borge used to explain the yellow ivory keys on his piano by saying that the elephant had smoked too much.
• Famed violinist Jascha Heifetz once tried to play Charlie Chaplin’s violin, but it made a horrible noise. Mr. Chaplin then played it with his left hand doing the bowing, and it sounded beautiful. He had put all of the strings on backward.
Names
• Comedian Albert Brooks and singer Linda Ronstadt used to date. Ms. Ronstadt has high praise for her former boyfriend: “He turned me into a real human being.” Mr. Brooks agrees: “When I first met her, she was a Volvo.” By the way, his father was radio comedian Harry Einstein, who named him Albert knowing that neighborhood kids would tease him by comparing him to the famed physicist Albert Einstein. Chances are, the teasing helped him become a comedian.
• Groucho and Harpo Marx once managed a fighter who lost many more fights than he won. The Marxes promptly nicknamed him “Canvasback,” but continued to manage his career. In one fight, Canvasback was knocked down five times in the first round. When the round was over, he tried to sit in the fighter’s stool in his corner, but Harpo shoved him aside and sat down in his place, then Groucho fanned Harpo.
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BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "The Sound of Silence"
Single: This is a one-sided single
Artist: Nouela
Artist Location: Seattle, Washington
Info: “Nouela is a singer and pianist whose debut solo album CHANTS is out now and who has had success with her recordings of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound Of Silence’ and Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun.’”
ela1979, a fan, wrote, “J’aimais déjà beaucoup l’originale mais cette version ajoute une sorte de fragilité que j'apprécie. Une très belle reprise vraiment!”
ela1979, a fan, wrote, “I already liked the original a lot but this version adds a kind of fragility that I appreciate. A very nice recovery [cover] indeed!” — Google Translate
“CHANTS is the debut album by Seattle multi-instrumentalist / singer Nouela. Born to Norwegian & Korean parents, Nouela spent the first her first 11 years living in Korea and learning to love what her parents played — Beach Boys, Pet Shop Boys, Beatles, Kraftwerk, Monk, Mingus. Nouela spent her teens and early twenties fronting bands (Mon Frere, People Eating People) and recording & touring with other Seattle Bands (The Fall Of Troy, Say Hi, Schoolyard Heroes, Cursive). After working with some amazing musicians & producers Nouela decided to change things up and play most everything on CHANTS.”
Price: $1.29 (USD) for track
Genre: Pop Cover.
Links:
“The Sound of Silence”
Nouela on Bandcamp
Nouela on YouTube
CHANTS (does not include “The Sound of Silence”)
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BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Recommended
Lee Brown: Zelensky plays Congress a heartbreaking video of the horrors of Russia’s war (NY Post)
The montage showed administration buildings and civilian apartment blocks exploding and engulfed in flames from repeated deadly airstrikes, including the horror of a Mariupol maternity hospital getting blown apart, killing women and children a week ago.
The footage also showed the overwhelming trauma for children caught in the war, crying as they were forced to flee their homeland — or worse still, from being mortally injured in airstrikes and shootings.
This is a murder: Ukrainian War Video
Graphic Images. Yep. Dead women and children. Thanks, Putin.
UN Mission Canada
(Click on any image for more readable version)
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Reader Contribution
Little Tucker
RD
Thanks, RD!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Gee, where have I seen a hate rally where a narcissistic madman whips crowds of deplorables (probably paid or forced to be there) into a frenzy before? Oh, the master imitates his Useful Idiot Predator!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Half way through the Sumo basho.
Tucson Music Hall To Be Renamed
Linda Ronstadt
The Tucson Music Hall will be renamed in honor of Linda Ronstadt, a southern Arizona native who went on to become a Grammy-winning superstar, Mayor Regina Romero announced Friday.
One of the top performers of the 1970s and a popular singer well into the 21st century, Ronstadt collected nearly a dozen Grammys in such categories as country, pop, Latin and children’s music. She stopped singing in 2009 when Parkinson’s disease robbed her of her singing voice.
Ronstadt arrived on the music scene in 1967 as the lead singer of the Stone Poneys, a country-folk trio that featured two of her friends from the University of Arizona in Tucson. She later found success as a solo artist in eclectic genres ranging from rock to Mexican ranchera.
The venue will be formally renamed on May 7 during the International Mariachi Conference Espectacular Concert. Romero’s office said Ronstadt is scheduled to be in Tucson to unveil new signage baring her name.
Linda Ronstadt
Telethon For Ukraine
March 26
An all-star roster of film, TV and theater performers — including Steve Martin, Annette Bening, Billy Porter, Audra McDonald, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Chenoweth, David Hyde Pierce and Rosie Perez — have signed up for a 10-hour telethon to raise money for the victims of the war in Ukraine.
The “Stars in the House” special will air March 26 from noon-10 p.m. Eastern. It can be viewed and listened to on the series’ site (www.starsinthehouse.com), the “Stars in the House” YouTube channel, as well as SiriusXM Stars109.
Just some of the other performers included are “SCTV” veterans Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin, as well as Tituss Burgess, Kelli O’Hara, Donna Murphy, Annaleigh Ashford, Jessie Mueller, Josh Groban, Judith Light, John Stamos, Lindsay Mendez, Laura Benanti, Norman Lear, Betty Buckley, Mandy Patinkin, Rachel Bloom, Patrick Wilson, Shoshana Bean, James Monroe Iglehart, Brittney Johnson, Santino Fontana, Judy Kuhn and Norbert Leo Butz.
The event also hopes to feature Ukrainians, including Oleg Karpenko, a Ukrainian theater and film actor who co-starred with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in “Servant of the People.”
Donations made during the event will benefit the International Rescue Committee and its humanitarian efforts for those affected by the war in Ukraine.
March 26
Fetches $2.4M
Marvel Comics #1
A particularly prized copy of the first-ever Marvel comic book fetched more than $2.4 million in an online auction, the auctioneer said Friday.
Known as the Marvel Comics #1 “pay copy,” it’s “arguably one of the top three comic books in the world of comics collecting,” said Vincent Zurzolo, chief operating officer of ComicConnect. The New York-based auctioneer sold the book Thursday night for a bit under $2,427,800.
Published in 1939, Marvel Comics #1 introduced characters including Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch, a precursor of the character of the same name that was later a member of Marvel’s Fantastic Four. The book launched what became the Marvel universe of comics, movies, TV shows and video games.
The very well-preserved “pay copy” is especially sought-after because it bears the publisher’s handwritten notes recording how much the multiple writers and artists were paid. For example, Frank R. Paul earned $25 for drawing the cover of a book now worth nearly 100,000 times as much.
Marvel Comics #1
‘Portrait of a Lady’
Peter Paul Rubens
Peter Paul Rubens’ 17th century masterpiece “Portrait of a Lady” has sold for the equivalent of $3.4 million at a Warsaw auction, becoming the most expensive artwork ever bought on the Polish art market, the auction house said.
The painting sold for 14.4 million zlotys, auction fee included, at an Old Masters auction Thursday night at the Desa Unicum.
It was the first painting by Rubens ever to appear on the Polish market. It was put on sale by a British citizen.
Prior to the auction, the value of the Flemish master’s oil-on-canvas portrait of a dark-haired woman in a rich black velvet dress had been estimated at between 18 million and 24 million zlotys ($4.5 million-$6 million).
In the past the painting has belonged, among others, to 17th-century British painter Sir Peter Lely. It was last shown in public in 1965.
Peter Paul Rubens
‘Regrets’ Performance
Di$ney
Officials at Walt Disney World said Friday that a performance by a visiting Texas high school drill team that used American Indian stereotypes, including chants of “scalp them,” doesn’t reflect the Florida resort’s values.
The performance this week in the Magic Kingdom by the “Indianettes” drill team from Port Neches-Grove High School “did not reflect our core values, and we regret it took place,” Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said in an emailed statement.
An audition tape that the school had provided in order to be selected to perform at the theme park resort was inconsistent with the actual performance, the statement said.
In a video of the performance posted on Twitter, members of the drill team are seen tapping their hands over their mouths and whooping, as a drum pounds in the background, in what is stereotypically called a “war cry.”
According to a PN-G spokesperson, this is the 8th time that PN-G performed the routine at Disney World. The spokesperson says Disney has never asked ahead of time about the planned performance.
Di$ney
Named Historic Site
Camp Amache
President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill into law Friday designating a former World War II Japanese American internment camp in rural Colorado as a federal historic site managed by the National Park Service.
Camp Amache is owned by the town of Granada and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its current designation already qualifies it for preservation funds, but designating the remote southeastern Colorado landmark as a National Historic Site makes it eligible for additional federal money.
About 120,000 Japanese Americans were held in 10 camps in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, Arkansas and Colorado after they were expelled from their homes near the West Coast under an executive order by President Franklin Roosevelt issued Feb. 19, 1942. More than 7,000 people were interned at Amache — the camp’s unofficial name, after a Cheyenne chief’s daughter — between 1942 and 1945.
The Amache site is less than one square mile (2.4 square kilometers) and features remnants of barracks, latrines, mess halls, military police structures and a cemetery, as well as trees planted by internees. It is currently managed by the non-profit Amache Preservation Society.
Camp Amache
70 & 50 Degrees Above Normal
Earth’s Poles
Earth’s poles are undergoing simultaneous freakish extreme heat with parts of Antarctica more than 70 degrees (40 degrees Celsius) warmer than average and areas of the Arctic more than 50 degrees (30 degrees Celsius) warmer than average.
Weather stations in Antarctica shattered records Friday as the region neared autumn. The two-mile high (3,234 meters) Concordia station was at 10 degrees (-12.2 degrees Celsius),which is about 70 degrees warmer than average, while the even higher Vostok station hit a shade above 0 degrees (-17.7 degrees Celsius), beating its all-time record by about 27 degrees (15 degrees Celsius), according to a tweet from extreme weather record tracker Maximiliano Herrera.
The coastal Terra Nova Base was far above freezing at 44.6 degrees (7 degrees Celsius).
It caught officials at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, by surprise because they were paying attention to the Arctic where it was 50 degrees warmer than average and areas around the North Pole were nearing or at the melting point, which is really unusual for mid-March, said center ice scientist Walt Meier.
“They are opposite seasons. You don’t see the north and the south (poles) both melting at the same time,” Meier told The Associated Press Friday evening. “It’s definitely an unusual occurrence.”
Earth’s Poles
Black Hole Paradox
Stephen Hawking
At the heart of every black hole sits a problem. As they sizzle away into nothingness over the eons, they take with them a small piece of the Universe. Which, quite frankly, just isn't in the rule book.
It's a paradox the late Stephen Hawking left us with as a part of his revolutionary work on these monstrous objects, inspiring researchers to tinker with potential solutions for the better part of half a century.
Somewhere between the two greatest theories ever to be constructed in physics there's a tiny but significant flaw. Finding a solution would allow us to either model general relativity as a particle-like system or comprehend quantum physics against the rolling background of space and time. If not a combination of both.
One recent attempt at a new theory by physicists from the UK, the US, and Italy has certainly stirred some interest in the general media, though it will be some time before we know one way or another if it's the solution we so desperately seek.
Mathematically it's a clever new spin on an idea that's been kicked around a while – one that poses black holes are kind of 'hairy'.
Stephen Hawking
Raining Deer?
Johnsonburg, PA
A disturbing case of deer jumping to their death has residents in one Elk County town demanding something be done to stop it.
For the town of Johnsonburg, the snow may have stopped falling from the sky, but for some residents, it continues to rain deer.
"As you can see in the background, there's a deer that has jumped off this bypass,” explained resident Bill Boylan, referring to the U.S. 219 bypass that runs through the town. “Recently, since we lived on the other side of the bypass, we've had 25 deer jump to their death in a populated area.
Julie Padasak, another concerned resident, also reached out to the state and regional game commissions.
"All of 'em are doe and that's, you know, potentially could have been how many more deer populating. If they wouldn't have died, they are the mothers to carry the, the baby deer," said Padasak.
Johnsonburg, PA
This is my little hometown - the bypass has been there for 10-15 years but this deer issue seems to be new.
It's hard to comprehend that many deer going to waste in 'Burg - if one gets hit on the road, it's not there long - locals like their venison, as lucky visitors may find out. ~marty
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