Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: Die, newspaper, die? (sfgate.com)
The geek gurus all weigh in on the end of dead-tree media. Are they wrong?
LISA LEFF: Dictionaries notice evolving meanings of marriage (Associated Press)
Only two states may have laws on the books sanctioning same-sex marriages, but the nation's leading dictionary publishers have updated their definitions of the word "marriage" to recognize gay unions.
Merriam-webster.com/dictionary: Definition of Marriage
1 a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage
Meghan O'Rourke: Dreaming of the Dead (slate.com)
After my mother died, one of my brothers told me he had been dreaming about her. He was comforted by this. I was envious. I was not dreaming about her, and my main fear, in those first days, was that I would forget what her face looked like. I told an old friend this. He just looked at me and said, "That's not going to happen." I didn't know how he could know this, but I was comforted by his certainty.
Scott Burns: Taxes on Working Senior Citizens Can Be Very High (assetbuilder.com)
U.S. Treasury obligations, FDIC-insured certificates of deposit, and National Credit Union Association accounts all share one thing--- a guarantee from the U.S. government. Some fine print readers will tell us that U.S. Treasury obligations are the safest of the three, but when you watch the actions of government, you see that all three are very secure. The major reason for this is that failing to make good on those "full faith and credit" guarantees would assure the systemic collapse that is threatened by current economic events.
Steamy pleasures (guardian.co.uk)
Trainspotters get a bad press - and now security concerns threaten to drive them to extinction. A worried Stephen Moss revisits his childhood passion.
My kind of blue (guardian.co.uk)
Jazz didn't just turn music on its head - it dragged visual art into the 20th century, too. Lionel Shriver on a show that captures its jangling madness.
Timothy Finn: Les Claypool doesn't let the mold grow on his many musical projects (McClatchy Newspapers)
He is best-known for his band Primus, but Les Claypool indulges in all kinds of music and many more disciplines.
Interview by Laura Barnett: Bunny Christie, set designer (guardian.co.uk)
'A bit of my scenery once hit an actress on the head. She fell like a stone.'
Chauncey Mabe: Prolific author Joyce Carol Oates struggles to write through a year of loss (Sun Sentinel)
Since Joyce Carol Oates' first novel, "With Shuddering Fall," came out in 1964, she has averaged two books a year. Many of them are novels, though she's also written plays, poetry, children's books, literary criticism, and a highly regarded sports book, "On Boxing" (1987).
Connie Ogle: "Mr. Jefferson, meet Sally Hemings: The rest is history" (McClatchy Newspapers)
What reader wouldn't marvel at the clever way in which Annette Gordon-Reed timed her latest book? Imagine having the foresight to get a history on the enslaved Hemings family and its ties to Thomas Jefferson published the same year that the United States elected its first African-American president.
Question time: Interview by Hannah Pool (guardian.co.uk)
Bestselling author Paulo Coelho on angels, publishers, and writing "The Alchemist" in just two weeks.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Shared Sacrifice' Edition
The New York Times, in an article Sunday, Administration Is Open to Taxing Health Benefits - NYTimes.com , reports that the Obama Administration is open to the idea of taxing certain employer provided health benefits as a way to help finance health care for the uninsured. Would you support such an approach?
Send your response, and a (short) reason why, to
Results Tuesday
wrote:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Another sunny spring day.
Breaks Ground For 'Kitchen Garden'
White House
Twenty-six elementary schoolchildren wielded shovels, rakes, pitchforks and wheelbarrows to help first lady Michelle Obama break ground on a produce and herb garden on the White House grounds.
Among the crops to be planted in the coming weeks are spinach, broccoli, various lettuces, kale and collard greens, and assorted herbs. There will also be a beehive.
The first harvest is expected by late April.
Assistant chef Sam Kass says some of the produce will be cooked in the White House kitchen and some will be given to a local soup kitchen where Mrs. Obama recently helped serve lunch.
White House
Resuscitates "Behind the Music"
VH1
VH1 is reviving its former signature series "Behind the Music."
The cable network is ordering about 10 new episodes of "Music," bringing back the iconic documentary program that ran for seven years on VH1 starting in 1997.
Lil Wayne and Scott Weiland have signed on to participate, and the network is near agreements with several other performers.
In focus groups, VH1 found that "BTM" is so deeply associated with the channel, some viewers assumed the series never left the air. The show's storytelling model of the meteoric rise, tragic fall and sober rebirth of an artist was so distinctive that "The Simpsons" devoted a 2000 episode to parodying the show. There was also a short-lived spin-off, "Behind the Music 2," that looked at the careers of younger favorites.
VH1
Bigger Than Ever
South by Southwest Festival
The U.S. economy is in the grip of recession, but you wouldn't know it from attending the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, a 10-day music, film, and interactive industry networking marathon fueled by massive quantities of beer and barbecue.
By nearly all measures, the festival, now in its 23rd year, is bigger than ever. Big musical acts include the Decemberists, Metallica and rapper Kanye West. At the related film festival, attendees got a sneak preview of Sacha Baron Cohen's upcoming film "Bruno."
More than 1,900 artists from over 40 countries will play in the music portion of South by Southwest, also dubbed as SXSW, that runs through Sunday, up about 100 from last year.
Hotel bookings are up about 10 percent from last year for the festival that attracts about $100 million to the economy of Austin -- capital of the Lone Star state.
The only negative: sales of passes to attend the music event -- which sell for $695 each - are down about 10 percent from a year ago. But sales for passes to attend the interactive portion of the event are up, organizers said.
South by Southwest Festival
Octogenarian Gandhi Disciple
Bagun Sumbarai
At first glance he looks like India's independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, wearing only a knee-length wraparound and slippers, but Bagun Sumbarai is a seasoned politician bidding for a sixth stint in parliament.
One of the oldest candidates in the general election beginning next month, Sumbarai, 85, treks for miles to woo voters and is hugely popular with the people of Singhbhum district in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
"I believe in my work and follow Gandhiji's ideology. When I was young I witnessed how Gandhiji mobilised people for the freedom of the country," said the bald Sumbarai, who is contesting the election on a ruling Congress party ticket.
Sumbarai regrets not being able to meet Gandhi but says such was the leader's influence on him that he adopted not only his principles but also his simple sartorial style.
Bagun Sumbarai
Saver, Not A Spender
Tina Louise
Actress Tina Louise, who played the role of "Ginger" on the TV series 'Gilligan's Island' told students at a South Plainfield elementary school that it's not how much money she made, but how much money she saved that's important.
She told the youngsters Thursday she didn't put her money in the stock market and didn't lose it all.
The 75-year-old was at the school to read and sign copies of her children's book "When I Grow Up." She also spoke about the importance of reading.
One student asked Louise what it was like to be famous. The actress said "you can get a good seat at a restaurant."
Tina Louise
Wife Beater Gets Probation
Don Cornelius
Don Cornelius has been sentenced to three years' probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor spousal battery.
Cornelius was charged in November with spousal battery, assault with a deadly weapon and dissuading a witness from making a police report, all misdemeanors.
The 72-year-old was arrested a month earlier after police were called to his Hollywood Hills home following a report of domestic dispute.
Records indicate the other charges were dismissed as part of Cornelius' plea agreement. He was ordered not to use threats or force against anyone, including his wife Victoria, and must attend a yearlong domestic violence course.
Don Cornelius
Daughter Pushes
Catherine Falk
Peter Falk's daughter is asking a court to establish a conservatorship so that she can continue to visit her ailing father.
In court documents filed Friday in Los Angeles, Catherine Falk argues that a conservatorship is the only way to prevent the actor's wife from blocking her regular visits. The filing states the "Columbo" actor is suffering from advanced dementia.
Catherine Falk was granted one supervised visit last month; no discussion of how that visit went is included in the documents filed Friday.
The filing only seeks to establish a conservatorship over Falk, not his estate. A hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Catherine Falk
Because Energy Companies Care
Flammable Water
A woman said she lives in constant fear and is terrified her home could blow up because of natural gas that has managed to seep into her water supply. Amee Ellsworth can turn on a faucet in her kitchen or bathroom, flick a lighter and watch flames shoot up from the sink. And Ellsworth said she's afraid she or her neighbors are at imminent risk of an explosion.
Dave Neslin from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said the gas is likely coming from a leaking well, but there are eight wells located within a half-mile of Ellsworth's home. The wells are owned by two different energy companies.
Ellsworth said she's scheduled to meet Friday with officials from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Noble Energy Inc.
Flammable Water
Hatchling Found On NZ Mainland
Tuatara
A hatchling of a rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found in the wild on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, a wildlife official said Thursday.
The baby tuatara was discovered by staff during routine maintenance work at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital, Wellington, conservation manager Raewyn Empson said.
"We are all absolutely thrilled with this discovery," Empson said. "It means we have successfully re-established a breeding population back on the mainland, which is a massive breakthrough for New Zealand conservation."
There are estimated to be about 50,000 of them living in the wild on 32 small offshore islands cleared of predators, but this is the first time a hatchling has been seen on the mainland in about 200 years.
Tuatara
NJ Store May Close
Fountains of Wayne
A kitschy northern New Jersey landmark that spawned a popular rock band's name and served as the backdrop for a "Sopranos" episode may be in danger of closing.
Fountains of Wayne has sat on the side of Route 46 for more than 40 years, beckoning shoppers with displays of lawn ornaments, outdoor furniture and life-sized Santa Claus figures in various attire.
The store's gates were closed on Friday, and no one answered the phone.
The store's owner told The Record of Bergen County last week that the store's fate was still evolving.
Fountains of Wayne
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