Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: Tom wants to know how many mass murders it will take for something to change in Washington (Tucson Weekly)
But you can't really blame LaPierre for stating that the only solution to gun violence is more guns. He's beholden to the gun manufacturers and nut jobs like the Koch brothers who pump tens of millions of dollars into the NRA's coffers every year. Members of Congress, however, have taken an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States and are supposed to represent their constituents.
Lenore Skenazy: Why Is This Man on This List? (Creators Syndicate)
An out-of-town golfer puts a $5 tip down the shirt of the 17-year-old young lady washing the clubs. Obnoxious? You bet. Humiliating? Most likely. What kind of punishment do you think the guy deserves? Be forced to make a public apology? Do some community service? Maybe walk around for a day with a sign on him: "I'm a sexist tool." I'd endorse any of those. What I can't endorse is the actual sentence he received when this case went to court. He was put on the sex offender list. For 25 years.
Connie Schultz: Love in the Middle Ages (Creators Syndicate)
It was a hard snow, the kind that stings your face on its way to burying everything in sight.
John Cheese: 5 Common Misconceptions That Destroy Computers (Cracked)
#5. "This Computer-Boosting Software Can't Be a Scam -- I Saw It on TV!"
Dave Simpson: "Ian McCulloch: 'Car parks are a bigger threat than war'" (Guardian)
The Echo & the Bunnymen frontman on cleaning up his act, making a solo album and singlehandedly resurrecting David Bowie's career.
Michael Hann: Yeah Yeah Yeahs launch pre-emptive strike at phone-wielding gig-goers (Guardian)
Many will thank Yeah Yeah Yeahs for posting a notice at the door of their gig asking fans not to watch the show through their screens - cameraphone footage is infuriating and pointless.
Catherine Shoart: "Aaron Eckhart: 'You're giving me a heart attack'" (Guardian)
The actor certainly likes a good chat - about cigars, women, 70s action heroes, Twitter, self-healing and his new role as a US president. But he does have a weak spot.
Isaac Butler: In Defense of Romeo and Juliet (Slate)
… Romeo and Juliet is a great play that goes much deeper than the story of lovesick teenagers killing themselves. It's tightly plotted, multilayered, filled with incredible lines and complicated characters, and far smarter than it often gets credit for on the subject of young love.
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Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Bit of a marine layer - Coastal Eddy is settling in.
Apollo Legends Hall of Fame
Chaka Khan
R&B star Chaka Khan will be inducted into the Apollo Theater's hall of fame.
The theater announced Thursday that Patti LaBelle and Mary J. Blige will perform in Khan's honor at its June 10 New York gala.
The annual event raises funds for the Apollo's education and community outreach programs.
Singer-songwriter Lionel Richie and the late Etta James were inducted last year into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame.
Chaka Khan
Oklahoma's Rock Song Pulled
Flaming Lips
Oklahoma's governor has taken The Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize??" out of rotation, pulling the tune as the state's official rock song in a move her office says has more to do with priorities than musical taste.
Republican Mary Fallin passed on renewing an executive order that gave the Oklahoma rockers' song the designation when taking office in January 2011, the governor's office confirmed Friday. Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz said the governor had other more pressing priorities.
Fallin renewed dozens of executive orders when she took office, including some dating back to the 1950s.
Her predecessor, Henry, a Democrat, signed an executive order proclaiming "Do You Realize??" the official rock song for the state in 2009 after the Republican-controlled Oklahoma House rejected a resolution to do it.
"I'm sure it's politically motivated to make her look more conservative," said Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, who sponsored the resolution for the rock song three years ago. "The sad thing is it was done in fun to bring attention to Oklahoma's history of rock 'n' roll.
Flaming Lips
Meets Bob Seger
Evie Branan
The first words of a 79-year-old Michigan woman as she emerged from a five-year semi-coma were, "I want to go to a Bob Seger concert." And now her wish has come true.
The Flint Journal reports that Evie Branan cheered, threw her hands in the air and danced during Seger's concert Thursday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. She also met Seger and his family, talked with crew and band members and received VIP treatment.
Branan is from Flint Township. She called the night "the happiest I've been in a long time."
After suffering a stroke that left Branan unable to speak, move or eat on her own, she became a resident of Willowbrook manor's long-term care unit. She awoke from the semi-coma on May 7, 2011.
Evie Branan
'Veep' Lunch
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Watch out, Joe Biden. The other vice president is in the house.
The White House says Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays Vice President Selina Meyer on the HBO comedy "Veep," is at the White House to have lunch with Biden.
Her performance as an ambitious but largely powerless No. 2 hasn't gone unnoticed by Biden in the past.
The White House says that after the former "Seinfeld" star won an Emmy award for her performance in the first season of "Veep," Biden called her to offer his congratulations.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Blasted For Compromise
BBC
Britain's public broadcaster came under fire on Friday for compromising over the song "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" that was sent flying up the UK charts by a campaign to celebrate former prime minister Margaret Thatcher's death.
The song from the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" is vying for the No. 1 slot in the UK's weekly list of the top 40 best-selling singles that are usually played in full on a BBC Radio 1 chart show on Sunday.
As pressure mounted from some politicians and members of the public to ban the "disrespectful" song, the BBC said it would air the track on Sunday but only a short clip as part of a "news item" explaining why the song is in the charts.
"The BBC finds this campaign distasteful but does not believe the record should be banned," the BBC said in a statement.
BBC
Masks Sell In Paris
Hopi
In a chaotic auction repeatedly interrupted by protests, dozens of Native American tribal masks were sold Friday after a French court ignored the objections of the Hopi tribe and the U.S. government.
The total tally was 931,000 euros ($1.2 million), with the most expensive, the "Mother Crow," selling for 160,000 euros ($209,000) - more than three times the pre-sale estimate.
Of the 70 masks up for sale, one was bought by an association to give back to the Hopis, the Drouot auction house said.
The Katsinam, or "friends," masks made up nearly all of the 70 lots that went on display at the auction house, offering a rare public glimpse of such works in Europe. The masks are surreal faces made from wood, leather, horse hair and feathers, and painted in vivid pigments of red, blue, yellow and orange.
They date to the late 19th century and early 20th century, and are thought to have been taken from a reservation in northern Arizona in the 1930s and 1940s.
Hopi
Twitter-Pated
Rep. Steve Cohen
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said he wasn't flirting with singer Cyndi Lauper earlier this week when he tweeted to her that he "couldn't believe how hot" she was.
The tweet Tuesday - and its deletion 21 minutes later - were all part of a joke designed to get publicity for a PBS documentary airing next week about the music scene in Memphis, the city Cohen represents in Congress, the lawmaker said Friday at a news conference.
Cohen tweeted to Lauper, "great night, couldn't believe how hot u were. See you again next Tuesday. Try a little tenderness."
Cohen's tweet came after he and Lauper attended a Memphis-themed event Tuesday at the White House. Cohen said he he'd already decided to tweet something before the event, telling a couple of colleagues that he was "going to have some fun" with the press.
Earlier this year, Cohen drew media attention after he tweeted a Twitter abbreviation for "I love you" to a woman during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, then deleted it. He later revealed that the woman was a daughter he had never before publicly acknowledged. Cohen, who is single, said he was personally hurt by the press coverage, which he said tried to turn something innocent into a sex scandal.
Rep. Steve Cohen
'Swatting' Change
LAPD
Los Angeles police said Thursday that they will no longer routinely issue news releases or offer immediate confirmation on hoax 911 calls targeting the homes of celebrities.
The announcement comes after several high-profile "swatting" incidents in recent months that have sent emergency responders to the homes of celebrities including Tom Cruise, Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher.
The move is intended to deny the publicity that motivates the prank callers.
The department will not immediately confirm the incidents for news organizations either, police Cmdr. Andy Smith told the Los Angeles Times. Media outlets will instead be required to file formal public records requests.
LAPD
Angry Winner Loses Job Lawsuit
UK 'Apprentice'
A winner of the British version of "The Apprentice" has lost a lawsuit over her claim she was forced out of the job she won on the show.
Stella English was 2010 champion of the program, which sees would-be entrepreneurs compete for a job with millionaire businessman Alan Sugar.
English sued Sugar after leaving her 100,000 pound-a-year ($150,000-a-year) post, complaining that she was treated like an "overpaid lackey."
An employment tribunal on Friday dismissed her claim that she was forced out, saying she had resigned, not been fired.
UK 'Apprentice'
New Rules
Emmys
The Emmys have bad news for actors in TV movies and miniseries, but good news for folks who specialize in primetime pratfalls.
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which presents the annual Primetime Emmy Awards, has posted its 2012-2013 rules on its website, detailing a few changes in the Emmy landscape that affect the supporting categories in the movie or miniseries genre, stunt coordinators and interactive content.
The biggest change is one that was announced last May: The Emmys are downsizing the miniseries-or-movie acting categories, combining the lead and supporting actor and actress awards.
Rather than competing in four distinct categories, performers will now compete in two: Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie and Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. The categories are open to any actor or actress onscreen for more than 5 percent of a program's running time.
In place of a single award for stunt coordination, Emmys will now be handed out in two categories: Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy Series or Variety Program and Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Miniseries or Movie.
Emmys
International Quidditch Association
World Cup
Who says "Harry Potter" is just for the pages of books and movies?
Thanks to the brainchild of two college roommates eight years ago, the International Quidditch Association is staging its sixth World Cup event in Kissimmee beginning on Saturday, and bringing 80 worldwide teams to compete in a real-life version of the sport played by characters in the fictional series.
Other than not having the ability to fly on broomsticks, quidditch has grown from a grassroots fringe activity enjoyed by "Harry Potter" fans to one that both novices and diehards alike can enjoy.
Although he embraces the growth, the league's commissioner, Alex Benepe, says he is resisting the urge to take on sponsorships in hopes of keeping the sport's original community spirit intact.
World Cup
In Memory
Maria Tallchief
Maria Tallchief, one of America's first great prima ballerinas who gave life to such works as "The Nutcracker," ''Firebird," and other masterpieces from legendary choreographer George Balanchine, has died. She was 88.
Tallchief died Thursday in Chicago, her daughter, Elise Paschen, said Friday.
Tallchief danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1942 to 1947, but her career was most associated with the New York City Ballet, where she worked from 1948 to 1965. Balanchine, the Russian-born dance genius, was not only the company's director; in 1946, he became Tallchief's husband for some years.
She told Women's Wear Daily in 2003 that when she first worked with Balanchine she thought, "'I am seeing music. This is it!' I was a musician myself, and I thought, 'I am in my place now.' I knew that that's the way I wanted to dance."
Tallchief was one of five Oklahoma natives of American Indian descent who rose to prominence in the ballet world from the 1940s through the 1960s. She retired in 1965, when she started teaching the next generation of dancers.
Tallchief created roles in many of Balanchine's ballets, including "Orpheus," in 1948, and "Scotch Symphony," in 1952. She was the Sugar Plum Fairy in his original production of "The Nutcracker" in 1954.
Jacques d'Amboise, a former New York City Ballet dancer who partnered with Tallchief in many performances, said she was the Mount Everest of dance.
In the 1970s, Tallchief served as artistic director of the Lyric Opera Ballet in Chicago. She later founded and was artistic director of the Chicago City Ballet.
In 1996, Tallchief became one of five artists to receive the Kennedy Center Honors for their lifelong contributions to American culture.
Tallchief was born Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief in 1925, on a reservation in Fairfax, Okla., a small town about 60 miles northwest of Tulsa. Visiting teachers gave her lessons, and her mother later moved the family to Los Angeles so that she and her sister could receive additional training.
Tallchief's sister, Marjorie Tallchief, became the first American ballerina to join the permanent star roster of the Paris Opera Ballet.
In her 2005 memoir, "Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina," Tallchief wrote that her first ballet lesson was in the basement of the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo., when she was 3-years-old.
"What I remember most is that the ballet teacher told me to stand straight and turn each of my feet out to the side, the first position," Tallchief wrote. "I couldn't believe it. But I did what I was told."
Maria Tallchief
In Memory
Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Winters, the cherub-faced comedian whose breakneck improvisations and misfit characters, has died. He was 87.
The Ohio native died Thursday evening at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes, said Joe Petro III, a longtime friend. He was surrounded by family and friends.
"He was just a great friend and I was very lucky to be able to work with him for all the years I did," said Petro, an artist and printmaker who collaborated with Winters for decades on numerous art projects. "We've lost a giant and we're really going to miss him."
Winters was a pioneer of improvisational standup comedy, with an exceptional gift for mimicry, a grab bag of eccentric personalities and a bottomless reservoir of creative energy. Facial contortions, sound effects, tall tales - all could be used in a matter of seconds to get a laugh.
On Jack Paar's television show in 1964, Winters was handed a foot-long stick and he swiftly became a fisherman, violinist, lion tamer, canoeist, U.N. diplomat, bullfighter, flutist, delusional psychiatric patient, British headmaster and Bing Crosby's golf club.
"As a kid, I always wanted to be lots of things," Winters told U.S. News & World Report in 1988. "I was a Walter Mitty type. I wanted to be in the French Foreign Legion, a detective, a doctor, a test pilot with a scarf, a fisherman who hauled in a tremendous marlin after a 12-hour fight."
The humor most often was based in reality - his characters Maude Frickert and Elwood P. Suggins, for example, were based on people Winters knew growing up in Ohio.
A devotee of Groucho Marx and Laurel and Hardy, Winters and his free-for-all brand of humor inspired Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Tracey Ullman and Lily Tomlin, among many others. But Robin Williams and Jim Carrey are his best-known followers.
It was Williams, meanwhile, who helped introduce Winters to millions of new fans in 1981 as the son of Williams' goofball alien and his earthling wife in the final season of ABC's "Mork and Mindy."
Winters' only Emmy was for best-supporting actor for playing Randy Quaid's father in the sitcom "Davis Rules" (1991). He was nominated again in 2003 as outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for an appearance on "Life With Bonnie."
He also won two Grammys: One for his work on "The Little Prince" album in 1975 and another for his "Crank Calls" comedy album in 1996. He also won the Kennedy Center's second Mark Twain Prize for Humor in 1999, a year after Richard Pryor.
Winters was sought out in later years for his changeling voice, and he contributed to numerous cartoons and animated films. Fittingly, he played three characters in the "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" movie in 2000.
Winters had made television history in 1956, when RCA broadcast the first public demonstration of color videotape on "The Jonathan Winters Show."
Winters was born Nov. 11, 1925, in Dayton, Ohio. Growing up during the Depression as an only child whose parents divorced when he was 7, Winters spent a lot of time entertaining himself.
Winters, who himself battled alcoholism in his younger years, described his father as an alcoholic. But he found a comedic mentor in his mother, radio personality Alice Bahman.
"She was very fast. Whatever humor I've inherited I'd have to give credit to her," Winters told the Cincinnati Enquirer in 2000.
Winters joined the Marines at 17 and served two years in the South Pacific. He returned to study at the Dayton Art Institute, helping him develop keen observational skills. At one point, he won a talent contest (and the first prize of a watch) by doing impressions of movie stars.
After stints as a radio disc jockey and TV host in Ohio from 1950-53, he left for New York, where he found early work doing impressions of John Wayne, Cary Grant, Marx and James Cagney, among others.
One night after a show, an older man sweeping up told him he wasn't breaking any new ground by mimicking the rich or famous.
"He said, 'What's the matter with those characters in Ohio? I'll bet there are some far-out dudes that you grew up with back in Ohio,'" Winters told the Orange County Register in 1997.
Two days later, he cooked up one of his most famous characters: the hard-drinking, dirty old woman Maude Frickert, modeled in part on his own mother and an aunt.
Appearances on Paar's show and others followed and Winters soon had a following. And before long, he was struggling with depression and drinking.
Winters was hospitalized for eight months in the early 1960s. It's a topic he rarely addressed and never dwelled on.
"If you make a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year and you're talking to the blue-collar guy who's a farmer 200 miles south of Topeka, he's looking up and saying, 'That bastard makes (all that money) and he's crying about being a manic depressive?'" Winters said.
When he got out, there was a role as a slow-witted character waiting in the 1963 ensemble film "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."
Roles in other movies followed, as did TV shows, including his own.
While show business kept Winters busy, the former art school student was also a painter and writer.
"I find painting a much slower process than comedy, where you can go a mile a minute verbally and hope to God that some of the people out there understand you," he told U.S. News and World Report in 1988. "I don't paint every day. I'm not that motivated. I don't do anything the same every day. Discipline is tough for a guy who is a rebel."
Winters' wife, Eileen, died in 2009. He is survived by two children, Lucinda Winters and Jay Winters.
Jonathan Winters
In Memory
Jimmy Dawkins
Chicago bluesman Jimmy "Fast Fingers" Dawkins, known for his stellar guitar playing and mellow singing voice, has died. He was 76.
Delmark Records owner Bob Koester said Friday that Dawkins died Wednesday. The cause of death wasn't immediately known.
James Henry Dawkins was born in Tchula, Miss. An only child, Dawkins taught himself to play guitar before moving to Chicago in the 1950s.
Koester said Dawkins did not begin his music career immediately, working instead in a box factory before taking to Chicago's streets to play for tips. He formed a band in the 1960s and began working Chicago's blues clubs, gaining a reputation as an excellent side man and playing with such notables as Otis Rush and Buddy Guy.
Dawkins first album, "Fast Fingers," released on the Delmark label in 1969, boosted Dawkins' reputation, particularly in Europe and Japan, where he toured frequently.
Dawkins performed a style of music known as the West Side Chicago blues - a mellower sound that reflected his Mississippi roots, instead of the harder-edged sounds of the city's South Side.
In addition to performing, Dawkins was a frequent contributor to Living Blues magazine.
Jimmy Dawkins
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