from Bruce
Anecdotes
Opera
• The Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Italy, is the only opera house in the world that has an entrance for gondolas. (The theater is built oddly because the site it is on is shaped irregularly, partly due to the presence of canals.) It was built in 1836 to replace another theater that had burned down. Gianantonio Selva, who designed the building, had the word “Societas” written on the building’s facade. Witty Venetians made an acrostic of the word: “Sine Ordine Cum Irregularitate Erexit Theatrum Antonius Selva.” Translated, the phrase means: “Without Order, With Irregularity, This Theater was Built by Antonio Selva.”
• In 1951, Eugene Conley, a tenor for the Metropolitan Opera, bought a homestead with no water or heating or other modern conveniences in New Jersey. A stream called Plum Brook ran through the 50-acre property, suggesting a name for the estate: Plumbroke Farm. By the way, mid-1950s Metropolitan Opera baritone Frank Guarrera grew up in Philadelphia with parents who had emigrated from Italy. His parents continued their wine-making in Philadelphia, and little Frank sometimes went to school with his hands stained red from the grapes used for wine.
• African-American diva Martina Arroyo remembers some very under-rehearsed performances in Europe. Once, in Frankfurt, Germany, she walked onto the stage in the role of Aida without knowing which singer on stage was playing Aida’s father—until the baritone playing the father started singing. By the way, during a rehearsal of Un Ballo in Maschera, Ms. Arroyo walked out on stage—wearing a fake beard.
Parents
• In the early 1930s, for Norma Jeane’s sixth birthday, her mother, Gladys Mortensen, arranged a special surprise. As Norma Jeane watched, an airplane circled her house and the pilot waved to her. Unfortunately, Norma Jeane’s mother was unable to take care of her, putting her in a foster home when she was 12 days old, but visiting whenever she could. Later, Norma Jeane’s mother developed mental illness and spent much of the rest of her life in mental institutions. Norma Jeane was raised in a succession of foster homes, homes of some relatives and friends, and even an orphanage. Despite her difficult early life, Norma Jeane became famous as movie star Marilyn Monroe. By the way, in 1962, Ms. Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy in a breathless, sexy voice. Afterward, President Kennedy said, “Thank you. I can now retire from politics after having had ‘Happy Birthday’ sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way.”
• In 1952, Walt Disney took his wife and two young daughters to Europe, with first a stopover in New York. His daughters wanted to go for a short visit to Washington D.C., and Walt told them, “If you want to go, then go ahead.” Such a trip—alone—would be a first for them. They asked him what they should do. He told them, “You’re old enough to think for yourselves. Go down and ask the porter; he’ll tell you about trains.” They left to seek information from the porter. Mrs. Disney explained to a reporter what Walt did next: “The minute they left the room, he called the porter and told him exactly what he wanted done. Then he called the hotel in Washington and gave explicit instructions. The girls had a whirl for themselves, of course, and they’ll never know until they read this that their father arranged the whole thing.”
• Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller fame uses profanity a lot, but he did not use profanity around his mother and father because it would have made them uncomfortable. His mother read the Playboy and Rolling Stone interviews with him and said, “It’s amazing how they have to add all that swearing to how you talk to make it fit in their magazine.” He explained to her that he really does talk that way, but that he did not use profanity around her and around his father. She shrugged, and Penn is not sure that she believed him.
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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: "She’s the One"
Album: I WANNA BE COVERED
Artist: Tommy and the Rockets
Artist Location: Odense, Denmark
Info:
All songs written by the Ramones.
poikkeus writes, “Imagine a surf version of Ramones’ hits — and you get this fun, energetic, and eminently hummable set of tunes. A total winner! Favorite track: ‘Rock 'n' Roll High School.’”
“Good time power poppin' rock 'n' roll. It’s the essence of the Beach Boys, Rockpile, and The Ramones all rolled into one. Tommy and The Rockets are the 1963-65 Beach Boys reborn in 2016 Denmark — armed with supremely infectious melodies, harmonies to die for, and a stack of Ramones singles. If you remember rock n' roll radio, this is your new favorite band!”
Price: €1 (EURO) for track; €8 (EURO) for nine-track album
Genre: Pop Punk.
Links:
I WANNA BE COVERED
Tommy and the Rockets on Bandcamp
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
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FourFer
New Venture
Michael Egan
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Ukraine
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Current Events
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Profile in Courage Awards
John F. Kennedy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is among five people named Thursday as recipients of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for acting to protect democracy.
Zelenskyy was chosen because of the way he has “marshaled the spirit, patriotism and untiring sacrifice of the Ukrainian people in a life-or-death fight for their country,” as Russia pours in troops and assaults cities and towns, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said.
The foundation said four U.S. officials were chosen for standing up for free and fair elections, as the system is challenged in ways it has never been before.
They are: Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Fulton County, Georgia, elections worker Wandrea “Shaye” Moss.
Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the awards May 22 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. The award was created by the family of the late president to honor public figures who risk their careers by embracing unpopular positions for the greater good, and is named after Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Profiles in Courage.”
John F. Kennedy
Launches Free Virtual Theater
Film Foundation
Film Foundation, the nonprofit founded by Martin Scorsese dedicated to film preservation, is launching a virtual theater to stream classic films free of charge.
The film organization announced Friday that the Film Foundation Restoration Screening Room will launch May 9 with the presentation of “I Know Where I’m Going!,” Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s Scotland-set romance, recently restored by the Film Foundation and the British Film Institute’s National Archive.
The screening room will present films in a live-event manner, with movies playing at a specific time and accompanied by introductions and conversations. “I Know Where I’m Going!” will be available for a 24-hour window.
Screenings will run on the second Monday of each month, with future selections to include Federico Fellini’s “La Strada,” Marlon Brando’s “One-Eyed Jacks,” G. Aravindan’s “Kummatty,” Jonas Mekas’ “Lost Lost Lost,” John Huston’s “Moulin Rouge,” Sarah Maldoror’s “Sambizanga” and a film noir double feature of Edgar G. Ulmer’s “Detour” and Arthur D. Ripley’s “The Chase.” Scorsese and Kent Jones, the filmmaker and critic, are curating the platform.
Scorsese started the Film Foundation in 1990. Since then, it has helped restore 925 films. Its World Cinema Project has restored 47 films from 27 countries.
Film Foundation
3 Games On Christmas
NFL
The NFL will capitalize on Christmas Day falling on a Sunday.
The league will have three games on Dec. 25 for the first time: two in the afternoon on CBS and Fox, followed by a prime-time contest on NBC. NFL vice president of broadcasting Mike North revealed the tripleheader on a podcast hosted by WGR radio host and Buffalo Bills sideline reporter Sal Capaccio.
It will be the third straight year the league has played on Christmas. Last year, Green Bay’s 24-22 victory over Cleveland averaged 28.6 million viewers on Fox, making it the third-most-watched game of the 2021 regular season. Indianapolis’ 22-16 win at Arizona averaged 12.6 million on NFL Network, the second-highest-viewed game in network history.
For Week 16, the league will have its regular Thursday night game on Dec. 22. Eleven games will be on Dec, 24, including a night game on NFL Network. After the Christmas tripleheader, the week will close with a Monday night contest on Dec. 26.
NFL
Cancels Annual Event Indefinitely
Gilroy Garlic Festival
The Gilroy Garlic Festival Association announced Thursday that it's canceling the popular annual event indefinitely.
In a letter, the festival board blamed the pandemic along with high insurance premiums.
"Obviously, we are left frustrated and disappointed," according to a board statement. "Our world-renowned festival has helped showcase Gilroy and the South County for 42 years while raising millions of dollars for local charities. The festival is part of our heritage. Now we must ensure that it is part of our future. While it will never be the massive event of the past, a more intimate, local festival can still allow us to celebrate the community, garlic, and all it inspires."
Ultimately, it was about money.
Gilroy Garlic Festival
No. 1 Killer Of Children & Adolescents
Guns
Firearms surpassed car accidents as the No. 1 killer among children and teens, according to startling new data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday.
As firearm deaths for all Americans reached a new peak in 2020 -- 45,222 -- researchers said the numbers were particularly troubling among people under 19 years old.
Gun deaths in that age group saw a 29.5% jump from 2019 to 2020, which was more than twice as high as the relative increase in firearm deaths seen in the general population, according to the CDC.
For the last 21 years, gun deaths were second to motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents, however, the gap between the two categories has been narrowing since 2016, the CDC said.
The cause behind the surging gun deaths in America was largely due to firearm-related homicides, which saw a 33.4% increase in the crude rate from 2019 to 2020, the CDC said. Firearm-related suicides in the U.S. increased by 1.1% during that period, according to CDC data.
Guns
Net Neutrality Ruling
California
A U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday said it will not reconsider its decision in January to uphold California's net neutrality law.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January ruled 3-0 that a 2017 decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reverse federal internet protections could not bar state action, rejecting a challenge from telecom and broad industry groups to block California's net neutrality law, which aims to protect the open internet.
The appeals court on Wednesday rejected a petition for a rehearing by the full court. Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a senior counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society said it was "notable that not a single judge on the nation’s largest court of appeals even asked for a vote on the industry’s rehearing petition." Telecom groups could now ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
The court in January said since the FCC reclassified internet services in 2017 as more lightly regulated information services, the commission "no longer has the authority to regulate in the same manner that it had when these services were classified as telecommunications services."
California's 2018 law barred internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic, or offering paid fast lanes, but it only took effect last year.
California
Registered To Vote In Three States
Meadows
Donald Trump Individual #1's former chief of staff Mark Meadows, who echoed the Republican former president's false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, was registered to vote in three states at the same time, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Meadows was simultaneously registered to vote in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina for three overlapping weeks -- up until last week -- and is still registered in the latter two, according to state records the Post said it had obtained.
Meadow's voting record first drew scrutiny following media reports that he had registered to vote with an address in North Carolina that he did not reside in, own or visit, prompting North Carolina officials to investigate.
The Post noted that Meadows was the keynote speaker at a Conservative Partner Institute Election Integrity Summit in Atlanta on Feb. 19. "What you’re doing is investing in the future of our country and making sure only legal votes count,” Meadows was quoted as saying.
Meadows
Private Helipad
LA
A helicopter pad built next to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva's home was not authorized to be built and did not have the proper permit, The Los Angeles Times reported.
The sheriff, who is seeking reelection, insisted that construction was approved beforehand, but an audit by the Los Angeles County auditor-controller determined otherwise.
"LASD could not provide any documentation of the approval or specifically identify the individuals who purportedly gave it, and SoCalGas expressly denied authorizing LASD to use or modify their property," the audit read.
It added: "The grading activity at the property was not permitted or approved and allegedly did not comply with municipal codes related to grading permits and erosion prevention."
LA
Secret Glow
Ancient Spider
A fossilized spider that glows under ultraviolet light has given away the secret of its exceptional 23-million-year-long existence.
When researchers placed the fossil and others like it under a fluorescent microscope on a whim, they were surprised to notice the subtle outline of the arachnids suddenly pop against their background.
"To our surprise they glowed, and so we got very interested in what the chemistry of these fossils was that made them glow," explains geologist Alison Olcott from the University of Kansas.
Analyses carried out using other forms of scanning technology, such as energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, revealed most of the mineral making up the fossils and their surrounds contained silicon.
Looking closer, scientists realized the spiders weren't alone. Buried alongside and on top of them were a bunch of other organisms never before seen in fossils of the Aix-en-Provence fossil assemblage in France.
Ancient Spider
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