Recommended Reading
from Bruce
The Wisdom of Kim Kardashian and Søren Kierkegaard Mashed Together (Twitter)
I have majorly fallen off my workout-eating plan! AND it's summer! But to despair over sin is to sink deeper into it.
Rubber Bands Vs. Watermelon (Neatorama)
How many rubber bands does it take to make a watermelon explode from the pressure? The world may never know…. Oh wait, some guys in Korea already figured that out waaaaay back in 2008 (that's like the 1950s in blog years), and the answer might come as a surprise.
Paul Krugman: Who's Very Important? (New York Times)
"Is there a V.I.P. entrance? We are V.I.P." That remark, by a donor waiting to get in to one of Mitt Romney's recent fund-raisers in the Hamptons, pretty much sums up the attitude of America's wealthy elite. Mr. Romney's base - never mind the top 1 percent, we're talking about the top 0.01 percent or higher - is composed of very self-important people.
Tom Danehy: Tom offers free advice to Supreme Court whiners, a Tea Party congressman and others (Tucson Weekly)
… the guy Sarah Palin is recommending as Mitt Romney's running mate said some members of Congress "should get shot at," this just a few months after Gabrielle Giffords got shot. This guy's got class written all over him. Except for the "c" and the "l."
Susan Estrich: Trouble in the Middle (Creators Syndicate)
While kids at the top have been subject to enormous attention for the supposed pressure-cooker competition to get into the top colleges, and kids at the bottom have been subject to enormous attention because of debates about whether they should be promoted even when they lack basic skills (and how to provide the remedial help they need), kids in the middle just slip by. Or slip through, neither failing nor soaring, neither demanding extra attention nor getting it, doing OK as opposed to doing their best.
C. Cryn Johannsen: "The Ones We've Lost: The Student Loan Debt Suicides" (Huffington Post)
While [his mother] was preparing for Jason's funeral, student debt collectors were still phoning her about the money her son owed. As reporter David Newbart wrote in a 2007 article for "Chicago Sun Times," she was gruff when confronted by these calls. "You are part of the reason he took his own life," she told them and then hung up the phone.
John Cheese: 5 Things You Don't Learn About High School Until Too Late (Cracked)
#5. The Things That Make You Cool Now Mean Nothing After Graduation
Poo Disposal Through a Curve
When the local government of Hungary was looking for a motivational campaign to get dog owners to dispose off the dog poo from the streets, little did they know that the prize-winning entry Curve would garner so much support and enthusiasm. The trashcan designed by K?rös Benedek - Ben Koros has a fun and intriguing way of dumping the waste. Read on to know more.?
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Day 5
Gulf Fritillary
Came across some of Gulf Fritillary larva
on the back fence, so it looks like we'll have a third year of raising butterflies. : )
Click on any picture for a larger version.
Reader Comment
transformative attractions
You may consider it midwifing butterflies, but I prefer to think of it
as butterfly wrangling. : )
Yeeee-haw! Let's silk-rope them little doggies ; )
DanD
Thanks, Dan!
Nah - roping sounds like way too much work.
It's a science project and an art project, perfect for sitting and staring - and I'm real good at that. : )
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The monsoonal left-overs provided a nasty dose of humidity. OTOH, PA in August is much worse.
I don't have much of a problem with risque pictures, but I realize some do, and there's also the issue of "net nannies".
In an effort to skirt both issues, if a picture of a woman appears cropped (or shrunk past squint-ablity), try clicking on it for a more expansive view.
Just roll your mouse over over the pictures and see if the little hand shows up.
100th Birthday Celebrated
Woody Guthrie
Folk singer and native OklahomanWoody Guthrie was "probably not one of the favorite sons" when he was alive, a state senator said. But Guthrie's legacy has inspired a celebration in honor of his 100th birthday this Sunday at the annual festival in his hometown of Okemah.
Guthrie, perhaps best known for his song "This Land is Your Land," was hotly political, speaking out against fascism and aligning himself with working class, influenced by his time in the Dust Bowl. Guthrie had a silly side, too, in ditties such as "Car Song." And his seemingly simple songwriting inspired countless musicians, among them Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger.
Guthrie's son, singer Arlo Guthrie, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday that he believes his father would find humor in the fact that his life and music are being celebrated as part of the 15th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, referred to by fans as WoodyFest.
"The controversy about him in Oklahoma I have always thought of, as mentioned elsewhere, no one is a prophet in his own country, and they've found a way to make him profitable," said Guthrie, who called the festival a family reunion of sorts.
Woody Guthrie
Follows Tyler Off 'American Idol'
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez followed Steven Tyler's lead off "American Idol" on Friday, a one-two punch for a show on the brink of an adolescent identity crisis.
Lopez will not be back for a third year on television's top-rated but struggling show, her representative, Mark Young, said Friday. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler announced Thursday he was exiting.
That means the "Idol" panel is down to one, original judge Randy Jackson, and there are reports that he may take a different role when the Fox show returns next January.
Speculation about potential new panelists has focused on Mariah Carey, with former "Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert getting a shout-out from his fans. Much is at stake for the show and for its judges: Lopez's contract reportedly was worth $12 million and the stint proved a career-booster for her.
Jennifer Lopez
Comes Out Of Retirement
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy failed to take her own advice for the last few years - she did not "Keep on Singing," to quote the title of her 1974 hit.
Ten years ago, the "I Am Woman" singer-songwriter gave up on show business and started a whole new life in her homeland of Australia. She got her degree in clinical hypnotherapy, and for the last decade has lived modestly in Sydney.
"I have very wide-ranging interests," she said in a recent interview. "So, singing 'Leave Me Alone' 43 times per song lost its charm a long time ago."
But she couldn't stay silent forever. Reddy is making her return to the musical stage this week, at a club in San Diego and for a high school benefit in the Panorama City section of Los Angeles. She decided to return to performing after being buoyed by the warm reception she recently got when she sang at her sister's birthday party.
Helen Reddy
Hospital News
Michael Clarke Duncan
"The Green Mile" star Michael Clarke Duncan has been hospitalized in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack.
Publicist Joy Fehily says in a brief email statement that the 54-year-old actor "suffered a myocardial infarction" early Friday.
Fehily wouldn't confirm a TMZ.com report that Duncan's actress-girlfriend, Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, discovered the former bodyguard in distress at about 2 a.m. Friday in his Los Angeles area home and revived him by performing CPR. Representatives for the actress didn't immediately respond to requests by The Associated Press for comment.
Michael Clarke Duncan
Baby News
Faith Evangeline Elisa Grammar
Kelsey Grammar (R-Family Values) and his most recent wife, Kayte, have a little Faith after the birth of a healthy baby girl early Friday.
The Grammers say they are thrilled at the arrival of their first child together, Faith Evangeline Elisa Grammar, who weighed six pounds and two ounces when born.
In a statement, the couple announced that although they had been expecting twins, Kayte Grammar suffered a miscarriage several months ago. They wrote in a statement that there is a lingering sadness about the loss but they are celebrating their newborn and plan to have more children together.
Faith Evangeline Elisa Grammar
Big Contribution To Rove Group
Steve Wynn
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has made headlines for the $31 million in contributions he and his wife have made to conservative super PACs so far this campaign, but he's no longer the only high-profile Las Vegas figure writing big checks to benefit Republican candidates.
As Politico's Ken Vogel and Steve Freiss report, Wynn Resorts chairman Steve Wynn has emerged as one of the leading benefactors behind Crossroads GPS, a political group founded by GOP strategist Karl Rove (R-Bottom) that has already spent tens of millions of dollars against President Barack Obama's re-election.
Unlike its sister group, American Crossroads, Crossroads GPS was organized as a 501-C4 advocacy group and doesn't have to disclose its donors. But sources tell Politico Wynn has contributed millions to the effort and was the group's single biggest donor as of earlier this year-a relationship based in part on his close friendship with Rove:
Rove, who attended Wynn's latest gala wedding last year in Vegas, recently got something of a personal bonus out of the relationship. After Wynn attended the veteran operative's wedding last month in Austin-an intimate and until-now unreported affair also attended by former resident George W. Bush-Rove and his newest wife Karen Johnson flew to Naples, Italy, aboard Wynn's Boeing 737-a nearly 11-hour, 6,000-mile trip that could cost tens of thousands of dollars from a charter jet carrier. Wynn joined Rove in Italy.
Steve Wynn
LAPD Arrests Sidewalk Chalk-Drawers
LA Occupy
Occupy demonstrators who were drawing with chalk on sidewalks clashed with police at a public art event in Los Angeles on Thursday night. Police said 17 people were arrested and four officers injured.
The melee happened at the monthly Art Walk, an event where visitors jam the streets around galleries and museums.
Police said Friday that officers were pelted with rocks and bottles, and that 140 officers in riot gear were deployed to the area to deal with a crowd of about 200 people.
Cheryl Aichele, 34, a member of the Occupy movement, said most of those arrested were drawing in chalk on the sidewalk as part of the protests. Police say the clashes began when officers moved to disperse the crowd of about 200 people.
LA Occupy
Statue Stolen By Metal Thieves
Henry Moore
A valuable bronze sundial by renowned British sculptor Henry Moore has been stolen from outside the artist's former home, the latest in a string of thefts involving outdoor artworks by thieves thought to be cashing in on rising metal prices.
Made up of two interlocking bronze crescents, Moore's "Sundial 1965" is worth up to 500,000 pounds ($770,000), police said.
They appealed to the public for information regarding the theft, which took place in the grounds of Moore's one-time country residence Perry Green, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday evening or in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Copper, bronze's main component, has more than doubled in price over the last three years leading to a steep rise in the theft of metal artwork, memorial plaques, as well as electrical cables and drain covers.
Henry Moore
Guns Expected To Fetch Up To $200K Apiece
Bonnie and Clyde
They could not save Bonnie and Clyde from an ambush by six Texas Rangers in 1934, but guns recovered from the infamous gangster couple's bodies at the time of their capture are expected to attract sky-high bids at a September auction.
After Texas Ranger Capt. Frank Hamer and his posse gunned down Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow on a road in Gibsland, La., 78 years ago, Hamer found a Colt .38 revolver taped to Bonnie's inner thigh and a pistol tucked into Clyde's waistband. Hamer kept them, having been promised by Texas prison general manager Lee Simmons that he could have anything the outlaws carried with them if he succeeded in capturing them.
The guns are scheduled to be auctioned Sept. 30 at RR Auction in Amherst, N.H., along with a gold watch Clyde was wearing when he was killed, a cosmetics case in which Bonnie carried her lipstick, a powder puff, Coty face powder and a letter from Clyde to his brother signed with his code name "Bud."
Livingston predicted that each gun would sell for between $100,000 and $200,000 but said "the sky is the limit on artifacts that have this type of provenance."
Bonnie and Clyde
Art Museum Makes Pitch
Detroit
The Detroit Institute of Arts is working to persuade voters to authorize a tax to support the cultural institution, promising free admission and expanded programing if it passes while raising the possibility that the museum would be a shadow of its current self if it's rejected.
The Aug. 7 vote follows last year's shuttering of the nearby Detroit Science Center after the educational attraction's appeal for a cash infusion fell flat and comes as museums around the country learn to survive without support from state or local government budgets.
The Detroit Institute of Arts is asking voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to approve a 10-year tax that works out to $20 per year on a home worth $200,000. It would raise an estimated $23 million a year, nearly as much as the museum's current annual operating budget.
The museum has appealed to voters using TV ads and yard signs, as well as a busy spring and summer of events.
Detroit
Tops Concert Ticket Sales
Roger Waters
Roger Waters racked up $158.1 million in concert ticket sales worldwide so far this year with 'The Wall Live' show, outselling perennial leaders Bruce Springsteen and Madonna to become the top-selling live act for the first half of 2012.
Waters, formerly of Pink Floyd, which recorded the smash album "The Wall" in the late 1970s, sold more than 1.4 million tickets globally since the start of 2012, according to the magazine "Pollstar," which tracks the live concert business.
Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball" tour, which started in March, was a distant second with $79.9 million.
Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Madonna and Paul McCartney were on the road this year, helping to push ticket sales for the 100 largest U.S. concerts up 1.2 percent, to $1.1 billion, selling a record 18.6 million tickets.
Roger Waters
San Pedro, CA
Point Fermin Lighthouse
The clock has started ticking on what is expected to be a months-long process to determine who will take ownership of San Pedro's landmark Point Fermin Lighthouse.
Letters of intent were due July 2 to the federal government, which in May declared the 1884 Victorian lighthouse as surplus property.
Among the known applicants is the city of Los Angeles, which has managed the lighthouse as a museum for years in partnership with the volunteer Point Fermin Lighthouse Society.
But other preservation groups also are expected to vie for the historic building that sits on a 3.5-acre property atop 120-foot ocean cliffs in Point Fermin Park.
The lighthouse served as the first navigational light for San Pedro Bay. From 1927 until World War II, the light was electrified and the structure went dark when the West Coast was blacked out following the bombing at Pearl Harbor.
After the war, the light was never turned on again.
Point Fermin Lighthouse
In Memory
Richard Zanuck
Film producer Richard Zanuck, who won the best picture Oscar for "Driving Miss Daisy" and was involved in such blockbuster films as "Jaws" and "The Sting" after his father, Hollywood mogul Darryl F. Zanuck, fired him from 20th Century Fox, died Friday. He was 77.
The production company the younger Zanuck founded with David Brown produced "The Sting" in 1973, as well as Steven Spielberg's first feature film, "The Sugarland Express," in 1974 and Spielberg's first blockbuster, "Jaws," in 1975. "The Sting" also won the best movie Oscar, although Zanuck and Brown were not listed as its producers. "Jaws" was nominated for best picture, as was the Zanuck-produced "The Verdict."
Zanuck most recently produced the big-screen adaptation of the cult classic TV series "Dark Shadows," directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Other Zanuck films include "MacArthur" and "Cocoon."
In 1988, Zanuck and Brown dissolved their partnership amicably, and Zanuck formed a new venture with his third wife, Lili Fini Zanuck. They won the Oscar with their first movie together, "Driving Miss Daisy."
Richard Zanuck was reserved, soft-spoken and friendly with directors, writers and actors, and he liked to operate from behind his desk.
His authoritarian father, on the other hand, paced his office, issuing orders in a squeaky voice and sometimes wielding a polo mallet (in his early years he had played polo with other Hollywood figures). He would reach decisions quickly, and once he did they became studio law.
But after decades of success, the studio began to flounder under his rein in the 1960s when the big-budget movie musical era died and films such as "Doctor Dolittle," ''Star!" and "Hello, Dolly" failed to earn their money back.
Under pressure from the board of directors, he fired his son in 1970 in an effort to save his own job, but the maneuver failed and he soon followed him out the door.
The dismissal shattered the younger Zanuck, and it was not until shortly before Darryl Zanuck's death in 1979 that the pair resolved their differences.
During an earlier period of financial trouble, Darryl Zanuck was fired in 1956 by the studio's board of directors and had become an independent producer, operating from Paris, where he had affairs with three French actresses in succession. He also sponsored their careers, but with little success.
While he was making a film in Africa, he appointed his son Richard, who had left Fox after his father's ouster, to produce a drama based on the Leopold-Loeb murder case of the 1920s. The result, 1959's "Compulsion."
Soon after, Zanuck's father embarked on "The Longest Day," a costly film about World War II's D-Day and its aftermath, with realistic battle scenes and dozens of well-known actors. He brought his son on as executive producer, and the film was one of the biggest hits of 1962.
Fox, still struggling, decided to rehire Zanuck in 1962 as company president and he appointed Richard as production chief. His reign brought one huge hit, "The Sound of Music" but such other so-so films as "Crack in the Mirror," William Faulkner's "Sanctuary" and "Star!"
After his success with "Driving Miss Daisy," Richard Zanuck continued as an independent producer. Among his films: "Rush" (directed by Lili Fini Zanuck), "Chain Reaction," ''Rules of Engagement," ''Planet of the Apes 2001," 2002's "The Road to Perdition" and 2005's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
Richard Darryl Zanuck was born in 1934, the third child and only son of the mercurial mogul and his wife, former actress Virginia Fox Zanuck. His mother had appeared in several Buster Keaton shorts in the years before her marriage to the elder Zanuck in 1924.
As a student at a military school and later at Stanford University, he had worked summers at the studio in various departments, including editing and story. After graduation, he became a special assistant to his father.
Richard Zanuck's first wife was actress Lili Gentle and the couple had two daughters, Virginia and Janet. His second wife was also an actress, Linda Harrison, and they had two sons, Harrison and Dean. Both marriages ended in divorce.
Richard Zanuck
In Memory
Sage Stallone
Aspiring actor and filmmaker Sage Stallone, the son of action movie star Sylvester Stallone, was found dead on Friday at his home in Hollywood, authorities and his attorney said.
Police and a lawyer for Sage Stallone, 36, gave conflicting accounts of how he was found, but police said there was no sign of forced entry or foul play.
The case was turned over to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, Los Angeles police spokesmanLieutenant Andy Neiman said.
Neiman said police found the younger Stallone in the home while responding to a "welfare check."Attorney George Braunstein said he was found by a housekeeper.
Braunstein said he believed that Sylvester Stallone was returning to Los Angeles from the Comic Con pop culture convention in San Diego.
Sage Stallone
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