• Alison Bechdel is a lesbian who draws the comic strip Dykes to Look Out For. Her comic strip started out as little drawings of lesbians she created in the margins of letters to friends. She began numbering the drawings - for example, "Dykes to Watch Out For, No. 75" - even though at that point she had drawn only three or four. Because her friends liked the drawings, she submitted them to a feminist newspaper titled Womanews. The drawings were accepted, and her comic strip developed from those early drawings.
• Despite being gay, author Michael Thomas Ford is far from fashion conscious and has a difficult time being presentable at fashionable events. For a photo shoot, Mr. Ford was asked to bring along some clothes to be photographed in. The photographer looked over the shirts that Mr. Ford had brought, then he took off his own shirt, handed it to Mr. Ford, and said, "Put this on." The photographer remained shirtless for the duration of the shoot.
Gifts
• When King Charles II visited St. John's College, Oxford, he was much taken with a portrait of Charles I and asked that the Head of the College give it to him. The Head of the College was unwilling to do so, so the King said, "I will grant you any favor in return." With this proviso, the Head of the College gave him the portrait. "Thank you," King Charles II said. "What now is your request?" The Head of the College replied, "Give it back." (The portrait can still be seen at the College.)
• Bruno, the pet dog of children's book illustrator Victoria Chess, frequently brings to her odd presents - a dead squirrel, a dead woodchuck, a live chicken, a red ball with blue stars, a bottle of suntan lotion, etc. Ms. Chess jokes that the best present he ever brought to her was a purse belonging to a neighbor lady - not only did the purse contain $80, but it also contained 15 credit cards!
Inspiration
• Dr. Seuss got an idea for a book when a gust of wind blew a drawing of an elephant on top of a drawing of a tree. He looked at the two drawings, then asked himself, "An elephant in a tree - what's he doing there?" Then he answered his own question: "Of course! He's hatching an egg!" This idea resulted in Dr. Seuss' book Horton Hatches an Egg.
• Bil Keane is the artist behind the comic strip The Family Circle. One day, while he was drawing the cartoon, his young son Jeffy watched him for a while, then asked, "Daddy, how do you know what to draw?" Mr. Keane replied, "God tells me." Jeffy asked next, "Then why do you keep erasing parts of it?"
Landscapes
• John Banvard worked for years on a painting of the Mississippi River, eventually producing a work of art that was first displayed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1845 - the painting was three miles long. To enable people to see it, it was exhibited like a scroll that was unrolled from one spindle onto another spindle. He exhibited the painting in the United States and England, but when he died it was cut up into pieces, some of which were used as backdrops for plays.
• Winston Churchill was an amateur painter. Once he showed a group of landscapes to a friend, who asked why he painted only landscapes and not portraits. Sir Winston replied, "Because a tree doesn't complain that I haven't done it justice."
The Turkish Straits create a series of international passages that connect the Aegean and the Mediterranean seas to the Black Sea. The straits are on opposite ends of another sea. What is the name of this sea?
The British sitcom "Steptoe and Son" was remade in Sweden as "Albert & Herbert", in the Netherlands as "Stiefbeen en zoon", and in Portugal as "Camilo & Filho". What is the title of the US version of this TV series?
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business. They live at Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. The theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 poll by the BBC to find Britain's Best Sitcom. It was remade in the United States as Sanford and Son, in Sweden as Albert & Herbert, in the Netherlands as Stiefbeen en zoon, in Portugal as Camilo & Filho, and in South Africa as Snetherswaite and Son.
The series focused on the inter-generational conflict of father and son. Albert Steptoe, a "dirty old man", is an elderly rag-and-bone man, set in his grimy and grasping ways. By contrast, his son Harold is filled with social aspirations and pretensions. The show contained elements of drama and tragedy, as Harold was continually prevented from achieving his ambitions.
In 2000, the show was ranked number 44 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll Albert was ranked 39th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Source
Dave responded:
Sanford and Son (1972-1977). Starring long time stand up comedian Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford and Demond Wilson as Lamont Sanford (the son). The father and son ran a "junk business," although the profitability of that trade seems doubtful. Foxx was cast as a man pushing 80 but was only in late 40's. One of the running gags was for Fred Sanford to end arguments with his son by faking a heart attack. In 1991, Foxx was taping a scene in another series called Royal Family when he clutched his chest and fell to the floor. At first witnesses thought he was joking, but it was soon apparent he really had a heart attack. Redd Foxx was pronounced dead at the hospital at age 68.
zorch replied:
Sanford and Son, starring Redd Foxx
David of Moon Valley wrote:
i got this one...(maybe?)
…that would be Sanford and Son…'This is the big one, Lamont….ohhhh…you hear me…i'm comin', Lizbeth…'
Jim from CA, retired to ID, said:
Sanford and son
Billy in Cypress U$A answered:
"Steptoe and Son" sounds like and rhymes with "Sanford and Son"
John I from Hawai`i says,
Stanford and Son
Deborah, the Master Gardener, replied:
That's got to be "Sanford and Son," a show I rarely watched, but I guess it was funny.
Sorry to hear about the evil wasps eating your butterflies. I haven't seen it, but am told that the praying mantises that live in my yard eat hummingbirds, whose presence I encourage. I don't know how upset I'd be if I saw a mantis eating a hummer - maybe enough to kill it? Hope I don't have to find out. And I hope you can rid your yard of devil wasps.
Michelle in AZ responded:
Sanford and Son
Dave in Tucson wrote:
Believe today's answer is 'Sanford & Son'. Fred Sanford being played by the incomparable Redd Foxx. The show's killer theme song was composed by Quincy Jones. Who, I believe also composed the theme song for Barney Miller.
Micki said:
Sanford and Son. Still hilarious.
Jacqueline answered:
I knew this one. Sanford and Son
Kevin in Washington DC , replied:
You big dummy
That was Sanford and Son. S-a-n-f-o-r-d-period.
Joe ( -- Vote Blue, No Matter Who -- ) responded:
I looked it up, but as soon as I saw it I remembered, Sanford And Son. Watched it every chance I got. Going to bed, can't stay up late like I used to.
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~~~~~
CBS begins the night with a RERUNNCIS: The Expendable One', followed by '48 Hours'.
NBC opens the night with the FRESH'2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers', followed by an old 'SNL'.
Of course, 'SNL' is a RERUN
ABC starts the night with a RERUN'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by a RERUN'Shark Tank', then a RERUN'The Good Doctor'.
The CW offers some local crap and some old '2½ Men'.
Faux fills the night with LIVE'MLB Baseball', then pads the left coast with local crap.
MY recycles an old 'Major Crimes', followed by another old 'Major Crimes'.
A&E has the movie 'Salt', followed by the movie 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back', then the movie 'Captain Phillips'.
AMC offers the movie 'Jurassic Park', followed by the movie 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] PLANET EARTH: SOUTH PACIFIC - Fragile Paradise
[7:00AM] PLANET EARTH: SOUTH PACIFIC - Ocean of Islands
[8:00AM] PLANET EARTH: SOUTH PACIFIC - Castaways
[9:00AM] PLANET EARTH: SOUTH PACIFIC - Endless Blue
[10:00AM] PLANET EARTH: SOUTH PACIFIC - Ocean of Volcanoes
[11:00AM] PLANET EARTH: SOUTH PACIFIC - Strange Islands
[12:00PM] ENCHANTED KINGDOM
[2:00PM] PLANET EARTH: ONE AMAZING DAY
[4:00PM] SEVEN WORLDS, ONE PLANET - The Best of Seven Worlds, One Planet
[6:00PM] PLANET EARTH: BLUE PLANET II - The Best of the Blue Planet II
[8:00PM] EARTHFLIGHT - North America (Extended)
[9:10PM] SEVEN WORLDS, ONE PLANET - The Best of Seven Worlds, One Planet
[11:10PM] PLANET EARTH: BLUE PLANET II
[1:10AM] PLANET EARTH: ONE AMAZING DAY
[3:10AM] EARTHFLIGHT - North America (Extended)
[4:20AM] HIDDEN HABITATS - The Secret to Their Success
[4:50AM] PLANET EARTH: SOUTH PACIFIC - Ocean of Islands (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has the movie 'Catch Me If You Can', followed by the movie 'Catch Me If You Can', again.
FX has the movie 'Hidden Figures', followed by the movie 'Hidden Figures', again.
History has 'The UnXplained', another 'The UnXplained', followed by a FRESH'The UnXplained', then a FRESH'Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation'.
IFC -
[6:30A] The Three Stooges - They Stooge to Conga
[6:45A] Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof
[9:15A] Days of Thunder
[11:45A] The Dukes of Hazzard
[2:00P] The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
[5:00P] El Dorado
[8:00P] Inglourious Basterds
[11:30P] The Dukes of Hazzard
[1:45A] Inglourious Basterds
[5:15A] The Three Stooges - They Stooge to Conga
[5:25A] The Three Stooges - Three Little Beers
[5:35A] The Three Stooges - Three Dumb Clucks (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:00am] the godfather, part iii
[10:00am] point break
[12:30pm] carlito's way
[3:30pm] goodfellas
[6:30pm] the godfather, part iii
[10:30pm] double jeopardy
[1:00am] death wish ii
[3:00am] goodfellas (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Beetlejuice', followed by the movie 'Beetlejuice'.
It's no surprise that politics took center stage at this year's GLAAD Media Awards.
While Rachel Maddow accepted her award for outstanding TV journalism segment for her interview with Pete Buttigieg on "The Rachel Maddow Show," she said, "We are at a point where an openly gay TV host can accept an award for an interview with an openly gay major presidential candidate. Progress in this country is very rarely linear, and it barely happens on its own. If you are at all inspired by the progress you see, please vote, organize, run for office, and if you're enraged by the regression that you see, please vote, organize and run for office."
Since 1990, GLAAD Media Awards has celebrated the visibility of LGBTQ experiences in media and honored accurate and inclusive representations of queer people or color. In lieu of its usual glamorous setup in New York City, the virtual ceremony, provided an intimate platform for LGBTQ stars to empower trans youths, in light of the Trump administration's attempts to rollback progress that has been made for trans civil rights and health care.
The GLAAD Media Awards, held virtually for the first time on Thursday after being postponed because of the pandemic, was hosted by Fortune Feimster and Gina Yashere and featured performances from Choe x Halle, Shea Diamond and Ben Platt.
"Pose," "Schitt's Creek" and "Booksmart" picked up the top honors.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been surveilling the work of American journalists reporting on the unrest in Portland, Oregon, circulating "intelligence reports" on them to other federal agencies in a move that has been decried as a clear violation of the constitutional right to a free press.
The Washington Post obtained the intelligence reports which were compiled by the unit within DHS known as the "office of intelligence and analysis". The newspaper said the reports were distributed in the past week to law enforcement and other agencies.
They referred specifically to two prominent US journalists whose reporting had revealed the disarray within the Trump administration's contentious deployment of federal agents to quell protests in Portland.
One of the journalists, Mike Baker of the New York Times, had disclosed a leaked DHS memo that discussed the confusion prevalent among the federal agents sent to Portland. The memo showed that the camouflaged officers had little understanding of the nature of the demonstrations they were being asked to police.
The revelation that DHS officials had not only been surveilling the work of journalists covering Portland but had been disseminating their findings as "intelligence reports" normally reserved for terrorism suspects or foreign adversaries prompted an immediate outcry.
Sean Hannity has responded to John Oliver's charge that the Fox News host has been exaggerating the violence of Portland's Black Lives Matter protests: Don't be so serious.
"His big problem is he's not funny," Hannity says in a SiriusXM interview.
On Sunday's Last Week Tonight, Oliver riffed on the Trump Administration's handling of the Portland protests following the police killing of George Floyd. Oliver said that Hannity overstated the protests' violence and that Hannity's "tone does not reflect conditions on the ground."
He added, "If you, like Trump, think that it is fun to use federal troops as a prop to crush the constitutional right to assemble then like a great American, I'd like to offer you a basic cognitive test." He then held up two middle fingers, "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Appearing on SiriusXM's Jim Norton & Sam Roberts radio show, Hannity said he didn't see Oliver's show ("I saw the headline on Mediaite"), but that Oliver has a "big problem": He isn't funny.
State Checks Signed By 'Mickey Mouse' And 'Walt Disney'
Rhode Island
The Rhode Island Dept. of the Treasury is evidently a Mickey Mouse operation.
A resident of the state received a sales tax refund this week, but noticed that the names of General Treasurer Seth Magaziner and State Controller Peter Keenan had been substituted. Mickey Mouse signed as General Treasurer, while Walt Disney put his John Hancock in as the State Controller.
The state claims a technical glitch is to blame.
The bogus checks included corporate tax refunds, sales tax rebates, and tax credit refunds. Those who received the wrong signatures can get a replacement from the state.
A national coronavirus strategy developed by a second taskforce led by Jared Kushner was shelved to score political points against Democrat governors, according to new reports in Vanity Fair.
In March, Mr Kushner was appointed to the taskforce, separate from the White House's official group led by Mike Pence, to develop a nationwide testing and supply plan.
Quoting an unnamed public-health expert in frequent contact with the taskforce, Vanity Fair reported that a member of Mr Kushner's team suggested a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically because the virus had hit blue states hardest.
"The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy," the expert said.
"It was very clear that Jared was ultimately the decision-maker as to what [plan] was going to come out."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has identified 14 different kinds of seeds in the mysterious packages that appear to have been sent unsolicited from China to people around the country.
All 50 states have issued warnings about the packages some of which contain flowering plants like morning glory, hibiscus and roses, according to Osama El-Lissy, with the Plant Protection program of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. El-Lissy said other packages contain vegetables like cabbage and herbs including mint, sage, rosemary, and lavender.
A spokesperson for the USDA said the department is urging anyone who receives the packages not to plant them and to contact their state plant regulatory official and keep the seeds and packaging, including the mailing label, until they receive further instruction.
"At this time, we don't have any evidence indicating this is something other than a 'brushing scam' where people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost sales," the statement said. "USDA is currently collecting seed packages from recipients and will test their contents and determine if they contain anything that could be of concern to U.S. agriculture or the environment."
Male cicadas infected by a particularly gruesome parasitic fungus become zombies with an undercover mission: They broadcast a female's sexy come-hither message to other male cicadas, luring their unsuspecting victims to join the zombie cicada horde.
Researchers recently discovered this unusual twist to the cicada's already horrific zombification story. As the parasitic fungus called Massospora eats away at a cicada's abdomen, replacing it with a mass of yellow spores, the fungus also compels males to flick their wings in movements that are typically performed by females to attract mates.
Healthy males that hurry over for female company, then try to mate with the infected male, which passes along the Massospora infection. This and other new discoveries are helping scientists to piece together how Massospora turns cicadas into mind-controlled zombies, according to a new study published online June 18 in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
This zombie-host relationship can be challenging to observe. Though the fungus can affect cicadas that emerge annually, many of its cicada hosts are in the Magicicada genus, also known as periodical cicadas. These black-bodied and red-eyed cicadas spend 13 to 17 years (depending on the species) underground as immature nymphs. Luckily for the scientists who study periodical cicadas, local populations known as broods that follow this cycle emerge during different years in different locations.
Elon Musk's growing constellation of internet satellites has been sending streaks of bright light across night skies around the world. Even the biggest comet to pass Earth in 25 years wasn't spared.
A striking photo showing Comet Neowise behind those streaks of light shows how easily the satellites can upstage observations of distant objects in space.
The satellite project, called Starlink, is Musk's plan to blanket Earth in high-speed satellite internet. The effort has drawn criticism from professional and amateur astronomers, however, because the bright satellites can mar the skies and disrupt telescope observations.
That's what happened to the astrophotographer Daniel López on July 21, when he was shooting Comet Neowise before it flies out of view for another 6,800 years. He shared the resulting image on the Facebook page of his photography company, El Cielo de Canarias, saying it was a shame to see the satellites make such a spectacle.
López's photo is a composite of 17 images taken in the span of 30 seconds. Each image was long exposure, meaning it captured the comet over several seconds.
Under a microscope, human sperm seem to swim like wiggling eels, tails gyrating to and fro as they seek an egg to fertilize.
But now, new 3D microscopy and high-speed video reveal that sperm don't swim in this simple, symmetrical motion at all. Instead, they move with a rollicking spin that compensates for the fact that their tails actually beat only to one side.
"It's almost like if you're a swimmer, but you could only wiggle your leg to one side," said study author Hermes Gadęlha, a mathematician at the University of Bristol in the U.K. "If you did this in a swimming pool and you only did this to one side, you would always swim in circles. … Nature in its wisdom came [up] with a very complex, ingenious way to go forward."
The first person to observe human sperm close up was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch scientist known as the father of microbiology. In 1677, van Leeuwenhoek turned his newly developed microscope toward his own semen, seeing for the first time that the fluid was filled with tiny, wiggling cells.
Under a 2D microscope, it was clear that the sperm were propelled by tails, which seemed to wiggle side-to-side as the sperm head rotated. For the next 343 years, this was the understanding of how human sperm moved.
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