from Bruce
Anecdotes
Problem-Solving
• In 1913, P.E. Turnball of Lee, Massachusetts, got tired of hunters mistaking his cows for deer and shooting them. Therefore, he had several blankets made up for his cows to wear during hunting season. On the blankets appeared these words: “Don’t shoot me. I am a cow.” The plan worked. Mr. Turnball didn’t lose any cows that year, but souvenir hunters did steal seven blankets.
Rodeos
• On June 11, 1905, Zack Miller and his brothers planned to hold a Western show on their ranch located in Oklahoma’s Cherokee Strip. Unfortunately, a storm headed toward the ranch and Mr. Miller worried that rain would force him and his brothers to refund the spectators’ ticket money, resulting in huge losses. Suddenly, a Ponca medicine man by the name of Sits-on-a-Hill came to him and said, “Big blow. Big rain. No show.” He then offered to turn the storm away from the show in return for five steers. Mr. Miller thought a moment, then he said that they had a deal. The medicine man danced and sang while beating a drum. The storm clouds neared a river, then the medicine man screamed while pointing a shell at the storm clouds. As if they had been ordered to, the storm clouds headed east, away from the Western show. The next day, after he had been paid his five steers, the medicine man told a secret to African-American rodeo star Bill Pickett. The medicine man had studied the local weather for decades, and he knew that storms almost always headed east after arriving at the river.
• Gene Creed earned the title of Saddle Bronc Champion of the World in 1928, 1932, 1936, and 1938. When she was 16, her older sister was pregnant, and she was sent to her home to help out. However, while traveling to her sister’s home, she noticed an advertisement in the Denver Post for a rodeo in Cheyenne. She had always wanted to see that part of the country, so she went to Cheyenne and competed in the rodeo, winning $300 in cash, a $75 Stetson, and a fancy belt bucket. Ms. Creed says, “I never did help my sister with the baby.”
Scores
• On February 19, 1982, Athens (Ohio) High School opened a 7-0 lead over Waverly High School before a Waverly player had even touched the basketball. The Waverly coach made a crucial error before the game began when he incorrectly entered the numbers of his players in the official scorebook. When the game began, the officials called five technical fouls — one for each Waverly player on the court. Athens’ Steve Bruning made all five free throws, and Athens had possession of the ball and promptly scored a field goal. Score 7-0. Athens eventually won, 72-49.
• The Harlem Globetrotters used to play serious basketball, playing against local teams and running up a big lead before beginning their clowning. While on tour in Woodfibre, Canada, in the early 1930s, the Globetrotters were insulted by members of the local team, who called them nasty names as they warmed up. Therefore, the Globetrotters decided to play serious basketball for the entire game. They won, 122-20.
• In the 1940 NFL Championship game, the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins, 73-0. After the game, a sportswriter asked the Redskins’ quarterback, Sammy Baugh, what the score might have been if a Redskin receiver had caught the football in the end zone in the first period. Mr. Baugh replied, “73 to 7.”
Travel
• Babe Ruth was known as much for his devotion to night life as for his devotion to hitting home runs — a fact that Ping Bodie, his roommate on New York Yankee field trips, well knew. Asked what Babe Ruth was like as a roommate, Mr. Bodie said he didn’t know — he shared a room not with Babe Ruth, but with Babe Ruth’s suitcase.
• Wilt Chamberlain was seven feet tall, and as a Harlem Globetrotter, he traveled to many places where no one had ever seen a person that tall before. While walking down a street in Bologna, Italy, he turned around and saw 300 natives following him.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Assalto Alla Diligenza [“Assault on Diligence”]"
Album: GIUSTIZIA SOMMARIA
Artist: I Fantomatici
Artist Location: Vincenza, Italy
Record Company: Green Cookie Records
Record Company Location: Thessaloniki, Greece
Info:
“Fantomatic was an instrumental surf band from Vincenza, Italy, playing a blend of spaghetti-western and surf. Fantomatici in Italian means ‘that maybe don’t really exist.’ But we assure you that they existed, and they mixed in their compositions the most disparate influences: surf, beat, rockabilly, easy listening, Italian 60s-70s B movies soundtracks. Always with an original, peculiar style. Their music reminds of seasides, exotic atmospheres, alien worlds, Italian futurism, spaghetti-western lands, superheroes of all colors and nationalities, historical avant-gardes and mysterious women. The group’s ideological background is based on everything related to the sixties and seventies, especially in Italy. An ill-concealed Mediterranean character is the trademark of I Fantomatici. They have recorded two albums for Green Cookie Records, GIUSTIZIA SOMMARIA (2005) and SPAGHETTI SURF (2007). Both albums have received very positive reviews. More than 15 years after their release both albums are finally available at Spotify and all streaming platforms.”
Price: €1 (EURO) for track; €7 (EURO) for 13-track album
Genre: Spaghetti Western, Surf Instrumentals
Links:
GIUSTIZIA SOMMARIA
Green Cookie Records
I Fantomatici on YouTube
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
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Voter Suppression
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Michael Egan
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Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Had to put on a pair of real pants to go to the store to replace my sweatpants.
Trolls Westboro Baptist
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters’ tour returned to Kansas Thursday, giving the band an opportunity to reignite their longstanding feud with the Westboro Baptist Church, which routinely descends on the parking lot outside Foo Fighters shows with their hate-filled signs.
As fans began congregating in the parking lot outside Bonner Springs’ Azura Amphitheater, the Foo Fighters — in their Dee Gees attire — hopped on a flatbed truck and treated them to a lengthy rendition of the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing.” The truck navigated its way outside the venue and parked in front of the Westboro protesters, sporting their usual hate-filled signs.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I got something to say. Because you know what? I love you! I do,” Grohl told the protesters as the music played. “The way I look at it, I love everybody. That’s what you’re supposed to do… I deliver all of my love, and you shouldn’t be hating. You should be dancing!”
Foo Fighters last trolled the Westboro Baptist Church in 2016 prior to their Kansas City concert, with the group delivering a literal “Rickroll.” “Tonight, we were sitting backstage, and someone said: ‘Guess who is coming tonight?’ And I said, ‘Who?’ They said, ‘Them.’ I said, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘Cause.’ And I said, ‘Cool, let’s go out and fuckin’ hang out with them,’” Grohl told the Sprint Center crowd at the 2016 show. “So we didn’t have enough time to put together the big old show that we put on last time, so we figured, you know what, why don’t we just fucking rickroll their ass? Cause nothing says love like a little Rick Astley in your life, you know what I’m saying? Never gonna give his ass up!”
Foo Fighters
Frontrunner Has Baggage
Jeopardy!
After Jeopardy! has been guest-hosted by a diverse slate of talent from the worlds of entertainment, news, sports, and medicine, Sony seems to be settling for who they probably thought was the safest choice for Alex Trebek’s successor: current Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards. However, Richards’ rich experience on game shows seems to be accompanied by plenty of unsavory incidents, including a discrimination lawsuit.
During his time as co-executive producer on The Price Is Right in 2010, model Brandi Cochran filed a lawsuit against CBS and FremantleMedia for discrimination due to her pregnancy. Cochran alleged that she received unfair treatment and less work after executives learned she was pregnant with twins. After her child’s birth (she lost one of the twins due to a miscarriage) she was not invited back on the show.
According to the suit, Richards publicly bemoaned Cochran’s pregnancy at a holiday party, stating, “Go figure, I fire five models, what are the odds one of the ones that I keep gets pregnant?” Cochran kept her pregnancy a secret for as long as she could, but after Richard learned of it he allegedly “put his head in his hands,” later barging up to her and saying, “Twins? Are you kidding? Are you serious?”
The suit additionally states that as executive producer, “Richards decided that the models’ skirts should be shorter and said that he liked the models to look as if they were going out on a date. At his suggestion, models wore bikinis on the show more frequently.” Cochran was awarded $7.7 million in punitive damages in the suit.
In another suit from 2011, model Lanisha Cole sued Richards (who was named along with another producer named Adam Sandler and Fremantle Media) for sexual harassment and wrongful termination. Among other incidents that occurred on set, Cole alleged that she was berated by Sandler for not wearing a microphone and that Richards completely refused to talk to her at all while at work. Any communication between them would only happen through her colleagues. Cole ultimately quit the show because production never investigated her claims. The suit was settled in 2013 after Richards was dismissed as a defendant.
Jeopardy!
Dumped at NBC Following Giardia Outbreak
‘Ultimate Slip N’ Slide'
NBC has flushed its planned reality competition series Ultimate Slip N’ Slide after at least one crew member tested positive for giardia. The series, hosted by Bobby Moynihan and Ron Funches paused production June 2 after a crew member tested positive for the parasitic disease that causes diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Producers Universal Television Alternative Studio worked with the L.A. and Ventura County Health Departments as well as a third-party environmental lab to test the water on location. Those tests — which included water from a well, pond, slide pool, water truck and restroom sinks — came back negative for giardia. (Giardia is a gastrointestinal parasite that is transmitted largely via animal or human feces in water.)
On June 10, the studio was informed of results of additional testing that revealed giardia in the surrounding area. With one week remaining of production on the 10-episode show, producers made the decision to halt filming at the site in question.
Picked up straight to series in May with a 10-episode order, Ultimate Slip N’ Slide was scheduled to air Sunday, Aug. 8 in the prime time slot after the Closing Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics at 10:30 p.m. ET. (The post-Olympics slot is on par with such other coveted scheduling as after the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards.)
NBC instead will air reality series Family Game Fight in the slot.
‘Ultimate Slip N’ Slide'
Star-Studded
Pirelli Calendar
The days of stadium concerts may feel like a distant memory, but singer-turned-photographer Bryan Adams is recreating the touring lifestyle with the likes of Iggy Pop, Jennifer Hudson and Grimes for this year’s Pirelli calendar.
The 2022 edition of the star-studded calendar, themed “On the Road,” will see the Canadian rock star reimagining backstage moments with a cast of celebrity musicians.
Although the final images will not be unveiled until November, new behind-the-scenes photographs show Rita Ora kicking her legs up in a bathtub and Cher dragging red lipstick across a bright dressing room mirror.
Adams, who has worked as a professional photographer for over a decade, joins a roll call of high-profile names — including Annie Leibovitz and Peter Lindbergh — asked to shoot the annual calendar. Fresh off a photo shoot with rapper Saweetie, he said that being a musician himself put him on “equal ground” with the celebrities being photographed.
First published in 1964 and known for its sensual images of women, the Pirelli calendar has attempted to reinvent itself in the post-#MeToo era. Recent editions have focused on female empowerment and included an increasingly diverse cast of models.
Pirelli Calendar
Agriculture Killing More Than Realized
Bees
Exposure to a cocktail of agrochemicals significantly increases bee mortality, according to research Wednesday that said regulators may be underestimating the dangers of pesticides in combination.
A new meta-analysis of dozens of published studies over the last 20 years looked at the interaction between agrochemicals, parasites and malnutrition on bee behaviors - such as foraging, memory, colony reproduction - and health.
Researchers found that when these different stressors interacted they had a negative effect on bees, greatly increasing the likelihood of death.
The study published in Nature also found that pesticide interaction was likely to be "synergistic", meaning that their combined impact was greater than the sum of their individual effects.
The study concluded that risk assessments that fail to allow for this outcome "may underestimate the interactive effect of anthropogenic stressors on bee mortality".
Bees
7 Years Later
Tan Suit
On August 28, 2014 - a date which will live in infamy - President Barack Obama wore a tan suit. Republicans and right-wing media treated it as a massive scandal.
Almost exactly seven years later, President Joe Biden boldly followed in Obama's footsteps and put on a tan suit.
Obama nearly always wore gray or dark blue suits. But when he broke from this trend, conservatives swiftly condemned him as unpresidential.
The Fox Business host Lou Dobbs responded to the tan suit by stating that it "was shocking to a lot of people." Dobbs suggested that Obama wore the suit because his administration was getting "desperate" over low polling numbers (Obama's approval rating at the time stood at 41%, according to Gallup).
Years later, Obama joked about "tan suit gate" during a press conference. "I was sorely tempted to wear a tan suit today for my last press conference. But Michelle, whose fashion sense is a little better than mine, tells me that's not appropriate in January," Obama said in 2017.
Tan Suit
New Resident
New Zealand
Google co-founder Larry Page has gained New Zealand residency, officials confirmed Friday, stoking debate over whether extremely wealthy people can essentially buy access to the South Pacific country.
Immigration New Zealand said Page first applied for residency in November under a special visa open to people with at least 10 million New Zealand dollars ($7 million) to invest.
New Zealand lawmakers confirmed that Page and his son first arrived in New Zealand in January after the family filed an urgent application for the son to be evacuated from Fiji due to a medical emergency.
Forbes on Friday ranked Page as the world’s sixth-wealthiest person, with a fortune of $117 billion. Forbes noted that Page stepped down as chief executive of Google’s parent company Alphabet in 2019 but remained a board member and controlling shareholder.
New Zealand
Sumo Statue Removed
Equestrian Course
A sumo wrestler that may have spooked the horses was knocked out of the Olympic equestrian ring Friday night, but the course designer is defending his decision to include the lifelike fighter in the first place.
The statue and a nearby patch of cherry trees that riders thought might be startling the animals during the individual jumping event were among the obstacles swapped out for the start of the team competition.
Course designer Santiago Varela had planned on removing the sumo wrestler for the team competition all along — the change had nothing to do with comments from riders saying the life-sized rikishi might be rankling their animals.
“I think this is an artificial discussion,” he said after Friday night’s team qualifying. “I believe that someone goes to the media to say things that are not true, directly and simply. Horses have jumped very well in the arena.”
Several pairings in the early stages of Tuesday’s individual event stopped short near the sumo wrestler. The hurdle was located right after a sharp turn, and the wrestler’s wedgied backside was the first thing in sight for horse and human.
Equestrian Course
Perfectly Preserved In Permafrost
Cave Lion Cubs
After laying untouched in Siberian permafrost for tens of thousands of years, the incredibly well-preserved bodies of two cubs are now showing scientists how extinct cave lions braced the chill of northern snow-covered landscapes.
A team from the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Centre for Paleogenetics in Sweden, led by Russian researchers Gennady Boeskorov and Alexey Tikhonov, recently took another look at the mummified bodies of two cave lion cubs – nicknamed “Sparta” and “Boris” – discovered a few years ago on the banks of the Semyuelyakh River in Siberia. Their results are published in the journal Quaternary
Researchers published a study on this pair a year ago, revealing that extinct cave lions (Panthera spelaea) were a separate species to the modern-day lions (Panthera leo) found today in sub-Saharan Africa. Genetic analysis suggests the two relatives diverged from each other about 1.9 million years ago.
Sparta, formerly Spartak, is said to be the best-preserved Ice Age animal ever discovered. Her golden fur is almost completely undamaged – albeit a little bit matted – and her teeth, skin, soft tissue, and organs remain beautifully preserved. The study notes that the coat hair of a cave lion cub is similar to that of an African lion cub, with cave lions distinguished by long thick fur undercoats that helped them brave the cold climate.
Cave Lion Cubs
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