• Isaac Asimov died at age 72 on April 6, 1992, after having published 477 books. Actually, since he had completed several books that had not been published at the time of his death, and since some collections of his short stories and essays have been published since he died, the number of books he has written or edited and published is now over 500. How could he write that many books? Well, for one thing, he wrote seven hours a day, seven days a week, not taking time off for holidays or weekends. He once said, “All I do is write. I do practically nothing else, except eat, sleep, and talk to my wife.” Don’t feel bad for him — he was doing what he loved: “I am so ill-rounded that the 10 things I love to do are write, write, write, write, write, write, write, write, write, and write. Oh, I do other things. I even like to do other things. But when asked for the 10 things I love, that’s it.”
• Comedian Phyllis Diller was much influenced by the book The Magic of Believing by Claude M. Bristol. It gave her so much confidence that when she was fired at the San Francisco Purple Onion by Keith Rockwell as a result of some intrigue by other people, she didn’t grow angry at him; instead, she told him, “That’s OK. I don’t really need this job to make my way in the world of comedy. You gave me my start, and that’s enough. Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine.” Mr. Rockwell was used to being screamed at by the people he fired, and Ms. Diller’s gracious response to being fired impressed him so much that a few days later he re-hired her.
• Eve Arden was married to actor Brooks West, with whom she starred in many theatrical productions. After World War II, Brooks was having a tough time getting his career as an actor established again, so his friend the novelist John Steinbeck came to the rescue. He told Brooks, “I have noticed that when actors sign a contract, they always seem to be offered another job right away. So I have drawn up a contract between us that I want you to sign.” Mr. Steinbeck then had Mr. West sign a joke contract. It worked — soon after, Brooks was offered a real contract.
• Author Jane Yolen started her writing career as a journalist (the play about talking vegetables that she wrote in the first grade doesn’t count), but she quickly discovered that she needed to do creative writing. She admits that she used to cry when she interviewed “poor people in terrible straits,” and she admits that she used to make up facts. This, of course, is something that a journalist (except perhaps for those “journalists” writing in sensationalist supermarket tabloids) cannot do.
• William Peter Blatty used to write comedies such as Blake Edwards’ A Shot in the Dark for Hollywood in the 1960s, but the market for these movies dried up, so he wrote the horror novel The Exorcist, then turned it into a screenplay. Of course, The Exorcist became a great horror movie and made him famous. Later, when Mr. Blatty was mentioned as a possible author for a comedy screenplay, a movie studio head was astounded: “William Peter Blatty! The guy who wrote The Exorcist? You want me to hire him for a comedy?”
• Before becoming a science fiction writer, Anne McCaffrey worked as an advertising copy layout artist for Liberty Music Shops. While in an elevator, she heard a salesperson tell actress Tallulah Bankhead that a new record player could play up to four hours and a half of music. Ms. Bankhead often played romantic music on her record player, so she turned to her boyfriend and asked mischievously, “Dahling, do you think that will be long enough?”
• Before becoming famous as the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling was the worst secretary ever. At meetings, she would sit and take notes — but the notes weren’t about the meeting, they were about plot ideas and characters. Another reason she was frequently fired was that she typed her manuscripts while she was supposed to be working.
• Roald Dahl, the author of the noted children’s book Matilda, had a hut in which he did his writing. The hut was filled with mementos of his life, including a big ball made out of foil that had wrapped the many chocolate bars Mr. Dahl had eaten throughout his adulthood. The hut also included a memento of one of Mr. Dahl’s operations: his hipbone!
• Caryll Householder, author of This War is the Passion, once worked as a cleaning lady, but unfortunately she was afraid of mice. Part of her job was to take dead mice out of traps, but rather than do that herself, she paid the cooks to do it. The bribes took up most of her salary, so she quit her job.
Originally named "Chicken Feed", over 35 million pounds of this small, triangular candy staple of the autumn season will be produced this year. What is the name of this ubiquitous Halloween confection?
Candy corn is a type of small, triangular candy, typically divided into three sections of different colors, with a waxy texture and a flavor based on honey, sugar, butter, and vanilla. It is a staple candy of the fall (autumn) season and the Halloween holiday in the United States.
"Chicken Feed" was the original name of the candy with production starting in the late 1880s. It was first invented in the 1880s by a Wunderle Candy Company employee, George Renninger. Wunderle Candy Company was the first to produce the candy in 1888. Following the Wunderle Candy Company, the Goelitz Confectionery Company (now called Jelly Belly) began manufacturing the product in 1898. While Jelly Belly still makes candy corn, the largest manufacturer of candy corn is Brach's Confections owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. Brach’s makes approximately 7 billion pieces of candy corn per year and possesses 85 percent of the total share of the candy corn industry during the Halloween season.
The National Confectioners Association has deemed October 30, the day before Halloween, as "National Candy Corn Day."
The National Confectioners Association estimates that around 35 million pounds (over 15,000 metric tons) of candy corn are sold annually. As of 2016, annual production in the United States is 35 million pounds, or almost 9 billion pieces of candy.The majority of candy corn sales occur during the Halloween season.
Source
Cal in Vermont was first, and correct, with:
Candy Corn. Mmmm.
Billy in Cypress U. $. A. said:
"Candy Corn"
Mark. wrote:
Candy Corn.
Alan J answered:
Candy Corn.
Mac Mac replied:
Candy corn
Jacqueline answered:
Candy corn
Kevin in Washington DC said:
Candy Corn.
mj wrote:
My mom loved it
She was always happy to see tiny bags of it in our Halloween haul,
because she knew we wouldn't eat it, and she could snack on it to her
hearts content: Candy corn.
Dave answered:
Must be Candy Corn. They had to change the name because Purina sued for defamation of character because their Chicken Feed tasted a lot better. I never understood why anyone would hand that crap out on Halloween unless he really dislikes children? Rated as one of the most hated Halloween treats. I even used to prefer apples because I could at least eat an apple. Candy Corn went in the trash unless one of my younger siblings wanted them.
Randall replied:
candy corn
zorch responded:
Candy Corn.
Stephen F said:
Candy Corn
Roy, Isolating in Antifa Hq. in a Papa John's basement in Tyler, TX wrote:
That's gotta be Candy Corn, but I thought nobody liked that stuff! I have heard the last batch came off the assembly line in 1953, and they just put all the unsold back in storage.
TeeHee
Leo in Boise answered:
Candy corn
Deborah, the Master Gardener responded:
The only ubiquitous triangular-shaped Halloween candy I can think of is candy corn. I loved it as a kid and loathe it now. But at one time chrysanthemums and candy corn and my birthday was the month of October to me.
We’re not celebrating Halloween as such tomorrow, but I’ll be watching the blue moon rise for sure.
David of Moon Valley replied:
maybe?
...a late morning guess...i'm going with candy corn...i got nothing else, really...so i'm 'sticking' with that....
John I from Hawai`i says,
Candy Corn
Dave in Tucson wrote:
It's called candy corn!
A cornucopia of candy corn. To be honest it appears the cornucopia is vomiting. Which can be a side effect of too much candy corn at one sitting.
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame replied:
The answer is candy corn.
Joe ( -- Vote Blue, No Matter Who -- ) said:
Oh. Ugh, Bleh, Candy corn
Michelle in AZ took the day off.
Daniel in The City took the day off.
-pgw took the day off.
DJ Useo took the day off.
Kenn B took the day off.
Micki took the day off.
Doug in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took the day off.
Ed K took the day off.
Jon L took the day off.
Angelo D took the day off.
Harry M. took the day off.
George M. took the day off.
Gary K took the day off.
Roy the (now retired) hoghead (aka 'hoghed') ( Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. ~Frank Zappa ) took the day off.
Saskplanner took the day off.
Gateway Mike took the day off.
Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
MarilynofTC took the day off.
Paul of Seattle took the day off.
Brian S. took the day off.
Gene took the day off.
Tony K. took the day off.
Noel S. took the day off.
James of Alhambra took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Info: “The Incredible Sucking Spongies is an instrumental combo originated in 1997 in the city of Antwerp (Belgium). Their repertoire is rooted in surf music but combines influences that go far beyond the limits of the genre, resulting in an infectious and original sound. Besides the Spongies originals they also present often obscure covers. Over the years they built up a notorious live reputation, but they only released 1 limited edition album themselves in 2003: LET THERE BE SURF!”
“The last few years, the band was put on hold mainly to focus on different side projects, but now they're back in full effect with new material and a new vinyl album on Green Cookie Records. Check it out!”
Filip Borms (bass)
Jan Peeters (guitar)
Dirk Van den Berge (guitar)
Dirk Van Rosendaal (drums)
Price: €1 (EURO) for track; €6 (EURO) for 10-track album
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'Manhunt: Deadly Games', followed by another RERUN'Manhunt: Deadly Games', then '48 Hours'.
NBC opens the night the East Coast with a RERUN'Weakest Link', followed by a RERUN'Ellen's Game Of Games', then an old 'SNL'.
NBC opens the night on the left coast early with a RERUN'Weakest Link', followed by a LIVE'SNL', then an old 'SNL'.
'SNL' is a FRESH with John Mulvaney hosting, music by The Strokes.
ABC fills the night with LIVE'College Football', then pads the left coast with local crap.
The CW offers a couple of old 'Friends', and a couple old '2½ Men'.
Faux fills the night with LIVE'College Football', then pads the left coast with local crap.
MY recycles an old 'Weather Gone Viral', followed by an old 'Storm Of Suspicion'.
AMC offers the movie 'Halloween: Resurrection', followed by the movie 'Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later', then a FRESH'Eli Roth's History Of Horror'.
BBC -
[6:00AM - 3:00pm] WEIRD WONDERS
[4:00PM] PLANET EARTH - GREAT PLAINS
[5:00PM] PLANET EARTH: LIFE - HUNTERS AND HUNTED
[6:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - THE HARDEST CHALLENGE
[7:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - IN THE GRIP OF SEASONS - ARCTIC
[8:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - HIDE AND SEEK - JUNGLES
[9:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - HUNGER AT SEA - OCEANS
[10:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - NOWHERE TO HIDE - PLAINS
[11:00PM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - RACE AGAINST TIME - COASTS
[12:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - THE HARDEST CHALLENGE
[1:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - IN THE GRIP OF SEASONS - ARCTIC
[1:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - HIDE AND SEEK - JUNGLES
[2:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - HUNGER AT SEA - OCEANS
[3:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - NOWHERE TO HIDE - PLAINS
[4:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - RACE AGAINST TIME - COASTS
[5:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE HUNT - LIVING WITH PREDATORS - CONSERVATION (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has the movie 'Shrek', followed by the movie 'Shrek', again.
Comedy Central has an hour of old 'The Office', followed by hours & hours of old 'South Park'.
FX has the movie 'Venom', followed by the movie 'A Quiet Place', then the movie 'The First Purge'.
History has 3 hours of old 'Haunted History', and 'Americas Book Of Secrets: Special Edition'.
IFC -
[12:30am] This Is 40
[3:30am] Zack And Miri Make A Porno
[5:45am] Baroness Von Sketch Show
[6:15am - 10:15am] Saved By The Bell
[10:45am - 12:15pm] Saved By The Bell: The College Years
[12:45pm] Carrie
[3:00pm] Bride Of Chucky
[5:00pm] Seed Of Chucky
[7:00pm] Curse Of Chucky
[9:00pm] Cult Of Chucky
[11:00pm] Bride Of Chucky
[1:00am] Seed Of Chucky
[2:00am] Curse Of Chucky
[4:00am] Sherman's Showcase - Black History Month Spectacular
[5:00am] Sherman's Showcase - The Ladies Of The Showcase
[5:30am] Sherman's Showcase - July 8, 1995 (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:30am - 10:30am] the andy griffith show
[11:00am - 1:30pm] hogan's heroes
[2:00pm] the monster squad
[4:00pm] pet sematary
[6:00pm] silver bullet
[8:00pm] the lost boys
[10:00pm] the lost boys
[12:00am] the ninth gate
[2:00am] the gate
[4:00am] perry mason
[5:00am] perry mason (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban', followed by the movie 'Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire'.
Taylor Swift approved her song “Only the Young” for a pro-Joe Biden advertisement, a source close to the situation confirms to Variety.
The song, from the Netflix documentary “Taylor Swift: Miss Americana,” appears in a new Biden ad that made the rounds on social media on Friday, four days before the 2020 election. California’s Democratic representative Eric Swalwell shared the ad on Friday morning, quoting lyrics from the song.
“Up there’s the finish line. Our future is worth our fight. Thank you, @TaylorSwift13, for voicing what #OnlyTheYoung can do. Let’s run!” Swalwell wrote.
The ad begins with a voiceover from Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden’s running mate, who asks “Why are so many powerful people trying to make it so difficult for us to vote?” The video features news clips from several major moments during the Trump administration’s last four years, including Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, the #MeToo survivors’ march and this year’s Black Lives Matter protests.
Swift’s lyrics “And the big bad man and his big bad clan / Their hands are stained with red / Oh, how quickly, they forget” are timed to play over photos of President Trump, Mitch McConnell, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Attorney General Bill Barr.
Lady Gaga is calling on Americans to vote in a video posted to social media on Friday where she rocks some of her most notable looks and tells fans that “anyone can find a reason to vote.”
While the 34-year-old already cast her ballot, wearing a pair of pink platform boots, the singer and actress stepped into a number of other standout ensembles to applaud those who also voted early and to speak to those who haven’t done so yet.
“I believe, no matter how you feel right now about the election, you are still accountable. Maybe you’re sick of all the fighting or you’re frustrated by COVID and don’t want to deal with it, or maybe you dislike all the candidates or maybe you feel so discouraged by the state of our nation that you decided you don’t believe in voting because you feel it’s better not to be a part of the system — the system you don’t like,” she said. “If you want to change this system, if you want this country to be different than it is right now, you have got to participate in this election.”
Gaga went on to explain the implications of what’s come to be known as the most important election in the country’s history, stating “When they announce who has won the election, it will be very clear what this country has become.” She even assures Americans that unless they have a plane ticket and a place to stay elsewhere, the government chosen will impact everyone’s way of life.
CNN had a “Veronica’s Closet” diss at the ready when the actress Kirstie Alley tweeted to her followers on Friday morning that the network overplayed the dangers of COVID-19.
“Kirstie, you are welcome to change the channel – just like countless viewers did every time ‘Veronica’s Closet’ came on TV. But don’t downplay the loss of nearly 230K American lives. And please, wear a mask,” CNN’s PR account tweeted.
Earlier on Friday, Alley — who has been vocal with her support for President Trump (R-SP) — tweeted that CNN made her friends “walk around in SHEER TERROR” of contracting the virus.
“I now Know why my personal friends who walk around in SHEER TERROR of contracting Covid are simply CNN viewers! I decided to watch CNN myself to get a their viewpoint and oh my God DID I EVER!!!! IF YOU TOO WANT TO LIVE IN TERROR WATCH CNN!! FEAR OF DYING IS THEIR MANTRA! OMG!” Alley tweeted on Friday morning.
Circling in front of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Monday morning, about 10 protesters with placards shouted "No gag orders," "Hold Hollywood accountable" and "Let Charlotte speak."
Charlotte is Charlotte Kirk, the British actress who has been at the center of Hollywood sex scandals that toppled two studio chiefs. Kirk, who was expected to attend, failed to show up while an attorney spoke on her behalf.
"Powerful men are using the courts to silence Charlotte and other women," said Caroline Heldman, a professor at Occidental College and a leading advocate for victims of rape and other sexual assault, who helped spearhead the demonstration.
The protest in Kirk's name was over a judge's ruling last week that denied a request by her legal team to vacate an injunction preventing her and director Joshua Newton from disclosing a confidential settlement made in 2017. The settlement contained a confidentiality agreement regarding Kirk's sexual relationship with former Warner Bros. Chief Executive Kevin Tsujihara as well as other allegations.
The legal wrangling — which has engaged some of Hollywood's highest-profile men and their attorneys — has provided a window into the high-stakes drama that has been playing out over three years, largely under wraps in confidential arbitration, buried beneath sealed court filings among parties shielded by pseudonyms.
White House coronavirus coordinator Dr Deborah Birx has reportedly boycotted Donald Trump (R-Compromised)'s coronavirus task force due to misinformation.
The leading physician was said to have walked out of a meeting of the White House coronavirus task force this summer, and decided never to return again.
CNN reported that Dr Birx, who advised the US president over many months, decided to deliver messages directly to the public, in part due to the appointment of Dr Scott Atlas.
She told colleagues that she would side-step any meetings with Dr Atlas, a controversial White House adviser without any background in infectious diseases or public health.
Mr Trump appointed him to the coronavirus taskforce in August, after appearing on Fox News for several months to challenge lockdowns, masks and other preventative measures.
Months before the Trump administration separated thousands of families at the U.S.-Mexico border, a “pilot program” in Texas left child-welfare officials scrambling to find empty beds for babies taken from their parents in a preview of bigger problems to come, according to a report released Thursday by congressional Democrats.
Documents in the report suggest Health and Human Services officials weren't told by the Department of Homeland Security why shelters were receiving more children taken from their parents in late 2017. It has since been revealed that DHS was operating a pilot program in El Paso, Texas, that prosecuted parents for crossing the border illegally and took their children away to HHS shelters.
“We had a shortage last night of beds for babies,” Jonathan White, a top HHS official, wrote in a Nov. 11, 2017, email. He added: “Overall, infant placements seem to be climbing over recent weeks, and we think that’s due to more separations from mothers by CBP.”
The problems revealed by the pilot program presaged what would happen months later: government employees caring for babies and young children in so-called tender age shelters and many parents being deported without their kids. The consequences linger today: Lawyers working to reunite immigrant families have said they can’t reach the deported parents of 545 children who were separated as early as July 2017.
The report outlines discussions since the start of the Trump administration of family separation as a law enforcement tactic. In March 2017, then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told CNN that the government was considering taking children from their families and placing them in government-licensed shelters while the parents were prosecuted.
Senator Mike Lee says is
At Wednesday's Senate hearing concerning content moderation policies on major social media platforms, Republican Senator Mike Lee said that fact-checking is a form of censorship.
The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation was questioning the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook, and Google via video chat about online censorship, with Republicans voicing concerns that the companies discriminate against conservative viewpoints.
Senator Lee argued that content moderation policies were deployed disproportionately against users with conservative ideologies.
Defining what he meant by censorship, the Utah lawmaker said: "When I use the word 'censor' here, I'm meaning blocked content, fact check, or labeled content, or demonetised websites of conservative, Republican, or pro-life individuals or groups or companies."ť
One month before a purported leak of files from Hunter Biden's laptop, a fake "intelligence" document about him went viral on the right-wing internet, asserting an elaborate conspiracy theory involving former Vice President Joe Biden's son and business in China.
The document, a 64-page composition that was later disseminated by close associates of President Donald Trump, appears to be the work of a fake "intelligence firm" called Typhoon Investigations, according to researchers and public documents.
The author of the document, a self-identified Swiss security analyst named Martin Aspen, is a fabricated identity, according to analysis by disinformation researchers, who also concluded that Aspen's profile picture was created with an artificial intelligence face generator. The intelligence firm that Aspen lists as his previous employer said that no one by that name had ever worked for the company and that no one by that name lives in Switzerland, according to public records and social media searches.
An unverified leak of documents — including salacious pictures from what President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and a Delaware Apple repair store owner claimed to be Hunter Biden's hard drive — were published in the New York Post on Oct. 14. Associates close to Trump, including Giuliani and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, have promised more blockbuster leaks and secrets, which have yet to materialize.
The fake intelligence document, however, preceded the leak by months, and it helped lay the groundwork among right-wing media for what would become a failed October surprise: a viral pile-on of conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden.
Humans and dogs have shared a long and beautiful relationship, but the story of how we got together has been lost to the sands of time - so we don't know exactly how long we've been friends.
According to new research, though, we started dogs on the path of domestication well before 11,000 years ago. By carefully sequencing the DNA of ancient dogs, researchers found that there were already at least five distinct genetic lineages at the end of the last ice age.
They also sequenced contemporaneous human DNA to trace the relationship between our two species over the millennia.
It was these early lineages, the researchers say, that were the basis for the many different dogs we know and love today.
We know that all domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are descended from a wolf ancestor shared with today's grey wolf (Canis lupus). But precisely when that divergence occurred has been a matter of some debate. Some claim domestication - the process of slowly breeding wolves to select for more friendly traits - began over 100,000 years ago, although that interpretation is controversial.
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said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
