Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Obama's Hostage Deal (New York Times)
The ramifications of the recent tax-cut deal are stirring a bad feeling about next December.
Froma Harrop: The Blue-State Tax Blues (Creators Syndicate)
The political lineup for and against the controversial tax deal evokes great bemusement. Once again, Republicans representing the poorer conservative states are pounding the table for the lower taxes that benefit the richer, liberal ones. Once again, Democrats representing parts of the country where a $250,000 household income is cushy but not princely are enraged that families making such amounts may have their Bush-era tax cuts extended.
Jim Hightower: THE STORY BEHIND TOM DELAY'S CONVICTION
Poor Tom DeLay. The former Republican lawmaker was once so powerful that he declared, "I AM the federal government." But some commoners in Texas just cut him down to size.
Meghan Daum: (Brand name) here, there, everywhere (Los Angeles Times)
Park trails are marked with North Face logos, and Coca-Cola brands a state park. What's next? The Grand Canyon, the Pacific Ocean, outer space?
PEIMIN NI: Kung Fu for Philosophers (New York Times)
Thoughts on East, West and a Chinese philosophical tradition that is more practical than metaphysical.
JULIE BOSMAN: Web Site for Teenagers With Literary Leanings (New York Times)
When Jacob Lewis helped create the beta version of the Web site Figment with Dana Goodyear, a staff writer at The New Yorker, Mr. Lewis envisioned it as a sort of literary Facebook for the teenage set.
Paul Collins: How To Write Like a Victorian (Slate)
What can the first how-to book for fiction still tell us?
"The Concise Dictionary of Dress" by Judith Clark: A review by Andrew Starner
The message of The Concise Dictionary of Dress -- the name of the exhibition as well as the catalog -- is that clothing functions simultaneously as textile and text, sensuous object and intellectual exercise. A visit to nearly any museum can offer a window into another time and place, but an exhibition of historical costumes encourages a corporeal engagement: to imagine the feel of a corset or the weight of a brocade.?
"Saul Bellow: Letters" by Saul Bellow: A review by John G. Rodwan Jr.
The highest compliment Saul Bellow knew how to give was to call a fellow novelist "the real thing." In letters, he describes Philip Roth, Cynthia Ozick and Stanley Elkin this way. The bond forged by practitioners of the literary trade amounted to much more than professional respect.
Farhad Manjoo: Google's "Open" Books (Slate)
Don't believe the rhetoric behind the search company's new Kindle rival.
Ruth Graham: Archie Gets Married and Goes to Hell (Slate)
Last year, when Archie finally married his high-school sweetheart, Veronica, after 68 years of dating, his comic sold a blockbuster 24 times the usual 2,500-odd copies per issue. A few months later, he married Veronica's blond rival, Betty, in another popular story line tracing a parallel imagined future. (Archie's no bigamist.) Happily ever after, right?
Stuart Heritage: The Billy Bob Thornton question: is this cinema's darkest age? (Guardian)
The Monster's Ball star thinks this is an awful period for film. But are we really worse off than, say, the Police Academy years?
David Bruce has 39 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $39 you can buy 9,750 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
The Weekly Poll
Poll Continued until 12/14
With Assange's arrest in England, denial of bail and extradition request from Sweden, the ante has been raised. Supporters have countered with hacker attacks on sites refusing to process donations to Wikileaks, the Swiss bank that holds Assange's funds and the Swedish prosecutor's office. It appears that the White House is angling to get its hands on him for possible legal charges... The battle lines are firming up... The saga continues... with an addendum question:
At this point, do you support Julian Assange and Wikileaks?
a.) Yes, Hooray!
b.) No frickin' way!
c.) I wish whole damn'd thing would just go away...
If you've already responded to the previous question, feel free to resubmit. All will be posted...
The 'Wiki-Humpty Dumpty' Edition...
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday the leak of hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic documents is an attack not only on the United States but also the international community...
"This disclosure is not just an attack on America's foreign policy interests," Clinton said. "It is an attack on the international community: the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity." ..."It puts people's lives in danger, threatens our national security and undermines our efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems," she told reporters at the State Department...
Clinton calls leaked documents attack on world | detnews.com | The Detroit News
(I watched her statement live and she looked to be NOT a happy camper... Woe be unto PFC Manning)
Do you feel the release of these diplomatic documents are:
1.) A good thing...
2.) A bad thing...
3.) Sorta good - Kinda bad...
4.) Hey! What happened to the Holiday Season theme - thingy?
Send your response to
wrote:
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
christmas lights 2010
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Lots of fog.
Upstate NY Town Pays Tribute
`It's A Wonderful Life'
For years, civic boosters have pointed out intriguing parallels that suggest Seneca Falls was the inspiration for Bedford Falls, the make-believe New York mill town in "It's a Wonderful Life."
Those musings are now embodied in a museum of sorts that showcases Frank Capra's Christmas movie classic. And who cut the ribbon at Friday's grand opening? Zuzu, of course.
Former child actress Karolyn Grimes, who played George Bailey's daughter Zuzu in the 1946 drama, traveled to central New York to launch "The Seneca Falls It's a Wonderful Life Museum."
Grimes called the exhibition of movie posters, photographs, magazine covers and memorabilia "a great leap of faith ... in a wonderful place that's just so much like Bedford Falls."
`It's A Wonderful Life'
Cancels New Show
Dick Van Dyke
An injury has forced Dick Van Dyke to cancel his new musical show in Los Angeles.
Geffen Playhouse publicist Allison Rawlings released a statement Thursday that says Van Dyke is unable to perform because of an injury to his Achilles tendon, which began bothering him last week. As a result, the theater was forced to cancel the upcoming run of "Dick Van Dyke - Step in Time: A Musical Memoir."
Van Dyke, who turns 85 on Monday, performed in the preview show Wednesday night, but Rawlings says he aggravated the injury.
The show, a career-retrospective, was scheduled to run through Jan. 16.
Dick Van Dyke
Top Touring Act Of 2010
Bon Jovi
Since 1986, only two bands have claimed the honor as the top-grossing act twice in three years: the Rolling Stones (1998 and 1999) and the Grateful Dead (1991 and 1993).
But this year, another act can claim that title: Bon Jovi.
For the second time in three years, Bon Jovi ranks as the highest-grossing touring act. The band's achievement, this year and previously in 2008, demonstrates that, remarkably, the group is hitting its touring peak 26 years after releasing its debut album.
Ranking at No. 1 on the year-end Top 25 Tours chart with the Circle trek carries more cachet with the industry than with fans, Jon Bon Jovi acknowledges.
Bon Jovi
Billboard's Hot 100 Artist Of The Year
Ke$ha
Sometimes I need to remind myself that 'TiK ToK' only went to No. 1 in January," Ke$ha says of her party-hearty electro-pop jam. "Because it kind of feels like it was 17 years ago."
Doesn't it, though? As far as new artists go, 2010 more or less belonged to this 23-year-old Nashville native, who released her hit debut, "Animal," in January, then followed it up last month with a nine-track mini-album, "Cannibal."
With three songs on Billboard's year-end Hot 100, and 1.1 million copies sold of "Animal," according to Nielsen SoundScan, Ke$ha is the Hot 100 artist of the year, as well as the top new artist.
"You can never completely predict what's going to be a hit," says her producer, Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald. "But I can't say I'm surprised by Ke$ha's success." The secret behind her rise? RCA/Jive Label Group chairman/CEO Barry Weiss says, "She's an artist with a point of view, which is more than you can say about 95 percent of the acts out there."
Ke$ha
Accused Of Violating Probation
Richard Hatch
Reality TV star Richard Hatch is accused of violating probation on his tax evasion sentence, which he received for failing to pay taxes on his $1 million prize from the first season of "Survivor."
Hatch, who became reality TV's first villain in the 2000 season of "Survivor," is scheduled to appear Wednesday in federal court in Rhode Island to answer charges he violated terms of his three-year probation, which began after he was released from prison last year following more than three years behind bars.
Hatch was convicted in 2006 of failing to pay taxes on his "Survivor" winnings, as well as other income. He received extra prison time because the judge found he lied on the stand. His probation requires him to find work, complete a mental health program, refile his 2000 and 2001 tax returns and pay all his back taxes.
It was not immediately clear which of the terms Hatch is accused of violating. His public defender did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
Richard Hatch
More Disney Magic
Miley Cyrus
Home video of singer Miley Cyrus using a bong apparently to smoke the hallucinogenic herb salvia hit the Internet on Friday, capping a year which has seen the teen star throw aside her squeaky clean Disney image.
The video obtained by celebrity website TMZ.com was said to have been shot days after Cyrus's 18th birthday in November.
It shows the star of Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana" giggling and laughing after smoking from a glass pipe, commonly called a bong. TMZ said sources close to Cyrus told the website that the video was shot by one of Cyrus's friends, but the substance was not marijuana.
The herb salvia divinorum has hallucinogenic properties but is not illegal in California. According to a 2007 U.S. survey on drug use and health, about one million people had used it that year.
Miley Cyrus
Picks Up Where He Left Off
Ron Isley
When Ron Isley talks about the three years he spent in prison for tax evasion, there's no bitterness or anger in his voice: At times, there almost seems to be a bit of nostalgia.
"I made a lot of friends. I was treated like a king. I had all of the respect that one would want. And it's a part of that that I miss - when I say I miss, I miss the people that I met," said the 69-year-old with the golden tenor.
"When I first went in there, there were 300 people there and those 300 people were behind me 100 percent, and when I say 100 percent, I really mean that," he added. "'What can we get for you? Do you need this, do you need that?' ... 24 hours a day, and that's a blessing."
Isley's prison experience was probably a bit different from the average person incarcerated for a tax offense. But the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer doesn't credit his good fortune to his legendary status. Instead, he credits a more potent factor.
Ron Isley
Sorry For Climbing Memorial
Charlie Gilmour
The son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour issued a public apology Friday for climbing atop of one of Britain's most important war memorials during violent student demonstrations against rising university fees.
Charlie Gilmour, 21, said he was sorry for the "terrible insult" to the thousands who died for the country. Gilmour - a Cambridge University history student - said he did not realize that the monument he climbed was the Cenotaph, which commemorates Britain's war dead.
Gilmour is the child of writer and journalist Polly Samson and her first husband, the poet Heathcote Williams. He was adopted by the Pink Floyd musician after he and Samson married.
Gilmour was among thousands of students and youths protesting in the streets of London on Thursday. The demonstrations turned violent when some students vandalized buildings and threw objects at police. Some attacked a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to a royal function. The couple was unharmed.
Charlie Gilmour
Leaving "Biggest Loser"
Jillian Michaels
"Biggest Loser" trainer Jillian Michaels announced on Friday that she is leaving NBC's weight-loss reality show at the end of the next season.
"Season 11 of Biggest Loser will be my last :) have to finish out my contract," Michaels said on her Twitter account.
Michaels has been a mentor on the program since 2004 and left in 2006, only to return to the show in dramatic fashion. Her decision to leave this time is for personal reasons.
A source familiar with the situation told The Hollywood Reporter that two new trainers have been added to the show and will be introduced on the season 11 debut in January. Their names will be announced next week.
Jillian Michaels
The Skimming Nun
Sisters of St. Joseph
A Catholic nun who ran a suburban New York City college's finances embezzled more than $850,000 and spent it on herself, federal prosecutors said Friday. The U.S. attorney in Manhattan said Sister Marie Thornton used Iona College funds for her personal expenses from 1999 to 2009. As vice president of finance, she submitted false invoices and had Iona pay her credit card bills, the complaint said. It did not detail her expenses.
Thornton, 62, was arrested Thursday and pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan. She was allowed to remain free. Her attorney, Sanford Talkin, said Friday, "I expect us to reach a resolution that all sides will think is fair."
Thornton's religious order, the Sisters of St. Joseph, said Thornton had been recalled and her activities had been restricted. It said she has been ordered to cooperate with investigators and is being given "emotional and spiritual support."
Iona reported a theft last year but did not publicly identify a suspect.
Sisters of St. Joseph
Glastonbury Tor
Holy Thorn Tree
The rare thorn tree had ties to the early days of Christianity and pilgrims often left offerings at its base. Local children honored it each year by cutting sprigs to place on Queen Elizabeth II's Christmas dining table.
Now British police want to know who sawed off the historic limbs of the Glastonbury Holy Thorn Tree, reducing it to a stump. And they want to know why.
Katherine Gorbing, the director of Glastonbury Abbey, said the tree originally came from the Middle East and is a type of thorn tree common in Lebanon as well as in Europe. It typically lives about 100 years, but locals have kept it going by taking grafts and clippings from the tree to plant new ones when the existing once is nearing the end of its natural life span.
Religious tradition holds that the original tree was planted by St. Joseph of Arimathea - the wealthy merchant who volunteered his prepared tomb to Jesus - after he first made landfall in England some 2,000 years ago. The chopped-down tree is thought to be descended from the original. It blooms twice a year - during the Christmas season and around Easter.
Holy Thorn Tree
In Memory
James Moody
Jazz saxophonist James Moody, who recorded more than 50 solo albums as well as songs with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Lionel Hampton and B.B. King, has died. He was 85.
Moody died Thursday at San Diego Hospital after a 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer, his wife, Linda McGowan Moody, said.
Moody is best known for his 1949 hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an interpretation of the 1935 ballad "I'm in the Mood for Love."
Moody's version of the song, recorded in Sweden in 1949, was elected into the Grammy Awards' Hall of Fame in 2001 and has been recorded by a number of people, including Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Amy Winehouse, Rod Stewart and Queen Latifah.
Moody was nominated for four Grammies. He received a 1998 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award and a 2007 Kennedy Center Living Jazz Legend award. He has also been inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame.
Moody, born in Savannah, Ga., joined Dizzy Gillespie's all-star big band in the 1940s. He was featured in the first episode of the PBS series "Legends of Jazz," and walked an invisible dog in the 1997 film "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" when he was cast by longtime fan Clint Eastwood.
Moody performed on stages around the world, including the White House, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and London's Royal Festival Hall. His last public performance was Jan. 28 at a Grammy-sponsored show in Seal Beach.
Moody's talent wasn't confined to jazz - he was a member of the Las Vegas Hilton Orchestra in the 1970s, sharing the spotlight with everyone from Glenn Campbell, Liberace and the Osmonds to Lou Rawls and Elvis Presley.
A public funeral service is scheduled Dec. 18 at Greenwood Memorial Park, followed by a public celebration of his life at Faith Chapel in Spring Valley.
Moody is survived by Linda Moody, his third wife; daughter Michelle Bagdanove; sons Patrick, Regan and Danny McGowan; brother Lou Watters; four grandchildren and one great grandson.
James Moody
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