from Bruce
Anecdotes
Charity
• A man once came to the city of Kovno, pretended to be a beggar, and collected a large amount of money. However, the people of Kovno learned that the man was only pretending to be a beggar and in fact was quite wealthy. Therefore, the city council of Kovno determined to pass a law banning beggars from the city. When the Rabbi of Kovno, Yitzchak Elchanan Specter (1817-1896), heard about the proposed law, he said to the city council, “Who deceived you? A needy person or a wealthy person? It was a wealthy person feigning poverty. If you want to make an ordinance, it should be to ban wealthy persons, not needy beggars, from collecting alms.”
• A man came to Yogi Berra’s home to repair the venetian blinds, but Yogi didn’t know he was coming. When his son told him, “Dad, the guy is here for the venetian blinds,” he replied, “Look in my pants pocket and give him five bucks.”
Children
• Beverly Cleary, the author of the Henry, Ribsy, Beezus, and Ramona series of novels for children, was an artist at a very young age. Someone left a pot of ink — people used pots of ink to write back then — on top of a table with a white tablecloth. Young Beverly poured some of the ink on the table, dipped her hands in the ink, and went around the tablecloth making prints of her hands. In addition to being an artistic child, she was a curious child. When her father butchered a hog, young Beverly was forbidden to go outside and watch so she went to an upstairs window and watched the butchering from a distance. By the way, she knew that she enjoyed writing. When she was married, she and her husband moved to the hills by Berkeley, California. Moving into the house, they found reams of typing paper that the previous owners had left behind. Beverly told her husband that she would like to write a book but that she needed a sharp pencil. The next day her husband gave her a gift: a pencil sharpener. Her first book was published in 1950: Henry Huggins.
• Film critic Roger Ebert attended a Catholic school. Each year, the school held a magazine subscription contest, with part of the proceeds going to the school. (Roger won the contest two years in a row.) The Curtis Circulation Company sponsored the contest, and a Curtis pitchman told the students, “Everyone you know is a sales opportunity! Your parents, your neighbors, even people you meet! Don’t be shy! Sell those subscriptions!” Young Roger raised his hand and asked, “Sir, would you like to buy a subscription?” (Here’s another Roger story: At St. Joseph’s Camp for Boys, he had a friend who wore glasses. Other friends took this friend’s glasses, put them on, and staggered around and pretended that they were blind. When Roger put on the glasses, suddenly the world appeared in focus, and he did not want to take off the glasses. He wrote his parents, “I need glasses!”)
• As a 13-year-old boy, Colin Powell attended a Catholic summer camp near Peekskill, New York. He and some other boys smuggled beer into the camp and hid it, but the beer was quickly discovered. At the camp meeting hall, the priest in charge talked to the campers, told them about the beer, and asked, “Who will own up like a man?” Colin was sure that no one had seen him and the other boys smuggle the beer into the camp, but he thought about the priest’s words and confessed. As a result of Colin’s example, two other guilty boys confessed as well. For their punishment, Colin and the other boys were sent home, but a priest called Colin’s parents and told them that Colin had owned up like a man and had been a good example to the other guilty boys.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Dance Duck"
Single: This is a one-sided single.
Artist: Spiral Perm
Artist Location: Melbourne, Australia
Info:
“Three-piece Melbourne band. Ali E (Damn Terran, Heavy Beach, Little Athletics, Mod Vigil, Ali E Band), Kate Koomen (Bunny Monroe), and Rita Khayat (Moon Cup) come together and make tunes. Not a hair band.”
Price: $1 (AUS) for track; this is a one-track single
Genre: Pop
Links:
“Dance Duck”
Spiral Perm on Bandcamp
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The roaming skunk is back.
Breaks 3 Guinness World Records
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton’s stellar career is continuing to receive recognition; most recently, she was presented three certificates by the Guinness World Records on Thursday.
The country music icon, 75, was recognized after breaking two new record titles for the most decades on the US Hot Country Songs chart (7) and most no. 1 hits on the US Hot County Songs (25), both for a female artist.
The “Jolene” singer also broke her own existing record for the most hits on the US Hot Country Songs chart by a female artist (109).
This isn’t the first time Dolly has received a world record; she was previously awarded in 2019 for the most decades with a Top 20 hit on the US Hot Country Songs chart (6) in 2018.
Dolly Parton
$2.6M Winning Bid
Superman #1
A rare copy of a Superman #1 comic book that sold on newsstands for a dime in 1939 was purchased for $2.6 million in an auction.
The comic showing Superman leaping over tall buildings on the cover was sold Thursday night to a buyer who wishes to maintain a secret identity, according to ComicConnect.com, an online auction and consignment company.
The seller, Mark Michaelson, bought the comic in 1979 from its original owner and kept it in a temperature-controlled safe. Michaelson, now semi-retired and living in Houston, paid his way through college by buying and selling comics.
The character created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster is a pioneer of the superhero genre, and comics featuring the Man of Steel have netted super prices recently. ComicConnect announced in April that a copy of Action Comics #1, the comic that introduced Superman in 1938, sold for $3.25 million.
Superman #1
Wins Lawsuit Against Widow
Eric Clapton
Guitarist Eric Clapton has successfully sued a woman in Germany who listed a bootleg CD on eBay for roughly $11. The woman didn’t even sell the CD, but the listing will set her back at least $2,000 in court costs for copyright infringement, according to the German news outlet DW.
Clapton, a noted racist and anti-vaxxer, sued the 55-year-old woman from Ratingen, a small German town about an hour north of Cologne, claiming the recording infringed on his copyright. The widow said her late husband purchased the CD at a department store in 1987, but the court didn’t care whether it was legally purchased, nor whether she knew it was a copyright violation to sell the CD.
The woman reportedly tried to sell the CD for just €9.95, or roughly $11.20 U.S., according to DW. She’s now being forced to pay legal fees for both herself and Clapton, which total about €3,400 or $3,500 in U.S. dollars. The woman’s CD was not seized but if she tries to sell the music again she faces up to six months in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
The British-born guitarist is infamous for being a prick, which makes aggressive legal action like this fairly unsurprising. Clapton went on a racist rant on stage in England in 1976 about how he wanted to “Keep Britain white,” among other things.
Clapton eventually apologized for the rant decades later in 2017, but he also spent the past year whining about vaccine mandates and has refused to play concerts unless the unvaccinated are allowed to attend. Clapton, a multi-millionaire, even wrote a song with Van Morrison in late 2020 about how the men were being oppressed because of covid-19 lockdowns.
Eric Clapton
Resolves Florida Assault Case
Rod Stewart
Rock icon Rod Stewart and his son have pleaded guilty to battery in an assault case stemming from a New Year’s Eve 2019 altercation with a security guard at an exclusive Florida hotel.
Court records released Friday show that the singer and his son Sean Stewart entered guilty pleas to misdemeanor charges of simple battery.
The plea agreement, dated and signed Monday, means that Stewart and his son, 41, won’t have to appear in court and formal adjudication of the charge was withheld. There will be no trial.
Neither will do any jail time or be required to pay fines and won’t be placed on probation, Fronstin said.
The Stewarts were accused of a physical altercation with security guard Jessie Dixon at the luxury Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach on Dec. 31, 2019. The dispute involved Dixon’s refusal to allow them into a private New Year’s Eve party at the hotel.
Rod Stewart
Way More Than Previously Reported
Legal Expenses
The Republican Party is shelling out some major cash to help Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up) contend with investigations into his private business practices. The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the GOP has agreed to put as much as $1.6 million toward the former president’s legal bills pertaining to two probes into the Trump Organization’s operations in New York.
The Post reported last month that the Republican National Committee was paying for some of Trump’s legal bills, but noted that it had made two payments in October totaling $121,670 to a law firm Trump hired in April. The report on Thursday adds that a month later the RNC paid $578,000 to attorneys representing Trump and his businesses, that the money will keep flowing in the coming months, and that the total could very well exceed the $1.6 million already authorized.
The $1.6 million authorization came this summer during a meeting of the party’s executive committee in Nashville. Its members voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of footing Trump’s personal legal bills, according to the Post.
“The RNC’s Executive Committee approved paying for certain legal expenses that relate to politically motivated legal proceedings waged against President Trump,” Emma Vaughn, a GOP spokeswoman, said in a statement provided to the Post on Thursday. “As a leader of our party, defending President Trump and his record of achievement is critical to the GOP. It is entirely appropriate for the RNC to continue assisting in fighting back against the Democrats’ never-ending witch hunt and attacks on him.”
Trump’s “record of achievement” is not the issue, though. The investigations have nothing to do with his time in office or any of his political dealings. They involve potential financial crimes perpetrated by his private business. New York Attorney General Letitia James is reportedly seeking to depose Trump as her office’s civil probe into whether the Trump Organization fraudulently doctored the valuations of various properties. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is leading a criminal investigation. Earlier this week, the Post reported that a longtime Trump accountant testified before a grand jury as part of that case, which is also looking into the Trump Organization’s financial practices.
Legal Expenses
Will Never Get Vaccinated
Nearly A Third
At least 30 per cent of Republicans say they may never get a Covid-19 vaccine and only one per cent will get inoculated as soon as possible, according to a new poll by the Monmouth University released on Wednesday.
This was in sharp contrast with Democrats — only two per cent said they were likely to never get the jab.
About 54 per cent Republicans confirmed that they have received the Covid-19 vaccine, while a whopping 96 per cent Democrats said they are already vaccinated, the poll confirmed.
The study titled “National: Most Americans ‘worn out’ by Covid” showed that a large chunk of Americans were exhausted by the impact of the virus in their daily lives and the changes they have had to make in the last 20 months.
And almost half the respondents said they were “angry” about it. While 24 per cent respondents felt “a lot angry” by Covid, 21 per cent felt “a little angry”.
Nearly A Third
Christmas Decorations Burnt, Again
Sweden
The two straw goats of Gavle, Sweden’s most endangered Christmas decorations, have gone up in flames after surviving nearly a month on a downtown square.
The animals are a beloved Swedish Christmas symbol, dating back to pagan times. But in what’s become a tradition of sorts in Gavle, 163 kilometers (101 miles) north of Stockholm, arsonists early Friday destroyed both — a giant decorative goat made of straw and a smaller sibling.
A suspect in his 40s was detained. Police said the man allegedly had soot on his hands and matched a description given by witnesses, who said the fire started in the small goat before spreading to the big one. Only the metal frames were left standing.
Since Gavle’s first straw goat — 13 meters (43 feet) tall and weighing three tons — was erected in 1966, the annual decoration has been burnt or smashed dozens of times, once before it was even finished. The last time arsonists struck was in 2016, but a record four-year period of peace was shattered Friday.
The goat is an ancient Scandinavian Yuletide symbol that preceded Santa Claus as the bringer of gifts.
Sweden
Changes Name
Quidditch
Real-life quidditch, inspired by the magical game in "Harry Potter," is changing its name, citing author J.K. Rowling's "anti-trans positions in recent years."
US Quidditch and Major League Quidditch announced in a joint news release Wednesday that they will conduct a series of surveys over the next few months to decide on a new name for the sport, which resembles soccer and field hockey, but as a contact sport with broomsticks.
“For the last year or so, both leagues have been quietly collecting research to prepare for the move and been in extensive discussions with each other and trademark lawyers regarding how we can work together to make the name change as seamless as possible,” Major League Quidditch Commissioner Amanda Dallas said in the release.
The leagues say there are a few reasons for the name change. Among them is that the name "quidditch" is trademarked by Warner Bros., which produced the "Harry Potter" movies, and as a result the sport's expansion has been limited in its sponsorship and broadcast opportunities.
The name change is also part of an effort by the leagues to "distance themselves from the works of J.K. Rowling," according to the statement, "who has increasingly come under scrutiny for her anti-trans positions in recent years."
Quidditch
Study Finds
Rocket Scientists & Brain Surgeons
Brain surgeons and rocket scientists are not necessarily smarter than the general public, researchers reported Monday, as they tried to settle the argument of whether the phrase "it's not brain surgery" or "it's not rocket science" is most deserved.
Researchers sought to find out if one profession had intellectual superiority, and found they were pretty much equally matched.
There were also few differences when comparing aerospace engineers and neurosurgeons with the general population.
Online intelligence tests were administered to both neurosurgeons and aerospace engineers from the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States and Canada. Responses from 329 aerospace engineers and 72 neurosurgeons were included in the final analysis.
The study, published in the BMJ Christmas issue, was professionally conducted and peer reviewed but this special issue of the British Medical Journal is generally dedicated to light-hearted studies.
Rocket Scientists & Brain Surgeons
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