Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Corey Mintz: Feeding lobster rolls to street artists Posterchild and Stephanie 'Teeth' Avery (Toronto Star)
"You can draw or paint in oil in a classical style on a wall. If that's done without permission illegally, that's graffiti. And you can draw in a traditional graffiti style on a T-shirt. That's not graffiti. That's artwork in a graffiti esthetic."
Street Artist Posterchild Provides 'Evidence of Batman' In Toronto (Comics Alliance)
"In 2006, a street artist who goes by the name Posterchild left signs in Toronto that would lead reasonably intelligent residents to conclude that the Batman had left Gotham City. I mean, if you saw a Batarang stuck into a telephone pole or a bat-marked bootprint on the wall, what would you think?"-Neatorama
Emily Yoffe: Love Is in the Air (Slate)
Is breaking wind in front of your boyfriend worth breaking up over?
Rob Shook: Important Considerations for 2012
Every year I prepare a list of the things I think folks should do, get done, consider, or proactively decide not to do - not just let fall by the wayside. Here's this year's!
Sophie Felder: Homeless By Choice
A Cardozo student we'll call "David" sat down with The Observer to discuss the unique decision that took him out of his comfort zone and onto the streets of Manhattan in an effort to experience challenge in life.
Henry Rollins: "My New Year's Resolution: To Rock Out" (LA Weekly)
For many years I tried to make New Year's resolutions. I made lists and shot for great heights: I would show altruism and exert moral strength, patience and all those other great attributes.
Iain Johnstone: The Fall and Rise of Tom Cruise (Huffington Post)
Forget the Oscar race. Does it really matter if it's Leo or Brad or George or that silent, black-and-white Frenchman? All have already been comprehensively trounced by the return of the people's champion.
Roger Ebert: Review of "Pariah" (R; 3 ½ stars)
So what we're seeing here is the emergence of a promising writer-director, an actor and a cinematographer who are all exciting, and have cared to make a film that seeks helpful truths.
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
M Is FOR MASHUP - January 4th, 2012
TV QUIZ
By DJ Useo
Howdy y'all. I trust the new year is already a big improvement.
I ain't gonna take up too much of your time, but I do have a quick fun tv quiz that wont task the brain & is just perfect for the early-year mindstate we are all adjusting to.
Simply tell us the relevance of each television show picture.
01 - Who lives in this house?
02 - What show does this man speak on?
03 - What town is this?
04 - Who lives in this house?
05 - Who performs behind this wall?
06 - Why do these people look so strange?
07 - Who is wearing these rather jazzy sunglasses?
08 - Name this tv show announcer & the show he is in.
09 - Who is this guy with his brain in a bowl?
10 - What is Curly dreaming about?
11 - What show advertises this bizarre product?
12 - Name this rarely seen tv show employer & the show he is on.
13 - What did PFC Gomer Pyle just blow up?
14 - Who works making what in this factory?
Send your responses to Marty by 6pm (pst) tonight, Sunday, 9 oops - 8 January, 2012.
Results Monday, 10 January, 2012.
There are no prizes.
Aw, c'mon - there have been only 2 responses!
Well, that wasn't very effective. Still have only 2 responses. Sigh.
wrote:
replied:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
2012's Full Moons
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny but a bit cooler.
Talk Show On Bravo
Kathy Griffin
Comic Kathy Griffin is never shy about offering her opinions. Soon she'll have a weekly outlet for them.
The Bravo network said Saturday that it will premiere "Kathy," a once-a-week talk show hosted by Griffin sometime this spring. The network hasn't decided when it will air regularly.
Bravo promised that "this will be the destination to get Griffin's thoughts on everything pop culture as she rants on the week's biggest headlines and tabloid gossip." The show will also feature stand-up comedy, celebrity interviews and taped segments.
In addition, Griffin will perform two stand-up comedy specials on Bravo this year.
Kathy Griffin
Makes Statement
Kristy McNichol
Kristy McNichol, famous for her roles on the TV series "Family" and "Empty Nest," has come out of the closet in an effort to help children being bullied.
McNichol, 49, has lived with her partner Martie Allen, for the past two decades.
She decided to make a statement about her sexuality and share a photo because she is "approaching 50? and wants to "be open about who I am," People Magazine reported.
She "is very sad about kids being bullied," her publicist Jeff Ballard told People Magazine. "She hopes that coming out can help kids who need support. She would like to help others who feel different."
McNichol was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1992, and subsequently ended her television career. She currently lives in Los Angeles.
Kristy McNichol
Returning Home To Louisville For 70th Birthday
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is coming home to celebrate another milestone - his 70th birthday.
The iconic heavyweight boxing champion will bask in the limelight once again at a private birthday bash on the evening of Jan. 14 at the Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. Ali turns 70 on Jan. 17. The party will double as a fundraiser for the center - a cultural and education center that also features a museum focusing on Ali's long career as a boxer, social activist and humanitarian.
Ali Center spokeswoman Jeanie Kahnke said Saturday that Ali will be surrounded by old friends and people who made a difference in his life, including his longtime trainer Angelo Dundee. The party will feature a dinner, entertainment and speeches.
She described it as a "retrospective look and celebration" of Ali's life.
Muhammad Ali
Enjoy Spoils Of Political Wars
TV Broadcasters
One winner in 2012's political races already has been decided: local television stations.
Spending on TV advertising likely will mount to historic levels as candidates again blanket airwaves with commercials pitching their virtues or bashing their opponents. The hard-fought, and expensive, battles will provide a welcome windfall for TV stations, particularly in the most tightly contested states that will decide if President Barack Obama wins re-election or loses to his yet-to-be-decided Republican opponent.
Forecasters are calling for spending on political advertisements to increase up to 30 percent this year compared with 2008, setting a new record and reflecting, in part, a response to the landmark "Citizens United" 2010 Supreme Court ruling, which ended most restrictions on donations by corporations and unions. This is the first presidential election since the ruling.
The decision fostered the creation of Super PACs, fundraising committees that can spend money to support a candidate but cannot officially coordinate with campaigns. Republican Mitt Romney's Super PAC, Restore Our Future, has raised at least $12.2 million, while Obama's Super PAC, Priorities USA Action, has raised at least $3.2 million, according to OpenSecrets.org, a website associated with the nonpartisan group Center for Responsive Politics.
Around 85 percent of the money that is raised and spent on advertising historically goes toward local broadcast TV. In 2012, that could total between $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion, said Ken Goldstein, president of Kantar Media's Campaign Media Analysis Group.
TV Broadcasters
MSNBC Ponders
Pat Buchanan
MSNBC's top executive said Saturday that he hasn't decided whether conservative commentator and author Pat Buchanan will be allowed back on the network.
Buchanan, a former GOP presidential candidate and a paid MSNBC contributor, hasn't been on the network since the publication of his book "Suicide of a Superpower" last October. The book has chapters titled "The End of White America" and "The Death of Christian America" and its author argues that the United States is in the "Indian summer of our civilization."
"When Pat was on his book tour, because of the content of the book, I didn't think it should be part of the national dialogue much less part of the dialogue on MSNBC," said MSNBC President Phil Griffin. The minority advocacy group Color of Change has circulated a petition urging MSNBC to fire Buchanan.
Buchanan did appear for an interview about his book in October on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," where host Sean Hannity said, "welcome out of exile."
Griffin would not discuss the length of Buchanan's contract with MSNBC or whether it would be renewed.
Pat Buchanan
Apologizes
Chicago's Cardinal
Chicago's Cardinal Francis George is apologizing for remarks comparing an annual gay rights parade to a Ku Klux Klan rally.
In a Chicago Tribune interview, George said he is "truly sorry for the hurt my remarks have caused."
George said he has gay and lesbian family members, and his remarks "evidently wounded a good number of people. I am sorry for the hurt."
The cardinal's initial remarks last month were prompted by plans by gay pride leaders to route a parade at a time that would have interfered with services at a church. He said it resembled anti-Catholic marches once staged by the Klan. The time of the parade was changed.
Chicago's Cardinal
Income Soars
$antorum
Losing his Senate seat might have been the best thing that ever happened to Rick Santorum's bank account.
In 2006, the Republican presidential hopeful earned about $200,000 from his Senate salary and book royalties. From January 2010 to August 2011, he earned at least $1.3 million as he cashed in on his 16 years in Congress by working as a corporate consultant, political pundit and board member.
Santorum's resume contrasts with campaign rhetoric that casts him as an outsider who would shake up Washington. It also appears at odds with the image that Santorum stresses as a candidate with hardscrabble roots in blue-collar Pennsylvania and as the grandson of an Italian immigrant coal miner.
Much of the money Santorum earned in recent years was for his work as a board member for a large health care company and consulting for a Pennsylvania energy company and a Washington lobbying firm.
At one time the No. 3 GOP leader in the Senate, Santorum was of comparatively modest means during his two terms. He has followed the same revolving-door path that many former members of Congress pursue when they move to the public sector, trading on his knowledge and political connections as a congressional insider with groups that advocate for corporations and other interests. He was not a registered lobbyist but served as a corporate consultant.
$antorum
Buy Time to Keep Secrets
Super PACs
Independent political groups backing top Republican candidates are taking advantage of federal rules that will effectively let them shield the identities of their donors until after key primary elections this month.
These political action committees, known as super PACs, notified federal election regulators in recent weeks that they intend to file their financial reports every month. Those requests, once approved, effectively will allow the groups to hold off disclosing the names of their contributors until after primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Without the change, those groups would have had to file reports before the GOP primaries.
The subtle administrative change is significant since such groups are expected to play a crucial role in this year's election. In one case, Romney-leaning Restore Our Future ran a series of attack ads against Gingrich that have been widely cited as a reason for the former House speaker's plummeting support. Gingrich placed fourth in the Iowa caucuses behind Romney, Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
"It is secret money - you won't know until after the primaries have occurred who helped fund them," said Trevor Potter, a former Republican FEC commissioner and president of the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center. "Whether they're doing this for the right or wrong reasons, it's the opposite of what the disclosure system was designed to do."
Super PACs
'Migra Oopsy
Jakadrien Lorece Turner
A Texas teenager who was deported to Colombia in May after claiming to be an illegal immigrant was returned to the United States and remains at the center of an international mystery over how a minor could be sent to a country where she is not a citizen.
Her family has questioned why U.S. officials didn't do more to verify her identity and say she is not fluent in Spanish and had no ties to Colombia. While many facts of the case involving Jakadrien Lorece Turner remain unclear, U.S. and Colombian officials have pointed fingers over who is responsible.
Jakadrien, 15, arrived in Dallas on Friday evening and was reunited with her family. She was flanked by her mother, grandmother and law enforcement when she emerged from the international gate at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport shortly before 10 p.m.
Immigration experts say that while cases of mistaken identity are rare, people can slip through the cracks, especially if they don't have legal help or family members working on their behalf. But they say U.S. immigration authorities had the responsibility to determine if a person is a citizen.
Jakadrien's family says they have no idea why she ended up in Colombia. Johnisa Turner said the girl is a U.S. citizen who was born in Dallas and was not fluent in Spanish. She said neither she nor the teen's father had ties to Colombia. Jakadrien's grandmother, Lorene Turner, called the deportation a "big mistake somebody made."
Jakadrien Lorece Turner
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