Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Why The Planet Doesn't Care About Your Eco-Friendly Lifestyle (Coexist.com)
Gernot Wagner argues that small individual actions--like eating local--make people feel better at the expense of creating real change. What's the solution, and what can you do to help?
The Best Response to A Rejection Letter Ever (Posted on Neatorama)
"I don't know about you guys, but unless the applicant was absolutely terrible, I would totally hire him after that."-Jill Harness
Lenore Skenazy: Looking Closely at the Wal-Mart Kidnap Video (Creators Syndicate)
By now, you probably have seen the shocking video of 7-year-old Brittney Baxter fighting off a would-be kidnapper in the toy aisle of the Bremen, Ga., Wal-Mart. What you may not realize is that this is a scene you will be seeing forever - replayed on the news and then reimagined on "Law & Order" (though the show will change the name of the store, or maybe the guy will be kidnapping twins).
Hadley Freeman: Now the American right has even hijacked breast cancer's pink ribbon (Guardian)
The most seemingly apolitical things are now deepy political. Having helmet-like hair: rightwing. Eating vegetables: leftwing.
Hadley Freeman: "Kermit: how are the Muppets feeling about their movie comeback?" (Guardian)
Was lifelong Muppets fan Jason Segel starstruck - and did anyone manage to out-diva Miss Piggy?
Roger Ebert: Review of "Tomboy" (Unrated; 3 ½ stars)
"Tomboy" is tender and affectionate. It shows us Laure/Mikael in an adventure that may be forgotten in adulthood or may form her adulthood. There is no conscious agenda in view. There is just a tomboy. Not everyone needs to be slammed into a category and locked there.
Roger Ebert: Review of "Dave" (3 ½ stars)
"Dave" takes that old plot about an ordinary person who is suddenly thrust into a position of power, and finds a fresh way to tell it. The movie's about a nice guy who runs an employment agency and is otherwise undistinguished, except that he happens to look exactly like the President of the United States. When the president wants to sneak away for a quickie with his mistress, he is recruited by the secret service to act as a stand- in. Then the president has a stroke, and Dave is hired on a more or less permanent basis.
Liel Leibovitz: St. Leonard's Passion (Tablet)
Leonard Cohen releases his 12th album, 'Old Ideas.' The troubadour and poet hasn't always been popular, but he is always profound.
Jan Swafford: Hallelujah for Leonard Cohen (Slate)
When it comes to lyrics, he's second to no one-including Dylan.
Henry Rollins: I'm Not Dead Yet (LA Weekly)
The world moves on. I think it's important to have some documentation of the past. That being said, I would hate to think that someone would ever think things were "better back then" and not be interested in enjoying the efforts of artists and bands who are in the world right now.
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."
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Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
Bosko Suggests
European Winter
Have a great day,
Bosko.
Thanks, Bosko!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Misty morning and an overcast afternoon.
Valentine's Day Survey
Nightmare Celebrity Dates
"Jersey Shore" star Snooki and Charlie Sheen have topped a poll of nightmare celebrity Valentine dates, and few people want to cuddle up with Ashton Kutcher on February 14 -- at least, not on film.
According to a Valentine's Day survey by Yahoo's OMG! website, 30 percent of men would rather be single than take Snooki, aka Nicole Polizzi, out on Valentine's Day.
And newly-single Kim Kardashian didn't do much better, coming second in the nightmare female celebrity date survey of 2,001 people.
According to a separate Valentine's Day survey on movie website Fandango, Kutcher was voted the worst romantic comedy film actor. Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City" fame was voted worst romantic comedy actress.
Top of the movies to avoid was Paris Hilton's 2008 effort "The Hottie and the Nottie", which was voted the worst romantic comedy of all time on the Fandango survey, followed by "Zack and Miri Make a Porno."
Nightmare Celebrity Dates
Quasi-Celebrities Hawk Projects
CPAC
This week, conservatives are holding their annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. It's been described in some circles as the "conservative Woodstock," because thousands of people travel from around the country to attend workshops and listen to speeches from some of the movement's biggest players.
In addition to candidates and party bigwigs, there is a class of minor celebrities who show at CPAC to hawk various personal projects. If you walk the halls of the Washington, D.C. Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, you stand a chance of running into former "Growing Pains" star Kirk Cameron, ex-"Love Connection" host Chuck Woolery or even Michelle Duggar, best-known for giving birth to 19 children. And this isn't the first CPAC for Stephen Baldwin.
But for whatever exposure the event offers these quasi-stars, it also inconveniently illustrates the challenges of being a Hollywood conservative. The convention cottage industry can look like a depressing circuit. Just ask actor Ernie Hudson of Ghostbusters fame.
Furthermore, Hollywood is a favorite target of the conservative movement. There are even entire news sites dedicated to exposing what many on the right feel is a hostile culture in the entertainment world. That wariness often makes it difficult for conservatives to turn up the star wattage at their political events. So what exactly brings out the few Hollywood faces willing to align themselves with their conservative principles?
CPAC
10,000 Shows In NYC
"The Phantom of the Opera"
"The Phantom of the Opera" is making musical history on Broadway.
The production is celebrating its 10,000th performance Saturday in New York City's storied theater district.
The New York Times reports that 2011 was the show's highest-earning year. The newspaper says the show made a record $1.5 million in its best week last year, in December, and has made $845 million overall.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical opened on Broadway on Jan. 26, 1988.
'Phantom of the Opera'
A-ha! Moment In North Korean Music
"Barents Spektakel"
An arts festival in northern Norway is offering a rare glimpse into North Korean culture this weekend, including performances by musicians whose accordion version of A-ha's megahit "Take on Me" has become an online sensation.
Organizers said the five North Korean accordion players provided the soundtrack Saturday as 250 Norwegian border guards formed a human canvas by holding up colored cards in shifting patterns - a tradition in the reclusive communist country.
The performance at the "Barents Spektakel" festival in Kirkenes, on Norway's Arctic border with Russia, was choreographed by two North Korean directors.
Artist Morten Traavik, who recorded the YouTube clip and invited the musicians to Norway, said he wants to challenge "negative perceptions" of North Koreans.
The video showing the five musicians playing the 1980s hit song by A-ha, Norway's most famous pop band, has been viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube. Traavik said he recorded the video during a visit to the Kum Song school of music in Pyongyang in December.
"Barents Spektakel"
Take On Me by a-ha, North Korean Style - YouTube
British Police Arrest Five
Rupert
British police on Saturday arrested five senior staff at News Corporation's mass-circulation newspaper The Sun as part of investigations into journalists paying police for information.
The probe is part of a wider investigation into illegal news gathering practices that has rocked Britain's political, media and police establishments and last year prompted the closure of the Sun's sister Sunday title, the News of the World.
Saturday's arrests came after the company passed information to the police, a move that infuriated staff and sparked talk of a witch hunt amongst journalists by a proprietor who previously celebrated their work.
News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch (R-Evil Incarnate) is due in London next week and is set to meet staff, a source familiar with the situation said.
Four current and former Sun staff had already been arrested last month, and the latest detentions raise questions about the viability of Britain's best selling daily.
Rupert
Erupt Across Europe
Protests
Tens of thousands of protesters took part in rallies across Europe on Saturday against an international anti-piracy agreement they fear will curb their freedom to download movies and music for free and encourage Internet surveillance.
More than 25,000 demonstrators braved freezing temperatures in German cities to march against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) while 4,000 Bulgarians in Sofia rallied against the agreement designed to strengthen the legal framework for intellectual property rights.
There were thousands more - mostly young - demonstrators at other high-spirited rallies despite snow and freezing temperatures in cities including Warsaw, Prague, Slovakia, Bucharest, Vilnius, Paris, Brussels and Dublin.
Opposition to ACTA in Eastern Europe is especially strong and spreading rapidly. Protesters have compared it to the Big Brother-style surveillance used by former Communist regimes. Downloading films and music is also a popular way for many young Eastern Europeans to obtain free entertainment.
The protesters are concerned that free downloading of movies and music might lead to prison sentences if the ACTA was ratified by parliaments. They also fear that exchanging material on the Internet may become a crime and say the accord will allow for massive online surveillance.
Protests
Robert Kirkman Sued By Illustrator
"Walking Dead"
Nine months before he was sued by his former illustrator for payments over their "Walking Dead" comic book and the TV show it spawned, Robert Kirkman made a joke he probably regrets now.
Asked during a podcast how a comic book writer should find an artist to draw his or her stories, Kirkman dryly replied, "Trickery and deceit."
On Thursday, Kirkman's original "Walking Dead" artist, Tony Moore, accused him of exactly that. Moore alleges in a lawsuit that Kirkman, a childhood friend with whom he collaborated on several comics, tricked him into surrendering his rights to them in 2005 in exchange for payments that never came. Kirkman calls the allegations "ridiculous."
Kirkman made the "trickery and deceit" joke during a Q&A for the Nerdist podcast. Its host, comedian Chris Hardwick, was later named the host of AMC's "Talking Dead" talk show, which follows new episodes of "The Walking Dead."
The critically acclaimed zombie epic, the highest-rated show on basic cable, returns Sunday night for the second half of its second season.
"Walking Dead"
Rural Residents Strike Back
George Lucas
Luke Skywalker would be proud. A rebel alliance has formed in the hills north of San Francisco to fight a perceived Evil Empire.
The alliance is a group of Marin County homeowners. Their phantom menace is George Lucas, the world-renowned filmmaker whose Star Wars Trilogy sky-rocketed him to acclaim and fortune.
The plot is simple: Lucas wants to expand his filmmaking empire in the quiet valley that has been home to his Skywalker Ranch for three decades, building a 270,000-square-foot (25,000-square-meter) digital media production compound on historic farmland known as Grady Ranch. Neighbors say the massive structure will constrain their lifestyle with additional noise, traffic and harmful environmental impacts on the pristine countryside.
But the plot thickens. Other residents say Lucas has been a stellar neighbor and a steward of the land who has protected massive swaths of agricultural acreage from housing developments, while bringing jobs and tax-paying residents to the community.
It will all play out before what is likely to be a wide audience at the Marin County Planning Commission meeting on Feb. 27.
George Lucas
Belgian Court Refuses To Ban
'Tintin in the Congo'
A Belgian court refused Friday to ban the sale of "Tintin in the Congo," rejecting arguments by a Congolese man that the iconic comic book was filled with racist stereotypes about Africans.
The Brussels court ruled that Belgian anti-racism laws only apply when there is a wilful intention to discriminate against someone, said an attorney for Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, the man who tried to get the strip off bookshelves.
The court argued that given the historical context -- the book was written during the colonial era in 1931 -- the author, Herge, "could not have been motivated by the desire" to discriminate, the lawyer, Ahmed L'Hedim, told AFP.
For the past four years, Mbutu Mondondo had sought to get the book banned or at least force stores to place a warning label on the cover or add a preface explaining that it was written in a different era, as English versions do.
"It is a racist comic book that celebrates colonialism and the supremacy of the white race over the black race," he said last year.
'Tintin in the Congo'
Drink Inventor Revealed
'5-Hour Energy'
"A Buddhist monk" would not be the first guess from most people when asked who invented the 5-Hour Energy drink. But Forbes reporter Clare O'Conner discovered that's exactly who is behind the phenomenon that has a 90%-near monopoly of the energy shot market .
Specifically, credit goes to Michigan resident Manoj Bhargava, 58, who came up with the idea after visiting a natural products trade show in California several years ago.
"5-Hour Energy is not an energy drink, it's a focus drink," Bhargava tells Forbes. "But we can't say that. The FDA doesn't like the word 'focus.' I have no idea why."
Bhargava was born in India, but his parents moved to the United States when he was a child so his father could pursue a career in the plastics industry. After dropping out of college after one year, Bhargava returned to India, where he became a member of the Hanslok Ashram order and lived the lifestyle of a Buddhist "monk" for 12 years. (I put "monk" in quotes because Bhargava tells Forbes there's no real word in English language to exactly capture what he and his fellow devotees were doing, instead likening it more to a commune, minus the drugs.)
Even though he eventually returned to the U.S. to pursue his own career, Bhargava still spends 1 hour a day in his basement practicing silent meditation. He also says he drinks one 5-Five Hour Energy each morning and another before his thrice weekly tennis matches.
'5-Hour Energy'
Helps Scientists Quantify Ponytails
Rapunzel Number
British scientists said on Friday that a "Rapunzel Number" may have helped them to crack a problem that has perplexed humanity since Leonardo da Vinci pondered it 500 years ago.
Scientists from the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick said they had devised a "Ponytail Shape Equation," which when calculated using the Rapunzel Number and a measure of the curliness of hair can be used to predict the shape of any ponytail.
Cambridge's Professor Raymond Goldstein told Reuters that he and his colleagues took account of the stiffness of individual hairs, the effects of gravity and the average waviness of human hair to come up with their formula.
The Rapunzel Number provides a key ratio needed to calculate the effects of gravity on hair relative to its length.
Scientists said the work has implications for understanding the structure of materials made up of random fibers, such as wool and fur and will have resonance with the computer graphics and animation industry, where the representation of hair has been a challenging problem.
Rapunzel Number
In Memory
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, died Saturday. She was 48.
Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night - the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to cast a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony.
Her longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday, and a representative of the show said it would proceed.
Houston was supposed to appear at the gala, and Davis had told The Associated Press that she would perhaps perform: "It's her favorite night of the year ... (so) who knows by the end of the evening," he said.
Houston had been at rehearsals for the show Thursday, coaching singers Brandy and Monica, according to a person who was at the event but was not authorized to speak publicly about it. The person said Houston looked disheveled, was sweating profusely and liquor and cigarettes could be smelled on her breath.
At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."
She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.
But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.
She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.
Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.
Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.
Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.
Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.
A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.
Whitney Houston
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